5 REVELATIONS

Everything was going on perfectly. Jace came to mine as planned in order to work on our assignment. Foster children was a sensible yet interesting subject according to me. To learn about how kids who didn’t have the privileges most of us had did make it out was inspiring me to make the most of what I got myself. Jace, however, didn’t seem as enthusiastic as I was. As much as I tried to get some opinions on the subject, he remained vague and went lightly over it. What I could still notice was that the few comments he had were all favourable to foster kids. For the little he said, it felt as if he knew what those children were going through. I also noticed that sometimes he says something, and then corrected himself as if he was saying something wrong or was about to reveal some deep, dark and well-hidden secret. I tried to talk to him about it, but he kept diverting the conversation. So I let go, not wanting to invade his personal space. He had the right to have secrets, and I had no right to infiltrate his life. We kept on talking until I noticed his eyes glowing, not as in excitement glowing, but as if he had tears in them. I did bother to ask whether he was alright, though, as expected, he evaded as fast as he could.

Me - Jace?

He must’ve thought that I would ask him another question, so he found a quick way out.

Jace - I need to go to the bathroom. Where is it?

Me - At the end of the corridor to your right.

what else could I answer? I spent those few minutes alone trying to figure out what was going on in his head. I got lost in my strain of thoughts until he came back to wake me up.

Me - So, do you know any foster kids?

Jace, coldly - No. I was just guessing how their lifestyle could be.

After that, I thought that maybe it was better to let it go.

After a few hours of what was mainly a monologue on foster kids, he said he had to be somewhere, and he had to go. At the same time, Rebekah texted me to ask if I wanted to meet them at the little Indian corner where we all used to hang out. So we stopped and decided to meet up again the next day, Sunday, to start writing and maybe do the presentation slides. Because of course, no assignment would be complete without a presentation to spoil it, right?

I went to meet Rebekah and the others at our Indian corner. When I arrived, I found out they already ordered what we always ate there; butter chicken and naan. What was amazing about that place was that the owner actually knew us pretty well. We were regular clients there and he liked sneaking into our conversations, which, strangely, we kind of liked. It was fun having someone to spice up the conversations. I sat down with my friends and of course expected Rebekah and Kayra’s silly comments.

Rebekah - So, how was that private talking session with cutie huh?

Me - Seriously? We were WORKING on an ASSIGNMENT. Drop it guys.

But they wouldn’t drop it, would they? Otherwise my life would be way too easy, and that wasn’t acceptable.

Me - Anyways he doesn’t talk much. I mostly did a monologue of the whole thing.

Kayra - Maybe because he’s admiring you.

Kayra’s answer to my desperate ‘get-out’ attempt was all but surprising. I was quite expecting that one. Kayra remaining silent and not commenting was just not normal. Her normal self had to say something to get to me. I just rolled my eyes and avoided answering any further because this would never end if I did. I ended the conversation with a naughty look from Ryan, Maya and Chris. Or at least, I thought it was ended until Aslam, the owner, came along to spice what didn’t need spices.

Aslam - Who’s that cutie I just heard about huh?

Maya - Quesiyah’s new crush.

Of course she couldn’t just shut up. Surprisingly, but unfortunately, Maya was still silent. She may be a serious student, but it’s not like her to stay silent on this subject, so I new the bomb would come sooner or later, and later was always worse.

Me - His name is Jace. And HE’S NOT MY CRUSH. I just said that he was cute. He’s new and I never saw him before that’s why I was intrigued. And now I’m doing an assignment with him and those three are doing my head in.

Aslam - Wait. Did you just say new?

Me - Yeah why?

Aslam - So you met the new kid?

Me - Wait you know him? You know Jace?

Aslam - Yeah. I know his foster family quite well. They’re good friends.

Every word started fading away immediately. Suddenly, everything made sense. The silence, the hesitation, the fear, the tears, always correcting himself when he realises he’s saying too much, everything. The room just went silent, I couldn’t focus on anything that was being said anymore. All I could think of was Jace. His sadness when it comes to foster children felt so much more understandable now. He was one himself.

From this moment onwards, I was looking forward to meeting him again. I wanted to ask him. I wanted to know more about him. I wanted to know his story. I had the strange feeling that there was more to him than we knew. I wanted to know more, I needed to know more.

As excited as I was, I was also very nervous. Despite my determination to know more, and my curiosity, I didn’t want to pressure him into telling me everything. After all, it was his story, and he had the right to keep it secret if he wanted to. Moreover I can imagine things have been hard for him. My family sure wasn’t perfect. We suffered a lot. But at least I still had a family. He didn’t. Now I understand why he always seemed so lonely. I didn’t want to bring back painful memories by asking too many Questions. Eventually, I would try to satisfy my unending curiosity without being too cold.