"Two auras? As if there's another person inside of me," Jayce said in disbelief.
"Yeah, I'm not sure how that's even possible," Mark was confused.
"Maybe your machine is a little broken?" Jayce asked. "No way man, my machine and my calculations can never be wrong. They are very precise," Mark said.
"Alright dude, maybe you just need a bigger sample size. Anyway, I have to go run some errands. See you at the university." Jayce said, avoiding the conversation and hurried towards the exit.
"Yeah, maybe. Okay…c-" Mark was saying something but Jayce had already left the room.
After getting out of Mark's house he picked a cab, "1624 Franklin St." he instructed the driver. The moment he reached the apartment he rushed to his room and locked the door. He spent the evening trying to make sense of what Mark said. "I don't know if something was wrong with Mark's machine or what but having two auras is like, someone is residing inside of me…. It's weird but it does make sense if I connect this thing to what Harry used to say... but what if it was just a misconception?... Yea that must be it. Ugh, I don't want to think about this anymore." He thought to himself and went to bed after taking a shower.
The next morning
"Wake up prince. Wake up!"
"Who is it?" Jayce said as he woke up suddenly.
"It's weird, this time it wasn't a dream, but a voice instead and why was it calling me a prince?" He held his head while the alarm went off, "6 already" he mumbled and then went for a workout. When he was in the shower he kept thinking about the fight and his conversation with Mark.
At the university
He was sitting in the first row when Samantha came in, "Jayce Clark!" she said furiously
"Oh hey, Samantha," Jayce replied in a low voice.
"Who do you think you are? Just because you are stronger than others, doesn't give you the right to beat them up!" She yelled.
"Woah, what are you talking about? I didn't beat anyone." He spoke out for his defence.
"Then why does Kevin have bruises all over him? He can't even walk straight." Samantha responded.
"Who's Kevin?" Jayce asked, confused.
"My boyfriend!"
"Wait. I can explain." Jayce pleaded.
"There is nothing to explain. Kevin told me everything about how you started to beat him up just because he accidentally spilled coffee on your shirt and you took advantage of that and hit his head," said Samantha.
"You know, I thought you were a good person with a kind heart but you're just another one of those people who bully others to show their dominance,"
"Samantha, believe me, that's not what happened, he lied to you," Jayce said while trying to calm her.
"Why would my boyfriend lie to me?" Samantha asked rhetorically.
"How am I supposed to know that?" Jayce answered.
"Ugh… Just stay away from me." Samantha said in disgust and went up to the third row.
"Kevin's the one who started the fight, Samantha! He's lying to you." Jayce shouted back. She ignored his calls and Jayce, frustrated, sat down.
"Jayce is telling the truth, you know," someone said from the fourth row. Samantha turned around and saw it was James sitting behind her.
"Hello, James. You don't have to get in the middle of it. I now know what kinda person Jayce is." Samantha replied.
"I'm not defending Jayce but I just think you deserve to know the truth," James said casually.
"And what is the truth, James?" She asked.
"Jayce was sitting alone, minding his own business when Kevin came and pushed him. He then started hitting Jayce and everything became a mess. So everything Jayce did was self-defence." James said.
"Are you seriously telling me the truth?" She asked sincerely.
"Yes Samantha, why would I lie to you? I was there watching the whole fight. Mark came in the middle and together we took Jayce to the nurse after the fight." He replied.
Samantha got up and walked towards Jayce but just before she could say something Ms Johnson walked in. "Ok students, open your books to page no. 34" she started the lecture. After the lecture, she finally went to Jayce as he was packing his books.
"Can we talk?" She asked.
"Who? Me?" asked Jayce.
"I'm sorry for everything I said earlier"
"Yeah..."
"Can you tell me what actually happened? The others can't tell me because they only saw the fight and I just don't know who to trust now." She said,
"Look I don't know if you are stupid or what, but watch your mouth before saying something you don't know. If I am being quiet it doesn't mean you can say whatever you want and I don't care what you and your stupid boyfriend think about me." He slammed the books on the table and left her.
