When I woke up, I was assaulted by a bright light that made me immediately shut my eyes again. I groaned and tried to turn away but was forced to lay still as pain shot through my entire body. That's when it all came back to me: my sparring match with Braxton, me pushing my powers to 15% and then collapsing after firing off that blast of red energy. From what I could tell, I was laying on my back in a bed in what I assumed to be the nurse's office. My shirt had been removed and my upper body was wrapped in bandages.
"I wouldn't move around too much if I were you," a voice chastised. "You've got a lot of bruising."
I opened my eyes, turning my head towards the direction that the voice had come from. I was met by a familiar smiling face as she looked down at me. I smiled back.
"Hey, Layla," I said weakly.
Layla was one of my closest friends. We had met during our freshman year and had been inseparable since. She was short with chocolate skin and gorgeous brown eyes that glowed like pools of honey whenever the sun hit them. She wore her hair in a variety of styles and today she had locs (my personal favorite style on her). She wore black leggings, white slip on shoes and a white T-shirt with a gold ankh in the center.
"How bad are my injuries?" I asked, sitting up with a groan of discomfort.
Layla sighed. "I healed the surface injuries but you're definitely gonna have some bruising and a few new scars to add to the ones you already have. I'm guessing you pushed your body too far?"
I nodded. "I raised my upper limit to fifteen percent during my sparring match with Braxton."
"Ah," Layla mused. "I kinda gathered that you guys had fought. But raising your limit with your body's current shape is dangerous. You put an immense amount of strain on your bones, joints and muscles but your body held up due to your sheer willpower."
I chuckled to myself. My willpower, huh. Pops used to joke that the amount of willpower that I had was frightening because of the things that I was capable of. I'd never been one to back down from anything or anyone nor was I the type to let anything get in my way or stop me from achieving a goal. So the fact that my willpower had been the only thing keeping my body together during my fight with Braxton wasn't surprising to me at all.
"I need to get stronger, though," I said quietly.
Layla pinched my ear with an annoyed expression on her face. "That doesn't mean you need to tear your body apart in the process. My healing powers can only do so much, idiot."
I pulled away and rubbed my ear, shooting her a glare through the pain. She had a point, however. My body's current limitations only let me consciously draw out 8% of my tactile telekinesis and if I wanted to be able to handle more then I'd have to revamp my workouts a bit. I also needed to figure out how I did that blast attack.
"You've got that look in your eyes," Layla said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously. "You better not be about to do something reckless."
"I was just thinking that I need to upgrade my training routine," I explained. "My body needs to be able to handle higher amounts of my power just in case I do need to exceed my limits again."
"You should try weighted calisthenics," Layla suggested. "Based on the scars you have on your forearms, your powers put an immense amount of strain on your body. The custodians said that you caused a crack in the school roof from exerting your powers so your powers most likely cause some type of energetic pressure on your environment and your body."
"And weighted calisthenics would help by mimicking the pressure and heaviness I feel when I go above eight percent," I concluded.
Layla nodded. "Exactly. Let your body rest first though. Fifteen percent really did a number on your body. How long were you able to keep up that power output?"
I thought about it. "I think five minutes tops. Within those five minutes my strength, speed, and durability were increased to the point where I tanked a direct hit from Braxton during our fight."
Those five minute had been strenuous for my body though. I had to constantly move around because staying in one place for too long would've been detrimental. My fight with Braxton had been stressful and it had taken a conscious effort for me to keep my telekinetic force field at 15 percent while managing my stress level so that I didn't push my powers too far.
"Actually, where is Braxton?" I asked, realizing that he wasn't in the nurse's office.
"He woke up before you did and went to class. His injuries weren't as bad as yours. He did leave a message on your phone, though," Layla answered.
She handed me phone (which seemed to be in perfect condition despite being in my pocket during the whole fight) and I opened my messages. Sure enough, there was a message from Braxton that left me feeling uneasy after reading it.
I dunno if you've been hiding it or if you just discovered it but that blast you fired seems to be part of your powers. Our sparring match showed me that the gap between us is something that I'll have a hard time closing. What you lack in versatility, you make up for with raw power. I thought that I was finally catching up to you but I guess I was wrong. I have to keep pushing myself. Until I'm at a level above yours.
