Extraordinary Individuals : Josiah Rising

Chapter 2

First period went by without a hitch. The same could've been said for second period had it not been for one particular individual: Kato Horowitz. Kato was above average height with tanned skin, cruel dark eyes and long hair he kept pulled into a ponytail. He was lean but well muscled as well. His ability was ergokinesis. He could manipulate all forms of energy into powerful blasts that could destroy anything. He was widely considered the third most powerful student in the junior year since his ability was so broken. I didn't like him. He often used his powers to bully the weaker students or to extort the freshman (both of us were juniors) and it ticked me off since he knew the freshmen couldn't fight back due to them still learning their powers. On this particular day, Kato decided he wanted to test me. We were in gym getting ready to start the day's workout when he sauntered over to me.
"Well, well," he sneered. "If it isn't the weakest student in Charter High."
"Kato," I said casually, allowing a bit of bass to creep into my voice.
Kato's eye twitched slightly but he continued. "I see you've put on some size. Tryna overcompensate for your lack of an ability?"
If only you knew the truth, I thought to myself.
"That's enough, Kato," a deep voice beside me said.
I turned my head and saw that my childhood friend, Braxton Hawthorn, had made his way over to where Kato and I were. Braxton and I had been friends since sixth grade and were practically brothers at this point. His skin was dark and he kept his black hair cut low since he was too lazy to manage it. He was kinda short but made up for it with his strong physique. He sized up Kato before dapping me up.
"Nosy as ever, huh, Hawthorn?" Kato said.
Braxton smirked and let out a spark of dark electricity (yes his ability allowed him to generate and manipulate dark lightning) aiming a bolt at Kato's feet. Kato jumped back, letting out a surprised yelp. He glared at Braxton, his eyes beginning to glow as he readied his powers. Braxton, being the hothead that he is, charged up as well. Braxton was a battle junky. He enjoyed fighting people and proving that he was stronger than them rather it be by brute force or by overpowering them with his ability. Braxton's ability in particular allowed him to generate his own electricity as well as draw in electricity from surrounding sources and turn it into his own power. He was literally a human battery. He was drawing in so much electricity that the lights in the gym began to flicker dangerously as Braxton continued to charge up.
"You look scared, Kato," Braxton said coldly, his smirk turning into a wicked grin.
Kato growled and fired a bolt of energy directly at Braxton that hit him square in the chest....or so Kato thought. Due to the amount of electricity his was generating, Braxton was now covered in some type of electrical force field that was making him impervious to harm. He chuckled darkly as he took a step towards Kato, his eyes glowing menacingly as he raised his hand.
"My turn," he stated, before firing.
Dark electricity shot from Braxton's hand, hit Kato in the chest, and sent him flying against the far gym wall. He hit the wall and fell to the floor in a crumpled heap, his body smoking from the power of Braxton's blast. A few other students, who I assumed were Kato's lackeys, rushed over to help him to his feet. He glared daggers at Braxton before turning his eyes to me and the message in them was clear: This isn't over. I gulped before glancing away and walking to the wall to sit down. Braxton joined me a few seconds later, laughing at Kato.
"He never learns," he chuckled, shaking his head.
He glanced over at me. "You good?"
I looked at him. "No, I'm not. You just made me a huge target."
Braxton cocked his eyebrow in confusion at me. I gave a resigned sigh.
"Braxton, you know why they pick on me."
He frowned but nodded in understanding. "Because they think you're weak. You're quiet and unassuming so it makes you a target for them."
"I can't use my powers against other people, Brax. I don't know my own strength and if I'm not careful I could seriously injure someone or kill them," I said, clenching my fist in frustration.
I hated it. I had the means to fight back but my own fear of losing control was holding me back. Tactile telekinesis was a hard power for me to master. I still didn't really know what exactly I was capable of. When I first hit puberty, I was taken to a testing facility so that the authorities could document my powers as I got older and give my powers an assessment level. An assessment level was basically just a ranking for everyone's ability so the authorities could determine how dangerous a person's ability could be. The four levels were omega, alpha, beta, and gamma. My ability was ranked as omega, the strongest level for an ability. When I started at Charter High School, I had requested for my assessment level to be kept confidential from the students so as to avoid any trouble but now I was beginning to think that I should've just...
"You made the right decision," Braxton said suddenly.
I looked at him. "Huh?"
"You made the right decision keeping your level a secret," he repeated. "You're one of the three omega level students in the school so I can't imagine the pressure you guys feel with trying to control and hone your powers since I'm ranked alpha."
I considered his words for the remainder of gym class while we worked out. My parents had reassured me that keeping my level a secret wasn't wrong but to me it felt like I was living a lie that could be exposed at any moment if I wasn't too careful. That's why I avoided fights or any type of confrontation with the powerful students and why in particular I avoided the other two omega level students of the school. I didn't know much about them but from rumors I'd heard around the school they were exceptionally strong and had abilities that were dangerous enough for the authorities to monitor them closely. It made me wonder how my powers would fare in a fight against them. They were both seniors as well so there was a chance that I had interacted with them or passed them in the hallway and just never noticed. After gym, I had Honors English which was my favorite class. A class that I shared with Kato.