Flames of the Past #2: Beginning of Chaos (Ninjago Fanfiction)

Chapter 7

"Aren't you just full of surprises?"

Cole turned from his window to see Miss Beech standing in his doorframe.

She was smirking. "First you're looking for me, next you're awake before I have to wake you. What could be next, I wonder?"

Cole narrowed his eyes at her. "I didn't sleep much in the first place," he muttered.

"Because of last night?" Miss Beech asked as she began dusting. She clicked her tongue. "Must've been quite a show. Word on the street is you almost lost the Fire Crystal and your little girl."

Cole furrowed his eyebrows, walking away from the window. "Well, news seems to travel fast around here," he grumbled.

"What else would we palace staff do when the work is done?" Miss Beech sniffed as she moved over to the window herself. Cole fell silent as he watched her begin to clean the window, finding himself watching her swift movements closely. She reached up to wipe the top of the window and Cole's eyes moved downward as her sleeve rolled up a bit.

A jolt of alarm hit him. For on her arm, he spotted a long red cut.

What in the world...? The cut wasn't bleeding, but he could tell it was fresh. Just as he opened his mouth to question it she whipped her arm back to her side, covering the wound again. "Don't you know it's rude to stare?" she growled. But by her sudden sharpness, Cole wondered if she hadn't meant to show him. "Don't you have somewhere to be?"

Cole blinked back to reality. Hurriedly, he pulled out his phone to check the time. "Right, our meeting," he said. "And I'm late..." Beckoning Rainy to follow him, he started toward the door.

"Almost losing the Fire Crystal to some kids, now being late for your own team meeting." Miss Beech shook her head. "I have to say, you're a mess."

Cole halted again, raising an eyebrow. "Me, specifically?" he shot back.

"Precisely. Aren't you supposed to be the rock of the team?"

Cole's frustration melted into sadness. "I was," he mumbled. "Now I'm more like... the shadow of a rock."

"Why's that?"

"Well, because... because..." Cole was confused at first. He groped for a reason, then found one that always made the most sense. "Because of Lloyd."

Miss Beech laughed. "Seriously?"

Cole furrowed his eyebrows. "Yes, seriously!" he retorted.

"That boy has enough emotional control over you to make you doubt your entire lifestyle?" A thin smirk crossed Miss Beech's face. "Sounds to me like you're obsessed with him."

Alarm shot through Cole. "I'm not obsessed with him!" he shouted.

Miss Beech shook her head in disbelief. "Every time I come in here it's Lloyd this, Lloyd that..."

"I hate him!"

His comment seemed only to lead her on. "Oh?"

"Yeah," Cole confirmed, only less confident than before.

"Don't you think it's impossible to hate someone without caring about them at least a little?" Miss Beech went on. "If you really didn't care about him, you wouldn't care enough to hate him."

Cole only grew less confident. "What do you mean?" he asked warily.

Her eyes twinkled knowingly. "You considered him your brother once, didn't you?"

Cole kept her gaze; no words came to him.

Half-smiling, Miss Beech swept past him. "Your dog needs a bath," she commented before leaving the room.