2 Déjà vu

SATURDAY, 8 AM

"Jayce Wake up, son it's already past 8," said Mrs. Clark while waking him up.

"Yea just 10 more minutes mom... wait what did you say it's already 8!!"- said

Jayce while he got anxious and then he fell from the bed.

"Oh crap! I almost forgot that it was today!" - said Jayce while getting a little excited.

"Go and get fresh, we are waiting for you at the dining table. Your dad wants us to have breakfast together today," she said while leaving his room.

"Be there in 10 minutes mom."

After a while, he went for a shower. While washing his face he looked at himself in the mirror but the mirror was covered in steam, he wiped the mirror with his right hand to see his face then suddenly he saw a different face covering his right half and smiling.

"What the…?" he rubbed his eyes and then looked again in the mirror and saw everything was back to normal, "What was that… was I hallucinating…? or is it because of those horror movies again...? And why did this time it felt so real?" said Jayce while he was getting out of the shower.

He entered the dining room and there he saw his dad sitting while wearing a plain white shirt and navy blue trousers, reading the newspaper, and on the left side saw her mom in a blue dress setting up the table.

"Good morning mom & dad" He greeted. "Morning son, excited for today?" Mr. Clark asked while looking at him. "Yeah but, I am kinda nervous though, haha" He replied.

"Wow, that's surprising, Jayce". Said Mrs. Clark while mocking him.

"Hm, what mom?", "You are here on time, you know you always get late for breakfast." she mocked him again. "Hey mom, come on, it's my special day, of course, I was gonna be on time today."

"Mhm come now have a seat, I prepared your favourites, Fried eggs, and Pancakes."

"Woah, thank you, you are the best mom".

After breakfast,

"Jayce, I'm not gonna lecture you about life but from now on your life is your own, the decisions you make in the present will create your future, and as a father, I'll tell you to live your life to the fullest and enjoy every second of it." Said Mr. Clark while patting his shoulder.

"Yea dad, I'll be fine. Your kid is a grownup man now hehe." Said Jayce

"Great! I've transferred 10,000 U.S. dollars into your account just in case you need 'em but don't waste it. And just give me a call if you need more." Mr. Clark told Jayce.

"10k dollars?", "Dad, that's a huge amount!"

"Again. Don't waste it."

"Have you ever known me to waste anything, dad?"

"I'm just saying." Said Mr. Clark.

"And if you go to the living room, you'll find a box on the table there. Go and fetch it?" Mr. Clark added.

"Yeah, sure." Jayce left the dining room and went into the living room, there he saw a box. He took it and went back, "What's in it, dad?", he asked while taking his seat.

"Open it, son, it's for you. A parting gift from us." Mr. Clark replied.

"You didn't have to do all these things… but yeah, I do love gifts," said Jayce while unwrapping the box. And inside the wrapper was a brand new 128 GB black colored iPhone 12. "Wow, dad! This is the latest version out there. This is big." Jayce said with astonishment.

"Well, since you're going to such a big city, we wanted you to have the latest gadgets. Besides, your current phone is quite outdated now." Mr. Clark replied.

"Thanks a lot, guys."

"Now go, pack your bags and be ready before 3". Mr. Clark said with a smile on his face.

At 2:17 p.m. he received a call from Harry, Jayce's best friend. They had been friends since the high school freshmen year.

Harry, "On my way to yours, bro. I'll be there in 20 minutes.",

Jayce, "Cool, see you soon bro.",

Both hung up. "Mom, Harry's gonna be here in 20 minutes". Jayce shouted.

"Alright, honey." She replied

25 minutes later Harry reached the Clark's.

"Dude, you're 5 minutes late." He said while mocking him. "Am I?" Harry said. They shook hands and hugged.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Clark." Harry greets them. "Welcome, Harry. You're just on time. We leave in 15 minutes." Said Mr. Clark. "You hungry, son?" Mrs. Clark asked Harry.

"No thanks, I just had my lunch, Mrs. Clark," Harry replied. "Alright then, you two boys go upstairs and Jayce, make sure you got everything packed one last time." Said Mrs. Clark while heading to her room. "I already checked thrice mom," Jayce replied. "Jayce, do as I say!" Mrs. Clark said in a not so polite way. "Yes, master," Jayce replied.

A few moments later Mr. Clark shouted, "You boys ready?"

"Yeah dad, coming!"

Both Harry and Jayce came downstairs. Harry was carrying a small bag that had Jayce's Laptop and a few books while Jayce was carrying two medium-sized bags filled with clothes and other accessories.

