25 Ten Seconds

"Ten seconds," Gray repeated.

He looked at the younger boy dead straight in the eyes and watched the reestablished hope and confidence spark up in Hayden's determined ones.

A wide grin spread out across Hayden's mouth, and he began hopping back and forth on his two feet, rolling his shoulders back in the circles for preparation as he came closer to Gray. He cracked his knuckles and wriggled his fingers in the air as if he were conjuring a ball of flame, but he frowned when he noticed Gray was still leaning against the wall, unmoving.

"So...when are we going to start?" he asked, confused.

Gray's eyebrow quirked up underneath the strands of his hair and he shrugged lightly. "Whenever you make your move," he mumbled.

"Are you sure?" Hayden asked again. His grin started to droop. Gray wasn't messing with him, right?

The vibe Gray gave off already had his hairs standing on end, and he wasn't sure if he was supposed to be feeling pumped that he was given the advantage of the first move.

Well, he said it, so I'm gonna do it, Hayden told himself. He steadied himself on his feet a couple of meters away from Gray, his hands enclosed around an imaginary circle before his chest.

Here goes nothing...

Ten seconds...

I just had to hold ten seconds and I can get what I want. I can get stronger-

With a bit of effort, Hayden felt a warm pulse jolt through his veins before a small red dot materialized between his palms, slowly growing bigger and bigger as he drew on his power.

A moment passed before a flickering, jagged fireball about the size of his palm blazed in the air under his fingers. Hayden blinked down at the fireball he created in surprise. Unexpectedly, the size of the flame had increased about almost three times the size since he'd last tried it, and his control seemed to have stabilized greatly.

Did...did last night's practice pay off? he marveled. Whoa...

"Do you want the ten seconds or what?"

Hayden snapped up at Gray's echoing voice, a chill running down his spine, causing his flame to blink, almost being put out. A nervous coat of cold sweat sprung out across his back before he was able to relax, seeing the fireball regain its steady glow.

Shit would've been really embarrassing if it went out right when he got it to work.

"Y- yeah," he answered.

"Alright, then move."

Suddenly he was too scared to move. It was as if Gray's words had the opposite effect on him. Hayden swallowed his bile, feeling himself grow nervous for once. How the hell was he supposed to start?

From the left? The right? Straightforward?

There seemed to be so many openings, and he had no way of predicting Gray's move. Shoot, he didn't even know what his power was...

One way or another, Hayden started to feel that he was about to be screwed.

"F*ck it, just wing it!" he shouted. With a loud cry, he swung his arm back and flung his fireball as if we were throwing some kid's backpack across the hall back at school, and watched it fly right towards Gray's face.

Two seconds... Three...

And just as he thought his attack had succeeded, an overwhelming pitch-black cloud suddenly roared to life, completely engulfing Hayden's incomparably tiny flick in the air with its outstretched arms.

And it didn't stop there.

Hayden was shocked frozen with his jaw dropped in disbelief as the black flames flooded his vision, bursting forward without intention to stop. W- what was this? Black fire?

Before he could even blink, the great, swirling inferno enclosed around him, roaring mercilessly in his ears, leaving no room for sight, for movement, for air.

Hayden dropped to his knees in a fearful gasp, his hand clawing at his throat. His mind was blank as he felt as if he was being suffocated, the blazing flames circling closer and closer around him. It stung as they licked at his arms and brushed across his face, and all he could do is hug his knees to his chest to shrink his size, quietly begging for leniency whilst terrified.

Ten seconds, huh? If he could stand ten seconds against such a monstrous attack like this, it'd be an impossible miracle. How did Emrys manage to do it?

Did he have an advantage because he was an ice mage? Yes...it must've been that.

The whistling tornado of flames suddenly died down and faded away, replaced by a pair of laced white shoes in Hayden's view.

He blinked, his fear giving way to astonishment. Gone...h- how did they disappear so fast? Such control of one's power was something he couldn't even dream of having. He sniffed and took in a deep breath to calm his nerves, and looked up to see Gray standing right before him, staring down at him silently with his hands stuffed in his pockets.

Hayden turned his head to glance around awkwardly, looking anywhere but up, too shaken to even bring himself to stand up under Gray's penetrating gaze.

Why wasn't Gray saying anything?

For years after being verified into the race of mages, he was sure he'd known at least the common knowledge of the basic elements a mage's power could be based off on. Yet he couldn't recall anything about visible powers that could be anything besides their natural color...?

