Hannah's POV:
"Oh gosh-I am dead meat! New school-I hate starting a new school. Why did I accept that scholarship?! Right. If I want to be an astronaut, I need to get into good schooling. College is right around the corner. Just calm down. Last year of school-then it's college. Just stick to the shadows, avoid eye contact, and be the ninja..." Taking a deep breath, I hoisted my backpack up higher on my shoulder, and took a step. It was like I was transported into a whole new dimension! Everywhere I looked, teenagers were talking or on their cell phones. Teachers roamed around, oblivious to the world and only focusing on getting to one of the hundreds of rooms. It was all so different from my other schools. This was a huge public school, and-as usual-I felt like I was getting stares from every student. I mean, sure. I was short. Really short. But that's didn't mean I was a dumbie. I could defend myself, and just because I have blond hair, doesn't make me dumb. AT ALL. I don't know who started that but they obviously had some issues. Yet, I still felt uncomfortable, and my insecurity didn't help. I pulled my hood over my head, thankful that the dress code wasn't strict. Never thought I'd be thankful for that. I stuffed my hands in my grey pockets as I trudged over to my locker. My hoodie was my regular grey hoodie, with strings that looked purple. I'm not sure if I ran or jogged to my locker. Probably a combination of both. All the other schools I've been to, the lockers have been small, but the lockers at this school were so big, I could fit into them. But, I could fit into about anything I was so small. I was 17, and I was only maybe 5 feet. Give or take an inch or two. That was pretty short compare to the average kid nowadays.
Opening my locker, I put up some space wallpaper(because if you're going to customize your locker, you have to do it right...and to cover up the grafitit), and posters. The "I need my space" poster was my favorite. On the inside of my door was a long poster with the band, "Imagine Dragons" on it. Best band ever! I mean, yes. I listen to plenty of other types of music. But Imagine Dragons would always be my favorite. Their songs actually mean something. After I neatly arranged my folders and binders-even though I knew they would get messed up soon-I hung up some photos of my family. They were small, but just enough. I lived with my Aunt Lee, Uncle Ryan, middle school cousin Sierra, toddler cousin Jack, and my baby cousin Zach. I was adopted by my Aunt and Uncle, after my mother died when I was a baby. My father was never spoken of, even though I did find out he died shortly before I was born. Everyone said I looked like my mother, and had my father's attitude and wits, which made me feel happy, and closer to them. (Even if some of the traits weren't good.) I slid my money for lunch into my pockets, plugged my headphones into my rose-gold MP3 player, slid that into my pocket, and fixed my pink shirt under my hoody. Imagine Dragons played as I grabbed my bag, and went to Algebra-ugh. When I got there, my teacher marked me present, then pointed to a seat next to a blond haired boy-or did he have white hair? "Thank you.", I said, then walked to my seat. Plopping my bag on the ground, I listened as the familiar tune played in my headset.
"Cause I'm a bad liar.
Bad liar.
Now you know.
You're free to go."
Finally, the bell rang. The work was just a review, so the teacher allowed us to work in groups of 2 or 3 people. I didn't know anyone so I started my work.
"Excuse me. Are you new here?" I looked up to see the white haired-or blond-boy looking at me. Carefully, I nodded. "Would you like to work with us?", he asked as he referred to himself and a girl with silver hair, green eyes, and purple markings on her face. Must be tattoos... She smiled and waved. I slowly waved back.
"I mean, if it's okay. Then...sure." Moving my desk next to theirs, I held out my hand. "I'm-Hannah."
"My name is Pixal. And this is Zane.", said the girl. "Hello.", Zane greeted. Then we got to work. They were both amazingly good at Math, and gladly helped me understand some things. We were done in no time, and Zane took our papers to the teacher, while Pixal and I talked about what was being served for lunch. "Will you sit with us at lunch, Hannah?", asked Pixal when Zane returned.
"Really?"
"Of course. You are quite a good friend. It would be wrong for us to not invite you.", said Zane simply, as if getting a friend was no big deal.
"Well-then...sure! And were friends?" I wasn't quite sure how to respond.
"Of course we are." Pixal gave me a hug. We chatted about random subjects until the bell rang, then we all walked out together. Pixal and Zane held hands as we walked to Gym class.
