25 A Confession

Waze stood by her desk, her backpack slung onto her back, with an annoyed expression on her face. She stared down at the note she had found tucked into her backpack after she had come back from the bathroom.

'Please meet me behind the science building after school today.'

It wasn't signed, and Waze had not the slightest idea of who had left it. She could guess as to why they had left it, though. It was probably someone looking to give her trouble again. She sighed. Waze had hoped her display the day earlier with that Collin kid would've scared people off. She could just blow it off, but it was better to get rid of the problem before it grew into something more. She'd beat them up, tell them off, and then hopefully they'd leave her alone.

Waze walked behind the science building and looked around. There was no one to be seen. An ambush, maybe? Out of no where she heard rustling and a small yelp behind her. Spinning around, Waze turned to look at the source of the noise. Scrambling up from the ground, a small girl stood before Waze. She was cute, in fact she was adorable. The girl looked nervous and was blushing profusely as she stared at her feet. She certainly didn't look like she was going to attack Waze. Seeing as the conversation was going no where, Waze spoke first.

"Em... are you the person who asked me to come out here?" Waze waved the note in the air as she showed it to the mystery girl.

"Y-y-yes! That was me..." The girl stuttered out, fiddling with the hem of her skirt as she glanced to the side.

"Um, can I help you with anything?" Had it been someone else, Waze probably would've told them off, but she couldn't bring herself to raise her voice against such a cute girl.

"Y-yes! Actually... I have something I want to tell you." The girl took a deep breath before she started talking.

"I've admired you for a long time, you were always really strong when bullies hurt you or made fun of you. I always wanted to be as strong as you. When you beat James... it was incredible. I felt so empowered, like I stood a chance in the world. You see, I'm a low step too. All I can do is make flowers bloom, and I guess I was targeted a lot because of that. I've been bullied a lot myself, so I really admire how you deal with them. I think you're really strong and stuff. W-what I'm trying to say is..." The girl took another deep breath before squeezing her eyes shut and speaking.

"I'm in love with you!"

Wade's expression turned from flattered to shocked in an instant. What did she just say? Did she just-?

"Well that's all then bye!" The girl turned tail and sprinted out from behind the building, leaving a stunned Waze behind.

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"Ehh, so things like that happen to you too, Waze?" Duke looked down at her as he stretched his arms over his head.

"No! No they don't! That's why I'm so weirded out. I mean, what should I even do?" Waze frowned again. She really was confused about how to react to the situation with the mystery girl. She wanted to help the girl, she had looked so fragile. Not to mention, if she had inspired someone in that way, she wanted to get to know them better. But she couldn't since the girl had run off so quickly.

"What do you want to do? You could just continue on like it never happened." Marco gave her a flat look. Of course he didn't get it, he got confessions all the time. Damn Ice Prince. Wade's face crinkled with concern.

"I want to help her. She's been through what I have, so I really sympathize with that. I want to help her stand up for herself. She said she wants to be stronger, so I want to lead her down that path. But I don't think I can do it."

"You doubt yourself, Ms. Waze." Norris spoke from behind Waze, who spun around to see her.

"I couldn't though... I don't know how..." Waze looked at the floor, downcast.

"Ms. Waze, you don't give yourself enough credit for the power of your words. I'm sure you could inspire that girl to reach new heights than she has before." Something clicked in Waze's mind.

"Norris? If I could do that, could she join the center?" Waze looked up with a glowing face at Norris. If she said yes, she could really help the mystery girl!

"What?!" It was essentially a collective yelp from the others.

"Woah woah woah, don't you think we skipped a few steps here?" Duke looked at Waze with disbelief on his face.

"I mean, it's not like you all knew me before I came or something like that. I came because I was weak and wanted to get stronger. Didn't we all? She's no different. I think... if I can just prove that she has the same drive that we do, then she could come, right?" Waze looked up at Norris with puppy dog eyes.

"If you can prove to me that she wants to get stronger, and that she has the inner strength to do so, then I will let her join the center."

"Thank you, Norris!" Waze gave Norris her brightest smile before turning back to the others.

"How are you gonna do it, though?" Cassidy looked at Waze with a doubtful look on her face.

"Do what?"

"Prove that she has the drive. It's not like you can straight up ask her." Cassidy wasn't giving as much resistance as Waze thought she would. Maybe she was curious about the girl.

"Hmm... Norris said to use the power of my words, right? If she's the girl I'm thinking of, usually around lunch every day one of the cliques at school takes her out back and bangs her up. I'll give her a nice little speech, and if she can stand up to the girls, then that'll be proof enough, right?"

"You really think this'll work?" Marco looked like he could care less about the topic.

"Do you doubt me?"

"I do, yeah." Waze scowled at Marco. Despite their banter, they definitely were much closer now.

"I can do it. I think this girl can too. Hmm... I'll call it. Since she's the mystery girl..." Waze paused to think for a moment. "Operation Mystery!"

And so began Waze's attempt to bring on a new team member.