23 Pastel and Locke Cafe

Waze fiddled with the collar of her Molly Sue pastel dress as she approached the cafe. Since it was technically a date, she had worn one of her only dresses. She still had on workout capri leggings and a sports bra underneath for training, but there was no reason she couldn't wear a cute dress on top, right? She liked dressing up on occasion, since she did look fairly cute when she tried to. She was wearing a light layer of makeup to match the baby blue dress. She had also worn her hair down for there first time in forever.

The light chime of a bell rung out as Waze entered the cafe. The best word to describe it was cute. Yeah, it was cute. It had a clean design with pleasant decorations scattered throughout the store. There was a small counter winding around a register with a glass case full of various deserts. Waze scanned the small wooden chairs and modest tables until she laid eyes on the group she was looking for. Alec sat across from Minnie on one side of the table and Marco sat alone on the other. Waze checked the time. 2:31. They must have gotten there early. Waze made her way over to the table and slung down her backpack underneath. She hadn't had enough time to stop by her house after school, so she had come straight to the cafe.

"Yo yo spaghetti-o." Waze awkwardly scooted into the chair next to Alec seating her across from Marco.

"Oh! Waze you're here..." Alec's voice trailed off as he took in the daintily dressed girl sitting down next to him.

"What's wrong? Do I look that weird?" Waze gave him a joking smirk as she slid into her seat.

"No! You look... nice." Alec gave her an awkward grin before fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.

"Well now that you're finally here beauty queen-" Waze cut off Marco with an annoyed look.

"Finally here? I'm not even late! You guys are just early." She gave a small pout in Marco's direction but it didn't deter him at all.

"Now that you're finally here," he continued, "let's order. What do you guys want? I'll go get it."

"Hmm... I'll get whatever Alec's getting!" Minnie giggled, turning to an uncomfortable looking Alec. Waze half hoped he was regretting his decision. She practically was. Alec replied with something about a tuna sandwich and some smoothie. Waze glanced at the menu written on the wall above the register and decided on a yummy sounding pastry. Marco stood up and went to order from the register.

"So so so, how has your day been so far Waze? I see you dressed up for the occasion." Minnie gave Waze a glowing grin.

"Pretty good, I guess. And even I like to dress up every once in a while."

"Interesting dress choice."

"I didn't have many options. Doesn't mean I don't like it though."

"It's cute. I like the collar."

"Me too. I'd complement your outfit, but you always look good."

"Aww, you flatter me."

Alec looked back and forth between the two as if he was having trouble keeping up with the conversation. Luckily, Marco saved him.

"They'll bring our order in a bit." Marco settled back into his chair as he placed down the waters he had struggled to carry over. "I got drinks."

"They're hardly drinks." Minnie scoffed, yet still grabbed the water and took a long sip from the straw.

"Water is my favorite drink. Next to Mucho Mango Arizona Tea, of course." Waze also took a sip from the water, thinking longingly about her favorite canned drink.

"Oh yeah, Waze you don't drink soda, huh?" Alec turned to Waze as he asked the question.

"No, I can't stand carbonation."

Their small talk continued for about another ten minutes before a sweet looking girl brought out their food and set it on the table. They all ate graciously, Waze maybe a bit too fast. What could she say, usually she was wharfing down a plate full of grilled chicken right now. After they finished their food, Waze leaned back for a second and relaxed. This wasn't too bad after all. Minnie decided to break her momentary peace by whispering intently into Marco's ear. Marco looked increasingly frustrated, but after a couple nudges from Minnie he sighed, giving in.

"So Waze, there's a- there's," he paused, looking as if he was trying to convince himself to say what he was about to say. Putting on a dazzling smile, Marco looked to Waze once more.

"So Waze, there's a nice little patio outside, if you want to check it out." He topped it off with a wink before pausing to cringe and turn his head down. Waze opened her mouth to give him a sharp decline before she felt Alec's foot slam down on hers under the table. Letting out a strangled yelp, she scowled in Alec's direction, though he wasn't even looking at her. Playing it cool, huh? Fine.

