a second chance

cole's advice

lloyd's pov

i wake up exhausted, which makes me annoyed, and it's only 7 in the morning. great.

groaning, i roll over and sit up, looking around my dark room. it seems like no one's else's awake yet- the monastery's silent.

  silently i get ready for the day. i promised harumi a picnic, so she'll get one. and it'll be a picnic to remember.

  i'm not much of a cook, so i just grab leftovers out of the fridge and try to make them look nice. when i'm finished i look at the time. 7:39. still, no one else is awake. i wish someone else was, so i could talk/rant to them about harumi. just not kai. he would just make everything worse. he already has.

  sitting alone just makes me more annoyed, which makes me more stressed. this really is not my morning.

  "your awake already." i look up and see cole.

  "yeah," i reply.

  "we'll look at you mr. green ninja!" cole says as he pours himself a bowl of cereal. "what are you all fancy for?"

  "uh..." i don't see why i shouldn't tell him. "me and harumi are going on a picnic."

  "ooh, like a date??"

  "sure..."

  "haha! i knew it!" cole sits down next to me. "so you really like her then?"

  "well, yeah, i do" i say looking over at the picnic basket. i'm more anxious about this picnic every second. "but- i don't know..."

cole looks at me, mid-chew. "hmm. well, that's okay."

"what?" i say.

"personally, i believe harumi has changed. obviously, she's really passionate about making things right." cole swallows and says. "but that's me. and you're the one who kissed her the other day-" i blush. "-so you're the one who's thoughts matter here. so it's understandable if maybe, you're not ready."

"wow, that's... actually pretty wise cole," i say, surprised. "but... i'm just, conflicted. harumi's amazing, and cool and i really, really like her. but i've known kai forever. who should i trust? who can i trust?"

cole is silent. well not entirely. he chews slowly. "i guess just figure it out. these things take time."
i stay silent as well. we sit for a bit.

"thanks cole,"

"anytime, little ninja,"

after awhile harumi comes in, fully dressed in some clothes borrowed from nya. i'll never tell nya this, but harumi looks so much better than nya ever could. she looks a bit nervous. she's not the only one.

"hey," she says.

"you ready?" i smile. for real.

"let's do this,"