"Let's get these bags in the car." Said Mr. Clark.

It was a silver Chevrolet Equinox LT. They loaded the luggage into the trunk and took their seats. Mr. and Mrs. Clark were sitting in the driver's seat. She had a red wrap-around dress on while Mr. Clark was wearing the same outfit as he was wearing in the morning. Jayce had a plain white t-shirt and a grey jacket with his sleeves folded up to his elbow with denim jeans. The two boys were sitting in the back seats with Harry on right.

"All set?" Mrs. Clark asked.

"Yes, sweetheart." Mr. Clark answered.

Mrs. Clark turned on the ignition and they left for the airport.

"I'm gonna miss you man," Harry said, staring blankly outside the window.

"Me too, dumbass," Jayce replied.

"I wonder who's gonna save my ass the next time I get bullied, you always had my back." said Harry

"I'll be back soon, Mr crybaby, just play it cool until then."

"Remember that one time when you saved me from Max?" Harry asked.

"What? When? Max is our friend." Jayce asked with a frown on his forehead.

"He became our friend after you threw him 15 feet away with a single push of your hand," Harry said.

"No. I never hit Max, I mean we did get in a heated conversation once but he apologized soon after." Jayce replied.

"Bro, I don't know exactly what happened but after the conversation, Max punched you right on your face and you stood there for a sec. and started mumbling something, all I could hear was, "You'll regret the moment you met us.", and then you punched him back and made him bleed. Then you picked him up by his throat with just one hand and as he was choking, you threw him away with one swing saying, "You're not worth my time.", and he fell about 15 feet away. And then you came back to your senses when I tried to hold you back." Harry said, "Everyone on the campus was shocked when they saw it," he added.

"Dude Max is like 158 lbs and 6' tall, no way I could've lifted him with one hand let alone throw him 15 feet away," Jayce said in disbelief.

"Bro, I'm telling you, it happened, you tossed that guy like an empty can. And that wasn't the first time it happened. Whenever things get too intense you kinda blackout and become this whole other person and beat the crap out of everyone. There's a reason why everyone including Peter, the heavyweight wrestler at our university, is afraid of you. I always wondered how the fuck did you get so strong." Harry replied.

"Well, I'm sure there are good explanations for all of it, but I still don't believe I threw Max that far away and secondly, no one's afraid of me. They respect me." Jayce said in his defense.

"Believe what you will, man," Harry said.

"Dad, do I have blackouts?" Jayce asked Mr. Clark.

"Well, you do sometimes. But that's okay. A lot of people get blackouts. We've never seen you have one but we've heard some complaints when you were a kid. Just don't get in any trouble and you'll be fine." said Mr. Clark while trying to calm Jayce.

For the rest of the ride, Jayce sat in silence trying to remember those blackouts but in vain.

20 minutes later they reached the airport and passed the security.

"You've been quiet for most of the ride, you okay?" Mrs. Clark asked.

"Yeah, I was just thinking about the blackouts," Jayce replied in a low tone.

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart. You're perfect," said Mrs. Clark while gently brushing Jayce's cheek with her right hand.

The announcement for Jayce's flight went on, breaking the silence.

"I'm gonna miss you, mom, you too dad," Jayce said. "We'll miss you too sweetheart." He hugs both of them and turns to Harry hugs him, "see you soon bud."

"Don't do anything stupid there." Harry mocked.

Jayce then checked in and stepped inside the plane leaving behind his parents and his friends. He turned his head back to see them one last time. "It's just for a semester," He told himself.

Inside the plane, Jayce looked for his seat with his ticket in his hand, "19C… 24C," he read the seats when he noticed a tall, somewhat 5'8"'', a wheatish skinned guy about the same age as him, with hazel green eyes and black short hair sitting in his seat. He walked up to him and said, "Excuse me? Um… That's my seat."

"Oh hey, sorry, man, 23C is mine. I just like window seats. Do you mind if we switch?" He asked while showing his ticket.

"Oh alright. Sure." Jayce replied.

"Hi, I'm Mark, Mark Evans." offering a handshake.

"Jayce Clark, nice to meet you," Jayce said while receiving the handshake. A chill air filled the plane with a brief silence and both of them saw images of themselves together being introduced to each other as Orion and Oreck.

Jayce abruptly stopped the handshake and took a moment to process.

"Did you feel that?" Jayce asked Mark. "What?" Mark asked. "Nothing," Jayce replied.