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Waking up in a Connor-smelling bed was a surprise as I opened my eyes. I sat up, taking in the bookshelf that was opposite the bed, already full of books both vintage and new.

Connor was still asleep on the other side of the bed, his shallow breaths showing how he never really fully slept, always resting with half his consciousness. 

Carefully, I got up so as to not wake him and slowly crept out of his room, heading back to mine. As I reached Jacob's stark white door, I stared at it. I haven't really spoken that much to him recently, especially after we had only just escaped from Jack.

It was like we shared some kind of telepathy because one minute I was staring at his door, the next I was staring at his face.

"Hey there, Jacob."

"Hi." He said as he sheepishly looked to the side. "Want to hit the gym with me?"

"I haven't trained in a while, it's probably best."

We headed downstairs past the kitchen. My steps faltered for a minute as I recounted everything that had happened last night, how I had nearly killed Zara and myself. How was she even feeling? I didn't speak to her or even apologise but the reality of it is, I didn't even feel guilty.

Who had I become?

"Jacob, remind me to speak to Zara later, alright?"

"Will do. Now that we're at the kitchen, fancy grabbing a shake? I saw a few protein ones in the fridge last night when I was snooping for a snack. Now that I  think about it, the floor was a little weird, like someone had shot the floor or something. Know anything about that?"

"Nope, nothing at all." I tried to say in the most serious voice I could muster but instead, it came out like a laugh.

I'd gotten over how I was feeling last night, it must have just been the sudden change, I don't know, but it was over now and I was still alive. That's what mattered.

After grabbing out protein shakes and downing them, we headed quickly to the gym.

"Good to see you two are up early." 

We both snapped out heads to where the noise had come from.

A small growl played at the back of my throat as I saw Mendez standing there, a small smile gracing his features.

Ignoring him, I headed to the punching bag, ready to pummel into it as I pictured Mendez' face there instead.

Right hook, left hook, right, right, left.

The bag swayed left and right, trying to find an equilibrium but before it could even start coming down, I sent a powerful kick at the bag, sending it flying to the left, towards Mendez who caught the bag with ease.

"How long have you had that bag for?" I asked him without too much care.

"Few months now after Zayne knocked out the last one."

"His skinny ass did what?" I snorted before remembering that I was talking to Mendez. "Sorry, your highness." I said, sarcasm seeping through my words.

"Alright princesa." He replied, a small smirk playing on the side of his lips. "I always knew you had a strong kick from school kickboxing but I wasn't expecting you to have knocked one of my bags out already. What do you say to a match?"

"Anyday, princesa."

The floor felt soft under my feet as I felt the competitive element of my blood take over my actions. Mendez threw over a pair of gloves which I quickly strapped on. Taking to the ring in the middle of the gym, I took my position.

Hands ready and waiting, I watched as Mendez got into the ring, taking his stance in his corner.

"Jacob, ref." Mendez instructed Jacob who obeyed him without a shadow of a doubt.

With the adrenaline now pumping through me at full speed, I held eye contact with Mendez, hoping he could see the blatant hate that were in my eyes.

I fight for my dead, I fight for my alive, I fight for those who died at the hand of this monster, I fight for myself and my promise I made to Connor.

I'll win for myself.

We didn't wait for Connor to tell us to begin as Mendez made the first move, sending a jab my way which I easily dodged. I wasn't ready for the kick that came quickly afterwards.

The jab was a distraction.

I still stayed on the defensive, watching carefully as Mendez operated, taking note of how he had favoured his right side. It was hard to see and it was clear he had trained himself well, to any other fighter this detail would have gone unnoticed.

The slight flinch in his left hand had be ready for his next attack but instead of coming at me with a left hook, he threw w right hook, one I caught in the last second. In succession, he tried a kick again but this time, I knew to block in time.

He attacked in pairs, always starting with one attack or a dummy, then always following up.

I guess I was just going to have to outplay him.

Without waiting for his next move, I threw two jabs of my own, both dummies before sending a roundhouse kick to his side, an attack I knew he wasn't expecting. However even with the power behind the kick, Mendez hardly moved, the only sign of him even been attacked was the slight bend in his torso to his right side where I had kicked him.

He was quick to catch on to the fact that I had caught his pattern and he had acught onto my though trail so instead of carefully calculated punches, he sent two sidekicks to my left side, which knocked away but there was my first mistake. 

I'd not protected my right side, meaning he sent two punches my way, a jab to my left side which I had managed to block but the right cross which hit my sent me stumbling back into the rope.

"You've already survived longer than most people I've fought." he gloated.

"You've only been using rookie moves."

"You only know how to use rookie moves."

He wasn't wrong and he knew it, the upturn on his lips letting me know as such.

I didn't reply, knowing that my words would only be twisted to help his argument.

I still controlled my moves, knowing that this had always been a sport of control.

