Orenda; a mystical force present in all people that empowers them to affect the world, or to effect change in their own lives.
C H A P T E R F O U R T E E N
You know in Tom and Jerry when Jerry pissed Tom soo bad that we would see the smoke come out of his ears? Yeah, Noah looked like the human form of the pissed animated cat at his very moment.
Everyone's fearful gasps and gulps very evidently indicated that the thing we were most afraid of had happened.
"Jordan, I said, outside. Now," he warned. His voice was terrifyingly low, and his gritted teeth caused goosebumps on my arms. I could see Jay from the corner of my eye; he wasn't a tiny bit scared, just guilty. He was clearly expecting this, whether Noah came to know of the news from him and Scar or anyone else.
Scar caught my hand as soon as Noah uttered those words. "Noah, would y--" I tried to reason with him.
His shifted his icy glare from Jay and aimed it right at my face. I clenched my jaw and gulped due to fright. "You knew about this the whole time, didn't you?" his sounded so disappointed in me that a tear almost slipped from my eye. He looked me in the eye and waited for an answer, and when I chose silence as my answer, he spoke again. "Tell me you didn't know anything about this and I won't do anything." I was clueless as to what my response should be. "Yeah, that's what I thought," he scoffed.
All this while, he didn't acknowledge Scar one bit, and that scared me the most. Scar won't be able to handle herself if everything with Noah doesn't go back to exactly the way it was.
She was about two seconds away from weeping, and Noah went over to Jay and caught him by his collar. Before any of us could even attempt to stop him, he had already dragged Jay outside. The atmosphere in the cafe had transformed into a remarkably grave one. We all immediately ran out, and Steph accompanied us.
"You." Punch "Unworthy." Punch "Piece." Punch "Of." Punch "Shit."
Chase went over to try and stop Noah, and he turned and shot Chase a sharp look. "If you're interested in having a face that's not covered in band-aids by tomorrow, you better back off, Chase." He then looked at Matt and blocked all of Matt's attempts to stop the fight with his words. "And you, you don't even think about trying to stop me, or you're gonna have it."
"Noah, listen to yourself. You sound insane right now, you need to stop," Chase yelled, coming in front of a very beaten up Jay. Scar couldn't even stand straight due to her hysteric sobs.
Noah pushed Chase. "Back the fuck off, Chase. This is between him and me," he barked at Chase and Ally pulled Chase back. Noah punched Jay again, and he fell. Jay touched his lip with his finger, only to find blood on it. Because of all the guilt, he did absolutely nothing to stop his best friend from beating the shit out of him.
Before Noah could pull Jay up again, Scar launched herself between the two boys. "Noah, that's it. Stop this bullshit right now," she cried. All of us had gathered quite a crowd by now.
"Move out of the way, Scarlett." The use of her full name caused the hair at the back of my neck to stand up, and clearly, Scar wasn't expecting it either.
"No. You know what? This was both of our faults. So why don't you take a swing at me as well, huh?" I gasped as soon as those words tumbled out of her mouth. "What more do you want? The guy is already bloodied up!"
"You know he had it coming! And don't you dare talk to me like that! Both of you broke my trust," he sounded so tired and vulnerable.
"No, we didn't do anything wrong. In fact, we probably should've done this all the way back in high school. Because, in case you failed to notice, I've liked Jordan all of these bloody years and yet," she stopped to catch her breath. "Yet, I've had to go out with all different guys because we knew there was nothing that could happen between us. All because of you." She pointed her forefinger at him as an implication of her accusation.
I knew Scar had gone too far, but she was right in her place, and so was Noah. The timing and situation had screwed everything up.
Noah turned around and pulled at his hair. I signalled Scar to take Jay away from here quickly, and she nodded at me putting one of his arms around her shoulder. Matt went over to help them, and they walked off towards the campus with Jay.
Chase, Ally and I exchanged worried looks. Noah looked at us and asked, "All of you knew the whole fuckin' time, and you didn't think about telling me even once?" None of us had the strength or guts to respond. He didn't say anything else as he clenched his fists and walked off.
All of us exhaled a breath of relief and quickly made our way to the dorms. I opened the door of my dorm room to find Scar dabbing cotton on Jay's face with painful sighs escaping from him every now and then and Matt sitting beside him with a first-aid kit in his hand desperately trying to find something.
"You idiot. Couldn't you stop him? Just look at the condition of your face," she put a band-aid on the right side of his forehead.
"Scar, both of us very well know that I had it coming," he said, a sad smile playing on his lips.
"No, you don't deserve this. You didn't do anything wrong, Jordan. He can't beat you up like this for dating Scar," Matt said, pointing at his very bruised face.
