Spin Harmony (Jaya Week 2023)

Day 5/6/7 (it's a combination, okay?!)

As you can see, Jaya week really didn't go well for me this year. I know yesterday was the last day for submissions, so this doesn't really count, but to tell the truth, I forgot and thought it was tomorrow. I'm really sorry this book didn't amount to much; I've been suffering writer's block all summer, my computer hasn't been working very well, and I didn't have that much of an outline. This was just a little plot bunny that I had (although it didn't turn out to have much plot, ironically.)

Anyway, I felt like I couldn't just leave you hanging even though this is too late to count, so here's the last chapter, which combines elements of the last three prompts. I hope you enjoy it, and you are doing well! School is going well for me, but I'm of course busy (as usual.) Thanks for reading!

The drive back from the show was so long, Jay almost fell asleep before they got back. When he did get to bed, it was late, and when he woke up again the next morning, he discovered two things. First, he was still wearing his clothes from the night before–a blue t-shirt and sweats–and he had missed breakfast. At least, he was pretty sure he had–it was ten-thirty.

He didn't exactly want to get up, but he figured he should. He pushed back his covers and got out of bed. He was thirsty, but he wasn't quite sure where he'd left his water bottle. He quickly brushed his teeth and hair, and got dressed in fresh clothes–cargo pants and a hoodie. He found both his water bottle and his schedule in the bag he'd taken with him to the concert, and checked the paper. They had a forty-five minute meeting at eleven, but otherwise, nothing else was scheduled for their day. He was glad–he had promised Nya he would talk to her, and he had probably already missed his chance to see her at breakfast, and would have to hope he could find her later.

When he got to the dining hall, no one was there, and most of the food had already been eaten. He grabbed a bowl of granola and yogurt, and sat by himself at the usual table to eat. When he was done, he had to rush to the meeting, and still managed to arrive a little late.

"Where have you been?" Zane asked.

"Yeah, where have you been, Jay?" Kai gave him a suspicious look.

"Sorry, I slept too late," Jay explained, out of breath. "I just got a quick breakfast before coming here."

"That's alright, we haven't started." Zane said.

"But I would warn you to wake promptly from now on, young man!" Dareth warned, causing all four of them to roll their eyes, groan, and sigh in various combinations.

"What do you care, you're only responsible for us for three more days." Cole pointed out.

"That may be true, but–"

"Can we just get on with the meeting already?" Kai complained. "We can talk about Jay's sleep schedule later."

The meeting wasn't very interesting, but with Dareth's rambling it ran on for fifteen extra minutes after they'd gotten off their call with their real manager, Mr. Park. When they finally got away, they gladly headed to lunch. Jay saw Nya already sitting at the table, and she smiled and waved. After getting food, he sat down next to her. Kai glanced at them but said nothing, sitting next to her on the other side.

After lunch, Jay and Nya took a walk through the ship. Kai seemed to be resigned to the fact that he could do nothing about them, or maybe Zane and Cole had distracted him, because he left them alone.

"So, where were you this morning?" Nya asked.

"I slept through breakfast," Jay explained. "We got back pretty late last night."

She nodded. "I assumed so, 'cause of the long drive and everything. Did you come right back, or did I miss another late night excursion?"

He laughed, remembering their night at the carnival. "Nope, I think Dareth learned his lesson after the first time."

"Probably." She smiled, but then pursed her lips in worry. "You think he really believed us? I mean, he didn't see anything that would make him believe . . ."

"No. Our secret is safe from him. Unless the others spill."

"Will they?"

"Not if they know what's good for them." He grinned. "I have plenty I could tell about their love lives if needed."

"Oh really?" Nya wasn't sure she wanted to know. "But . . . do you think we should keep it secret? Do you think we can?"

Jay shrugged. "I don't know. To be honest, it'd probably be easier, 'cause you're Kai's sister. You two are living together now, right? We could see each other pretty frequently without people wondering where you came from or anything."

She nodded. "Yeah. Sounds good."

He felt like jumping up and down. He could hardly believe that someone like her would think whatever they had sounded good. Whatever they had. He knew someone had to define it someday–and he thought that, after all this, it should be him.

He took her hand, and stopped walking. Since they were connected, so did she.

"So, you think we can make this work after all?" He asked nervously. She nodded.

"Then–" Jay took a deep breath.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" He blurted out.

"Will you be my boyfriend?" Nya asked at the same time.

They both burst out laughing, and, too breathless to speak, nodded in confirmation to each other. It was amazing, Nya thought, how they could make each other laugh so easily. She had forgotten what it was like to have a real friend.

"So," She said when she finally recovered, "Is there anything special you'd like to do? I think I've been to every remotely interesting part of this ship. There's a pool, a gym–"

"The pool sounds nice." Jay said. "But actually, didn't you say you used to want to learn to dance? I could teach you."

"I don't know if I have the grace for that sort of thing," Nya admitted. "I've never really tried."

"That's what I'm for! I am the second best dancer out of all of us, you know." He reminded her. "It's good you picked dancing, since I'm only the third best singer."

"That's perfectly fine," Nya said. "I only sing karaoke."

"We could do that sometime." Jay said. "But for now, let's dance."

They went down to the dance studio, which luckily was empty. Jay wasn't the best teacher, but Nya proved to be much better at dancing than she'd expected. When they finally stopped to shower and change before dinner, they were both sweaty and exhausted, but happy.

"That was the most fun I've had since . . ." Nya couldn't think of a time to compare it to, and trailed off, looking down.

Luckily for her, Jay either didn't notice or chose to ignore it. "You're really good," He stopped to gasp for breath. "Are you sure you aren't going to take after your brother?"

Nya shook her head fervently. "No way. I don't want to sing. But maybe I could take dance classes."

"You should. Then we could do it together again sometime."

She nodded. "We will. Thanks, Jay."

---

After dinner, they all went down to the pool, which everyone seemed to enjoy, even though it was nothing fancy. It was heated, but Kai still complained that they didn't have a hot tub, and Cole thought they should install a water slide. After a while, they lined up at the far end of the pool, elbows on its edge, to watch the sun slowly set beneath the sea. Jay glanced at Nya–her hair was dripping at the ends, and getting frizzy where it was starting to dry, but he didn't mind. She was still pretty, but he liked her for even more than that. For the fact that she indulged his crazy ideas, liked his inventions, and–

"Isn't that beautiful?" She whispered in his ear, pointing towards the horizon, where the orange sunlight reflected over the water.

"It is. Smart of you to bring us down here." He whispered back.

"Thanks." She leaned gently against his shoulder. "I'll always remember this. Forever."

"Yeah," He kissed the top of her head. "Forever."