"Lloyd!" I opened my eyes, shooting up. My blond hair was falling in my eyes, running my hands through it, feeling my fingers catch in the tangles. I felt my green eyes dart in every direction, looking for the normal bunks that surrounded me, filled with the quiet sounds of my friends, much deserving of sleep.

But there were none.

I felt my body tense up as the door on the other side of the small room creaked open. The bed was slightly elevated, so when I dropped to the ground it produced a small thud. I heard a voice come through the crack, a voice I recognized. "Lloyd? Are you okay?" I turned to face the graying woman, her dimpled cheeks and bright green eyes stared back at me.

"Mom?" She smiled at me.

"Come on, Lloyd. You don't want to be late on the first day of school." I looked up at her, feeling my eyes narrow in confusion.

"School?" She laughed, causing her smile to get larger.

"Yes. Did you forget?" She sat down on the edge of the bed, letting out a sign. She gently reached over and tussled my hair. "I know you're upset about the move, but this was a big chance for your dad." I turned my head toward her very fast, maybe a little too fast, since she jumped back a bit. My dad?

What was going on? Then, the memory came back to me, hitting me like a knife. My father. Lord Garmadon. The Mega Weapon. The others…

I blinked twice. What had he done? I didn't realize that my mother had continued on until I noticed her lips moving. "….and Ninjago High is the best school in the county. You'll be fine." She pulled me in for a hug and I could smell her musty, amber perfume. I smiled and hugged her back. She pulled me away, her green eyes twinkling, gently slapping her hand against my thigh. "Now, get ready. You've got a big day!"

As I stepped out of the car onto the curb, I felt my stomach take a horrible lurch. Last time I was at school, it was Darkley's. I don't want to have to go through another round of that. I took a deep breath, feeling the weight of the strap on my shoulder. I had heard stories about this place, the horrors, the fights, the social scene. True, everyone I had talked to was a drop-out, and they didn't go to a normal high school, but they all turned out fine…sort of. I shook my head, it would be fine.

No, I wouldn't.

The moment I walked into the school, I began to notice the prominent groups, the jocks, nerds, cheerleaders. Aryan always said it was key to notice things, to take in the enemies weaknesses, strengths. I felt the anger in my breath as it exhaled through my lips. This was a simulation, a lie, a life built on my failures. I felt my eyes fall on every person in the room, but just as I was scanning the body language of a pretty blonde, something knocked me to my feet. The weight of my backpack fell heavy against my shoulders, but I didn't have time to register the pain before I was dragged back to my feet. I felt a pair of hands begin to brush me off. "Oh, gosh. I am so sorry. I guess I was a little excited and jumpy." I looked up at the brunet boy with the deep blue eyes, feeling my heart almost stop. With one shoulder on my hand, he pointed his free pointer finger as me, giving me a squint of recognition. "Hey! You must be the new kid, right?" Before I could answer, his hand was in mine, shaking it up and down. "It's nice to meet you! I'm Jacob, but everyone calls me Jay." I kept staring at him in shock, but I managed to spit out my name.

"I'm, ah, I'm Lloyd." Jay smiled at me again, or rather, kept smiling, because he hadn't stopped.

"Nervous, right? About making friends, right? Well, you already made a friend in me, but I literally tripped over you!" He laughed to himself for about a minute, before he saw the look of….fear on my face. He quickly cleared his throat, then stretched his arm around my shoulder, pulling me towards a table. "Come meet my friends."

The moment we sat down at the table, I knew that this wasn't a simulation. It was Hell. I'm pretty sure my father was out there somewhere, laughing at me. The first person Jay introduced me to was the boy to the right of the only girl at the table. He was twirling a basketball around the tip of his finger, catching it every time it lost balance. He turned to look at me, running his hand through his unkempt hair, the basketball went immediately under his arm. "Lloyd, this is Kai. Kai, Lloyd." Jay made a gesture toward the both of us as he announced our names. Kai stuck out his hand and I shook. Next, he led me over towards the girl, her straight, black hair pulled back from her face by a red barrette. She smiled at me, shaking my hand gently when I offered it.

"It's nice to meet you, Lloyd. I'm Nya." After we had finished our introduction, Jay bent down, wrapping his arm across her chest, pressing his lips against her temple. She giggled, her thin fingers stretching across the back of his forearm. I smiled, but not before I saw Kai roll his eyes, so I gently nudged Jay. He cleared his throat and stood up straight. He then sat down next to her, so I sat down across the table, next to the other person at the table. He had a book in his lap, his blue eyes, framed by rectangular glasses. Jay leaned over the table, on his elbows. He gestured with both of his pointer fingers, the rest of them interlocked with one another.

"This is Zane. He doesn't talk much." Then, as though he had some big secret to tell me, he leaned even closer towards my face. "And there's one more person you need to meet." Using a subtle gesture, he pulled his fingers apart and pointed across the cafeteria. "That is Aryan." I looked across the room to the table which Jay was pointing, there sitting at the table was a pretty brunette who was looking away from the ruffian boys on the other side of the table. She was wearing a blouse, but she constantly touched the collar, scratched her collarbone, proving that she was uncomfortable. Jay made a quick wave, calling attention towards our table, Aryan looked up. Jay pointed at me and mouthed my name, Aryan smiled, waving slightly, but her action did not go unnoticed. The alpha male of the group came over toward her and grabbed her arm, rather roughly. They exchanged some quick words, then he let go of her, leaving a clear red mark on her arm. No sooner had he left that another boy came up to her, another brunet. He leaned toward her and pressed his lips against hers. Zane, who had been previously been watching, turned back towards his book. Aryan let the kiss linger, but only for a moment, before he quickly pulled away.

"He used to our friend too." Jay said, his voice gesturing towards the boy who had grabbed Aryan's arm. "Until he got too cool for us.." His voice trailed off a bit. "And started treating Aryan like property." Nya shrugged slightly.

"She'll explain more later, after school. She'll look more like herself then." I glanced back at the table, the brunet boy was now holding Aryan's hand. I pointed.

"And him?" I felt the mood at the table go icy.

"That's her 'boyfriend', Andy." I noted the air quotes Kai had added around the word "boyfriend." All of a sudden, our conversation was cut short by the ringing of the bell. We all began to stand up and collect our things. Nya smiled again.

"Meet us at the flagpole after school." Then she walked away. And I was scared, because it almost had me doubting that this wasn't real