*5 Years ago*

Jay's POV

"Do you think I look dumb?" I walk out of my dressing room in a baggy, bright blue gi to where Nya is standing. She is already in her costume, a red kimono with some mascara and red lipstick.

"Not at all. You look like you'd fit in perfectly with the fruit snack gang," she uses the nickname we've created for the ninja team.

Ever since we met, Nya and I have been hanging out. I've been homeschooled my whole life, so becoming friends with Nya has been really nice. I'd definitely consider her my best friend. She's really nice and funny. Plus, we have similar interests. It's nice to finally have a friend.

"Yeah, but... I'm so much smaller than the rest of them. They all look so much older than me," I express, looking even smaller in my baggy gi. "Won't I look out of place?"

"Well, we're the same height, aren't we?" Nya brings up, "You're also the youngest of the guys. You'll catch up. Besides, I think people will find you endearing. So what if you don't look like the others? They didn't cast you to play their roles," she comforts me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "If anyone looks ridiculous, it's me. This makeup is caked on," Nya takes a glance in the mirror that is on my door before scrunching up her nose.

"Hey, you're not alone. Look at my face," I turn my head, revealing my foundation covered skin.

"They put more on you than me!" she laughs. "Jay Gordon: the foundation king."

"Oh, there you two are," one of the stage directors sighs once she sees us, murmuring something into a headset. "Mr. Gordon, you're wanted on the monastery set. You can come watch if you want, Ms. Taylor."

"Oh, you know I'm coming," Nya tells the stage director who nods and starts to lead us in the direction of the set. The two of us stay decently far behind her, so we can keep having our own conversation. "Did you hear that another director is apparently making a show about a team of samurai? Rumor has it they started to make it once the news of our show came out. Gabe's uncle is all stressed about it because if the other show outperforms ours, the studio will pick up their show and not ours."

"Why wouldn't the other director just use an idea that isn't like ours? We're just going to be appealing to the same market, and they'll have to decide between the two," I ask as we take a right turn down another hallway.

Before Nya can respond, the stage director juts in, "You two sure get along well. Did you know each other beforehand?"

"Nope, Nya and I met when we got the roles," I answer.

"Yeah. We met on the day we signed our contracts. It was on Christmas, and we went ice skating after," Nya elaborates, glancing over at me and giving me a little smile.

"I'm a lot more graceful on the ice than her. She obviously wasn't forced into ice skating classes when she was younger," I tease Nya.

She lightly elbows me in the side, her eyes wide. "I knew that wasn't your first time, you liar!" she laughs back.

"No, no, no, I said that was the first time I remembered. I knew I took classes, but I couldn't remember doing them. I guess it was all muscle memory though," I shrug.

"Well, the show needs to capitalize on your abilities and make an ice skating scene or something..."

"I'll suggest it," the stage director says, "I've heard that Zane can figure skate. I'm not sure about Kai and Cole, though. Maybe it can happen in a holiday special."

"Please, please exclude me from that scene," Nya subtly pleads, making me laugh. "I don't need that embarrassment in my life."

"I could always try to teach you. It gets so much easier with practice," I offer.

"I'd like that."

Without even realizing it, we walked straight onto the set. Now, we're in the center of the courtyard of a monastery. Training machines and contraptions create an obstacle course that looks really tricky to get through. They've been training us to look like real ninja, but it looks like quite the task.

"Jay! Nya! Come over here!" my thoughts are interrupted by a deep voice calling from the other side of the set where Cole is waving us over. Without hesitation, the two of us walk to where he's standing with Kai and Zane.

"So then I told the guy to chill out because he was obviously just being a dick just to be a dick and... oh, hi Jay, hi Nya. I'm telling a story about this jackass I saw at 7/11 yesterday. He was being an absolute tool to the cashier for absolutely no reason... Anyways, I told him to chill, so he tried to fight me, but there happened to be cops there, so they stopped him before he could touch me..."

"You say that so casually," Cole comments. "He almost beat you up."

"Nah, I could've beat him. We've been training how to fight, remember?" Kai disagrees, cracking his knuckles.

"Regarding fighting, I overheard several of the producers discussing how today is simply a test run for costumes and makeup. They want to ensure the makeup will look adequate after we sweat, and they want to double check that the costumes are durable enough to withstand the strain we will be putting them under," Zane shares.

"Ugh, we're coated in makeup, and now they're going to see if we just sweat it off! Gross," I press my hand against my face, a layer of foundation coming off with it.

"Agreed. They definitely overdid it on the makeup, especially if we're going to be sweating our butts off," Cole does the same thing to his face.

