25. SELF-LOSS

They say opposites attract, like the North and South poles of magnets. So what happens when light and dark are attracted to each other? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

The woman, Anita, held her breath, her hand lifting up beside her, about to strike Jayce. She held it back, gripping at her wrist and pushing her against the couch. She grunted in annoyance, glaring back at Jayce as if her eyeballs were going to pop out.

"Hey!" Milton yelled from behind.

"I've grown sick of your family," Jayce finally said, "And to be honest, if you guys weren't rich, you'd just be trash,"

She stood up properly, placing her phone back in her pocket and walking towards the door.

"We'll fund your school again, just delete the message and tell it was a false alarm," Kiara immediately said, under pressure.

"No thanks," Jayce replied.

"And what are you going to do? You can't find another funder if it weren't for us," Anita responded.

"We're holding a show for the rich people, hoping we can persuade them to fund our school," she explained.

"And you think someone's going to say yes?" Leo scoffed.

"If no one is going to say yes, then we go to plan B: Izzie Brooks," Jayce said.

"Your mother?" they scoffed, "That fashion designer?"

"To be honest, my dad came from a long line of police officers, and he's rich. My mother came from a long line of doctors, and with that, they're also rich. My stepmother has a multi-million dollar net-worth, and we don't commit crimes. Not as often as you do," she replied, "In short, my family is richer, both literally and metaphorically speaking,"

"Then why don't you just ask your family to fund the school? Since you're so rich," Milton sneered.

"The most important lesson I've learned is that when you have trouble, the first person you seek for isn't family, it's the person who caused it," Jayce replied, turning back to the door, about to walk out.

"Is that it?" Howard scolded, "You're not even going to say anything?"

"The annoyance you're feeling right now," Jayce started, turning around to see them as her hand was on the door handle, "It's the exact same one I'm feeling. One is to one, old man," she gave them a goodbye wink and walked out the door.

She unlocked the gate from the inside, and pulled it open, and there was no need for her to climb again anymore. She went back inside the taxi.

"Two more stops, sir," Jayce said to the driver, "Let's go to the market first, then to the woods near town hall,"

~~~

'omw to the house' she texted Ashton, already on her way to the house from the market, after buying some things.

'kk, im already here, see u :)'

It felt like quite a burden, lying with the emoticons he would send. Ashton knew that he had no right to do this, and once they ended the relationship, and when he would find all the proof for the killer and prove her wrong, the only thing that was left was guilt and shame.

He was standing in front of the house, as he didn't duplicate a key. After all, it wasn't his house, it was Jayce, and it was her right to do anything.

"Why didn't you go in?" a girl asked.

He turned around, seeing Jayce, with the taxi that was just leaving behind her, "I don't have a spare key,"

"I thought you made one," she replied, walking over to him with a plastic bag in her hand.

"If I make a spare key, someone else could get it and get in. It's your house, you can do whatever you want with it,"

"Is someone really that obsessed to the point they would want to break into a house in the woods?" Jayce scoffed, sneering against Ashton, potentially thinking that someone was him.

"I brought you into the mess of Eric," he said.

He did, but she brought herself in first.

Jayce bit her lip, holding in her words, then took out the key, walking to the house and opening it. The house was a manipulative act, it was never a symbol of whatever crap love was. Jayce had always thought about it that way.

But that crap thing called love was the only reason Ashton had to buy her the house. That was it.

She opened the door, allowing both of them to get in.

"So," Jayce started, relaxing on the couch, "What song are you picking to perform?"

"Clair de Lune, a classic," Ashton replied.

"Oh, well, I do love that,"

"By the way, did you send the fact that the Walkers cut off our school funding?" he asked.

"Yeah, so that they could be in shame, any problem?" she asked.

"No, I thought it was supposed to remain a secret," he pursed his lips.

"Is there someone who should not know about this?" she furrowed.

He gulped, "No, no, I just don't want anyone panicking,"

Clearly he was lying, but after all, the truth's going to be up by the end of the week.

"So, what's in that plastic bag?" he pointed to the bag, changing the subject.

"Oh, this?" she lifted it, "Seeds,"

"Seeds?" he furrowed.

"For planting," she replied, "I don't know if you like gardening, but it's been a while since I did,"

Ashton smiled, although he didn't know how to garden, "Well then, what's the wait?"

Jayce gave him a smile back, picking the plastic bag and heading back outside.

