14 New Life

"How's everyone doing on this horrid day?"

"Rough day, Michelle?" Duke gave her a doubtful look.

"Rough is an understatement. Let's get working!" Michelle flashed a dazzling smile which was almost more terrifying than if she had just vented her anger there and then.

It had been about a week since Waze had joined the team. Despite her big welcome, the others weren't all buddy-buddy with her. Marco was still cold and snarky underneath his shining facade, and Cassidy was as rude as ever. They had stopped giving her trouble for being gift-less, but seemed to be picking her apart on other things. Michelle still treated Waze like a little kid, and Waze almost wished she had just been as rough as Marco and Cassidy. Sable was... standoffish to say the least. She still gave Waze light encouragement but as soon as Waze approached her Sable fled. When Waze tried to make conversation, it usually ended with the cold shoulder from Sable and a hard slap on the back from Duke. It was his version of a pat on the shoulder, he said. Duke was the only one who really treated her normally. He and Waze bickered and played around a lot, but she had a lot of fun. Still, Waze could see he wasn't all jokes and fun despite the fact that was the only side he really showed.

Training was as hard as ever, but Waze was improving quickly. Norris had banned her from using her power in spars until Norris herself said it was ok, so Waze had to rely on her other strengths. She was improving quickly though, in just a week she was able to hold her own in hand-to-hand combat against the others. Waze did enjoy the martial arts though, it was something she had always wanted to do more. It really got her blood pumping. Despite this, she always got destroyed in spars using their gifts. She was doing better, but still spent most of her time aimlessly dodging attacks and attempting to get close to her opponent. Sometimes she got close to winning, only to be foiled by an attack from a gift.

School was better than she had thought. Waze had expected to be flooded with challenges, questions, and attacks, but mostly everyone had just avoided her. She could still feel their eyes on her, though, and saw the gossip going around, but she mostly ignored it. She might have missed the excitement of her daily scrabbles if it weren't for the intense fights she went through every day after school.

Her mother only seemed to dote more. She had told her she was going to a 'special expert' for 'meditation training' every day after school, which her mom seemed fine with. It wasn't exactly a lie. While the others were training their abilities or battling it out, Waze did her best to meditate with Norris's guidance. To put it simply, she was horrible at it. Her mind wouldn't stop running. Every time she reached out to her power, it felt just out of reach. Norris told her to just keep trying. Waze did it a lot at home, too.

Josh wasn't as calm about the situation as Waze's mother was. He often harassed her to know what exactly she did at 'meditation practice'. Waze told him she did a lot of exercise to help clear her mind, and then meditated for the rest of the time. It was a simplified explanation, really.

Alec was still concerned. He hadn't yet met all of Waze's teammates, and Waze was still hoping to wait a bit. She wanted to get closer to her distant teammates before she introduced them to her childhood friend. However, he and Abbus were still very welcoming. She often went to hang out with them after training. She usually didn't stay for long though, she was always beat after every session and in desperate need of a shower.

Norris had told her to walk to and from training everyday, just for the extra bit of exercise. Waze had had to completely change her eating habits, which her mother was fairly happy about. Her mother was a very healthy person and a good cook, so she was ecstatic when Waze started changing her diet to a much healthier alternative. Waze, who was already in good shape, was easily putting on muscle and growing stronger. She had made vast improvements in training, even in just one week. It really showed how much she worked her ass off.

"Hey, wonder girl! Stop spacing out and get your ass over here."

"Gimme a second, hot head." Duke had started calling her a variety of nicknames including wonder girl, trash can (it's trash can not trash cannot), and hobo. In return, Waze called him a array of things ranging from hothead to human torch, as Duke's gift was the power to control heat.

They ran through some stretches and did the usual workout until they got to sparring. Not with abilities, thank god. Waze actually stood a chance in their normal matches.

"Today... Waze and Marco, Sable and Cassidy, and Duke and Michelle." Norris quickly assigned them into pairs. Every day she would pair them up in different ways then walk around and critique them on their techniques as they fought until they couldn't breathe.

"Let's see how you can do today, wonder girl?" Marco gave her a teasing glare as he used Duke's nickname.

"It feels weird from you, somehow. Very weird. To be fair," Waze put on her best contemplative face, "practically everything you do is weird. So I suppose it's no change."

"Look who's talking, Ms. I Wore a Hoodie and Sweatpants for my Entire Freshman and Sophomore Year."

"Look, I'm proud of my trashy lifestyle up to this point."

"Stop bickering, start fighting." Norris gave them a glare.

"Fine, fine. Lets do this." Waze put up her hands and settled into her fighting stance.

"Hope you're ready, Waze." Marco changed into his fighting stance, as well. Waze grinned. Her fist raced toward Marco's face.