Finally, when the boys and girls had to separate, Zane squeezed Puxal's hand, and slowly let go. Then he ran to sit by a group of boys on the other pair of bleachers. Pixal and I sat down in the big group of girls, slightly away from everyone else. Earlier, we had shared our experiences about bullying. She said that anyone who stayed around her and her group of friends too long then they would got bullied. She then asked me if I wanted to not be seen with them. I was like, "Do I look like I want to be away from you guys? Y'all are my first friends here. I don't give up friends just because of some stupid bullies." I guess I said the right thing, because she was very happy after that. We sat away from other people for fear of being bullied though. I hated when people made fun of my size. "So...you and Zane. Am I right?" Pixal turned a shade of purple. Wait. Purple?! Her markings also glowed. Come to think of it...they kind of looked like wires... She slowly nodded, her head dipping down to her purple shirt, as she stared at her white skirt bash fully.
"We are compatible.", she whispered with a smile. I smiled thinking about my new OTP. Then I cleared my throat.
"You're glowing."
"Oh! Haha! Oops! I-er...", she stammered, not looking me in the eyes as the glow slowly faded.
"I'm not judging. I think it's cool." My shy side was slowly disappearing.
"Th-thank you?"
"Just wondering though. How are you so good at math?"
"Um...I study a lot?"
"Why do you tap your wrists very once and a while like there's buttons?" No answer. "Are you a robot? Because you have a wire sticking out on you arm."
"I...yes. Although, I prefer the term droid. But I can feel emotions and more. I know you think I'm a freak. Just please don't tell." Pixal sighed as she took her hair down. She was like a new person. I don't know why she kept it up. I saw Zane stare and his entire face was red. The guys in his group nudged him, seemingly teasing the poor boy. Pixal didn't notice, because she could not see what was behind her. She turned so I could see the back of her head where a slot showed from her parted hair. A hard drive.
"Pixal, you're not a freak. That's amazing!"
"Really?"
"Yes! You're one of the coolest people I know, and this, adds to you're awesomeness. Wait. Does Zane know?" Pixal nodded.
"He is a nindroid." This time I nodded, as my suspicions were confirmed. Then I giggled.
"Robot love!" Pixal groaned with a purple blush, and her markings flew neon. "Pixal and Zane. Sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"
"Hush!", Pixal yelled as she covered my mouth. We both giggled, acting like we were in middle school. Just then the coaches walked in.
"Hello, Highschool! So glad you're here!", yelled a chipper lady with bright red hair in a high ponytail, whistle on her necklace, and a soccer mom t-shirt with blue sweatpants. Next to her was a female who looked to be right out of college. She had long black hair, and a blue streak. She wore a purple crop top with an undershirt underneath it, and jeans. Blowing a bubble with her gum, she typed something on her phone. The woman gestures to the girl. "This is Ata, and this is Coach Steel." She pointed to a tall man who was probably in his 60's. He had a nicely shaved, grey and white beard, glasses, a Ninjago high shirt and pants, and looked like he could beat us into a pulp in seconds. His face was grim as he nodded. "I'm so glad you're here! We are going to have so much fun! But first, we need to be clear on sports and offseason. Let's have Volleyball girls over here, football boys over here, and offseason in the middle." All the students split.
"Are you doing Volleyball?", I asked Pix. (Her nickname.)
"No. I am not much of a sports person. I am doing soccer though. What are you doing?" Not many girls were left in offseason.
"Soccer and Track. I prefer the running sports." Just then a girl with long, red hair in a ponytail, and amber eyes walked over to us. She was wearing an orange tank top, with a a shoulderless maroon sweater and tights. Her hair was in a thick wavy ponytail, slightly covering her golden hoop earrings.
"Hey, Pix! Could you hold my bag for me?", she asked Pixal. 'Must be one of Pixal's friends.', I thought to myself.
"Of course. Did you bring the food?"
"You know it. Kai had better come to the noodle shop soon. He owes me big time for this." It was then that she noticed me, and her face lit up. "Who's this?"
"Oh! Skylor, this is Hannah. Hannah, this is Skylor."
"Nice to meet you, Hannah.", Skylor said smiling. Tentatively, I waved with a shy smile. "Hey. Wish I could chat, but I gotta go! Talk after gym.", Skylor said before running off to the group of volleyball girls. She sat down by a girl who had raven black hair.
"Who was that?", I asked.