Shooting a quick look at Jacob who was watching the game like he was in a trace, I felt pride overcome me as I realised that I was actually managing to stand my ground against one of the most feared men in the nation.

"I know what you're thinking, princesa, but I'm hardly fighting you right now, I just needed you warmed up and ready for real training later."

"You're bluffing, it's only because I  could beat you."

"You've got some good spacial awareness, I can't lie. I've noticed the way you've been studying my every movement, like you're keeping a file of my fighting technique in the back of your head, but I promise you I haven't showed you anything yet."

"Show me something then."

I wish I'd swallowed the words instead of spitting them out because the next thing I knew, I was on the floor after a sharp left upper cut to the chin, stars following my thoughts wherever I looked.

"Shit."

My pride wouldn't allow it though, loosing against someone I thought I could easily have won against so instead of forfeiting, I got back up and ready, one foot behind the other, shoulder width apart. I made sure to keep my right side protected this time as I pulled back my right arm from a jab but as I threw it, instead of blocking it, he pulled back his left arm and sent a straight right at my head, knocking me to the floor instantly.

"It's called a pull counter, I'll teach you how to do it one day."

"Look easy enough."

"It is easy enough... for me. Might be a different story for you though."

That annoying smirk didn't seem to have left his face the whole time we were fighting.

Or at least I was fighting, he was just having fun.

Getting out of the ring, Mendez shot me a quick look as I lay sprawled on the floor before whispering something in Jacob's ear and then leaving.

Getting into the ring, Jacob extended his hand and threw me a bottle.

"Beat you a bit bad, huh." He stated rather than questioned. "In your defense, he is the leader of Genesis and you are a high schooler."

"Give me five more minutes, I could have beat him."

"Whatever you say, May."

"Anyways, what did he say to you before you left."

"He told me to have you ready for two, he'll be back from a meeting by then and he needs to talk to you."

"Why do I need to get ready for that?"

"I don't know, he just said for you to look good and that your outfit will be ready for you at 12, it should be ready for you."

"Why couldn't he just tell me this himself?"

"You were basically knocked out on the floor, I don't think you would have registered it even if he told you."

"Yeah, whatever." I grumbled before unscrewing the bottle lid and taking a large swig out of it. "I'm not in the mood to gym anymore, I'll shower and see you at breakfast."

"What, no invitation?"

"You couldn't handle the heat." I said, smirking at his now scowling face.

"If it's anywhere near as hot as you, I'm sure a third degree burn won't be too bad."

I pretended to gag by sticking two fingers down my throat before leaving.

Walking past the kitchen again, I saw Zara standing there, looking like she was thinking about something. I stood there for a few seconds, thinking about last night again, the image of her wide, helpless eyes biting me with a sting of guilt.

She turned her head and once she saw me, it was clear in her eyes that she didn't know whether to smile or scowl. In the end, she sent a small smile my way, a smile which said we need to talk.

I sent her a quick smile and a nod back before jogging upstairs, lightly running down the hallway to my room.

I stood outside my baby blue door, my breathing slightly faster than before. I cast my head to my right, eyeing the black door next to my blue one. There didn't seem to be any motion coming from inside.

Good. He's still asleep. 

Sadness seeped into me as I remembered old times, the times where we would play with his remote controlled Lambourghini and how he'd play with my Bratz with me.

'Because bad bitches played with Bratz, not Barbies.'  he told me back then.

With a light chuckle, I looked away from his door and stepped into my room, taking off the top i was wearing so that now I was in my shorts and a sports bra.

Oh heck, I din't have any of my clothes here.

I ran over to the clothes shelves which sat next to a full body mirror and opened it up.

On top of a whole pile of clothes lay a note.

Cute clothes, bbg. Third drawer is my favourite ;)
                                                                                             xxx Zayne

My eyes widened as I flung open the third drawer to see a pile of my pants and another pile of my bras.

Heat rose to my cheeks as I imagined Zayne rummaging through all my clothes, his hands having touched every piece of clothing in here.

"Oh my god." I said out loud to no one in particular.

With embarrassment stil covering my cheeks, I grabbed a pair of underwear, a loose fitting shirt from the top drawer and a pair of loose shorts to wear with it after my shower.

The second baby blue door of the room sat next to the shelves, the door which led to the toilets.

Placing all my clothes on the towel rack next to the glass door shower, I turned the shower up to 50 degrees Celcius, the pressure on 3/4 to full and stepped in, embracing the feel of the scalding water hitting my back at near full force.

Cleaning up, I thought about what Mendez might actually want to do. Maybe it was another meeting, maybe a lunch? I know that Nance and the others said that he was going to talk to me today, maybe he just wanted to make sure I was hunger-happy before he ripped into me and told me once again that everything I knew was a lie.

Rubbing some shampoo into my hair, I had to give Zayne some credit, he even got my pink cardamom shampoo, conditioner,  body soap and lotion. 