~~~

There was a huge space in front of the house, perfect for a garden to be. She tied up her short hair into a ponytail and took off her coat.

"Isn't it cold?" Ashton asked.

"My coat's more expensive than the cold," she proudly said.

He chuckled, taking off his coat as well, and it was also very much cold. He bit his lip to stop himself from shivering as Jayce stepped down, grabbing a small shovel from the plastic bag, and gloves.

Ashton rolled up his sleeves, taking gloves from the bag as well. He helped Jayce shovel the soil as well, and even if it was cold, he didn't mind at all, as she was happy with it.

Jayce, on the other hand, only bought it to waste time. Because in fact, she didn't know what else to do in the house with Ashton. It was all a lie after all.

As Ashton shoveled the soil, which was quite soft and muddy, and as he did, some of the soil sort of flew and went to his face, making him stop shoveling for a moment.

Jayce broke out a laugh, shoveling pretty well with no soil going anywhere to her face.

He laughed back, although it was super disgusting for him, in some sort of way he just wanted a bath at that moment. Jayce approached him and used wet wipes, which shockingly she had, and wiped off the soil from his face.

"Don't shovel too hard," she said, wiping off the soil from his face, holding back her laugh, "Your face would be all muddy,"

"Thanks for the concern," he replied, but this time, there was no attraction between them, even if they were this close to each other.

She turned away, getting the plastic bag, and bringing out some seeds, "These are sunflower seeds, basil, snake plants, and mint, and lavender,"

"I'll do snake plants, basil and mint," he offered.

Jayce nodded, giving him the packets of the seeds he asked for, "Just put them in the holes you've shoveled, a few seeds each,"

Ashton nodded as the two began to put in the seeds on the soil, and then covered them back with soil.

After a while, both of them finished planting them, and they only had to water it after this.

"Does this house have a water hose?" Jayce asked.

"Yes, definitely," Ashton said, "I have everything prepared, president," he grinned.

She grinned back, everything was forceful. He went to the side of the house, and took a water hose, extending it out, giving it to Jayce.

She was cleaning the hose, as Ashton went back to the side of the house, going to the water generator, and about to turn it on, not knowing that Jayce had the hose in front of her face, cleaning it. And so, he turned it on, and the water splashed on her.

"Oops-"

She flinched, and Ashton looked back, seeing Jayce have her face being sprayed. She flustered before moving the hose to where the soil was, then wiping her wet face, making sure she saw Ashton.

He approached her, "Sorry- I didn't-"

She directed the hose towards his face, making sure he was wet as well, then let out a laugh. She let down the hose once he was wet enough, he stood there frozen, shivering coldly. He wiped his wet hair from his forehead, then looked at her, still laughing.

"One is to one, vice president," she replied.

He gave off a side smirk, then forcefully grabbed the hose from her, spraying it on her, she yelped as he started to chase her around.

"Okay, sorry, Ashton- Stop!" she yelled as he continued to chase her around.

At one point, she stopped running, then grabbed the hose from him, soaked in water, and sprayed him from head to toe. And they continued to play like children, who had nothing in between them but manipulation.

~~~

There was a cliff near the house, where Ashton, Jaxon and Eric usually jumped off from.

Jayce and Ashton were having a picnic on it, enjoying the breeze of autumn and watching the sunset, drying themselves after getting wet.

They were having tea, and Ashton had bought steak burgers as well, Jayce's favorite.

She rested her head on his shoulder, after finishing a whole burger as she drank the tea. It was tiring, faking it all, for both of them.

"You know how it's quite a wonder how I went to nearly breaking your arm to choking you to a police station to a murder and to dating you?" Jayce asked, feeling herself wanting to sleep.

Who doesn't feel sleepy after eating?

"It's quite a wonder to be able to actually melt that heart of yours," Ashton replied.

She took his hand, and checked his wrist for a while, his scars were healing.

"You're doing great, I'm proud of you," she smiled.

"Did you stop your meds?" he asked.

"Yeah,"

"That's great, you're doing a great job," he smiled back.

Jayce put her head on his shoulder again, interlocking their hands. It felt so strange, yet so fake, it felt like they were both on the end of the line. She ran through all those thoughts before finally closing her eyes on his shoulder.

The sun was setting, as Jayce relaxed on his shoulder. But she was prone to everything, sensitive to everything she heard, detailed and had photographic memory, and she didn't fall asleep that quickly.

Ashton took a breath, thinking Jayce had fallen asleep already, "The sunset is beautiful, isn't it?"

And with that sentence ringing in Jayce's ear, she couldn't believe him anymore.

