Part 20 - Balancing Act

Aaden got up early in the morning on a Sunday for two reasons: first, he was too excited for his Seconds' club training, and the second reason was that, as it was a Sunday, he had a feeling that Neela would be there too.

He got up, freshened up and went downstairs to fix himself a breakfast. He didn't want to wake anyone else. When he reached downstairs he saw Tashvin in the kitchen rummaging through the fridge.

" What are you doing?" Aaden asked.

Tashvin was startled, slammed against the fridge door and let out a small cry. " You scared the shit out of me."

He was standing near the fridge in his shorts, t-shirt and flip-flops. His hair was all a mess and he was carrying a soft toy in one of his hands. Aaden noticed that it was the penguin which he and Vysna had gifted Tash on his fourth birthday. Tashvin immediately hid the toy behind him. Aaden smiled at the thought that Tash had still kept the toy and slept with it. All the intelligent talks and science experiments aside, his younger brother was still a sweet and timid boy with a tender heart.

" What are you doing awake this early?" Aaden asked him again. " Did you sleep at all last night?"

" I...um, I was working on an experiment. I did sleep last night, but I dreamt about an idea regarding the project that I am working on and was startled awake by the thought." Tashvin replied. His appearance was shabby but his eyes looked active and bright.

" Then what are you doing near the fridge?" Aaden asked.

" I wanted lemons..." He replied.

" Lemons?" Aaden asked," What do you need lemons for?"

" I needed a very tiny volt of current for the project and didn't have a battery. So, it was either lemons or potatoes." Tashvin shrugged." I didn't find any potatoes...but found lemons." He opened the fridge again and took out a few lemons.

" Okay then, carry on with whatever you were doing," Aaden said and was about to leave.

" Where are you going this early?" Tashvin asked him.

Aaden gulped." Uh... practice ..." Trying to sound convincing. He was hoping that Tash would not probe him with any more questions so he started to move out of the kitchen.

" Practice? On a Sunday?" He furrowed his brows and tilted his head. " You are wearing your favourite shirt."

Aaden looked down and then cleared his throat," Of... Of course, I am. Why? Am I not allowed to? I can wear my favourite shirt whenever I want." He tried to sound confident.

" Yeah....of course you are," Tashvin smirked.

" Now move aside, I want to make a shake. I want to eat something before I leave." Aaden walked past Tashvin and took milk and cream out of the fridge. He picked up two bananas from a basket on the countertop and walked towards the blender. All the while avoiding looking at him.

" Why don't you get back to your experiment or project or whatever it is you're doing," he said.

" Yes I will," he said and started to walk out of the kitchen. He peeped back from one side of the door. " And by the way, I think Neela will like the new perfume you are wearing." He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows.

" You..." Aaden frowned at him and he disappeared behind the door.

He sighed and started the blender. How the hell did Tash figure out that he was hoping to meet Neela? Aren't you making it obvious? A voice inside him spoke. He smiled, but after a while, his smile disappeared. He wondered for how long he would have to lie to his family. The guilt had been pestering him for so long. Even if he knew that this was his only opportunity he couldn't bear the idea that he had kept his family on the blind side. He knew that it was okay for him to keep this secret from his parents but to keep it from Tashvin seemed unfair. He had thought many times to come clean with Tash. At least let him know about the Club and leave it for him to decide whether he wants to join it or not.

Then he decided to talk to Marshall and the others about it before he talked to Tashvin. He quickly gulped down the smoothie and left for the club.

They met at a different place today. It was like a farm. It probably belonged to someone from the team. It was spread across a vast area. Acres of mango orchards. A line of trees planted at an equal distance from each other making gullies in between rows of trees.

Most of the members were already there except for Siddhi, who everyone knew was going to be late.

Dhiraj, Sammad and Naren were preparing for something at one end of a row. Marshall and Sarja were waiting at the other end. Aaden started walking towards them.

" Good morning," Aaden said as he approached them.

" Hey man, good morning," Marshall nodded. Sarja nodded as well. " You are on time," she said.

" What are they doing?" He asked.

"Preparing for a race," Marshall said.

