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"What do you want Free?"
"Eh, not much," He leaned back and flopped onto the bed, with his hair tickling my ear. "Just wanted to say hi." Anger began to build. Now he wanted to talk?!
"Well how've you been?" I asked. "Having fun?"
"Just busy," he sighed. "What about you?"
"School, blading, the usual," I turned my head, my golden eyes met his grayish black. "So, what are you doing in America?"
"Wanted to try something new; I could ask you the same question."
"My parents are letting me do this, as long as I can pass high school." I stood up as I was talking. "Are we going to dance around what you're really here for?"
"I'm sorry," Free said with his usual voice. I turned around, steam leaking out of my ears.
"Sorry?" I leaned close to his face. In a flash, I pinned him to the wall, causing the lamp on the desk to shudder. "I always knew you had had a hard time apologizing, but I thought you could at least do it for me."
"I'm sorry," he said more forcefully.
"Do you know what I've had to go through?!" Tears formed in my eyes. "Every single day, I was thrown in the dirt! Every single day they would stuff me in a closet for hours alone! Every single day they tried to drown me!" The tears were definitely flowing now. "You were the only one who listened to me! Who I could talk to! Who helped me! Until you stopped. Stopped returning my calls. Stopped returning my messages. Stopped talking.
And there you were on the stage of El Astro, waving like you didn't have a care in the world! Climbing the ranks of 'blading'." My voice dripping with sarcasm. I knew I wasn't being fair. There was more to it. But I didn't care. "And where did that leave me?" I released Free. "With nothing." I lifted my arm to wipe the tears.
My face was pressed into soft clothing, with tears staining the yellow cloth. I felt someone's hand on the back of my head. An arm wrapped around my midsection.
"I know that it doesn't mean anything, but I didn't want to stop," Free murmured. "I…just had a lot of pressure at the time."
"I-I know," I sniffled. "S-sorry that I hurt you."
"It's okay," Free pulled away. He put on a more genuine and caring smile "You ready for tomorrow?"
"Yes," I managed to stand. "And Free? You still aren't off the hook yet." Free just nodded slightly, before turning around and disappearing into the bowels of the dorms.
Where is she? Trad wondered. Almost everyone else had already gathered for the daily team meeting, so where was Jing?
"Could we start the meeting?" asked Dylan. Perhaps he should start the meeting. Just as he was about to start, Jing came running into the cafeteria.
"Sorry," she stopped in front of Trad. "Am I late?"
Trad frowned. "Technically yes, but since this is your 1st day, I'll let you slide for today. He looked back at the rest of the group. "By the way, this is Jing, our newest recruit."
"Hi," she said. There was a murmuring of greetings through the crowd. She stepped into the crowd.
"Anyways, let us begin," Trad said. He started to list off the overall schedule of the day.
"You all know what to do?" he finished. No one objected. "Then you may begin your day. And Jing, may I speak with you?" More murmurs dominated his ears.
"What's with this new kid?"
"Do you think she might be really strong?" Trad cleared his throat, silencing the words.
"You are dismissed," he said more forcefully. The rest of the bladers began to trickle off to start their day. After everyone had left, Jing spoke up.
"Um, sorry for the trouble," she said. "Is it not normal to meet new people one on one?"
Trad decided to avoid the question. "I would like to see your skills again. I just need to collect a bit more data." What he actually wanted to see was Jing's potential to grow to the levels of giants like Free and Lui. He could tell that she had no issue defeating all the other bladers yesterday.
"Alright," she said. "So what do you want me to do?"
"Come with me," he said. "Bruce? Could you help me with something?"
"Hmmm, sure," he replied. "Sorry Dylan."
"It's fine," replied Dylan.
"Thanks you two," Trad said, gesturing for Bruce to follow him. When the trio found an empty stadium, he pulled out his tablet.
"So, do you want us to battle?" Jing asked.
"Yes," Trad said.
"So you want me to battle this newbie?" Bruce asked.
"Don't need to be so rude about it," muttered Jing.