~~~

He carried her in a bridal way and to the bedroom, letting her sleep with the blanket above her. She was drier now from the water mess they made, but Ashton had other things to do.

He opened his phone, seeing notifications of Milton spamming him, and the texts made him all furious.

'UR GF CAME BY, THREATENED US AND PUSHED MY MOM'

'UR GF IS COMPLETELY PSYCHO!?'

'I SHOULDVE STRANGLED HER WHEN I COULD'

'HEY ANSWER ME U CRAP'

"WTH ANSWER ME RN'

'THT GIRL IS COMPLETELY NUTS, A FREAK'

'WHAT DOES SHE HAVE ABOVE US?'

Ashton exhaled an exasperated sigh, I'm not that surprised you went to my house. But thank goodness you came back alive. He sarcastically thought, looking at Jayce from the corner of his eye, sleeping like Aurora.

'kinda wished she killed you too' he replied to the text, 'but dont worry, im omw to do that for her :D'

He put his phone in his pocket, and put his car key beside the table. He went to a drawer and took out a pen and paper. He started to write a note saying: I have something to do, use my car to get to school tmrw.

He stopped writing, wondering what to write next. He could've written 'love you' but that would just hurt her more when everything gets revealed.

See you ;)

He ended up writing that and placed it below his car key. He went down the house, took his coat and went outside, catching a taxi.

He told the driver the address of the Walkers' house, as the only thing he really wanted to do right now was to punch all of them in the face.

"Funny that earlier this noon, a girl went to this address as well," the taxi driver said, chuckling, "Is there some type of party there? She literally climbed the gate to get in. I dropped her off here, and now I'm picking you up here. I was just around this area,"

It was the same taxi driver as Jayce's before.

Ashton chuckled lowly, "The world's a small space," he said, "And the girl you took this noon is my girlfriend,"

"Oh, well then, you both seem like a nice match," the driver said and started driving.

"I wish we would've been a forever match though," he muttered.

~~~

He got off the taxi, and asked him to wait, as he went in and used the key that he had for the gate, and went in.

He walked past the fountain in the moonlight, and banged on the door.

No one answered, as he kept banging.

"IF YOU'RE BACK HERE TO WAVE SOME MORE MONEY AT US," Anita's yell was heard, referring to Jayce, "LEAVE,"

"No, Aunt Anita," Ashton said, "It's Ashton,"

There was silence before the door opened.

Ashton grinned, "And I'm here to wave some punches for Milton,"

Milton was seen in the living room, eating popcorn while watching Euphoria. Ashton pushed Aunt Anita aside.

"What's wrong now?" Milton asked.

He grabbed him by his collar, "You should really mind your words, or do you all not know how to confess your wrongs?"

"I didn't do anything wrong, and you and Jayce, you both have a mental issue," Milton curled his lip, and without warning, Ashton had punched him across the face.

"Ashton!" Leo yelled, holding him back from his son, "LEAVE RIGHT NOW,"

"Or what?" Ashton asked, jerking away his hand, "You'll report me to the police? You think they'll trust you?"

Anita gritted her teeth, "Ashton, I'm warning you,"

"Oh, right," he scoffed back, "You could just wave your huge amount of money to them, thinking they'll take the bait and you'll be off, right?"

Milton wiped his bleeding mouth, "Then what do you want us to do? Jayce doesn't want us to fund the school anymore, she's going to ask Izzie Brooks to fund it if the show she said isn't going to work," he scowled.

"The thing is, I came here, to like kill you all," Ashton said, "But I don't want to support Jayce's thought of thinking I'm a murderer, because I'm not," he said, "So I'm here to say goodbye,"

"Goodbye?" Kiara scoffed, walking down the stairs, "Why?"

"Because once all the citizens find out you cut off the funding then they will all do all they can to force you out of Syville, since no one really likes you all," he replied, grinning with no patience, "And I'm so excited for that,"

"We have money, we can do anything we want," Anita said.

"Do you think you'll have money once the news passes on to social media? The Internet works fast, and all your businesses will be bankrupt once people start hating on you virtually," Ashton said, "Sooner or later, you all will feel the karma, killing you slowly,"

"This is so funny," Howard scoffed, "You are not even part of our family, why do we need to bother about you? Why are you threatening us? Kimberly Walker was just a gold-digger walking into our family, YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO INTIMIDATE US,"

"Your decisions had made me and Jayce very many problems, and I have all the right in the world to be angry at you for how you treated me from a child to a teenager who did nothing wrong but be patient with you," he replied, "So, I have a right of all of this,"

"Your girlfriend and you, both of you are annoying, irritating, you're the ones who should be killed slowly," Milton spitted on Ashton, his saliva mixing with blood.

Ashton grabbed his collar again, and he shivered in fear, "You can talk crap about me, but not about her. Never."

He released his collar and pushed him on the couch, then looked at the rest of our family.

"Get out." Anita said, stressed with everything that's happening, "GET OUT." she shrieked that her voice broke.

"I was about to, and please chill," Ashton said, "High blood pressure isn't going to get you anywhere nicer," he smiled sweetly, reminding her, as he walked out of the door and the door slammed behind him.

He took a sigh before walking out of the gate and into the taxi.

"To the boarding school, sir," he said.

