The Dance Queen (ON HOLD)

Chapter 3 : Ghosts From The Past

Samantha

The smell of the freshly brewed coffee stings my nose.

To be honest, I'm not exactly a coffee person. But right now all I need is something that can give a little spark to my dead soul.

I take a deep breath and glance around the room. Since it's only ten in the morning, there are only a few people in the cafe; an elderly man who is staring blankly to the newspaper in front of him, a girl who sits near the cafe window and... us.

And by 'us' I mean, me and him.

I shut my eyes close, trying to get rid of the incident that just happened earlier today. I still can feel each and every feelings that I felt. Her words keep ringing in my head no matter how hard I try not to think about it.

"He's dead."
"He's dead."
"He's dead."

"He's dead."

A tear rolls down to my cheek. My father is the last person I loved and I have disappointed him for not being there when he needed me the most. For the longest that I can remember, my father and I had been more than just a daughter and a father. Our relationship is even more than best friends.

What kind of a daughter am I?

"Hey. Here's your coffee, one Americano for the young lady."

I gasp, clearly pulled away from my thoughts. Innocently, he put the cup of coffee and sit right in front of me. I look at him with annoyance, but then I realize that he only brought one cup. I choose not to ask him about it. It's not my problem whether he drinks coffee or not. Me drinking coffee, on the other hand, is the only thing that I do care about.

I quickly grab the cup and slurp the coffee eagerly. Once it touches my tongue, I can immediately taste the bitterness of it. Nevertheless, I keep drinking the coffee until the last bit. Once it's finished, I put the cup down and wipe the remaining coffee on my lips with the back of my palm.

"Coffee addict, I presume?"

Again, I look at him with annoyance, giving him a death glare.

"No." I answer him cynically. He nods slowly, but I can tell from his face that he doesn't believe of what I just said.

"It's true. I needed something to get me out from my own mind and all I can think of is coffee." I shrug, defending myself. For a split second, I was quite sure that he looks at me with suspicion. But the next second, he looks at me with a very vivid impression.

"You're indifferent."

I chuckle, "Excuse me? What is that suppose to mean?"

He flexes his body and stands up from his seat, "You know, people don't usually drink coffee when they have problems." He walks slowly towards me, "They usually drink..." He sits next to me.

Oh God the discomfort.

"Alcohol."

I open my eyes widely, "The hell? So, you're asking me to get drunk with you? Like right now?" I'm very sure that I cannot control my facial expression anymore.

"Yeah, let's go!" He stands up, reaching for my hand.

I choose not to answer him.

He tilts his head to one side, while his arm is still reaching for me. Then to my surprise, he smiles.

I freeze.

There's something in his smile that I find very familiar with.

"Alright, alright! Damn Sam, you're exactly the same like what I've always heard." He throw both of his arms to the air, laughing. He sits next to me again.

I roll my eyes, not interested with whatever he's trying to pull. Seeing my reaction, he clears his throat and looks at me with suspicion for the second time of the day. I try so hard not to meet his gaze.

"I'm sorry to ask this but why were you crying?" He leans his body towards me, making me even more uncomfortable. I shift my sitting position away from him as far as I could.

"That's none of your business!" I snap at him. By my surprise, he looks quite hurt with my response. To be honest, I don't know how I should react either. Should I be happy because there's someone out there who cares? Or should I be mad because a stranger wants to know my problems?

I sigh, "I'm sorry. I'd rather not to talk about it."

Just with that simple line, his face quickly light up. "That's understandable. If I were you, I'd be mad when a stranger ask me that too." He said in a way that I find a little too cheerful. "It was foolish of me. Please forgive me for what I just said."

I raise my eyebrow. So then why did you ask?

As if he could read my mind, he continues, "I can't help it you know." He pauses, his eyes wander away, like he's trying to find the correct words.

"I can't stand to see a beautiful girl like you cries."

Did he just?

Yeah, he did.

I look at him with disbelief. I can see from his face that he's clearly holding back a smile.

We then spend the time in silence. I look around the room. The cafe is filled with more people than before.

The elderly man who was staring blankly to the newspaper is now very much focused on reading them. A group of boys sits in the middle of the room, chatting and laughing.

But, there's one thing that catches my eyes.

The girl who sits near the cafe window is now sitting with a boy. Judging by their faces, it seems like they're arguing about something.

I try not to overhear what they're saying but it is impossible because they're basically shouting to each other. Aggresively.

"I am very much aware that you're a year older than me!" Shouts the girl, her face turns bright red. She puts her hand in front of her mouth. She starts to sob a little, a moment away from breaking to pieces.

My heart ache.

I know exactly how that feels.

The boy stays silent. He looks frustrated. He clenches his fists, opens his mouth but decided to closes it again.

"Can we not argue in here, please?" He finally speaks, lower than before, but somehow I still manage to hear what they're saying.

"Sally, I'm sorry I never talk to you about this." The boy continues.

Sally. So that's her name.

"I've been waiting for the right time to tell you. I don't get to choose what I want, Sal. Breaking up with you is the last thing that I wanted, but-"

"Bullshit!" The girl stands up, tears rolling down from her eyes, "I don't care about you or your freaking university crap!" And without another word, she storms out of the room. The boy freezes still, his face is pale as paper.

My head spins. I have no idea what just happened but all that I know is that I'm sweating. A lot. And it becomes harder and harder for me to breathe.

"Samantha? Are you okay?"

Then I can feel a warm hand rubs my back. I look up and see the coffee boy next to me.

Somehow I feel... safe.

"Hey." I smile. "I still don't know your name."

He smiles back.

"Jace Edwards. Pleasure to meet you."

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I have nothing to say except I'm sorry for publishing so late :")

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