7. SELF-UNDERSTANDING

Responsibilities are funny actually, super funny. Responsibilities are said to be your own job, your own weight, your own thing to do, and whatever happens, it's not anyone else's business. But then there's some people who ask for help, it's as if they neglect responsibilities although they don't really neglect, they simply ask for help. The only responsibility you have and own and have control over is yourself, or is it?

Jayce looked down, figuring out what to say next. His hand was still on her ear after tucking the strand of hair. She backed away as he raised a brow, her heart beating like crazy, not knowing if it was from how she would answer the question or if it was how close he and she were.

"Like you said, there's always an answer to a question," he said casually, tucking his hands into his pockets, "So?"

"Same reason goes to you, answer my question too," she replied back, finally looking at him, flustering again.

He stared at her in mischief, flustering as well. The two stared at each other, waiting for an answer from one side when a voice broke in.

"Ash? Jayce?" Jaxon called them, "Why are you both here?" he asked.

Jasmine walked down the poarch and saw the two, she bit her lip.

The two broke eye contact and went to reply to Jaxon.

"Nothing," Jayce replied, "I was just talking to Ashton about why he didn't join the student council discussion today," she said.

"Oh so this is what you meant by your little gang and theirs were close," Jasmine said to Jaxon. The two boys froze and winced, they could be blown away.

"What?" Jayce furrowed.

Jaxon gave his sister a look to stop talking, Jasmine couldn't read expressions well. Ashton's fists clenched.

"You and Ashton dating?" Jasmine raised a brow, "Come on, we both know you're not totally gay,"

Jayce just raised her brow at her.

"I heard Amber and Eric are dating,"

"Or that she's dumb enough to believe him," Jayce said.

Jaxon and Ashton looked at each other.

"Jayce, let's discuss whatever student council thing now," Ashton interrupted, taking her by the two shoulders and pushing her towards the gates.

"Why all of a sudden?" she asked, furrowing.

"It's important, right?" he raised a brow as Jaxon went to Jasmine, showing her his phone which was probably on how much he loved the trio.

"You never sort out your priorities so I'm surprised you found out what's important and not," Jayce stood up properly and walked by herself, "Congrats, Vice President,"

Ashton gave a smile, a true one, a non-wicked one. It felt like the first congrats, and it was from. someone other than the school or organizations or competitions, it was from a person he was seeing. A compliment. A compliment from Jayce Brooks made him smile.

~~~

Eric went to the fridge and took out a can of soda, thinking it would relieve him from his stress when Amber called him. He sighed at the name on the screen, knowing the trick he was pulling on her was going way too far.

He picked up the call, "Hey Ams,"

"Hey!" she exclaimed on the phone, he flinched, "You good? You haven't replied to my texts,"

"I'm fine," Eric replied, going to sit on the couch.

"Oh," Amber said, "You want to have a movie night with me?"

"Movie night?" Eric flustered, "I can't tonight," he rejected softly, "I have something to do with my family,"

"Family? Oh right, you never introduced me to your family, can you introduce me to them then?" Amber asked with a sweet voice.

Eric furrowed, "No, not now," he said, tired.

"You sound mad,"

"I'm not," Eric said, "We're not even dating yet and my sister hates new people,"

"I'm loved by everyone, I'm sure she'll like me," Amber confidently said, "And plus, if you want us to date, I can do that,"

"No, Amber, she isn't someone who likes new people, she's rather insecure of herself," he said truthfully. He loved his sister the most.

"Oh," Amber said, "It's fine then," she frowned, "Bye," she hung up the phone.

Eric threw his phone on the couch and went to watch Netflix. He had not known guilt and annoyance mixed up together felt like hell.

~~~

"So I was thinking of charity events to kids who aren't getting enough education or people who's financial status is bad," Jayce started, jotting down notes on her journal as Ashton continued playing with his phone, texting random people for no reason.

They were in the library, with the thought that you had to stay silent in the library, Jayce had not cared about that. She closed her journal and threw it on Ashton. With his eyes on the phone, his face was hit by the journal that fell to his phone and it fell to the ground, creating a huge sound against the wooden floor.

"Jayce, what the hell?" he whispered with a sharp tone, scolding her.

She looked at him with lousy eyes, "Like you said that I said that there's always an answer to a question, think of the answer,"

"I was texting,"

"Who?"

"What are you? The FBI?"

"You want me to find another partner?"

"No," he immediately said, "Fine, what do you need, President?"