"Also, does anyone else feel ridiculous in their outfit?" Kai looks down at his gi. "Like red is an awesome color, but I feel like this is overkill. It's like Dracula dumped his stash all over me."

"Tell me about it," I look down at my bright blue. "Cole and Zane have such neutral colors, and we're out here sticking out like sore thumbs."

"I think you two look fine. It works," Nya reassures us. "Besides, we want our show to stand out. Being a pack of fruit snacks will definitely stand out."

"Besides, we have to trust the producers. They know the business better than any of us. If we want the show to take off, we need to listen to what they say."

---

*present day*

"I swear we've searched the entire party at least 3 times. Where could Nya be?" I sigh from outside of the mosh pit in the center of the room. I knew there were a lot of people here (I greeted them all, after all), but seeing them all condensed in one room is insane. It's impossible to find anyone. I haven't even found a single one of my friends yet.

At least I know that the party is going well. It's a lot less tame than I intended -a majority of the cast is now old enough to drink, so that certainly shifts things -, so I'm naturally a bit worried about Nya.

Nya, Kai, and I were swallowed up by the industry's party culture when we were younger. The press was up our throats all of the time, so we just needed an escape. Through going to parties and either drinking alcohol or doing some sort of drug, we were able to leave the stress behind and just go wild.

At that moment, we didn't see anything wrong. We decided that drugs and alcohol stayed at parties, and while Kai and I were able to hold back on our daytime consumption, Nya wasn't. She was in more desperate need of an escape than any of us. The media was heavily sexualizing her, her relationship with her mom was becoming frayed, and Gabe was tightening his hold on her. She couldn't resist the temptation to leave it all behind for a little while.

Realizing how creepy it was that these older people were enabling us to get blackout drunk (through Skylor's intervention), Kai and I were able to quit going to parties. We found better ways to escape from the pressure.

Not only did Gabe bring Nya to parties with him (both were under the drinking age, but Gabe was still legally an adult), but he would also provide her with substances at their apartment (at least until she accidentally called him my name while high). Then, he took it all away from her, but she was already hooked.

She established a coping mechanism that hurt her more than it helped her. Gabe forced her away from everything she had in the world, and she just needed something to help numb the loneliness.

Even though Skylor helped her get clean, settings like this get me worried about her. The last thing I want is for her to relapse at a party that I'm throwing.

"She's probably looking for you, too. You're both probably circling around and slightly missing each other," Tessa theorizes. When she sees the worry on my face, she adds, "Maybe we should move in the other direction and check the opposite way, so if that is the case, we'll run into her."

"Good idea," I run a hand through my hair. "Sorry about this. I worry easily, and Nya is one of my best friends, and..."
"Don't worry about it. It's better to care too much than not care at all. Besides, if I was fed up with it, I would've left to do something else," she comments, putting a small smile on my face. "Oh my gosh, I have something I must show you later. I saw it and sent it to Kai. Apparently, there is this Twitter account of this man pretending to be one of your villains. It's so in-depth that people think it's promotion for this season."

"Dang really? What's their name?" I start to walk as I talk, scanning the party for Nya.

"The Diamond Assassin."

I laugh at how ridiculous it is. "How does anyone think that an actual villain would be named that? It's ridiculous."

"Beats me," she shrugs. "What are you going to do once the show is over? I maaay have watched a few interviews where you said that Ninjago is the only project you're interested in, so now I'm curious"

"Well, I'm 19 now, so my parents technically can't force me to act anymore. Ninjago has been a blast, but I just feel like I was meant for something else. I really want to be an engineer. Maybe it will just be a side hustle between projects, but I know I want to create something tangible. Like of course I'm bringing a character to life, but I'm not really creating something original... Sorry, I don't know if that made sense or answered your question," I nervously laugh at the end, realizing I definitely talked more than I was supposed to.

"That made complete sense. You want to do what you want to do, not what your parents want you to do. I respect it. I never could," she looks at me, impressed.

"Do you not want to act?" I ask her.

"No, no, no, I definitely want to act. That's why I flew to the United States to do so. I just never wanted to be a model. My parents pushed me into it at a young age and said I had 'a gift that I couldn't waste'. Models are just...so sexulized that it's revolting. I'm not a toy to be used in someone's twisted fantasies. I don't want to pose on the front of a magazine with no clothes on. It just...isn't me," she explains.

"I'm sure your parents would support you if you explained that to them, and even if you do quit without their permission, it's your life and your call to make. Your parents will need to..."

"Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaay," at the sound of her voice slurring my name behind me, I turn around. Nya, with thrashed hair, stumbles over to me, tripping over her own feet, before placing her hands on my chest. "Woooow, y-you're soooo mus...musculature."

