to all the people i've loved before | Ninjago Bruise

2 - the story

I finally managed to sort through all my comics and - sort of - tidy my room. Now there's a large cardboard box on my bed filled with things most others would call junk ready to be taken to the charity shop in the city centre. I know the owners pretty well there considering I had to get rid of a lot of things when I was moving out of my parents' place. Our trailer was so small, my parents needed all the room they could get and if that meant cleaning out my old room then so be it, right? Although I do miss a few things I threw away. Hopefully someone else is taking good care of all my My Little Pony figurines. 

We don't talk about that.

I smile at the box and breathe a sigh of relief. Just looking at it makes me feel somewhat proud of myself. I came into this expecting to not put much in the "dump" pile yet here I am with almost a full box. I'll probably regret this in a few weeks. 

Just to be on the safe side, I go back through the box just to make sure I don't change my mind about any of my old clothes or comics because knowing me, in a few months time I'll be looking for a hoodie or one of my favourite Starfarers and they won't be there. It would kill me not having it. 

"Looks like you went through more than you thought you would," someone chuckles.

I glance up to see Cole stood in the doorway, his arms crossed. He's leant against the door frame, smiling at the box I'm currently rummaging through.

"Yeah.." I sigh a little, "Is it too much?"

"I don't think it could ever be too much."

I smile and look back at the box. And as I suspected, I found a comic which funnily I don't remember putting in there. It's one of the first ever Starfarer comics to be published. I spent a 3 months worth of pocket money on buying that, there's no way I could get rid of it. Good job I checked.

"Where are you taking it all?"

"To Abby," I tell him, "She called me a few months ago asking if I had anything to just take it to her. She reopened the shop a little while ago and needs some stuff."

"I should do that with mine.."

"Would be good if you could, yeah."

"Y'know..." Cole smirks, "Abby is a very nice person.."

I frown and glance up at him. Every time I see that smirk, I get a shiver down my spine. Cole's always been really mischievous and nosey. He likes to stick his nose into everyone else's business; I've let it happen way too many times. 

"Don't even think about it."

"C'mon, you've always seemed to have a thing for her, right?" Cole steps into the room properly, still smirking wide.

I shake my head and return to the box, "Nope. She's a good family friend. Besides, isn't she like 2 years older than us?"

"So?"

"I dunno, it just feels weird."

"It would be a good distraction from Nya," Cole encourages.

"No."

"You've become boring," Cole jokes, sitting on the bed next to the box, glancing inside of it. His eyes almost pop out of his head seeing all the things I have in there.

"Is that the only thing you can think of saying? Why not come up with something new?" I grin.

Cole picks up one of the comics and starts skimming through it. After I finish rummaging through the box, I take the comic off him and place it back where he found it. I smile again. 

Cole frowns, "You've barely got any clothes in there."

"And...?"

"Oh, I was just thinking that charity shops usually like more clothes, right?"