~~~

Ashton arrived back at the dorm, keeping an eye on Jaxon. The pen was still in his bag in the lockers of the basketball team.

He had to keep an eye on him. Another murder couldn't happen.

~~~

Jayce woke up and saw the note, quite flustered on what she was supposed to react to, but then she went to brush herself up and dry her uniform, then walked down to the kitchen, and made herself a coffee.

After coffee, she locked the house door and went to the car, turning it on, and driving towards the boarding school.

She went back to her dorm first to take her stuff, finding Amber there, nearly ready for school.

"Where did you sleep?" she asked.

Jayce pursed her lips, "I'll tell you when it's all over,"

"Just tell me already," Amber whined.

"By the end of this week, I'll tell you, okay?" she said.

"I went to Eric's parents' house yesterday," she frowned, "They don't look so good,"

"Why?"

"Ella, Eric's sister, said that Georgia and Oliver have been fighting, maybe about to sign a divorce. And she's pretty stressed up about it," Amber said.

"Then what happened?"

"Georgia did look tired, her eye bags were huge. I didn't see Oliver though,"

"They're just stressed about Eric, and I would be as well," Jayce said, "I'm doing all of this for you and Eric, and Ella, and his family. He deserves the truth,"

Amber nodded slowly and they both went to school.

~~~

"I heard that your family cut off the funding," Jaxon said.

"Yeah, that's why I was at their place the entire day yesterday," Ashton lied.

"Oh," he responded, "So what happened?"

"They didn't want to fund again," he replied.

"Do you hate them for it?" Jaxon asked, fury in his voice.

"No," Ashton lied, "It's fine,"

"Okay," he said, "You sure?"

"Positive, they're still my family," he flinched as he said it, "No worries, Jaxon. Everything's handled,"

~~~

Jayce gave back Ashton's key during lunchtime, in the lockers.

"Where did you go last night?" she asked.

"I had something to do,"

"Something like..." and like what was told, she was a detailed person, "Punching someone?" She grabbed his right hand and shoved it on his face, seeing some red marks on it from punching Milton.

Ashton pursed his lips, "You didn't even tell me you went to the Walkers' house yesterday," he replied.

Jayce clicked her tongue, "But still, intimidating them was nice,"

"Milton complained to me,"

"That prick is such a childish boy,"

"So I went to his house yesterday and punched him," he confessed.

"He deserved it anyways," she replied, looking at his hand, "Rinse this in cold water,"

He nodded, "Yes, president, I will,"

She gave a thin smile, "We have practice after school for the show,"

"Yeah, I know,"

"Rinse it properly, you can't play the piano if your hand hurts,"

"Yes, president, I understand," he grinned back, "Now let's get to class first,"

~~~

Fast-forward to the day of the show, because everything weird, confusing, and rather uneasy happened that day.