The stench of alcohol coats her breath, and her eyes are red. My heart sinks. "Are you cross faded?"

"Nooo, I'm Nya. You...forgot?" her face quickly scrunches up, her eyes watering even more than expected in this state. She sways from side to side, her balance uneasy.

"Did you smoke weed and drink alcohol?" I clarify, and her mouth makes an 'o' before her upper body contracts a single time, her shoulders briefly hunching forward.

"Uuuh, huuuh. I huurt now," she puts a hand over her stomach. However, her attention is immediately pulled to Tessa who is standing beside me. As Nya goes to say something to Tessa, her body contracts again and again until vomit flies out of her mouth, splashing all over my shirt. It ricochets back onto her, splattering her face and dress.

Both Nya and I (along with everyone who saw it) are stunned. I try to process the puke dripping down the front of my shirt, the warm liquid soaking through the fabric and touching my chest, while Nya's eyes are just wide before she turns and throws up more on the ground. Once she's done, her chest heavily rises and falls. The smell of it all makes me nauseous.

"We should get you cleaned up..." Tessa starts, reaching out to put a hand on my shoulder. However, Nya sloppily slaps it away.

"Dooon't touch my Jay," Nya snaps at her, making my eyes widen. At that moment, I realize all of the phones pointed in our direction, recording the entire incident. I need to get Nya out of here before they can capture anything else.

"Let's go clean up," I suggest to Nya, hoping that I can somehow get into her fuzzy mind. Instead, it's like she doesn't hear me.

"If...if you waaaant him sooooo bad, fiiiight me," Nya staggers, eyes on Tessa. Her hands are lifted as if she's about to throw a punch.

I take a step between the two, trying not to analyze Nya's drunken words. "We're leaving," I tell her softly. The smell of the throw up is becoming even more unbearable, and it might make her puke again.

"Ooooo, to where?" I grab onto her wrist and pull her towards the hallway. The first part of the crowd sees me coming through, so they part to form a gap for us. After we get far enough, I need to bulldoze a way through, squeezing through small gaps while making sure Nya stays close to me. I pull her into my side, so she doesn't accidentally get lost or run into someone .

"Do you know where Skylor is?" I ask her once we reach the outside of the blob of people. She shakes her head.

Everyone's heads turn towards us expectedly as if they know what just happened, so I make the executive decision to call Skylor once we reach my room instead of here to keep attention off of us. I keep Nya close to me as I walk out of the room. Everything is suddenly quieter as soon as we walk away. I take a deep breath once we reach the stairs.

"Do you want me to carry you up?" I offer. She had a hard time even making it over here. I can't imagine her trying to walk up stairs.

"Nooo, you're diiiiirty," she points to my shirt, making me sigh. "Yoooou...," she places a hand on my shoulder, "...shooould take your shirt off."

Even though things are clearly coming out wrong, and she doesn't mean anything by it, my face can't help but heat up, my stomach tangling into knots.

"I...uuuh... I don't think that's a good idea cause...ummm...people would get the wrong idea," my brain blanks, words failing to come to me.

"Noooo, but....you're sooooooo hot," she tries to take a step up the stairs before falling forward, and as my heart pounds against my chest, I quickly wrap my arms around her torso, keeping her from face planting and pulling her back up.

"I'm carrying you," I tell her, my cheeks still red. She clearly can't do it by herself right now. Before she can say anything, I squat down, placing one arm behind her knees and one behind her back, and scoop her. I hold her far enough away, so she isn't pressed against the throw up (that I'm trying to ignore) on the front of my shirt.

I carry her up the spiral staircase in the center of my house, spinning in circles to make it up. "Like a roooolllleeeercoooaster!" Nya cheers before heaving again, making my eyes widen. In this position, she could choke on her own barf if it came out, and that would be reeeaaally bad. I increase my speed, reaching the top and quickly dashing into my room and going straight into the bathroom. Setting her down, I rest her near the toilet which she immediately throws up in.

I kneel down next to her, pulling her hair out of the way and rubbing gentle circles on her back. "You're alright. Just let it all out. I'm going to call Skylor, and she's going to help you get cleaned up. Don't worry about anything."

A/N: Sooooo, Nya is kind of thrashed, but it's okay. Jay's there to help

I'm kind of exhausted, so I'm making this author's note short

How did you guys like this chapter?

In case there's anyone who doesn't know, I also have another story out called Escapade (that MIGHT be getting updated in the near future *cough cough probably tomorrow*), and I would love it if you all checked it out.

Also, I just looked at the word count and was like "huh, I didn't think this chapter was 6,000 words" before I saw that I accidentally copy and pasted the chapter twice. I'm a mess

Thank you all so much! You're the best