The Lies You Weren't Told-Sequel to Crazy, Messed-Up Life

Chapter Eight

The next day...

(Cole's POV)

We all sat at the table, eating our breakfast in an awkward silence. I glanced at the boy, Oliver, out of the corner of my eye. He was glaring across the table at Lloyd, who was glaring back. Whatever Lloyd had said to him last night must've really pissed him off. I felt a hand touch my leg and looked to see Zane looking at me worriedly. I let my eyes dart over to Oliver, then back at Zane. He nodded, grimacing. We both feared that he would do something to endanger us all. "So," Nya finally said, "When did Sensei say he was coming back?" I silently thanked her for breaking the silence while Zane answered. "He said that he would be back yesterday. Him and Misako must have gotten caught up in their research and stayed the night in a hotel." Lloyd grimaced at the thought. At least the glare-off had stopped. "That means they should be back soon," Kai said, frowning, "And we didn't even get to finish our party. Damn." Everyone laughed, well, except for Ollie and her brother. I looked over at her. She looked miserable. "Hey, Ollie, what's wrong?" I asked. The others looked at her, concerned, but she just lowered her head. "Nothing," she mumbled. I didn't believe her. Neither, by the looks of it, did anyone else. "Baby, don't be like that," Lloyd said, lifting her chin so he could look into her eyes, "If something's wrong, you can tell us." She looked away, then back at him. "I'm just a little bit upset about last night still," she said finally, "It's nothing to fret about." Lloyd nodded softly, before leaning down to kiss her. I saw Oliver scrunch his nose in disgust out of the corner of my eye. I could see why Ollie was so upset he found her. He was over-protective, a lot like Kai about Nya and Ollie about her sisters and cousin. But his is for their family name, not love. I looked over at Naomi. She had the same grim look on her face as she had had for the past day. I raised my eyebrow at her. She had read my thoughts and commented on them. She usually doesn't like using her powers. I thought about what she said. Only for the family name? Does that mean... He wants her to be married to a family that is almost as rich as hers. Wait, what? Almost as rich as hers? "Yes. She's part of the richest family in Ninjago." Everyone looked up as Naomi answered my question out loud. Naomi looked around, then continued "Her full name is Olivia king Johnson. She's the daughter of the multi-millionaire, Oliva Dame Johnson, and her not so well know husband, Daniel King Johnson," she paused and looked at her cousin, who's face had drained of color, "Should I continue or are you gonna do it?" I looked at Ollie. She looked around the table, before looking down. "I hate you for this," she mumbled, before digging and looking up again. Her eyes burned with fear and sadness. "My family has had a long history of boys. There hasn't been a girl in hundreds of years, well, until me," I raised my eyebrow. That's a long time of just dudes. "They all married to the second richest family at the time and the wife would take the reins of the money while the husband would cook and clean and care for their children until they are married off to the next richest family and the cycle continues. But, first, on the child's eighth birthday, the father puts them through an intuition that seals them into the family officially. It's a lot of pain to have done and afterwards, anything you touch that is colder than your blood temperature is unbearable. It still is." I felt my eyes widen. She told us she didn't feel the cold at all. I saw Naomi nod at me. There's a lot she's said that isn't true. "When Tym and Austin were born, my father was eager to seal then in the family. How extraordinary is it that we, the Johnson family, after so many years, would have the girls? After I heard him say he was going to do the intuition on them earlier than planned, I thought of mine and couldn't bear the thought of it happening to my precious sisters. So, one night, I grabbed them abs made a run for it," she looked down again, "Please don't hate me now you know the truth." I gapped at her. How could we hate her for her parent's twisted traditions? "Ollie, sweetheart, how could any of us hate you because of your family's traditions?" Lloyd said softly. Ollie looked up at him. "You don't hate me?" she asked quietly. He smiled and shook his head. She looked around and we all did the same. She smiled and hugged Lloyd. "Thank you," she whispered. Suddenly, it was as if a huge weight was lifted from the room. For the first time in a day, Naomi smiled, probably relieved it worked out okay. Kai put his arm around her and squeezed her softly. Zane grabbed my hand and I leaned my head on his shoulder. It was all happy, until Oliver stood up abruptly, slamming his fists onto the table. We all sat up and looked at him, shocked at his actions. He just glared at us all, before storming away and out the door. I stood up hesitantly, thinking about following him. Naomi shook her head, but I didn't listen to her. I started towards the door, but stopped a two figures walked through. "Sensei!" Everyone greeted, relieved that he was back. He stepped inside, a confused look on his face. "Who was that boy?" he asked. "Oh, geez, have you missed out on alot over the night," Jay laughed nervously. "But I think it best that we prepare before we explain," Zane cut in, "I have a feeling that that boy is going to be back soon." He looked at us all. "He's planning something. I can feel it."