"That was Skylor Chen. She owns the noodle shop downtown.", said a voice behind us, causing us to jump.
"Zane Julien! Don't do that!", yelled Pixal.
"I am sorry. I did not meant to startle you.", he said with an apologetic look in his eyes as he sat down beside Pixal.
"Why, Zane. Are you not doing football this year?", asked Pixal.
"No. Last year was enough. And to finish answering your question, Hannah. As I was saying. She runs the best noodle shop in Ninjago. And she is Kai's girlfriend." I was about to ask who Kai was, when Pixal told me that I would meet him at lunch today.
"We're throwing him a surprise party at lunch to celebrate. He finally got accepted into his dream college. He's worked years for it." I stopped for a minute. I didn't want to intrude. Pixal seemed to read my mind. "It'll be fine, Hannah. You can meet the rest of the group. I'm sure you'll make friends with them."
"Okay..." We continued to talk as the coaches talked to the students who were doing that seasons' sports. At the end, we were all handed our PE schedule, and number of our lockers in the locker room. Then the bell rang, and we parted our ways. I had to go to Physics/Chemistry, while Zane was heading to Culjnary classes, and Pix to Advanced Programming. Waving a goodbye, I headed to class smiling. I genuinely liked this class, unlike Math. Carefully, I planned out the best place to sit. I wanted to be called on by the teacher, but I didn't want everyone to notice me. Walking in, I saw it. The last seat in the back row, right in the corner by the big window. I got a good view of the football field with a forest behind it. I couldn't wait to use the track next season. My teacher walked in as the bell rang. She has very short, grey hair, glasses, average height, and you could tell she was a Mom.
"Hello, students. My name is Mrs. Stewart. I'll be your teacher this period..."
•____•
Cole's POV:
Cake is life...chocolate...nah. I had that yesterday...vanilla?...nope...triple chocolate?....hmmm...quadruple it...icing...strawberry? No...what about powdered sug-
"Mr. Brookstone. I asked you a question."
"Cake!", I yelled, slightly jumping in my seat. A few people snickered as I sheepishly rubbed my neck.
"Oh. Ah, very good. Er-thank you for listening. Miss Evanston. What makes you, you?" As the girl answers the teacher's silly literature question, I slowly smiled. Cake did it agin. Maybe I'll answer cake every time...
I softly chuckled to myself, doodling in the corner of my page. Of course, I drew a majestic picture of myself and cake as ninja, picking off our foes one by one. Finally, the bell rang and I was free. I was out of the room so fast, I barely heard the teacher telling us to write an1-page essay about ourselves.
It felt like years had passed in the few hours I had been at school. I'd been to History, Math, Literature, and Gym. As usual, Gym was the highlight of my day. Over the summer, Zane had finally asked Pixal to be his girlfriend. Now he spent every spare minute with her. Hehe... When he saw Pixal with her hair down in Gym class...I can't even describe it. It was so funny. And of course, we couldn't pass up the opportunity to tease him about it. Lloyd(being the boy who gets everyone back on track)asked who the girl beside Pixal was. "Her name is Hannah. She's new here, and will be sitting at lunch with us. Make her feel welcome, because none of her friends live here. They all live hours away. And she didn't have many to begin with." We all nodded in understanding. We could relate to that. No one wanted to be friends with us because we hung out with Lloyd, and everyone was set on the assumption that Lloyd would one day turn evil like his father, Lord Garmadon. Of course, they didn't know he was really their hero, the Green Ninja, the master of Energy and Leader of the Ninja and Masters of Spinjitzu. All of us were ninja. Well, almost all of us. Neuro wasn't a ninja, and neither were Ash, Camille, Shade, Tox, and all the other elemental masters except for Skylor and Morro. But Morro was more of a Sensei. But no one knew this. So we had to live our lives being bullied and hated. Well, except for Ash, Camille, Shade and Tox. They were all popular kids. All the other elemental masters were grown ups. Griffin was popular too, but he was still nice enough to talk to us and hangout. Nobody made fun of Griffin. Griffin as the kind of guy all the ladies wanted. Kai would have definitely been a popular kid had he not hung out with us after we became a team. But aside from school, living your life with a secret identity can be sad, tiring, and just downright terrible. Kai is the red ninja, master of fire. Nya is the water ninja, and Jay is the blue ninja. He's the master of lightning. Zane is the White Ninja, also sometimes referred to as the titanium ninja, master of ice. Skylor is the orange ninja, although not a lot of people know about her. She is the master of Amber, meaning she can touch any elemental master and use their power she absorbed from that touch. And I'm the black ninja, master of earth. But you probably already know this stuff.