I knew what Jordan was about to say and before he even said it, I knew I agreed with him. "He didn't beat me up because I'm dating Scar, Matt. He did this because I broke his trust and I didn't even bother telling him about it. He considers Scarlett as his little sister, and I know I would've done the same thing if I was in his place."
"Shut up, you twit. I'm not little," Scar chuckled through the tiny sobs, and all of us laughed.
I walked over to Scar's bed where Jay was sitting. "Are you okay?" I asked him and caught Scar's hand.
"Yes, I'm fine, guys. This is," he waved his hand circling his face, "usual. Okay? Stop worrying. I'll be fine by tomorrow."
My phone's alarm rang reminding me that I had an extra class to attend. Damn it! I was so tired I knew I would end up sleeping in the class, but if I don't attend it, I'll get busted.
I quickly put all the essentials in my backpack. "Syd, where are you going right now?" Matt's question made everyone's head turn towards me.
"Uh, I just remembered I've got an extra class to attend," then I looked at Scar. "Are you gonna be okay or do you want me staying here?"
She smiled and shook her head. "No, no. I'm fine. Go ahead and attend your class."
I said goodbye to them and told Jay to take care and quickly made my way out to the class. They had the weirdest timings for lectures. I came into the class, and as soon as I dropped my bag and caught a seat, the professor walked in and then he didn't shut up for the next hour. My stomach was in dire need of food, and it had given me enough grumbling noises during the class to convey its demands to me. Over the years, I had come to learn something very factual about human requirements; Sleep, and food can never be enough, one will always want more.
The class finally ended. I didn't listen to a word the professor said because I was busy worrying about what would be happening. I was on my way to the dorms after I made a quick stop at the drugstore and got some ointment for Jay. When I was halfway there, my phone rang.
It was Scar. "Hey, Scar. Everything alright? How's Jay?"
"Syd, we can't find Noah. I and Jordan are at the apartment waiting for him, but no one has seen him since this whole thing went down," she spoke between heavy breathes.
"What do you mean no one ha--"
I got cut off by her. "No, Jordan. I can't calm down. God only knows where he is! Did you see how angry he was when he left?" she yelled at him.
"Okay, Scar, maybe he has practice or extra lectures to cover or something?" I asked her.
I heard something fall in the background and Scar muttering profanities about it. "No, Syd. He doesn't have practice today, and neither does he have any extra class. Oh my god, how are we gonna find him?" Scar was going on and on describing how anxious she was, but I couldn't hear any of it as a tube light lit up in my head.
"I know where he is, Scar. Don't worry, I'll get him back," I cut her call after reassuring her and ran towards the cafe.
How could I not think of this sooner?
The bell Steph had recently put near the door to notify her of the arrival of the customers served its purpose as I walked in. The cafe was empty with the exception of two or three people. I ran towards Steph. "Is he there?"
She sighed, keeping the dirty plates further away on the counter. "Yes, he is. But he told me he doesn't want anyone up there." That was expected but what shocked me the most was what she advised me to do after that. "Which is why you should go up to him. He's not okay at all, Sydney."
I nodded frantically and ran up the stairs. Sure enough, I found him. Standing there with his hands on the boundary, staring at the sky like he would give anything to escape all of this. He turned his head sideways to look at me as I walked up to him.
He shook his head at me and flared his nostrils. "Why the hell are you here?"
"Because," I said and looked at his face which was fixed on a random building across the one we were on. "I realized I was wrong when I told Scar and Jay to take how much ever time they want to tell you; they should've done it immediately."
His jaw clenched at the mention of their names. "I don't care. You knew the whole time and didn't think about telling me once?"
I stared at his disbelief. "How could I not know? I stay with Scarlett and you know I couldn't have told you even if I wanted."
"Oh really? And why is that?" he said and finally turned to face me.
His hair was a complete mess, and his eyes made it look like he hadn't slept in a week. But did that stop him from looking as beautiful as he always did? Not one bit.
"Because it wasn't my story to tell. It was Scar's, and I can't take that right away from her," I said, fairly annoyed that he was still blaming me.
He raised his hands and gave me a fake smile. "Well, then, there you go!"
Was this guy serious right now? Before I had the chance to open my mouth, he spoke again, "She's gonna end up heartbroken when her oh-so-loving boyfriend cheats on her," he scoffed.
"No, she's not," I firmly stated.
He folded his hands on his chest and asked, "Oh really? Can you guarantee that?"
"No, I cannot," I said and looked at him, ridiculed. He really didn't know a thing about relationships at all. "They're in a relationship and every relationship is bound to have its fights. That's inevitable. But I can guarantee that he won't cheat on her."
"I know Jordan from the past eleven years. He's exactly like me. Switches girls every two days." I cringed when he said that.
"That's completely unfair, Noah. You can't hold that against Jay because even Scar dated other guys before they got together but that was all because they thought they didn't have a chance," I reasoned with him. "God forbid, but even if she gets her heart broken, I know that it won't be because he cheated."
