That One Girl

Chapter 6

***Sorry for updating a few hours later than usual, all! I had intended to wake up early this morning and post for you, but that just didn't work ;)

This chapter has a lot of plot in it. I think you'll really like how it plays into the rest of this book ;)***

***(Cole's POV)***

I go jogging out of the monastery after Nya. She's fast, but I have the advantage of long legs. I'm sure I'll catch up with her in a moment.

"Nya," I call after her. "You know running from your problems doesn't make them any better, right?"

She swivels and turns to face me, anger written all over her features. "I face problems all day, Cole. Leave me alone to deal with them from afar, for once."

I finish running the distance to her. "Nya – "

"Don't use that tone with me." She crosses her arms. "I got mad back there, and this is how I work out my emotions without blowing up at people."

"What made you so mad?" I try to sound like a therapist here.

She scoffs. "Cole, do you really need to ask that? You march in with some girl – okay, not some girl, but an old friend of yours – and she thinks she can just train to become one of us, no problems. She purposefully pushes my buttons, and it turns out she's some stinkin' genius who doesn't have to work to be smart! Cole, I should be a junior in high school, or even a sophomore, given that my birthday's at the end of June. But I'm graduating this year, and it's because of a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Kai's forced me to – "

I place my hands on her shoulders. "Nya, Seliel has had to work for everything she has, believe me."

She shrugs me off. "Maybe so, but then you all treat her like she's automatically a great candidate for training. And soon enough, you all are going to let her on the team, and it took me two years and the sudden appearance of powers to make me good enough for that!"

I plant a hand on my hip. "Nya, is this about your constant struggle to be the best? Your worth isn't found in how you compare to other people, you know."

She huffs. "Leaving now, Cole." She turns to go.

"I'll send Jay after you," I threaten her. "I know he won't leave you alone until you talk this out."

Her shoulders sag. "Look, Cole...don't send Jay after me. He doesn't even care about me as a person anymore – only wants me because he feels romantically for me." She sighs heavily.

"And how do you figure that?" I frown.

"Because whenever I'm upset or hurting, he'll try to comfort me, and then it becomes...some ploy for us to get back together."

"Aww, Nya. I'm sure he doesn't mean it like that."

"Probably not, but..." She shakes her head, turning her face to look at me. "I'll be back in an hour or so, Cole. Let me go walk this off."

I release a long breath. "Only if you promise to talk with the team tonight about Seliel, okay?"

"Fine. Whatever. I'm sure I'll be more collected by then, anyway." She stalks off, traveling much slower than before.

I trudge inside. I really need to talk with Jay about his Nya obsession. It's not healthy for either one of them, and he doesn't even know it's hurting her. She wouldn't tell him something that could make his depression even worse, so I guess I have to be the bad guy here.

When I return to the monastery, I find Seliel is sitting on the couch, chatting with Zane and Skylor about tax rates in Ninjago City. Lloyd has disappeared, probably to get ready for practice. A shirtless Kai is eating from an old bag of chips he found, and Jay's just now out of the shower.