Soon enough, the Football Coach had called us over and explained how the season was going to play out. Practices would be during gym class, and Thursday afternoons after school. I was an exception of Thursdays because someone I would be training the Junior High football team after school. So on the days I could come after school I would. Otherwise I would have to make due with what we learn in class. But that was alright. I'd been doing football for almost a decade. It was something I would do in my spare time, until I finally got on the school team. He gave us the number of our lockers for gym class, schedule for what we would do during the week, and we went ahead and ran a few laps around the gym. Every once and awhile I would catch a glance of the girl named Hannah, but she was never looking my way. Either she was talking to Pixal and Zane, reading a book or drawing. A lot of the time she was laughing. The only thing was I couldn't hear her laugh or see her face. Why am I even trying? Just focus, Cole. You don't want Wu to chew you out for not focusing on your running. That would be humiliating...
It was finally lunch time, and time for Kai's "party". And where there's a party, there's cake. And where there is cake-I am there. When I entered the cafeteria, I stopped to look around. At the tables in the middle was where all the popular kids sat. Ash, Tox, Camille, and Shade sat at one table, surrounded by other handsome and pretty people. 99.9% of them wore makeup. People can just be oblivious that their looks are fake sometimes. Kind of like how it's pretty obvious that me and my friends are the ninja, it's just that no one really thinks about it, or even thinks about us. Unless we're being bullied. A lot of thought goes into the process of being punched and bruised.
In the middle tables around the popular kids sat the nerds, goths, and other kids. They were all just kind of minding their own business at lunch time, unless they were doing an activity or project together. Last but not least, the outsiders. The tables lining the walls of the cafeteria. That's where we sat. We were pretty much the only people who sat at those tables. Except for a few kids who were too afraid to sit at any of the other tables. We would try to befriend them, but rarely does a person ever want to be even 10 feet close to us. So every year we sat at the same table. It was close to the stage, and right by the doors that led outside to the soccer fields. At our table, all my friends were crowded around it, laying confetti or helping Skylor set up food. We eat a lot of food, so we were lucky we had Skylor to make it. Plus, she is Kai's girlfriend so it was free. Skylor was setting bowls of Kai's favorite noodles in the center of the table, while Nya set sushi on black trays beside a basket of fruit. Just the sight of the delicious food made my mouth water.
A tap on the shoulder brought me back to reality. "You gonna stand there all day, Cole?", asked a tall, orange-haired boy beside me. His red eyes contrasted against the shades he wore on top of his laid back hair. A white jacket with white stripes lay on his shoulder, and he wore blue jeans with white and red tennis shoes. A yellow star was pinned on his white shirt. Griffin Turner, elemental master of Speed.
"And miss out on cake?", I replied in fake shock. "Do you even know who I am?"
"Yah, yah. Cut with the drama. Let's get to this party.", he said with a grin.
"So how are we going to surprise Kai?", I asked as we made our way over to the table.
"Oh, Morro's got it covered.", Griffin replied nonchalantly. "Have you noticed that there are a lot of new kids this year?"
"I heard that more scholarships are being passed out. Plus, a lot more people are moving to New Ninjago City. There's a lot more job opportunities.", I replied with a shrug as we got to the table where we were immediately bombarded by Nya.
"There you are! Cole! You and Zane are the tallest, and he needs your help to hang the banner.", said Nya. She was holding a small, red banner that said "Congrats!" in shiny letters. Soon enough, I found myself on Zane's shoulders, Griffin and Jay holding me steady. In order to maintain my proper balance, I had to hold onto the window sill above me. Being tall has its disadvantages. People are constantly needing your help to reach things. "Alright! A little to the left...right...right-no my right! Left! Up a bit...down...Perfect!", Nya concluded with a smile. I sighed in relief. Now I can get down-Suddenly, I felt air beneath me, causing me to instinctively grab the window sill with both hands.