"Sure, it sounds lovely!" Waze rose slowly from her seat and shot Alec another scowl. He merely smiled back. His damn glowing smile.

Marco walked next to Waze as they made their way to the currently empty patio. It really was nice, a small couch area under an overhang. It was isolated yet peaceful. Waze plopped down on the couch and Marco sat down a few seats away. There was a few moments of silence.

"Minnie seems really important to you, huh?" Waze glanced at Marco. Sure she was trying to start conversation, but she was still going to be as real as possible with him.

"Yeah, she is." Marco looked up with a contemplative look on his face. He seemed lost in thought.

"I think it's nice to have someone who cares about you like that. She seems like a good person, I think. A lot like you though." Marco let out a half hearted snicker.

"Are you calling me a good person?" He seemed as if he expected a sharp retort back, but Waze wasn't in the mood for that today. She wanted to get closer to him, after all.

"I think you are. I don't know you that well, but from what I've seen you're not that bad. Even though you're pretty rude, you're still helpful during practice. And you're really sweet to Minnie, even if you don't see it." Waze smiled in Marco's direction. He looked a bit surprised.

"I want to get to know you better, you know. Thats the only reason I agreed to this. I think on the inside, you're really a nice guy. Maybe we'll never fully get along, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends." Marco looked down with a downcast look.

"Friends...huh?"

"Let me guess, never really had any? I'm with you there." Waze laughed a bit and Marco gave her a small smile.

"You know, they actually call me the Ice Prince at school. Apparently I've broken too many hearts."

"Seems like something you would do, Mr. Popular. Curse your attractive face." Waze went quiet for a moment. "You really are perfect though, huh?"

"Yeah I guess so." He looked annoyed.

"It must be hard. To have to be like that all the time. Were you raised like that?" At this, Marco looked a bit caught off guard. He was probably more used to being praised for being perfect, rather than being given sympathy. He looked down again before he spoke.

"My parents are pretty stiff. Work-A-Holics, you know? So that's how Minnie and I were raised too. To be the perfect kids. Whenever we did something wrong, we got yelled at pretty bad. That's why Minnie and I are so close, it brought us together in a way. She's an empath. But our parents always scolded her when she used her powers. They were scared, you know?" Waze nodded. Empaths were very powerful, with their ability to manipulate emotions they could get their way in almost any situation. She could see how a cold parent like Marco's might want to smother that ability.

"There was this one girl that I rejected once. I thought it was going to be like the rest, she'd just leave me alone after I turned her down. She started threatening me and stuff, but I didn't think she would do anything. She ended up going after Minnie. The girl had a powerful ability, and she banged Minnie up pretty bad, demanding that I go out with her and stuff. My parents ended up taking care of it and the girl got in a lot of trouble, but I still felt scared not being able to protect Minnie like I always have. Norris is my aunt's friend, so when my aunt heard about what happened she introduced us. Norris was able to convince my parents to let me train under her, under the guise that she didn't want me or Minnie to get hurt again. I was the first one at the center, you know? I was alone for a while before Cassidy came." Marco leaned back and closed his eyes with a sigh. There was a minute of silence before Waze spoke again.

"I think you're really strong. And not just your ability, but as a person. I think it's really cool how much you care about Minnie, and how much you want to protect her. I can kind of see where you get your personality from, though, with an upbringing like that. But yeah, I think you're strong. You and Minnie have made it through a lot, huh?" Marco looked at Waze with a mixture of surprise and sadness in his eyes. He probably didn't talk to many people about this kind of thing.

"You know, you can talk to me whenever you need to, Marco. If you're willing to talk, I'm willing to listen. I think that you're the kind of guy I'd like to be friends with." Waze smiled at Marco. He was taken aback by it. It was warm and soft, glowing with emotion. Waze truly cared. Marco couldn't help but laugh.

"You're a strange girl, Ms. Waze."

"And you're a strange guy, Marco." They both relaxed into the soft cushions.

"Truce?" Waze looked to Marco with a grin.

"Truce."