" A race?" Aaden asked," running race?"

" Yes, sort of, it's a race to increase our stamina," Marshall replied,

" I don't understand," Aaden said.

" every time we use an element, we lose a lot of energy, compared to pure-bloods who don't get exhausted so easily. But if we stop using our abilities we lose our power. Ironic, right." Marshall scoffed. " So, we need to develop the stamina to maintain a constant supply of energy. To maintain that we need to be physically fit. It's all connected. So the council has arranged a certain type of classes for the half-bloods. And we have designed our training sessions based on those classes. Today we will be racing using our elements. They are going to try and figure out how to use their element to their advantage." Saying this he moved a little ahead to get a better view of the the three standing at a distance.

Aaden had been unknowingly using his powers during the races and he wondered if that had helped him sustain until now.

" Dhiraj and Naren are both earthers. So the race is going to be between the two. Sammad is standing there to make sure that they don't cheat," Sarja said.

Dhiraj and Naren took their respective positions and Sammad stood behind them with a whistle. When Sammad blew it, they started running towards the other end of the rows between the trees. They ran at a decent speed, and the pacing was quite good, but then suddenly, Naren looked like he was leaping rather than running. Dhiraj lagged significantly behind. After they reached the end both of them turned and started running back to the finish line. Still, Naren was in the lead. All of a sudden, Naren fell and rolled on the ground, and Dhiraj ran past him, showing him the finger while running.

" Cheat..." cried out Naren, hitting his fist on the ground and trying to get up, but it was too late. Dhiraj had reached the starting line.

Aaden, Marshall and Sarja walked towards them. Naren, too, joined them after a while.

" He is a cheat..." Naren puffed," he sent a wave and tripped me."

Dhiraj laughed," Everything's fair in -"

" Cut the crap..." Naren interrupted.

" Enough both of you, acting like a bunch of kindergarteners," Marshall said in a stern voice.

"But he-"

" Not another word " Marshall looked grave." Dhiraj, play by the rules or don't play at all." We are here to support each other and not bring each other down."

Dhiraj toned down." Sorry..."

" But it was a good trick, can you explain what you did exactly?" Marshall asked.

Now Dhiraj looked a bit more perked up. " When we took our positions at the starting line, my hands were touching the ground. I sent a wave to check where the gravel was loose. I deliberately lagged to check where it was. Once I found out the exact place, as soon I reached the other end I sent a wave pointing it at that position. And waited for Naren to reach it. As he was ahead of me I was able to dodge the loosened gravel and overtook him and won the race." He smirked at Naren. Who cursed him under his breath.

"That was a good strategy," said Aaden.

" Now share how you did it with him to make up for your foul play," Marshall said to Dhiraj," and also apologise to him.

" Sorry, man," Dhiraj put his hand around Naren's shoulder, but he quickly flicked it away. " I don't want your apology, teach me how you did it," he said.

" Fine..." Dhiraj sat down and placed his hands on the ground Naren did the same. Aaden took a place beside Dhiraj intending to listen to him carefully.

" Don't send a long wave," Dhiraj said, " you just want to know where the ground is loose instead, send short bursts of waves like this..." He started. Aaden could feel small bursts of energy at regular intervals. He had felt the same type of energy when Tashvin did it. Except it was in a different element. These waves felt heavier than the ones Tash sent, maybe because of the medium they were sent through. The waves were not strong but the energy required to send the waves seemed a lot.

" But this way you will be using up a lot of your energy," Aaden said.

" Then do you know any better way?" asked Dhiraj, raising his eyebrows.

" No, but I will find one soon," he replied.

" Hello, people... What are you guys doing." Aaden heard a familiar voice and he turned to see that Neela was walking towards them. She was wearing jeans and a kurta, unlike her usual dresses, she looked very pretty. He got up immediately, dusted his hands and straightened his shirt.

" Surprised to see you here... How are you?" Said Sarja as she went and held her hand.

" I am perfect..." Neela smirked and shrugged.

" I thought you liked sleeping on Sundays," Marshall said, sharply," at least when we were dating. "

" People change, Marshall, sometimes for good," Neela's was a crisp reply.