And the day where the truth would reveal itself. The day where everything would unfold, and everything would either shatter or mend the pieces.

The show was going to start early in the morning on Saturday, and it was in the middle of November.

Ashton had not asked about Eric's case development to Jayce, maybe because he knew that it would make him look more suspicious. So the only choice he had left was to really tell her the truth, on that day as well.

Jayce wore a black jumpsuit, with heels and curled her hair, and some makeup. Something about all of this made her want to sleep forever, and not wake up at any time soon. She had to extract the truth by that day, and she must.

"Good luck by the way," Amber said, "I really mean it. I'll go down in a while,"

"Thanks," Jayce said.

"Also," Amber replied, "Can I have your notes? I haven't studied anything and exams are like in a week or so,"

Jayce didn't share her notes with anyone, "Notes are just to make everything organized, just read from your textbook and do active recall,"

"So, is that a no?"

"If you need help, just tell me," she replied, taking her printed script paper and handbag, walking out of the dormitory.

"That selfish little-"

~~~

Before getting to the ballroom, Jayce went by to the kitchen on the first floor. She took a knife, sharp and small, and placed it in her handbag, a way to threaten and get the truth. Because Ashton was off a soft heart if all he lied for wasn't a lie.

Ashton also had taken the pen from his gym bag, which Jaxon had not searched yet, and put it in his tux he was wearing. He then walked to the ballroom, while Jaxon stayed in the dorm.

Jayce went to the ballroom, seeing Ashton already there, and the guests beginning to arrive. And he looked great, and she looked great.

"Woah, president," he said, hand in his black tux, "You look beautiful, and wonderful, and perfect,"

Jayce gave a thin smile, "You too, you look great,"

Gosh, these fake little compliments, it's all just crap, she thought in her head, not ready to confront him. Deep down, she knew she had a feeling for him. That feeling of wanting him, but not being able to because this was all just because of a murderer she wanted to catch.

"Let's go," Ashton lent out his hand, also not ready to confront her, to tell her the entire truth of this relationship and all his intentions.

Jayce took his hand and they both walked to the backstage, where everyone was already preparing.

Harrison was also getting himself ready, when he saw the two, "You both," he said, "You can practice your lines in that room there," he said, pointing to a room on the other end of the backstage.

"Okay," Jayce said, "Also, Ashton's the first one to perform so I think he should get ready first, I'll practice by myself,"

Harrison nodded and some other people started calling him. He was extremely busy, "Okay, right, up to you. We'll be performing in 15 minutes," he went across the place to a bunch of other people, needing his help.

"You better get ready, good luck, vice president," she fixed his hair, then stood on her toes, placing one light kiss on him. He was staggered, definitely, thinking that wouldn't have happened. But it was just that: one last kiss.

One. Last. Deceiving. Kiss.

Ashton smiled and turned around going to one of the keyboards placed, and practicing as Jayce went to the room assigned to them.

She placed her handbag there, making sure no one saw the knife, and she fixed her hair.

Then, she practiced her lines, trying to make it look as natural as ever.

~~~

The show was going to start, and all the guests had assembled. Everything was designed perfectly, but all of them, the rich and the luxurious, they all didn't really seem to be in the mood for it.

"Good morning ladies and gentlemen," Harrison went up on stage, showing off his MC skills vigorously, "First of all, thank you so much for sparing some time to attend this show," he said, "And second of all, I will be telling you the main objective of this show: it is to find a funder for our school, since it's a tragedy that our latest funder cut their funds off for ridiculous things. So here, we are going to be persuading you to fund our school because without the funds, these poor kids will have to stop school,"

Ashton waited in behind the curtains, shaking all his nervousness out. Jayce appeared, taking his hand, making sure he felt comfortable and calm.

Harrison finished his opening remarks, "Now, I will be calling Ashton Walker, for he will be playing a tune called Clair de Lune, let's give a warm applause for him,"

Ashton stepped onto the stage with a smile, as Jayce looked from the side like a proud girlfriend she was. A fake one.

And the audience, they seemed rather unhappy, as if wanting to leave. Some were whispering on how ridiculous this show was. Some of them didn't really have any conscience.

