"Yo. Tinashe," Dwayne's voice snapped him out of his daze, playful and knowing. "Open your eyes, man. Heartbreaker's walking in."
Tinashe blinked, lifting his head slowly from his desk. His stomach twisted before he even looked. He already knew who his friend Dwayne meant.
The girl Jane.
Jane the girl who had once smiled at him in the halls like he mattered. Who told him she'd "think about it" when he asked her out.
But ...She never did.
She'd picked someone else a classmate, Dane. A guy who had pretended to be Tinashe's friend. Until he wasn't.
Tinashe glanced toward the door. There she was. Laughing at something Dane said, her hand casually brushing his arm. That smile she wore it wasn't fake. It was just never meant for him.
His jaw clenched.
"Damn, man," Dwayne said, whistling low. "She's acting like you're invisible."
Tinashe looked away.
"That's because I am," he muttered, voice low.
Dwayne clicked his tongue. "Nah, bro. You're not invisible. Just… low battery."
Tinashe gave him a flat look.
"I'm serious," Dwayne grinned. "You just need a recharge. Get a spark going, fry a few circuits. Win a match. Boom. Confidence."
Tinashe didn't laugh. But he appreciated the effort. Even if deep down, he still felt like a flickering bulb in a world of lightning storms.
"Oh, really? What does she even want from me?" Tinashe muttered, his tone sharp, eyes flicking toward her without meaning to.
Jane.
The name tasted like ash now. Once, he'd built up the courage to ask her out heart pounding, palms sweaty, rehearsing lines in his head for days. And she had smiled, told him she'd think about it.
She never did.
A week later, he found out she was dating Dane. The same Dane who had once dapped him up like a friend, sparred beside him in training matches, joked about crushes and confidence. That smile? Fake. That friendship? A setup.
Jane strolled into the classroom like nothing had ever happened. Her laughter filled the space like perfume light, artificial. She walked straight to Dane, touched his arm, tilted her head.
"Hey, Dane. How are you?"
Tinashe felt it in his chest. A dull thud, like someone had hit the power button on his heart. And then her eyes met his blank, indifferent, cutting.
Like he'd never even existed.
He looked away, jaw tightening.
"You good?" Dwayne asked, watching him closely now.
"I'm fine," Tinashe snapped, a little too quick, too stiff.
Dwayne raised an eyebrow. "You sure? 'Cause you look like your soul just tried to uninstall itself."
Tinashe didn't respond.
He just stared ahead, silently counting the seconds until the bell rang until the weight in his chest felt a little less real.
He chuckled, shaking his head with that smug look that always danced the line between playful and cruel. "Come on, man. Let's not pretend. You're bummed out because not a single girl in this place even notices you."
Tinashe kept his eyes on the table, pretending Dwayne's words didn't hit harder than they should.
Dwayne leaned in, voice dropping just enough to be annoying. "Especially not her. You really thought you had a shot with Jane? Strongest girl in our grade?" He scoffed. "That's hilarious, bro."
He gave Tinashe a nudge, grinning. "Crushes are dangerous, man. Gotta keep your expectations on a leash."
Tinashe stood up abruptly. "Whatever. I'm heading to the training room."
Dwayne followed without missing a beat, still tossing out half-jokes as they walked. "Man, you're gonna fry a dummy or cry into a punching bag? Just tell me so I can film it."
Tinashe ignored him, focusing on the sound of his footsteps echoing in the hallway, grounding him.
Then they stepped into the training room.
And everything paused.
A girl stood alone at the center mat. Her presence was like static in the air sharp, electric. Long white hair cascaded over her shoulders, glowing faintly under the lights. Her skin was deep brown skin, Her eyes had deep icy blue, locked on the two of them as they entered.
"Whoa," Dwayne breathed. "That's the new and she's from the Void family, one of the five families in our country and her name is Ashylene."
He leaned closer. "Look at those lashes those aren't fake that beauty is all natural. And she uses force type since it's inherited in her family."
Tinashe blinked. "How do you know all that?"
"Bro, I pay attention in class," he said, rubbing his nose casually. "She transferred this morning. She knocked out a training dummy just by looking at it," Dwayne added as Tinashe look at him with a eyebrow raised and Dwayne paused "okay, not really, but almost," he added as he put his left hand in his pocket
Dwayne stepped back. "Don't even think about it, by the way. She's not just out of your league she's playing an entirely different sport."
Tinashe chuckled, a little bitter, a little amused. "Relax, I already know I'm bottom of the barrel."
"Really?" a voice cut through.
They both froze.
She was staring at them, head tilted slightly, arms crossed. Her tone wasn't mocking it was curious. Challenging even.
Dwayne blinked. "Uh…"
But she wasn't looking at him.
Ashylene was looking at Tinashe eyes widen and a smirk on her face, it didn't look egotistical but rather calm and sweet that even Tinashe heart sped a little.
"Yeah, he's the weakest link in this school. You'll be bored stiff with him," Dwayne said to Ashylene with a smirk.
She shot him a sharp look. "Who gave you the right to judge?"
Both of them blinked, caught off guard. "What?" they said in unison.
"Who decides who's strong or weak?" she pressed, voice firm.
Dwayne shrugged awkwardly. "Uh, the school…?"