And as he raised the back of his hand to wipe his running nose, Gray said flatly, "You think Emrys went through the same test."

Hayden opened his mouth to retort, but thought twice and swallowed his words. He didn't want to risk anything right now.

Thankfully, Gray decided to continue on his own, fulfilling Hayden's curiosities.

"If you think he did, you're wrong," he said. "He didn't get a single warning or time to prepare as you did. Consider yourself lucky that you weren't struck half-dead like he was."

...wait...what did he just say?!

Half-dead?

He couldn't restrain himself any longer, and Hayden mustered up the courage to look up, eyes wide. "Y- you said what? Tell me you're kidding," he stammered.

Gray snorted and looked away. "Kidding? You can ask him yourself. Ask the girl if you need it. There was blood and everything...kid could've died if I didn't save him afterward."

Hayden gawked at him as Gray glanced up and turned around to look behind him. He leaned to the side on his knees to see as well, and he stiffened as he saw Emrys standing at the opening that led to the floor above them, skin slick with sweat.

"What...why are you here?" Emrys asked, poorly masking the disdain in his voice. He turned to Gray, confused. "What is he doing here?"

Gray glanced back down at Hayden, his face void of any sort of expression; it was as if he were playing dumb. "Nothing," he answered, still staring down at him. "He was just about to leave..."

Emrys frowned, not buying it. "But I could've sworn that I felt something-"

"It was nothing."

"..."

"..."

Hayden pushed himself up from the ground, the skin at his knees scratched from the cold cement ground. It was clear to him now that he didn't belong, no matter how hard he tried... "I-"

A light snicker at the entrance to the lot made the three of them turn, interrupting Hayden before he could continue what he was saying. Two girls appeared at the opening, drinks and snacks filling up their hands, and they stopped in their tracks when they laid eyes on Hayden.

"Um..." Jade averted her gaze, seemingly uncomfortable with his presence.

However, Hayden wasn't bothered by that at the moment. Instead, his wide eyes met the other girl's, someone that he didn't expect to see at all today, especially in a situation like this.

Kameron darted her eyes between Emrys, Gray, and Hayden, suspicious. "Y'all know each other?" she asked.

The same question ran through Hayden's mind as he wondered what she was going to do. The dismal Kameron Flair he knew wouldn't be randomly hanging out with these types of people, would she?

Her family was extremely rich, and she belonged to the most popular clique between their two high schools, usually seen amongst the groups of rich kids and mages. He knew because he would always spot her towards the back when the groups from the two schools met with each other, either to have fun or to fight. What was she doing here?

And wasn't she supposed to be in school right now?

Hayden cringed as Gray said, "No, not really." He wondered if they knew who she was as well.

Jade leaned over her shoulder and whispered something into Kameron's ear, and Kameron nodded slowly, her brown eyes narrowing. "Oh...," she murmured. "Then you guys won't mind if I..."

They watched as Kameron stepped forward, tilting her head from side to side and rotating her arms back as if she were warming up for something. Then she stopped in front of Hayden, looking at him dead in the eyes, taking on a darker look than the normally chill aura that she gave off before.

Hayden took back a step subconsciously.

Though he'd met Kameron many times before, he had never seen her up close, and up close, she looked even more intimidating than he'd perceived. And even if he was a mage and she was not, he was still way out of her league due to her family's wealth, so he not the guts to mess with her.

But yet she was standing only inches before him, and-

A cold-hard slap across his face forced his head to turn away; he was stunned speechless, his left cheek numbing over.

No one said a word, the atmosphere around them becoming more and more awkward. That slap really came out of nowhere.

It took Hayden a moment to recover, and when he did, he turned back to glare at Kameron, ignoring the stinging pain spreading across his face. He was pissed. The day was just shit from the morning, and he wasn't able to hold in his anger as he was repeatedly experiencing his own degradation.

He may be wary of Gray, but he had had enough.

"What the f*ck, b*tch!" he snarled. "What the hell was that for?"

Kameron didn't flinch at his outburst, completely unfazed.

But she opened her mouth and said, "Hayden Burr, I could care less if you terrorize your own classmates all day with your powers, but three days ago, you crossed the line and beat up four students from my school. Not to mention you did that on our school territory. Do you think a just slap would be sufficient?"