"How can you be so sure? I know for a fact that he won't change," his voice came out lower than usual.
I knew he would say that and I knew exactly how to back them. "Oh yeah? Then answer me this. Did you find Jay even close to looking at any other girl in the past two and a half months?" He was speechless. "Did you ever see Scarlett happier than she's been in the past two and a half months?"
It took him a few seconds to respond. "It doesn't matter. He broke my trust." There it was. The real reason why he was hurting. "You know, I think two days ago some guys were talking shit about Scar, and after beating them up, I told Jordan that I trusted him with Scar because he would never have feelings for her," the tone of his voice justified more of the hurt of betrayal than it did anger. "And that son of a bitch didn't even have the audacity to tell me he was dating her."
"Yeah, because exactly next morning Scar came to the room crying after her jog because Jay broke up with her without giving her a reason," I signalled him to stop before he expressed his outrageous reaction. "I went up to him, and I was ready to punch him when he told that he did what he did because he didn't want to break your trust."
"Two months and she's already crying because of him, you see that?" he spit out the words.
"Noah, don't you see? She was crying because she wasn't with him anymore," I was trying my best to knock some sense into him. "Jay said that even if he can somehow handle losing his best friend, Scar won't be able to live a day without you. He didn't wanna do that to her."
He seemed lost in thoughts and didn't react, so I went ahead. "And I guess even I'm to blame after that," I spoke sheepishly.
He was utterly confused. "What do you mean?"
"It was me who convinced Jay to go make amends with Scar after that and I told them they should figure this whole situation about telling as soon as they can," I confessed and let out a light chuckle. "And you know what's surprising? They were gonna tell you everything today."
"Yeah, well Austin got to me first, and I felt like a complete idiot when he knew, and I didn't. All through high school, I cockblocked them cause I knew there was something going on and Jordan promised me he wouldn't get involved with her," he raised his eyebrows. "Well, now we can all see how that turned out."
"Look, Noah, all I'm trying to tell you is, Scar is gonna date guys, and I know that you care about her, but she's gonna end up hating you if you beat up every guy she goes out with," I smiled at him, and I knew he got my point. "She's found something extraordinary, so the least you can do, is give Jay an honest chance," he was staring at me intently. "because if there were any guy I trust the most to be with Scar, it would never be anyone but Jordan."
"I messed up, didn't I?" I chuckled at how cutely he said that. He rubbed his face with his hands, and I saw the red color of dried blood residing on his knuckles. As a reflex action, I caught hold of them and surprised him. "Did you like to punch a wall or something after you left?" I stared at him, shocked.
He laughed. "Somethin' like that." This boy was absolutely crazy.
I suddenly remembered I still had that ointment with me. I took it out of the bag. "Here, let me put this. I bet it'll heal faster than usual." I held his large hands in my tiny ones, and the first thought that my mind produced was how perfectly our hands fit. Shut up, stupid brain!
"How do you know it'll heal faster?" he stupidly questioned.
"Because both my parents are doctors and I visited my mom's clinic more times than one would want because I loved the lil kids that came there. And I picked up some medical knowledge along the way. Now shut up and let me put this."
"Okay, doc." He ruffled my hair and grinned at me.
I'd assumed that the usual spark that ignites with the slightest touch of his skin with mine would've disappeared. I was proved wrong because it multiplied by ten. Good thing, I wasn't one of the girls who believed in cliches and assumed this to be as a sign that we'd be together in the future.
He didn't flinch once when I applied the ointment which only told me one thing; that this was a habitual thing for him.
"I guess I should probably go sort stuff out with them, huh?" I nodded. "You're not coming along?" he asked me, bewildered.
I let out a soft chuckle. "No, this is something the three of you should do amongst yourselves."
"I'm pretty sure that's not true because you're the one who solved this, but I know you won't come along, no matter how much I persuade you." I smiled as he ruffled my hair once again and walked towards the door to leave. I shifted my vision towards the sky silently thanking God.
"Hey, precious?" I instantly turned around when I heard him call me that. "Thank you for doing this even though you didn't have to."
He then gave me a genuine smile that reached his bewitchingly beautiful green eyes, and I swear to god I felt my little heart flutter in my chest.
Author's Note:
Okay, so guys. I was very very tired and in the done-with-my-life phase when I slept on Thursday night, but I woke up and miraculously my book had reached 2K. Can I ever describe my gratitude for you guys? No. I honestly cried when I saw that. *cries again*
THANK YOU SO MUCH, FAM! YOU'RE THE BEST!
I'm always here if you wanna talk about anything, but like always, please be expressive! Comment and tap the lil ⭐! I LOVE YOU ALL MORE THAN YOU'LL EVER KNOW.
Stay happy and stay safe,
All the love, F x.