" Hi..." she waved at Aaden.

Aaden nodded and couldn't stop smiling.

" So, what are you all up to?" She asked again.

" A race... So far it's not been great," Sarja said.

" Oh, may I join?" She asked.

" Yes, of course, let's see how much of a stamina this new guy's got," Marshall said.

" Oh no I wouldn't," Aaden was about to say.

" What, scared to lose?" Neela grinned at him.

" Remember I am a sprinter? This will be easy," Aaden said with a smirk and walked towards the starting line.

" We'll see bout that," Neela followed him.

Sammad stood with a whistle behind them." Okay, be ready, both of you," he said.

Neela quickly took off her shoes and stood barefoot. Aaden was confused but didn't ask her why. They took their positions at the starting line and Sammad blew the whistle.

Aaden was quick to react as his instincts kicked in. He was leading for a few seconds but Neela soon caught up to him, running beside him. Amazed at her swiftness he slowed down and looked at her. She was running with ease, her face didn't show any strain or fatigue. He saw that her feet were hardly touching the ground and she looked like she was almost floating from the ground. Aaden quickened his pace and reached the end but stopped there. He didn't run back.

" How did you do that," he asked her when she reached the end.

" Race me back, if you beat me I will tell you." she said and winked at him.

They started running again back and this time, she looked like she was not putting any effort at all. She matched his pace easily. When they reached the end it was a close call.

Aaden was a bit exhausted but Neela didn't break a sweat.

" Told you pure-bloods had an advantage over us." Dhiraj said, frowning.

" Yes, a little but that's half the truth," Neela corrected.

" Then, what did you do exactly?" Aaden asked.

Neela pointed at her feet." How you send concentrate and direct the energy through your hands, that's what I did, just instead of my hands I used my feet. And I used my element, which is air, while doing it," she said.

" Because we are never actually touching any object there is a miniscule layer of an atom separating us."

" Oh yes, because the electrons repel each other." Sharja said.

" Exactly..." Neela chimed." what I am doing is increasing that repulsion by sending a wave." She looked at Aaden," I think your mother will be able to explain this better than l, given her experience. I don't know how or when I learned it. Seems like it came naturally to me. I would have taught you all if I knew how to explain it." She seemed genuinely sorry.

"No, it's okay Neela, we will figure it out." Aaden said and smiled at her, she smiled back.

" Let's get back to work people, we don't have the whole day." Marshall clapped his hands and cried loudly.

They were all tired after long and gruelling practice sessions. Marshall was relentless, Aaden noticed that he seemed more aggravated whenever Neela talked to him and cut in their conversation many times.

" Aaden, will you drop me home. I came by bus today." Neela asked him.

" Sure, but won't uncle Markand ask you how you met me. I mean what did you say at home?" He asked.

" Oh, don't worry, he is out of town it's just my grandmother at home. I told her that I am going out to meet some friends, so she doesn't know." She shrugged.

" Okay...then," he smiled," let's go.

They left the orchards and started towards the bike.

" How is Vysna doing?" Neela asked.

" Quite well, actually... The only thing is that by the time she reaches home she is dead tired." He replied.

" I heard that she has started working on-site, that must be tiring."

" What are you up to nowadays. How's the new school." He asked, frankly he was just happy that she had asked him to drop her home and he had decided to make the most of their time together. He was oddly at ease with her this time. Maybe because he didn't have the burden of lying to Nidhi anymore.

" School is school, nothing new. But I have joined as an intern at the Council hall." she seemed cheerful." I work as a junior assistant at Elder Siv Lokesh's office."

" Oh cool, that's interesting..." he was happy for her.

" I was there during Vysna's registration. She seemed so tensed at the beginning but then she relaxed."

" Good," he replied. He was relieved that she was talking to him so openly. He never thought that he would be able to meet her after the selection. But fate had other plans he guessed.

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Hello my beautiful readers ❤️

I am back after a much needed break

Thank you for your patience.

Hope you like the new chapter

Tell me in the comments if you do.

Love

RTW 💕