He bowed and sat on the piano, then started with his tune. He played the melody well, and everything was peaceful and silent for a while. The song rang in Jayce's ears, like a beautiful melody she always wanted to hear.

Ashton enjoyed playing the tune itself, although his brain was clouded with so many thoughts.

He ended the song gracefully, and stood up, and bowed. And the guests clapped their hands.

He walked over to the backstage, with a beating heart and Jayce exclaimed a series of praises on him.

"That was magnificent, Ash," she praised, "Amazing!"

He chuckled lowly, as Harrison patted his back, "That was really good, son,"

"Thanks, dad," he smiled back and he went back on stage to be the MC.

The persuasion session was going to be held last, and a huge number of performances were held before it. From the dances, to the singing, to many different performing arts shown.

In the meantime, Jayce and Ashton practiced their lines, making sure that their public speaking was confident and natural.

After quite a long time, and the guests were starting to want to leave, it was finally the time to persuade and finalize. And it was tense.

~~~

"Hello everyone, I'm Jayce, the student council president of the school," she greeted.

"And I'm Ashton, the student council vice president of the school," he greeted as well.

"And we're here today to persuade anyone of you to fund our school,"

"As with no funding, then all the talented students' futures could be delayed, or possibly even ruined,"

"Our school provides the best facilities for students: from a very huge library, half the size of the Library of Congress, with a wide range of books, to dorms that make students' comfortable and cozy," she said.

"The school also follows an advanced teaching system, thus the lessons and everyone in here have a very great base for further lessons in college and university," he continued.

"Many of our students have won several competitions and awards both from national and international levels,"

"The school also provides clubs for students to find their hidden talent or hobby: such as basketball, music, debate, science, math and many more!"

"And they aren't just regular clubs, they are clubs that also focus on the development of students, thus winning and achieving many achievements such as tournaments and olympiads,"

The persuasion continued, for both of them, it was just a matter of time until they finished this, and then it was truth time.

After a while, with the bragging of the school's achievements and advantages, and the students' personalities and developments, it was a Q&A session.

And very little, at least only 1 to 2 raised their hands. As if they didn't care. They definitely didn't want to spend money on education.

"Yes," Jayce pointed at a woman with red matte lipstick.

"Why does funding this school be any of my business? How does these kids' education have to do with me?" she asked, rather annoying.

Ashton took a breath, not believing what she had just asked.

"Miss-"

"Madam," the woman spoke, "Call me Madam,"

"Fine, madam," Jayce said, "The education of the future generation is important unless you want that in the future that everything will fall apart, from economy to finance. You wouldn't want that for your business or your family wouldn't you?"

The woman clenched her jaw in response.

Another man raised his hand, "Surely, some of us do care about the education of students. But, I have a question,"

"And what's the question?" Ashton asked.

"Wasn't there a few crime cases that happened here not long ago? From the former head of the foundation that funded you, Kimberly Walker, going into jail for a huge number of crimes, and a murder case? Of a student? If I'm not mistaken, his name is Eric Rodriguez,"

Ashton's face tensed, surely all of these cases had a connection with him, all of it. Jayce noticed.

"Sorry, but what is your question?" she asked.

"Is the school environment even safe?" he asked, "I don't really trust my money flowing into this school with the amount of cases given in such a short time,"

"Things happen that we can't avoid, and all of these cases didn't affect the quality of the school and what they provide to the students," Jayce replied.

"But I've heard that the murder of Eric Rodriguez was caused by a student at this school, is that true?" the man asked, intimidating Jayce even more, "Does that justify the fact that everyone in this school are weak or have a criminal mind?"

Ashton gritted his teeth, about to say something when Jayce broke in.

"Eric Rodriguez's death was a tragedy," she raised a voice at him, "And if you are here to question our grief so that you can feel good because you never wanted to fund the school in the first place, then better on leave, Sir,"

The man scoffed, and a series of whispers filled the hall. Harrison peeped in through the backstage, ordering them both to stop the show, as he knew Jayce was about to lose it.

"Did you just yell at me?" the man queried in disbelief.