In the evening, Samantha went to Kevin's home. Kevin opened the door and greeted her but she walked in without saying a word.
"You alright babe?" Kevin asked.
"What exactly happened?" Samantha said loudly.
"What?" Kevin asked, confused.
"Why did Jayce hit you?" Samantha yelled.
"I already told you, he started the fight, he's just a bully," Kevin replied.
"Don't you dare lie to me, Kevin!" She yelled furiously.
"Babe I am not lying, why would I lie to you?" Kevin said while holding Samantha's hand.
She brushed his hands off, pushing him away, "Don't touch me!"
"I've let go of all your actions and mistakes thinking you were doing it unknowingly. But now I know that it was all a lie. You are a manipulative control freak who bullies people who can't fight. And when you lost to someone, you couldn't accept it, so you tried to ruin his reputation." She added.
"Babe, don't make such a big deal out of it," Kevin said
"I can't do this anymore Kevin," Samantha said with despair in her voice.
"What?" Asked Kevin.
"I'm done." She said, "Are you breaking up with me?" He asked with a bitter face.
"Yes. I have waited months for you to show even a glimpse of change, to try to be better than the tyrant that you are. But you didn't change and I can't be with someone who has no regard for his actions toward others. We're over Kevin, goodbye." She said.
As Samantha started walking out on him, he held her left wrist from behind, "You can't leave me! You are mine!"
"Kevin, you're hurting me." She cried out.
"You are mine and you leave only when I tell you to." He pulled her and grabbed her neck, choking her.
"Let go of me, you psycho!" She screamed trying to free herself. But he grabbed her hand again, tightening his grip even more so that it started to leave marks on her. "Let. Me. Go!" She yelled as her eyes went red. Suddenly Kevin's fingers started to unravel, his grip loosening. It started hurting him and he eventually let go of her hands. She then gave him a push and ran outside leaving Kevin groaning in pain.
Samantha kept running for another 3 blocks with her head down sobbing and covered in tears then she stumbled upon a guy.
"I'm really sorry, I didn't see you coming." She snuffled, wiping her tears.
"Samantha?" Jayce said in surprise. "What happened?" He asked a bit worried.
"Oh, h...hi Jayce, nothing, I... I just got something in my eye." She replied, stammering.
"Alright. Hey, I'm going for dinner, I know this place around the corner and their lasagna tastes just like my mom's. Care to join me?" Jayce invited her.
"Ugh, no, sorry Jayce. I've had a long day. I'm just gonna go and rest now. I'll join you some other time." She said refusing to meet his eye.
"Alright. I'll be at Mike's Pizzeria. Take care." He said.
"Yeah," She replied and they both went their different ways. After a few minutes, Samantha remembered all the things she had said to Jayce and vice-versa, she stopped for a moment to recall her thoughts and then decided to apologize to Jayce for her behaviour earlier. When she reached Mike's Pizzeria she saw Jayce from the window sitting with some guys. She wondered whether to go inside or just wait there.
After 24 minutes Jayce comes out of the restaurant and notices Samantha leaning with her back against the window.
"Samantha?" He said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Can we talk?"
"Sure… but how long have you been standing here?" He asked.
"For a while… but that doesn't matter. I really need to talk to you"
"Ok yes, but please let's not have you catch a cold here. Do you want to come to my house or is there any place you want to go to? "
"There's a café nearby," she said, rubbing her cold hands.
"Alright,"
Both of them started walking towards the café which was a block away.
"Cold night, huh" Jayce tried to make small talk.
"Yeah." She replied silently. She was still pretty upset by the events that had happened.
"Did you see Mark today?"
"No, I didn't. I think he skipped today," She replied.
"Oh. Well, that's kinda expected,"
The café's name flickered with neon lights and it looked vintage which was surprising because vintage cafe's had almost gone obsolete.
