28 Enemies Return

Waze relaxed in the shade of a large tree as Byrd munched down on a turkey sandwich beside her. Waze laid back and smiled. Byrd had joined the team two days ago, and ever since they had been eating lunch together. As she had said before, Byrd had the ability to make flowers bloom. That wasn't all, it was just that essentially she could make plants grow. Norris had said that her power had great potential but no one on the team really understood. As a start, Norris had brought in a sapling tree for Byrd to practice on. She wasn't amazing at it, but the tree had still grown a solid foot in the couple days Norris had brought it in.

So now, Waze relaxed next to Byrd during their allotted lunch time. It was peaceful, the time that Waze spent with Byrd. Waze had never really had a friend at her school before, so it was definitely something new. Byrd was very shy though, and ended up stuttering a lot of the time. Still, she was soft and gentle. Gentle, that is, until they were sparring. Man, was she a beast in a fight. Suddenly, Waze's peace was interrupted by a voice from behind them.

"Um... Waze, we would... like to talk to you." Waze groaned. Who was it this time? She turned around and narrowed her eyes in annoyance. Behind her stood Collin and James, the two high steps who she had beaten at the school. James had been the one to speak. Strangely, the didn't look hostile but rather... nervous?

"What, back for revenge or something?" Waze scowled at them. Byrd sat up beside Waze and gave the boys her best glare. It wasn't very intimidating. In fact, it was rather cute.

"N-no! Actually..." James glanced at Collin who gave him a nod. "We came to apologize." Waze's face twisted with surprise. They were... apologizing? What the hell? James spoke again, Collin had yet to say anything.

"We never really knew what it was like being a low step... or a cri- I mean, or a gift-less person." Waze looked at them in disbelief. He had actually stopped himself from saying cripple.

"Ever since you... you know... beat us up we've suffered similar treatment to what you had to go through. Ridicule, isolation. Not that we couldn't fight back, but with everyone stacked against us there's not much we can do." James frowned more. "I was raised to ridicule low steps and prioritize strength. I-I'm not trying to make excuses! That's just how I am. So it's a lot to change but I, no we, really do want to change. So that's why we want to say..." Collin and James spoke in unison on there next words, giving Waze a small bow.

"We're sorry."

"I've done some pretty mean stuff... I always saw everyone else doing it so I thought it was normal. I thought 'that's just how this world is'. But now that I'm experiencing it, I see it shouldn't be that way. We want to change for the better too." Collin nodded, giving Waze a determined look. Waze looked at them in astonishment before she did something no one expected.

She laughed. A full hearted, loud belly laugh. Finishing her giggling, Waze looked to the two with a smile before clearing her throat.

"In no way are your actions from before justified. What you did was wrong." Waze looked at the downcast looks of the boys in front of her before continuing. "But you recognize it was wrong, and that's the first step. I always try not to judge someone for doing something until I know why they did it. That doesn't mean I forgive everyone, it just means I try hard not to hate people for their actions, because who knows what their going through. Both of you were raised into a world where low-steps and gift-less people like me are put down and seen as weak. So it's natural for you to do the same. But you want to change now, and the fact that you're willing to do that is all that matters. As long as you want to put in the effort to be a better person, I'm sure you can do it." Waze gave the ecstatic boys a nod and a smile.

"Thank you! We'll do our best." James grinned at Waze.

"Y-yeah. Thanks." Collin didn't look completely on board, but Waze could guess that he was swallowing up a lot of pride coming here. She was at least thankful for that. Waze glanced up at the boys awkwardly standing there.

"Well, don't just stand there. I don't have any food for you but you can sit down already." James lit up like a christmas tree and even Collin seemed a bit happy.

"Right! Of course. Right away." James plopped down next to Byrd and Collin next to Waze forming a small circle.

"If I may ask... who is your friend here?" James said, gesturing to Byrd.

"Oh that's Byrd. We train together. She's a good friend." Byrd seemed to glow at that, smiling and nodding. "She's a low step too, so we've kind bonded over that."

"Oh... I see." James nodded.

"I thought I'd seen you around. Nadeem picks on you a lot, right?" Byrd looked slightly surprised by Collin's words.

"Y-yes... That's her..."

"Nadeem, huh? That's her name?" Waze thought back to the leader of the band of girls who had hurt Byrd.

"Well, you can tell her if she has a problem with you she can answer to me." Waze started for a second before smiling. Byrd looked surprised yet happy as well.

"T-thank you!"

"Me too!" James interjected. "You're so cute and nice too... I'll beat up anyone who messes with you."

"Ehhh? What about me? You won't protect me?" Waze grinned as she teased the boys.

"You don't need our protection." Collin said with a flat face.

"No one want's to mess with you anyway. You're scary." James pointed a finger at Waze as he spoke.

"I wouldn't be surprised if the King interfered soon though. A kid like him won't just let someone like me run rampant for long." Waze looked at the ground with a serious face. The King was the strongest person at the school, ranked step 8.

"The King huh..." Collin trailed off.

"We'll be right there with you when you do." James smiled, and Collin and Byrd nodded.

"Thanks guys."

And for the first time, Waze had friends at school.