Ashton glared at Jayce, giving her a sign to stop, but of course, she didn't listen.

"Is yelling a crime now?" she asked.

"You are giving us proof that the students in this school are unmannered!" a woman yelled.

"Poor people for goodness sake," another one scoffed.

"You all look like you're begging for money but elegantly," another one said.

"There are two types of rich people: the one who works to make other people richer, and the one who works to make themself richer," Jayce said.

"Jayce, that's enough," Ashton approached her.

"If you all cannot see the wrong in what that man had said," she yelled, "Then will you excuse us, as this show is done."

"Jayce," Ashton stood in front of her, whispering, "This isn't going make us have a funder,"

"I never thought we would get one anyways in this show," she took off her mic from her ear and dropped it on the ground, "I'm not saying all the rich people are the same, but whoever said the things they said is definitely a rich person,"

She turned away, walking out of the stage.

"And you!" someone else shouted towards Ashton.

He turned around with a sigh, "Is there anything else you would like to say?"

A series of complaints and insults went towards him.

"Just so you all know, Eric Rodriguez was a good friend of mine, and he did not deserve what happened to him. You don't have a right to question or judge his death, and you surely do not have a right to fund our school," he stated, "Thank you for your time," he took off his mic as well, and dropped it on the floor, rushing towards the backstage.

The lights soon turned off, with Harrison following Ashton in the backstage as the guests yelled with complaints and insults and all the crappy words towards them.

"You should've stayed patient! We've lost our chance for funding!" Harrison complained on the two.

"My mom will fund it: Izzie Brooks, just call her, here's her number," she sent the number to Harrison's phone before she went to her room and slammed the door.

Ashton went to the room, closing the door behind him. He saw Jayce muttering to herself, cursing the guests in every way possible.

"How do those people even get those thoughts to judge other people's deaths?" she muttered to herself, "Those imbecile- idiot- selfish- stupid- little-"

"You okay?" Ashton asked, feeling the same fury she was feeling, but he held it in.

"Do I look okay?" she asked, still turned around against the wall.

"No," he replied, "And those people are truly idiots. They're idiots in feeling and emotions, and which is surprising 'cause they must have been quite smart to have grown their business. Like my family, who's completely-"

"Let's end this," she interrupted.

"End what?" he furrowed.

"Whatever this is, whatever's going on and not going on between us. Let's end it," she stated.

Ashton flinched, approaching her, "You need to calm down,"

She took the knife from her handbag in a slick manner and turned around, putting it against his throat. He froze, hands up in the air, flustering.

"What's this?" he asked.

"I know you've used me because my father was a detective in Eric's case, and I knew you dated me because Jaxon asked you to," she said, "You dated me for protection, right?"

"Protection?" he scoffed, "Why the hell do I need protection? Oh, right, apparently I also found out that you dated me because you think I'm a killer,"

Jayce pursed her lips, pressing the knife deeper into his throat, "Is there a reason for you not to be? Everything that's shown makes you a killer,"

"Then," Ashton started, reaching into his jacket and taking out her pen, "Mind telling me why I shouldn't be suspecting you to be a killer?"

"Where did you get that? Why do you have my pen with you?" she asked.

"I found it in Eric's bedroom when he died. Left there to be taken as proof, but I took it instead," he said, "This is what was in my vault,"

"Why didn't you just give it to the police?" she asked, "Don't you think I am capable of killing someone?"

"I should have," he said, "But my instincts told me you didn't kill him. And you didn't,"

"Because you did?" she asked.

"No,"

"Then why the hell did you agree to Jaxon to date me? To use me for information? Are you guilty or innocent?" she asked, "No, most importantly: if my dad wasn't a police officer, would you have still dated me?"

He clenched his jaw, "I didn't kill Eric. Jaxon used you for information and I said yes because I wanted to protect you, keep you under my sight,"

"Protect me from who?" she scoffed.

"I know who killed Eric, and I dated you because I also wanted to find more proof to justify it," Ashton sighed.

"You know who killed Eric? You didn't tell anyone? How do you know?" she asked, rather irritated and in a dilemma.

"Yes, and how I found out about it is quite strange too,"

"You're never not strange," she glared at him, "So who killed Eric if it wasn't you? And if you want to lie, at least make it believable,"

Ashton clicked his tongue, holding his breath. He wasn't ready to say it, especially with a knife against his throat, "Jaxon killed Eric."