Jayce held the door open for Samantha, "After you," he said with a smile and then followed her inside.
The café was mostly empty with only a few people and staff members inside. Jayce went to the corner table near the window and pulled out the chair for her.
"Thanks, Jayce." She said as she sat down.
"Just being a gentleman," he said and sat opposite to her.
"So what did you want to talk about?"
"For my behaviour this morning, I shouldn't have said all those things to you," she said.
"I'm sorry for everything I said to you. I was looking at things one-sidedly and that was very unjustified and a shameful thing to do,"
"Look. It's fine. You chose to trust your boyfriend, if anything, it shows how loyal you are. Also, I already forgave you. And I'm sorry I yelled at you too,"
"The last two days have been a little rough on me with the fight and all, and when you came and said those things I poured out all my frustration on you. I'm really sorry."
"Hey, you didn't do anything wrong, it was all my fault. I shouldn't have said all those things."
"Alright, you're sorry, I'm sorry, let's just let our apologies cancel each other out," Jayce said laughing.
Samantha nodded in agreement with a half-smile. The waiter who was looking at the tense situation jumped right in as it warmed.
"What do you want?" Jayce asked her.
"Espresso."
"Two espressos, please." He told the waiter. "You want something to eat?" He asked Samantha.
"Nah, I'm not hungry."
"So, do you live nearby?" Jayce asked.
"No, I live down 11th Street, why'd you ask?"
"I was just wondering how you ended up here…"
"Oh, that, I was at Kevin's." She answered.
"I see," Jayce went silent with a fake smile.
"I broke up with him," She broke the silence. "Is that why you were upset earlier?" Jayce asked.
"No… Well, kinda, it's complicated."
"What about you Jayce? I thought you lived somewhere around 17th Street or something..."
"Franklin Street, how did you know?"
"You saved me 2 blocks from there… so I took a guess."
"Here's your order sir," Said the waiter while putting down a tray with their espressos.
"Thanks." Both of them said together.
Samantha took a sip and asked, "So you came all the way here for lasagna?"
"Yeah, I told you, they make it just like my mom does," Jayce answered.
"Feeling homesick?"
"Not really, I just…" He paused, "didn't want to be alone tonight."
"You okay?" She asked with concern.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Told you… it's just the... last two days haven't been so kind to me." He replied.
"Do you wanna talk about it?"
"Some other time." He grinned.
Samantha's scarf dropped on the floor and so she leaned to pick it up. Jayce noticed that Samantha had finger marks around her neck as if someone had tried to choke her.
"So how's your song holding up?" He asked.
"Ugh… not as I hoped it would."
"What's wrong?"
"I'm just stuck on one part. I can't find the right words for it."
"You'll figure it out soon," He said, assuring her.
"I hope so… don't wanna miss this opportunity."
"You'll be fine. Just take your time and think with a calm mind. And well if things don't work out you can recreate marry had a little lamb. That's sure to win their hearts" he laughed.
"I didn't know you had a good sense of humour," she said smiling.
"I'm full of mysteries!" He smirked.
An hour later:
"Ready?" He asked her when she was done with her coffee, "Yeah." He took out his wallet and left a 50 dollar bill.
"You don't want the change?" She asked
"They should keep it as a tip"
"Trying to be a gentleman again?" She asked.
"I know I am. But next, you'll pay. Savvy?"
"Savvy?" Samantha asked.
"I... may have recently watched Pirates of the Caribbean. I probably am the last person who watched it and don't ask why I watched it so late," He answered.
Samantha giggled and both of them left the café.
"A really cold night," Samantha said shivering.
"Here," Jayce wrapped his jacket around her.
"I'm fine Jayce."
"Don't worry, I'm wearing extra. I'm not cold at all."
"Thanks," She smiled.
Jayce called her a cab, "Goodnight, Samantha Brown," He said
"Goodnight to you too Jayce Clark."
He saw her off and he took a cab home himself with a big smile on his face.