"Yes Mr. Code," Trad said firmly. "If you think this will be so easy, then battle her," Muttering about how this would be a waste of time, Bruce reluctantly walked to one end of the stadium. Jing shakes her head and stands opposite from Bruce.
"Ready!" Trad begins. "3, 2, 1!"
"Let it rip!" the bladers announce. Flying in, Wu Kong circled into the middle, claiming the center.
"I'll end this with one hit!" Bruce claimed. "Go!" His bey circled back into the center. Colliding with Jing's bey caused it to burst, its parts clattering to the ground.
"Congrats," Jing slowly clapped. "You ended this battle with one hit."
"W-what?!" Bruce stammered. Jing is clearly much more powerful than I first suspected. Trad realized. Checking his tablet, he replayed the battle. Bruces' bey closed in for the kill. They contact each other. However, instead of creating sparks. The 1st gen bey slipped along the smooth surface of Wu Kong. Then the slight bump created by the tip of the central staff slammed into the opponent. Burst! Unorthodox
"Can we go now?" asked Jing, bringing Trad from his thoughts.
"Uh yes, you two may go now," he said.
I noticed Free standing at the back of the training room when I went to use the treadmills. As I had been walking towards the back wall, I had spotted him standing in the doorway leading to the stairwell. I awkwardly stared at him for a few moments as he gave me his 'follow me' look, before he broke eye contact and went up the stairs.
Following him up the stairwell, I had time to wonder what he wanted. Did he want to continue the discussion from yesterday? Or is it something else?
Soon, I found myself on the roof, which I hadn't realized existed. It was your typical skyscraper roof, with a bare floor and air fans. The one thing not normal was a beyblade stadium nestled between two air vents. Standing there was Free, waiting for me..
I crossed my arms. "So, what do you want, Ghost Boy?"
He smirked. "Interesting nickname," I moved over to the stadium and stood in front of him.
"Why?" I asked simply. "Why am I up here?" His smile faded.
"Wanna battle?" he asked, dodging the question.
"If I win, you have to tell me," I countered. He thought about it for a moment.
"Sure," Free shrugged, readying his launcher.
I stood, closing my eyes. I imagined the battle in my head. I would launch, and circle around, picking up momentum. Then I would come crashing into the center, using sheer force to push Fafnir out of the center. From what I had observed in his countless battles (Yes, I know it was pathetic to still watch him), Fafnir's drain spin can only absorb so much momentum before taking it head on, so a massive attack would theoretically work. When I opened my eyes, I felt a warm, tingling feeling in my hand.
"Ready!" I announced. I took my position.
"3! 2! 1! Let it rip!" Both beys flew into the stadium, with Fafnir bouncing slightly before landing completely. Meanwhile, Wu Kong began circling on the outer edge, letting Fafnir take the center unopposed.
"Let's go Wu Kong!" I said. "We can beat them!"
"Think so?" Free asked with that lopsided smile and bored stance that always annoyed me.
"A lot of things changed over those two years, Free," I pointed out. "Now!" By that point, my bey had picked up a lot of speed. It soon began rushing at the yellow and blue bey.
Slamming into Fafnir caused it to be pushed out of the center and it began circling back for another attack.
"Interesting strategy," he commented. Fafnir forced Wu Kong out of the center seconds after I had done the same thing. "Too bad it won't work." I tried to keep a calm face, but inside I was in full panic mode. This wasn't exactly going to plan. Wu Kong was beginning to lose steam, and Fafnir was looking more and more untouchable. What was I going to do?
A gleam of light bounced off of my bey, drawing to the spot the light had bounced off of. It guided me until I was looking at the edge of Wu Kong. The outer part of the energy layer was lined with multiple tails stacked on one another. There was a little space between them and the staff in the middle. Maybe…...I got it!
"Hit the wall, now!" I ordered. Bang! As soon as the bey made contact with the wall, the tails began to be pushed inward, but I could tell that it wasn't fully in.
"Again!" After the second hit, the edges were completely smooth and glossy, rather than their previous shine. A red and gold aura began to glow around me, and I had a warm feeling throughout my body like my hand had eariler.
