22 Double Date

Waze lounged on a comfortable chair in the center of the bookstore, lazily reading some romance novel. It was about 8:00pm, training had ended early today so Waze had come to hang out. The bookstore would be closing soon, so it was practically empty. Alec walked around, checking to make sure the books were organized as he re-stocked. Abbus sat in the back going through new shipments. The bell dinged as someone entered the store.

"Welcome to Harrington's Never-ending Bookstore." Alec and Waze spoke in unison. It had become habit, Waze didn't even realize that she probably looked like a customer right now.

"You two are so in-sync! It's almost creepy." Waze glanced up to see Marco's sister Minnie giving Waze a sly smile. Waze cringed. If she was here that meant... Marco walked in behind Minnie, glancing around the store as he entered.

"What are you doing here?" Waze really couldn't think of a logical reason for them to have come back. Then again, Marco didn't particularly look like he wanted to be here, either.

"I'm here to see book-boy, obviously." Book-boy? Did she mean...

"Alec! There you are!" Minnie rushed over to Alec who had been hidden by a bookshelf. He seemed to have ducked away upon seeing who had come in.

"H-hey, Minnie. Can I help you with anything today?" Keeping it professional, huh? He was always like that, customers were customers and nothing more.

"Well, you didn't get a chance to say yes to my offer of coffee the other day, so I thought I'd come back!" Damn this chick was getting on Waze's nerves. Waze shot Marco a glare but he seemed just as upset.

"I-I don't know..." Alec was backed into a corner again. Waze would have to bail him out again. As she opened her mouth to speak, Minnie cut her off.

"Then, how about a double date? Marco and Waze can tag along! It'll be fun." The air went silent. Waze and Marco both looked downright shocked, unsure how to react. Minnie pulled Alec aside and started whispering to him. Waze could see Alec's expression change slightly as she spoke, until he gave a small smile.

"Alright, sounds good to me. When are you guys available?" Alec looked expectantly at Waze who stuttered out a shocked sentence.

"W-w-wait you said yes?! There's no way! A date? With this guy? And you and... what are you thinking?"

"For once, I'm with Waze. This is a horrible idea. I don't think I could survive 10 minutes with her outside of training." Marco grimaced thinking about it.

"Hmm... you two start training at 4:00 tomorrow but get out of school at 2:00-ish, right? Then, we can go after school tomorrow!" Minnie smiled as she formulated the plans out loud. Alec nodded as he spoke in agreement.

"Sound good! Theres a really nice cafe in this lot called Pastel and Locke. Meet you guys there at 2:30 tomorrow?"

"Wait a second I never agreed to anything." Waze was definitely on a different page then Alec right now.

"Yeah me neither. This is not happening." Marco and Waze however, seemed to be on the exact same page. For once.

"Alright, then, see you there!" Minnie waved goodbye to Alec as she stepped out of the shop, dragging a confused and angry Marco along with her. Waze turned to Alec with an incredulous look on her face.

"What are you thinking?! About all of that! Any of that! What the hell?"

"Minnie made a good point to me. You and Marco train together, yet you practically hate each other. You two could probably help each other out a lot in training and be good friends if you could get past that. You don't have many friends Waze, so I at least want you to be close to the ones you do have."

"You don't have to rub it in, geez. I guess I do want to get to know Marco a bit better, it would be nice to be on good terms with him since I see him every day. But still, I don't think this will work. I mean, we butt heads so much. And Marco will never agree." Waze looked at the ground downcast. She was reluctant to agree with Alec, but it was true. She wanted to get to know Marco better. She may have hated his guts, but they were teammates. They shouldn't be at each other's throats the way they were. Plus, everyone was so helpful at the cultivation center. Waze was sure that Marco could help her to grow to be even more powerful than she was now. But could she really do it? Could she get close to him, just like she had with Duke? Duke had been friendly with her from the get go, so it wasn't hard to befriend him. He was a valuable person in Waze's life. Could Marco be like that to her too? Befriending was a tall wall to climb, a challenge to conquer. Getting Marco to open up would be no easy feat. Could she really do that?

"I think he will. Minnie is more convincing with her words than she seems. Plus, it seems like Marco really likes her. After all, she was able to get him out here to the bookstore even though he obviously didn't want to go. Plus, who knows, maybe he wants to get close to you, too."

"Maybe." That's right. It's a maybe. Maybe she could do it. Maybe she could get close to Marco. Maybe they could become friends. But a maybe was better than a definitely not. So she would try. "Alright, I'll come."

Alec's expression brightened.

"Alright. You should get going home, I'm closing up shop. See you tomorrow. Remember, 2:30pm, Pastel and Locke cafe."

"2:30pm, Pastel and Locke cafe. Got it. See you then, Alec." Waze waved goodbye to Alec as she shoved her book back on the shelf and exited the store. She was going on a date with Marco tomorrow. Waze shivered at the thought. Despite the fact that she wanted to get close to him, she still had a hard time not hating his guts. Hopefully the date wouldn't end up in shambles. Well, she'd see tomorrow. 2:30pm, Pastel and Locke cafe. She wouldn't forget.