The spicy aroma of the cardamom graced my nose, a deep breath  of it calming my nerves which were playing in overdrive.

The water worked its magic as I soon forgot about my situation and I soon lost myself in the heat of the water and the spice of the cardamom, a calm filling through my body as I let my worries swirl away down the drain with the dirty water and the soap remains.

Turning off the shower, the steam still hung around in the air, an air of water mist enveloping everything in the room. 

I went over to the mirror and wiped its surface down with the towel, finally getting a good look at myself after being under Jack's hold the entire time. Nothing had really changed other the fact that my jaw always looked a little more tense than usual and that my usual hazel eyes were looking more grey blue than the usual rich hazel that usually occupies them.

I pulled on all the clothes and put all my dirty clothes into the laundry basket inside bathroom.

The cold air of the rest of my room hit me like a slap as I walked out of my room. 

A scream nearly left my lips as I saw dark skin and an afro owning person on my bed.

"Damn, I could practically feel the third degree burn from that shower in my room. I came to check that you hadn't become a blistering burnt gal. You might want to strip if you want me to fully make sure." Quinton said, a playful smile on his lips.

"Actually, your showers aren't hot enough, Quinton, 50 degrees is nothing."

"Should we compete to see who can stay in the shower for the longest in the highest temperature? It would mean getting naked but if you win the competition, then its fair right? Win-win for the two of us."

"Are all the boys here really that sex-deprived?"

"No, I just find your replies fun. Now, the real reason I came here was to ask for your help. In breakfast, I was thinking of pulling a prank on Zayne. You in?"

"Depends, what's the prank?"

"Well, we can both offer to make everyone's cereal and in Zayne's, instead of putting milk, we could put in PVA glue."

"You are aware he could literally die from that right?"

"It wouldn't glue him shut. I lost a dare to him once and he forced me to drink glue. I was sick for weeks."

"No way." I said in deadpan.

"So, you going to help me get my revenge?"

"I think I'll  sit out of this one." I said, leading the way to the  door.

"You sure? It would be right fun."

"I don't want my first kill to be some lame glue breakfast prank, if you don't mind. Plus, I wouldn't want those eyes of his to just die so quick."

"Hmmm, I guess you have a point. Well, come down with me for breakfast now anyways. I'm getting  hungry."

"When are you not hungry."

"Dumb question, the answer is never."

With a snort, I followed Quinton downstairs into the dining room to the long table. Sending a last look over at Quinton, I took my seat next to Nance again.

"Morning, Maya."

"Someone had a good night last night." I said in response to her too cheery morning personality.

A blush spread across her cheeks as she looked over at Shawn who just smirked between the two of us. I just winked at her before looking over the rest of the table.

My eyes quickly skimmed over everyone but when my eyes came to Derek, I couldn't help but look for a few more seconds than I did for everyone else. He caught me looking at him and I wanted to tear away my gaze but I couldn't. His beautiful curls had caught me in a vice like grip and the guilt in his eyes made me want to hold his hand and tell him everything was going to be ok.

But I couldn't show him nay  of that so with the best poker face I could muster, I sent him an empty glare which he responded to with visible pain decorating his face as a creased forehead and forward drawn eyebrows.

I diverted my gaze and instead looked up to see Mendez strolling up in a shirt and a pair of tailored pants.

No one even gave him a second thought as he came and sat down until he cleared his throat. Suddenly, everyone dropped their conversation and trained all of their attention onto him.

Now that I looked closer, I see why everyone had dropped their own private conversations. Mendez had that charisma that could command a room to silence with just a single breath. 

The respect in everyone's eyes were evident as Mendez spoke. No one looked up at him in fear but as if he was their idol, their role model.

"I hope our guests feel accommodated.  Lorna had already fed and prepped Tanner and Greene, they say they'll leave Jack to us. I'll finish my meeting around 1 so I want everyone here ready to go out by 6. I have some business to get to between then." He said as he sharply looked over at me. "Mirage Inner have asked us to join them for dinner."

I couldn't help but look over at Derek who didn't look even slightly alarmed by the news that he might see his father again. 

This time when we made eye contact, I no longer saw the guilt or pain. Instead, I saw nothing.

I don't know what hurt more, the fact that he was hiding what he was feeling or that I couldn't comfort him knowing that he was hurting.

Lorna waved in the chefs who placed an assortment of sausages, bacon, eggs, hash brows and many other things on the table which made up an English breakfast.

"I haven't got enough patience to say grace." Zayne said as he reached out his forks to grab all kinds of food it came to contact with.

It was safe to say that we waited for storm Zayne to pass before anyone else even tried to grab their forks.

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a/n: Anyone know what Mendez has planned for  Maya at 2?

I'm writing this pretty late so I'm tired asf, I hope you have a good night, my lovelies <3

Lolaalvilivi