"Think of events we can do," Jayce said, walking over to him and taking her journal from the floor, then glaring at him.

"Right, I always wanted Mental Health Day," he immediately said.

"That's a clever one,"

"And Therapy Day," he said, "And Vent Day, or Trauma-Dumping Day,"

"Okay, they're all mental health, I get your point," she said blankly.

He moved his seat forward and brought his face closer to her, "And a Christmas Ball,"

Jayce flinched and pushed his head back with her index finger, flustering and curling her lip, "Right," she cleared her throat, "You're being creepy today,"

"I'm not,"

"You are, you've been flirting with me as if I was blind. You want something and it's so obvious. Am I right?"

"You said you hated mind games," he said.

"I never said I wanted this game," she replied.

"Fine," Ashton concluded, "I'll treat you well with my actions,"

"Second rule," Jayce said out of nowhere, "No one leaves the boarding school without permission from the principal, security or student council," she glared at him as he sighed in frustration. She gave him a brow raise and he furrowed, then looked away and continued jotting on her journal. She still needed to find a weapon strong enough that would shake Ashton's mentality away.

Snakes and ladders, chess, ludo, all fun games, but not everyone likes it. Ashton didn't know what game Jayce liked, she was unexpected. He just needed more proof of Jayce's real mother being Nadia Brooks.

~~~

A week later, on election day, everyone was casting their votes in the hall, on the top floor of the school building. Between candidates 1 and 2, with 1 as Jayce and Ashton, and 2, as Niel and a boy named Keith.

Jayce's strategy was nowhere near to failure. She pulled the card she luckily had, and she was nowhere to regret, at least she thought.

While Ashton, he slowly didn't care. All he could think of was the black smoke behind Eric.

Jaxon, Eric and Amber all voted for candidate 1, as well as Brenda and the admirers of the son of Kimberly Walker and the daughter of Izzie Brooks.

By the end of the day, Principal Harrison had announced the student council for the following academic year. And it wasn't really that surprising when candidate 1 came out as the winner, but it wasn't really a burden as well.

Jayce and Ashton got what they each wanted, without knowing what each other wanted.

~~~

The next day, Ashton and Jayce sat at one table, eating their lunch later than everyone. The two had a student council meeting before with the principal to pick the next members of the council.

"We need to sort out the plans for the fundraising for orphanages and kids who can't go to school, with the things we'll give and all," Jayce said.

And it was always the two of them in the canteen, quiet, only the sounds of their chewing and fork and spoons touching the tray.

Ashton nodded, "I'll figure out which places we'll need to give and you'll figure out what to give,"

"Deal,"

Suddenly a phone rang, Jayce's phone. She took out her phone and it was an unknown number calling her.

She knitted her brows as she put down her spoon and picked up the call, "Hello,"

"Hello," a voice said on the phone, "Is this Jayce Brooks?"

Ashton looked at her but couldn't hear anything from the phone call.

"Yes, this is Jayce Brooks, who is this?" she said casually.

"This is the Rehabilitation Center, Ms Nadia Brooks can go home by next week, she has fully recovered," the woman in the call said.

Jayce's heart thumped and her face went pale. She stood up and went to a farther place to talk. Ashton read faces, and he could tell something was up. He opened his cellphone to the camera app and went to follow Jayce.

She was near the lockers as Ashton hid a little far from her, behind the wall of the canteen. He began recording a video of the call.

"I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong Jayce Brooks," she hung up the phone and proceeded to call the next number.

Jayce put the phone in her ear with trembling hands, "Dad?" she called him on the phone, "How many times do I have to tell you to take away my phone number from Nadia's family contacts?"

Ashton gave a devilish smirk. The name 'Nadia' was clearly her mother. The puzzle was solved, but what he didn't know was that he was still missing a few pieces.

"What?" Dave was confused.

"Nadia is coming out of rehab next week," Jayce said in the phone, "And I swear I won't give a damn about her so I really want you to please, please, send her somewhere else, away from any of us,"

"We're divorced, I don't have any control over that," Dave said.

"Well I don't freaking care!" Jayce yelled softly, "You know what she did to me so I swear, just freaking stop with all those excuses and never let her find us, and remove me from her contacts. If she calls me, I won't take it anymore,"

"Jayce, I-"

"Even though I was born from someone like her, I'm beating myself up to not end up anything like her," she stated and ended the call.