Ashylene shook her head. "No. Don't let others define you. You can be whatever you want."
Turning away, she added over her shoulder, "I wasn't born strong. I earned this through hard work."
Then, with a sly smile, Ashylene challenged, "Hmph. Let's spar."
"Okay, let's do i..." Ashylene didn't finish. Before she could, Dwayne struck fast and hard.
The ground beneath him cracked with the force of his movement, his speed blurring the air around him. He aimed a kick at her head with his right leg, sharp and precise, but she blocked it effortlessly with her left hand.
A small smile played on her lips. "Impressive, but..."
Suddenly, an eerie metallic clang echoed through the room.
Dwayne muttered, "Damn, she's using it."
Ashylene crouched low, eyes sharp, ready to strike again. In a flash, she closed the distance, aiming for his face with a punch and a blur of herself was created behind her something like five afterimages.
He barely dodged, activating his ability: Truths Steel. His body shimmered and transformed, turning to solid metal. Around him, metal rods materialized, hovering like deadly sentinels and he waved his hands and they all moved accordingly to his hand gestures.
Dwayne narrowed his vision to replicate perfect tunnel vision focusing everything to his opponent infront of him. This showed that he serious now.
He raised and pointed at Ashylene with his left hand and five metal rods shot towards Ashylene but as they neared, they slowed, coming to a halt just before her as she raised her right hand stopping them, she looked at Dwayne dead in the eyes as he looked back at her his eyes wide open.
"How ?," he thought.
"What the hell, bro? That was your fastest attack!" Tinashe yelled.
Dwayne scowled, waving his hands to control the metal rods, making them shift left and right like living weapons. "That's because her abilities are just too broken."
He quickly materialized a long metal rod, swinging it hard at Ashylene from her left and right. But before it could reach her, she grabbed the floating rods with both hands and, in an instant, melted them together, reshaping them into a spear.
Dwayne froze, eyes wide. "You can control metal too?"
Before Tinashe could blink, Ashylene vanished from sight. Suddenly, a heavy blow landed on Dwayne's head and it was his spear the spear.
"Shit! Where'd she go?!" Tinashe shouted, stunned.
Dwayne collapsed, hitting his knees and then the floor, unconscious.
Ashylene stopped, turning toward Tinashe with a calm gaze and before he could ask if Dwayne was alright.
"Don't worry," she said quietly, "I only hit him with a force he can handle."
She lifted the spear slightly. The same eerie magnetic hum filled the air, the spear glowing red before disintegrating into heat.
Tinashe's curiosity flared. "Hey, what exactly are your abilities?"
She sighed softly. "I guess it won't hurt to tell you." She stepped closer, leaned in, and whispered, "My ability's called Aurora's void. The void is a trait all of us in my family share."
"Void ?," Tinashe said out loud clearly confused.
"It's something the public doesn't know so don't worry," Ashylene says as she walked over to the benches to grab her jacket.
"Don't be too curious, help your friend first," she added as she waved as her her back faced Tinashe and a light smile still hanging on her face.
"Oi. Wake up, you dumb bastard," Tinashe muttered, slapping Dwayne's cheek not too hard, but not gently either. Dwayne stayed limp, head lolled back like a broken puppet.
Tinashe blinked. "...Seriously? You tried squaring up with a child of the Five Families? Bro. That ego's so inflated, I swear you're one more L away from floating off into the sky."
He sighed, crouched, and hoisted Dwayne onto his back with a grunt. "Why are you built like a sack of bricks dipped in ego, man?"
As he started down the hallway, students turned to look. Wide eyes. Whispering lips. A few gasps. Yeah, the whole audience was here.
"Ayyo," he said, staring right back at a freshman gawking near the lockers, "take a picture, it'll last longer."
Still, whispers spread like wildfire. Tinashe could hear it already "Is that Dwayne?" "No way he got knocked like that..." "Top five my ass..."
"Man, can't y'all mind your own damn stories? This ain't a season finale, keep it moving," he muttered, adjusting Dwayne's weight. "You owe me big time, bro. Like, Sunnie's deluxe triple swirl big."
He knocked on the nurse's office door and stepped inside.
Ten minutes later Dwayne woke up.
"Bro, she really messed you up," he said, eyes flicking to Dwayne's bandaged head. The sight made him grin Dwayne had spent the whole day teasing him, but now it was payback.
"That's what you get for fighting a member of the Void family," he added, dropping into the chair beside his friend.
"You feeling any better?" he asked.
Dwayne's frustration was clear. "This sucks, man. I can't believe I lost to her."
He chuckled. "Ha-ha. Bet she's gonna be recognized as the fifth strongest, and you'll be bumped down to sixth."
Dwayne slammed his fist on the table and stormed out.
"Wow, you're really mad, huh?" he teased, grabbing Dwayne's jacket and following him out.
They walked across the school grounds, Dwayne ranting about every excuse in the book. It was too late to save face, but he kept trying.
"Come on, man, it's lunch time. Let's hit our usual spot," Dwayne finally said, leading him toward their bench.
Passing students whispered about the fight. Dwayne clenched his jaw, glaring.
"Don't mind them," he said Tinashe said, trying to lift his friend's spirits. "They'll forget soon enough. Welcome to my world, ha-ha."
"Whatever. Let's just eat," Dwayne muttered.