"Let's do this!" I yelled. Wu Kong was also surrounded by the same aura, and something was beginning to become visible in the stadium. The bey began to drive towards the center.
"You know the drill Fafnir," Free said. He and his bey were bathed in a yellow light, with the silhouette of a large dragon standing behind Free.
"Drain Spin!" He ordered. The two beys collided. Sparks were flying everywhere, and energy was spilling around the area. I raised my arm to block the wind. Strangely, Fafnir didn't seem to have any effect on my bey.
"Push!" I yelled. The two bey started to move towards the wall. As they neared the wall, both beys were being pushed upwards until they were soaring out to the stadium and into one of the…..air vents. I dived towards the two beys, falling into the hole. Normally, I wouldn't have been able to reach them. I jumped unreachable distance, catching the beys in my hand, then curled up into a ball and landed on the grate.
I lay there for a few seconds, trying to catch my breath. Slowly, I opened up and sat on the edge of the vents. Free stood there, watching with a look of fascination.
"H..h..here," I panted while handing him his bey.
"Thanks," he said, taking Fafnir. He studied it, probably making sure there wasn't any damage. He looked back at me. "Is the red hair permanent?"
"What red hair?" I was 90% sure I had black hair and he had yellow. Free grabbed his phone and opened photos.
"Here." he handed it to me. Sure enough (aside from my gold streaks) My hair was a darkened red instead of the normal black.
"Huh. Well that was an unforeseen affect," Free's eyes widened slightly. I was pretty good at catching his small movements. "Something wrong?"
He didn't say anything for a moment. "Meet me here at the same time tomorrow," Then he turned around and walked away back into the building.
Sitting on my bed, I scrolled through my emails and messages. After that eventful morning, the rest of the day wasn't too bad. I went back down to train, mostly just trying out all the equipment. There had been one other girl, but I didn't get the chance to talk to her.
When lunchtime rolled around, I wasn't sure what to expect. Turns out, it was a lot like a normal lunch line, with trays stacked at one corner and you moving down, grabbing scoops of what you wanted. As I made my way down, I noticed the cook was staring at me. He had dark hair, a short stature, with an Asian look to him.
"Are Jing Zhang?" he asked quietly. This caught me off guard for two reasons. One, I didn't ever mention my last name to anyone aside from Glass and Trad. Second, if I did, I would have told them a totally different name.
This was mostly due to the fact my mom was a famous Hollywood actress, and I didn't want to be treated differently compared to other people. I guess you could consider my dad famous, but he was mostly known in China and anywhere else.
I considered lying and saying no, but he looked so hopeful that I shrugged. "Yes," His eyes widened in shock, then quickly morphed into excitement. He seemed like he wanted to talk, but I was kind of hungry and wanted to eat.
"Could I eat first? I'll talk to you after the lunch break."
"Sure," he nodded and went back to continue his other duties. After lunch, he asked me a lot of questions, like 'What is it like for you?' He then asked about my mom.
"Are you sure you want to ask that?" I asked, while casually cracking my knuckles.
"If you don't want to…." he mumbled.
"Thank you," I said before walking away. I didn't tolerate anyone (aside from Free at this point) asking about my parents.
The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, which was fine with me. We were dismissed around 8:00 pm.
Taking a shower was really nice, as there was really only one other girl in the club, making the public shower area much more private. I ran into her as I was going into the bathroom.
"Oh, hello," I said to her. She looked at me for a few seconds.
"Oh yeah, hi," she replied. The girl had brown hair and a roundish face.
"What's your name?" I asked.
"Sarah." She stuck out her arm. I shook it.
"Where are you from?"
She hesitated for a few moments before answering. "D.C."
"Oh cool, I'm from Cali."
"Nice. Well, nice meeting you Jing." Sarah turned around and walked away. Maybe this won't be too bad. I thought as I walked back to my room.
I turned off my phone and looked outside. The city was still bustling at night, with lights flashing every so often. Soon, my eyelids felt heavy and I drifted off to sleep.