"Really guys?" They were just laughing at the sight of me dangling 13 feet in the air. Even Zane was smiling. "Alright. Haha. Very funny. Now get me down!" But all they did was turn around and go walk over to where Morro had returned with a wet Kai. Water fountains. Smart Morro. They knew I couldn't get down without accidentally allowing my power to escape, and make the ground crack. Now, metal...that was harder for me to control. So if only I could jump onto the table... A scuttling noise was heard underneath me.
"Here's a chair!" That voice was not familiar. Who would help me? I dropped down onto the metal chair, leaving a slight dent in the seat. Lifting my eyes, I caught the steady gaze of bright, blue eyes staring back at me. Blond hair flowed over her shoulders, a frazzled smile on her face. Realizing I was staring, I slid off the chair and stood in front of her. This was the girl from gym class. And her name was Hannah? How fitting. Such an angelic name for an angelic being...
"You had to ruin the fun, Hannah!" She giggled, as she turned to face Jay. I swear. I think her giggle was by far the cutest thing I had ever heard.
"Sorry, blue boy. We couldn't let him miss all the fun.", she shrugged. I had finally gotten a good look at her.
"Hey! You're the girl at the pay phone last night! Grocery girl!"
"Bakery boy! Yah, I remember! You're a lot more intimidating close up..." I simply laughed, causing her to slightly blush.
"You two know each other?", asked Zane as he walked up.
"Kind of. We had a run in last night after the bakery.", I explained to the nindroid.
"Well then, Hannah. This is Cole. Cole, this is Hannah." We shook hands formally, like we were old fashioned. Which I didn't mind, because a buzz sounded in my brain. I touched her hand... What is this girl doing to me?
I was about to try and make conversation, when Nya came over to her, and grabbed her hand giddily. I knew that smile. She was about to be a teaser. A throat was cleared behind me. I whipped around, naturally falling into a defensive position. Standing in front if me was Jay and Kai. Jay was laughing and looked like he was about to burst with excitement. Kai had a brow raised, and a knowing smirk. "She's totally your type, Cole!", Jay said like that fixed all out problems.
"I just met her!", I replied in annoyance. But I also felt... Guilty? Like I had been caught in the act.
"You boulder brain. She obviously likes you.", Kai said as he pointed to the group of girls, where Nya, Skylor, Pixal, and Hannah stood. Immediately, my gaze was drawn to the shortest of the group. Hannah. She was playing with a peice of her hair, blushing madly, and refusing to look any of the girls in the eye. "That my friend, is an example of when a girl is talking with her friends about a boy she likes. Believe me. I know.", Kai said as he stared pointedly at his sister's boyfriend. The poor boy in blue simply blushed from the thought of Nya talking bout him.
"Aren't we supposed to be celebrating?", I asked pointedly.
"But we are celebrating!", Jay squealed. Morro came over, his green eyes squinted question.
"What are we talking about?", he asked.
"Cole found his future girlfriend!" I tried to protest, but Morro pushed the topic further.
"Who is it?" Jay pointed to the pretty girl, drawing Morro's attention. The black haired man's eyes opened wide in shock. A single name left his lips. "Lillian..." I was confused and about to ask Morro about it, when Kai interrupted me.
"No, Jay. That's his future wife."
"Kai! Just-ugh! Quit. We just met."
"Love at first sight...", drawled Jay.
"Shut up-" I was once again cut off by Skylor bringing out the cake. All thoughts shifted to the dessert I was dying to taste. The cake was a large, orange-flavored cake(Kai's favorite) with vanilla creme icing, that had been dyed red. A black sword made of fondant lay on the top, and golden flames were drawn along the edge of the sword and cake. It was an interesting design, but Kai was ecstatic. So the lunch was spent eating food, and goofing off, with the occasional kiss from Kai to Skylor. The small party ended all to soon, and we had to go back to class. The rest of the day was boring, although I did find out I had a dual credits class with Zane, Nya, and Hannah. I had classes with the others as well.
This had been an interesting first day.
AN-so I finally finished this chapter? *Gasp* It's a miracle! But you guys better be thankful. This is 3 chapters if the original story together. So thank you for sticking with me this far, and have a lovely day, my childs! Love you all, and I will be working on the second chapter.
Status-edited and 4,457 words.
"Booyakasha!"
-Hannah (Yes, the character is based off of me. The bame, looks, personality, etc. so thank you!)