Rivals {Ninjago AU}

Chapter 5

A/N: YO KIDDOS I'M HERE-

Sorry about the severe lack of updates! As many of you know, I'm a slowly retiring author. I'm trying to finish my current books and just participate on Wattpad socially.

This is my current book conquest. Any bets on when I'll have it done? (Hint: I can guarantee you'll be a lot closer to the truth if you put it in the six-month or more range.)

***(PIXAL's POV)***

Taylor Swift drifts through my headphones as I finish my creative writing homework. Though I'm better with math and science, English is my favorite subject. I love reading novels from a few hundred years ago and trying to recreate their magic in my own writing. Unfortunately, I find that I lack the creativity of many renowned authors of the past.

I sigh, pulling off my headphones and saving some final changes to my paper. It's not due for another three weeks – it's only the third day of school, after all – but I want so badly to do well on it.

I never feel like I do. It's always like there's this part of my writing that's missing. I always ace academic papers, but my stories are limp and fall short of my aspirations.

I close my laptop and set it aside, opting to pick up my phone and check for a message from my dad. He's the founder and CEO of Borg Industries, Ninjago's biggest technology business. That means he's practically famous and incredibly rich, but it also means he works a lot of hours. He's hardly ever around because of it.

My eyes peruse the empty hallways and quiet atmosphere of our mansion. This place is too big for the two of us, and I think my dad knows that, too.

He just hasn't done anything to fill it.

I brace my hands on my knees and rise from my spot on the ground. All my friends are busy tonight – except for maybe Harumi, who's been hanging out with us lately – and the loneliness is getting to be more than I can bear.

I pace over to the curtained dining room window and look out. Our dining room's on the second floor of our house, so I get a great view of the streets from here.

I look down and see a car leisurely driving down a backroad, the motorcycle behind it dangerously close to its bumper. I guess not everyone likes a slow drive in the country on a balmy summer afternoon, but I find the notion romantic.

The lonely feeling inside gnaws at my heart, and I blink and turn away from the scene outside. No need to be thinking of things like romance when I go to an all-girls school. I may wish I had someone to share my feelings and dreams with when life gets rough, but a boyfriend is not in the cards for me right now. In fact, I'm going to have no time for dating in the near future. I have high school to finish, college to pour myself into, then graduate school and a doctoral degree and a career to build. I've always dreamed of working with my dad. We've planned it since I was in middle school. There's no time for romance with a life that busy.

Or maybe there is, but Dad hasn't found it.

I sigh, wiping my palms on my deep purple granny skirt. I wish my dad would get out and try to date someone, but he's remained completely single for as long as I can remember. No dates, no tiny work-crushes, no nothing. And my dad and I tell each other everything, so there's really no way something's happened without my knowing.

A line from one of my favorite classics of all time, Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, comes to mind.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."