Ashton stopped recording the video and quickly went back to his seat. Jayce walked back to the canteen, thinking everything was fine. But Ashton didn't have any thought, he saw what he saw, he heard what he heard, and he believed what he believed.

Jayce sat down and her right hand was shaking, trembling, as if shivering. Ashton noticed.

"You good?" he asked.

She flustered and realized, and immediately hid her hand below the table, "I'm fine, I have no appetite anymore, just continue to eat," she stood up, holding her trembling hand with the other and walking away.

"Congratulations, president," Ashton muttered under his breath as he took a spoon of his soup, "You've fallen into my trap,"

~~~

Jayce walked out of the canteen with a heavy heart and a trembling body, feeling the need to faint and she felt suffocated. A gush of memories started passing through her head and she started to feel her head was a boulder.

"She can't meet me," she said under her breath, "She will never meet me,"

Her thoughts didn't really stay positive. Everything was quite negative, and above it all, Jayce never really wanted to live that way.

If Ashton found out that her mother wasn't Izzie Brooks, her reputation was gone in seconds. And she needed a weapon as soon as possible.

But there was something pulling her back, the knowledge of the fact that she started all of this herself, and if it was her price to pay, she would pay the price in her own way. In every twisted game and every lullaby that she had in her past that was never even present, she visualized the thought of having a perfect memory, but even if she thought so, it wouldn't change anything.

Jayce wasn't that slow in coming up with a plan. She had one: Ashton's dad. She would try and find him, and with all the connections she had, she could do anything.

~~~

She went out of the building after school and took one of the bicycles when Ashton followed her. He thought she was in his grasp, in his hold, she was partly, but she wasn't fully.

"Going somewhere? I thought the rule is not to leave school at all without permission," Ashton broke in.

"I'm going to my dad's," she said, "And I permitted myself," she hopped on the bicycle and left the school.

Ashton's phone rang. Of course, his mother. And another brown envelope to be given from her. But he heard Jayce's rule, and for no reason, he decided to follow her rule. He ignored his mother's phone call.

~~~

"Hey dad," Jayce said as she entered the police department and her dad was drinking coffee on the front bench.

"Jayce!" he exclaimed.

She gave a poker face.

"About your mother-"

"I'm not here for that," she said, head still heavy and heart still thumping, "I need a few files,"

"About?"

"Ashton Walker and Kimberly Walker, and her husband,"

"The head of the foundation that funds the school?" Dave widened his eyes, "Why?"

"Apparently he needs some help in finding his birth father, Kimberly's husband wasn't the birth father of Ashton,"

"How do you know that?"

"He told me, I don't know where he got the information from," with that from her words, Jayce started thinking how he could've possibly known.

"Kimberly Walker?" a man broke in.

"Hey Sanchez," Dave said, "This is my eldest daughter, Jayce,"

Jayce gave Sanchez a smile, and greeted him, "Hello,"

Sanchez smiled back, "By the way, you were saying that Ashton's dad wasn't Mikael?"

"Mikael?"

"Mikael Walker," Sanchez said, "Her husband, owner of the foundation before it fell into Kimberly's hands,"

Jayce nodded, "Oh,"

"Well, you see, this is quite interesting about Kimberly, I don't know if I should tell you but around more than 16 years ago, she barged into the police department, in panic and it was raining,"

Jayce and Dave both opened their ears to listen, "Then?"

"I was the only officer on board at that time, the rest were having lunch," Sanchez said, "But she was holding like a white envelope from the hospital,"

"Oh?" Jayce said.

"She came in and asked to show the CCTV records of the bar a few weeks before,"

"The bar?"

Sanchez nodded and asked the two to come in and go to his working place, "I have to search it up, hold on," he typed on his computer the date in early 2005, and at the local Syville bar.

The CCTV file pulled up and it started playing from around noon as Jayce took the mouse and moved it further. Kimberly walked in the bar, took a lot of drinks, and she looked like a local alcoholic, like her mother.

She stayed in the bar for hours, surrounded by many people when one man walked in, talked to Kimberly and they chatted for an hour before the two went up to the second floor, both drunk. Two drinkers.

Jayce furrowed at the man, then zoomed in at the face of the man, then gasped, backing away from the table. Dave noticed as well.

"I didn't recognise the man, I think he just moved in back then," Sanchez said, "But he looks familiar now, I think I've seen him somewhere,"

"Yeah, definitely," Jayce said in a breath, "I think everyone in this town knows him,"