Jade walked into the community center feeling proud of herself. Of course, this was just a single step in a complete rebuild, but it was an important step. Trina's past actions had built a reputation, and Jade needed to start changing it. Dating, preferable with a long term boyfriend, would change the way people saw her, but to change the way Trina saw herself was going to take a lot more effort. The elder Vega sister had taken the risk of asking Jade to be honest, and now Jade owed her a chance to grow from the exchange.
Jade was going to help Trina, and not just because the girl was helping her learn to be a teacher. The whole project had shifted to one of mutual aid and initiative. Jade would help herself by helping Trina. 'It's a lot more than just reputation. It's how we see ourselves.' Jade thought as she made her way to the staff rest rooms to change. 'Trina's actions, I'm not sure what to think, but she seems so desperate to be noticed, almost like she's been unnoticed far longer than just her time at Hollywood Arts.'
Jade knew that Mister Vega was a hard working man who spent a lot of time at the center when not directly investigating crimes. Was it possible that the man was so busy with his work life that he'd neglected his personal life? 'Not exactly. He likes spending time with his wife. I remember Robbie had us watching that funny movie on what I later found out was their date night.' Jade finished getting changed and moved out to where she'd have room to do her warmups and get ready.
By the time Trina arrived, Jade was almost ready to teach the class. "Trina, I was thinking, we should probably continue to split the class once Stan goes, have you supervise the main group stuff while I work with small groups at their level. That way, I teach the new stuff while you keep the rest practicing. We can break it up more later, as the belts diversify more."
"Hello to you." Trina replied.
"Yea, hi. So lets make sue we're on the same page for what we're doing tonight. We do warmups, and I'll get them started on something, pull a group, show them something new, get them back in the main group, keep them practicing, and repeat with the next group. You just keep them going, and correct any mistakes you see." Jade seemed to be all business. "And later, when we're doing sparring, I'll only have you involved if we have an odd number of students. That way, I can continue to step in and help if I see someone who needs it."
"So, Jade, I was wondering if I could have a quick word with you about the whole changing my life thing we're doing." Trina asked. Jade just raised her pierced eyebrow, letting the other girl know she was paying attention. "I realized you do everything the same way, applying as much force as you can until you either get your way or you fail. I was just wondering, if you decide to do something for me, to help, and I think it isn't working, can I tell you that? I mean, do I still have a say in my life?"
"You always have a say in you life." Jade replied. Then she sighed. "Look, I go overboard. It's part of who I am. If you feel I'm pushing too hard, or doing something your not comfortable with, let me know. I'll try to understand. And I think, maybe, I can pull back if you need me to."
"Can you? I'm not trying to be negative here, but I think you might not trust me enough yet. I mean, Tori's always willing to help you, but you still try to manipulate her instead of asking. And you manipulate Cat. You just don't seem to trust people, and that's got to hurt. You can trust me, just like I've decided to trust you. I appreciate that you talked to Scotty, got him to ask me out. Just, I don't like to think that he only asked me out to avoid getting beat up." Trina said.
"I know. I told you, I only told him you were worth the effort, and if he hurt you, I'd make sure he understood your pain. And I'll try to remember you came to me, so I don't need to go around behind your back. Tell you what, we can work on your dancing during our lesson Saturday. I think I can find a way to combine the two." Jade said, smiling. "Now lets go let the boys in so they can set the room."
"Okay. I guess I should thank you for setting me up with Scotty Pierson. And for helping me with my dancing, acting, and getting my black belt. Just please, talk to me before you apply force somewhere." Trina said.
With that, Trina led the way to the class room. A group of boys had already gathered, and with them a couple of girls. Jade watched the newcomers out of the corner of her eyes as Trina opened the door. Immediately Andy started getting the guys organized, pulling out the mats and other equipment and putting it in place. A couple of the guys hoisted the heavy bag and moved to put it in place. Jade decided to supervise that task while Trina was talking to the guys about how everything was going to be set up for that evening. Jade tried to act like she was just making sure they hung the bag right, and wasn't there in case someone needed her to help lift the bag. She remembered how fragile their ego's could be. Still, given only a couple of days, they more than bounced back.
Jade reminded herself that nothing motivate young men like trying to impress young women. She saw the girls who'd come to watch, tracking them out of the corner of her eye as the boys quickly and efficiently set the room while simultaneously acted as macho as humanly possible while still getting the job done. Jade held herself back from chiding them. They were just being boys, and from the way Trina watched them, these girls weren't the only once enjoying the view.