I closed out the message thread and sat there. Indirectly, Braxton had just declared himself as my rival with his ultimate goal being to surpass me in terms of sheer power. It was the last thing I wanted. In the time I had known him, Braxton held a complex towards my powers. While he understood that I kept my abilities hidden because of my past, he didn't exactly like it. He believed that I should use my powers to stand up for myself instead of being passive and directly avoiding confrontation with the stronger students.
You were born with a strong power for a reason, Jo.
"Might doesn't equal right though," I muttered.
"Something wrong?" Layla inquired, leaning towards me.
I shook my head and gave what I hoped was a convincing smile. "Nothing. I'm gonna head to class now. See ya."
Before she could stop me, I pulled my shirt over my head and walked out, heading towards the cafeteria since I had missed third period. According to my watch I had about a good twenty minutes of lunch left which was more than enough time for to grab a bite to eat and rest before my next class. I entered the cafeteria and immediately spotted Becky who was with Yasmine at our usual table. I caught Yasmine's eye and felt a bead of sweat go down my back. My bandages were visible thanks to the fact that I was wearing a short sleeve V-neck T-shirt that exposed the bandages on my upper chest and arms. Yasmine's expression cycled between confusion, worry and barely contained anger. I grabbed my food and sat down next to Yasmine, being careful to put a bit of space between us in case she decided to physically assault me and add to my injuries.
"The hell happened to you, Chico?!" Becky hissed, eyes roving over my bandaged body.
"Had a scuffle with an alpha and came out worse than I went in," I replied dismissively.
I couldn't tell her that Braxton and I had sparred and gotten slightly serious to the point we were injured enough to be sent to the nurse's office.
Yasmine narrowed her eyes at me. "What kind of ability did they have to injure you like this?"
"A projectile ability suited for long range fights," I said, which was somewhat truthful.
Becky shook her head at me and sighed. "You're gonna get into a fight that your wits can't help you win one day. Be more careful, please?"
Yasmine nodded her agreement. I sighed and promised to be more careful about avoiding fights. We ate our lunches in silence until the bell rang and Yasmine and I headed to algebra. The walk to class was quiet as we climbed the stairs to the third floor where our class was. Yasmine kept stealing glances at me out her peripheral, a question burning in her eyes. I had a feeling that she didn't believe the story of how I got my bandages but that was honestly the least of my worries. My mind was still on Braxton's message. We had always been in a friendly competition with each other but now he was flat out my rival and hellbent on being stronger than me.
But he knows that's impossible.
The authorities had stated that my ability was in a league of its own in terms of power scaling and how strong it made me. Even at just fifteen percent of my full power I had been able to keep up with Braxton despite my movements being hindered by me not being used to that high percentage of power.
"Josiah?" Yasmine asked as we sat down next to each other.
"Hm?"
"Are you...are you hiding something from me?" She asked slowly, watching my face for a hint that I was lying.
I laughed nervously. "Hiding something like what?"
Yasmine narrowed her eyes. "Did you and Kato fight again?"
I shook my head. "I told you. It was just some random alpha who decided to pick on me because I'm a gamma."
"Does that happen often?" She inquired, leaning closer.
Her eyes were full of worry. It pained me a bit to see her worried about me (even though I was kinda lying about my injuries) but I also appreciated her concern. I gave her a reassuring smile and winked.
"It's nothing I can't handle," I replied. "I'm a lot tougher than I look."
Yasmine chuckled softly and gave my hand a soft squeeze. She was sweet. She didn't care about my powers or the fact that I was a gamma. She only cared about the things that made me who I was. To her I was just Josiah Smith, her crush and a guy she wanted to get closer to.
Alexis was the same way, a dark voice in my mind said. And you see what happened when you trusted her. She stabbed you in the back without a second thought.
She's not like Alexis, I responded. She's different.
Is she really though? The voice asked mockingly. How do you know she won't betray you the minute you reveal your secret?
I hesitated. Out the corner of my eye I could see Yasmine taking notes as class began and she was still holding my hand, her thumb tracing small circles over the back of my hand. She was interested in my powers but...she wasn't pushing me to tell her about them. She was being patient and waiting until I decided to tell her. Alexis had been insistent about knowing more about my powers and in the end it had cost me everything. But Yasmine wasn't like that and this ultimately gave me hope. Hope that maybe things would be different. If only I knew how wrong I would be, I could've avoided everything that followed.