Rivals {Ninjago AU}

Chapter 9

***(Jay's POV)***

How could I be so blind?

Nya told me her brother went to Ridgewood. She looks so much like Kai, I even noticed it on the way to school with her yesterday morning. Plus, there was that home video yesterday where Kai was a toddler and Nya's parents were holding a baby – a baby he mysteriously knew nothing about. And then he was acting so funky when I told him I'd brought Nya to school!

My mind processes faster than I can handle it. Kai being Nya's brother makes so much sense and none at all at the same time.

Why would he not tell us? I mean, having a sister is kind of an important thing to mention. And it gets worse than him just "not mentioning" that he had a sister – he flat-out denied having anyone else related to him.

I shake my head. "You're Kai's sister. Why did he not tell us?"

"I'm not his sister," she swallows, the color drained from her face. Her response is about as unconvincing as a fish denying its need for water.

Anger snakes through my system, and my fist clenches. "I don't believe it. He's always been reckless, but..." There's no way he's that much of a jerk. He wouldn't drop her off at a gas station and leave her there with no phone and no ride. He wouldn't...

Maybe Nya's overreacting about him? But Lloyd – didn't he just confirm her story?

"Jay, are you there?" Lloyd asks on the other end of the phone.

"What's wrong with him?" I blurt. "Lloyd, you're his brother. You have to know something! What am I missing here?"

Lloyd releases a strangled sigh. "Kai has a sister he's always been petrified of telling you about. What more is there?"

"But – he dropped her off at a gas station alone and flat-out refused to drive her to school! Lloyd, what's wrong with him?" Anger matches hurt as I realize just how much Kai's blindsided us.

There's silence on the other end of the phone for a moment. "I...really don't know, Jay. And I've tried to confront him about it, but it never gets anywhere." He sighs. "I knew it was only a matter of time before someone slipped up and revealed the truth."

My mind latches onto his statement. "Wait." Only a matter of time before someone slipped up...

"So you lied to us too?" I exclaim, assaulted by hurt. No. Kai lied, but surely not Lloyd, too?

Please, Lloyd, no.

The truth sits there in my mind, blaringly obvious and stingingly subtle. Obvious because it must be true; there's no way Lloyd wouldn't know his own brother had a bio-sister.

Stinging because secrets don't correspond with Lloyd's character in the slightest. He's always been solid, dependable, a doer of good regardless of the cost – and though he might keep a secret for good reason, would he really lie about something as big as Kai having a sister?

"I didn't lie to you," Lloyd says, sounding exhausted. "But I didn't tell you he had a sister, either. And I know I probably should have, but it seemed like Kai's story to tell. I didn't want to interfere with that." He pauses, waiting for me to answer.

I drag a hand over my face. "So who else knows?" I monotone. "Cole? Zane?"

"Neither," Lloyd promises me. "Just you and I know, and I'd like to keep it that way until Kai tells –,"

I hang up before he can finish. There's no way I'm not telling Cole about this. We've been friends since we were in first grade, and I've told him pretty much everything about my life ever since. I know he's done the same.