'Have I gone so far into the dark side that I can't appreciate how good some of these guys look?' Jade thought. 'No, I can tell that I could be attracted to a couple of them, but it's not in my nature to see them as anything but students.' Then she looked at their audience. 'Some of them aren't so bad either. God Jade, pathetic much?' She knew she had to clean her mind and focus on the class, so she redefined the girls in her mind, and cleared those thoughts right out.
Once the room was set, Trina supervised the boys as they started warming up. Some of them started hitting the bag, and others were doing some light calisthenics to loosen the muscles before stretching. Jade took this time to talk to the girls who'd been watching the whole process unfold.
"Evening ladies. Interested in learning how to fight?" she asked.
"We can take care of ourselves." One of the girls said.
"I'm sure you can, but it's a huge difference between knowing how brawl, and knowing how to throw a decent punch." Jade said. Then a thought hit her. "Why don't you watch tonight class, then talk to me later. Maybe you'll be interested in learning self defense once you see it in action."
"Whatever." came the reply.
This time, Stan mostly stood out and watched as jade took charge of the class. She ran the warmup in two levels. She did a slow version, deliberately pacing herself, while Trina was told to go harder. The boys naturally tried to go hard, and Jade discreetly went around and helped the boys correct their form while also letting them know it was far better to do it slow and right than fast and wrong.
From there, it was just like the last class, only totally different. Jade gave them sets of exercises, stressing the fundamentals, then pulled small groups for a quick lesson. Each group was put through one to two sets of either new stuff, or practicing stuff they already knew, then she rotated out the next group. By the time break came, she'd worked with everyone, always in groups no larger than four. Trina, for her part, kept the main group going on the drills Jade had insisted on, and found that it was getting easier to correct the more glaring problems. The boys were developing muscle memory, acquired only by doing the fundamentals over and over until their bodies ached.
During the break, Jade wandered the room, answering questions and talking to individuals about whatever she saw during their lessons. Andy took the time to seek out Trina. He did, however, also take a moment to flex for the girls, but didn't get too involved since he needed to speak to the accessible part of the teaching staff.
"Yo, hot stuff, I was wondering if I could have a moment?" He said.
"Try again." She replied coldly.
"Sempai, I was wondering if this humble student could speak with you for the briefest of moments?" he said.
"Okay, but before you start, keep the flirting to a minimum. I mean, we shouldn't have those girls watching." Trina was still trying to figure out what Jade allowed them to watch.
"That's part of what I want to talk about. Jade's trying to recruit them, but it's not going to be as easy as she thinks. This is the boys world, where the boys rule things. Introducing girls might make some of the guys nervous. Right now, it's fun, because they get to act all macho. Later, they get self conscious. It's not easy if the girl does better than you do." Andy said.
"Is that going to be a problem? I mean, Jade and I are girls." Trina replied.
"But your high belts. We expect you to know this chiz. Maybe you could think about doing separate classes?" Andy said. "And while your thinking, you should probably decide where I'm taking you on our first date."
"No budget for separate classes." Stan's voice caused both the gangster and the brown belt to jump.
'Okay, Stan, don't sneak up on people like that." Trina stammered as she got control of her heart rate.
"Like what?" Jade's voice was right behind her. Trina hadn't noticed the goth sneaking up on her.
"Ghaaa." Trina took the moment to turn around. "You don't do that either. Are you all this quiet?" Andy had taken the moment to slip away, if for no other reason then screaming like a girl isn't macho. Trina was on her own with the two black belts. "Jade, we shouldn't have the girls observing. It could throw the boys off." Trina tried to stay focused on the task of teaching.
"No!" Jade's voice said her decision was final. "They need to learn how to focus. What they do during warmup is their business, but we teach them how to fight, and how to survive. If they can't fight effectively, keeping aware of their environment while dealing with the threats around them, just because they feel uncomfortable, then we've failed in our jobs as teachers. And Trina, try sneaking up on one of the guys. I'll bet you could." Jade smirked and left her assistant there as she went back to the front of class and got the students in line for the second half.
"You probably are a lot more stealthy then these guys." Stan said. "And I think Jade's right, but we also don't have the budget for a separate girls class."
:}
A little diffused, but I think we're getting somewhere. Should girls be in the self defense classes?