Our class with Ms. Smith was over, but the heavy atmosphere in the room still hadn't gone away.
I was packing up my things when I noticed that my classmates didn't seem to be looking at me. They were just walking past me, and worse, all of them had completely serious faces.
Weird.
What's going on?
I left the room and started walking with the others, but... why did it feel like they were avoiding me?
I sniffed myself—nope, I didn't smell bad. So why were they acting this way?
I saw Felix and remembered the chocolates in my bag. I still had a lot left, and Ci-N wasn't around either. Maybe I should just give it to him.
"Felix!" I called, running toward him.
He didn't turn around and kept walking.
"Felix!"
I was almost out of breath from chasing him. When I finally caught up, I grabbed his arm—only to be startled when he suddenly brushed my hand away.
Why?
"Hey… do you still want some chocolate? I have a lot—"
"Sorry, Jay, I have to go," he answered seriously before walking away quickly.
What the hell is going on? Is this about my middle name or about me being Aries's cousin? What's happening this time?
I spotted Keifer from a distance. He was staring—not just looking, but glaring, like he wanted to kill someone.
What's his problem?
I continued walking home. It seemed like Aries had already left since I didn't see his car in the parking lot. That was fine. He was the one who was going to get scolded by Kuya for not picking me up.
When I got home—I was right! Aries had indeed arrived first. He was already in the house, sitting on the sofa with his feet up on the center table while watching TV.
"Aries," I called to get his attention.
He glanced at me but then immediately turned his gaze back to the TV.
"What?" he replied, bored.
"Did you do something to Section E?"
His expression changed suddenly, becoming serious—though the anger was still there. He put down the remote and faced me.
"Why are you asking?"
Why indeed? Because they no longer talk to me and it seems like they're avoiding me ever since they found out I'm your cousin… That's all.
Of course, I didn't say that. I'm not even sure yet.
"Nothing… I just asked."
Aries raised an eyebrow.
What a brilliant answer, Jay-jay.
"I'm not stupid, Jay."
"B-because… they kind of reacted when they found out my middle name is Fernandez."
Please accept my explanation! Please! Please!
He sighed. "Maybe it's not because of me… Maybe it's because of Kuya."
Wew. Seriously?
"Fine, I'm going upstairs." I said, quickly went up to my room. Aries was being really suspicious. What does Kuya Angelo have to do with this? Ugh, this is just another thing to think over. The drama in our classroom isn't even over yet, and he's joining in!
Speaking of things to think about—Ci-N?! He still hadn't replied to my text. I was seriously getting worried about that kid.
I decided to just call him. It's worth the load. Just so the worm in my brain can quiet down. The ringing lasted a bit long before it was answered.
["Hello?"] the person answered.
"H-hello? Is this Ci-N?" I asked.
["Yeah... Who's this?"]
"Hoy! You idiot! Why didn't you come to school?!"
["Jay-jay?"]
"Yeah! It's me! What's up?! Why didn't you come to class?!"
["No need to yell. I don't feel well. Why? Do you miss me?"] he teased.
This brat!
"Idiot! No way!"
["Aww… that hurts. I probably won't be able to come until next week."]
"Huh?! What happened to you?"
If he only feels unwell, why is he only going back to school next week? What was this? Worse than dengue?
["Nothing… I just really don't feel well."]
"What's your definition of 'not feeling well'? Why next week? What's wrong with you?"
["My ingrown toenail hurts. Hehehe."]
Wow! Best answer from Ci-N Peralta.
"You're such a pain to talk to, you know that?"
I could hear his loud laughter from the other end. Damn it! Boys will be boys.
"You're so annoying! Ci-N! Annoying!" I shouted and ended the call.
That brat was just as abnormal as the rest of them. I'll just ask him when he comes back.
I'm so exhausted with this section. At least nothing bad happened to him. I thought the people who were following him yesterday had already beaten him up.
Keifer's POV
"What now?" Yuri asked.
"What do you mean 'what now'?" I asked back.
"About that Jay-jay… turns out she's the cousin of that damn Aries," Yuri said, clenching his fists.
As far as I remember, I was the one who should be angry because she was taken from me. But seeing Yuri's reaction now made me think—does he still have feelings for Ella?
"She needs to leave our section as soon as possible. We don't know her agenda."
"Keifer!" Edrix suddenly called out, running towards us while waving a few papers in his hand. Edrix is one of our classmates—our computer expert.
"What did you find out?" I asked.
He caught his breath first, then handed us the papers he was holding. They were Jay-jay's school records.
"The first one is from our school principal's records, and the second one is from her previous school," Edrix explained. "...There's not much info on her current record—of course, since she just transferred. But if you check her previous school records… Damn!"
I did what he said—I checked the second document. And for Pete's sake, her record was worse than mine.
"First offense... Stabbing a classmate using a pen," I read. Seriously?
"Second offense... Punching two of her boy classmates. Third offense... Punching a girl classmate, causing bleeding. Fourth offense..."
Almost all of her offenses involve fighting with classmates. She also has a gambling issue and a record of cutting classes. I skipped a few offenses until I reached the last one, which made me read it twice before saying it out loud.
"42nd offense... Kicking and punching a boy that almost led to... death." I almost whispered the last word.
Edrix and Yuri looked at me.
"She did that?" Yuri asked.
"Have you noticed anything?" Edrix suddenly asked. We just looked at him. "...There's no punishment included. I also called that school, but they refused to give Jay-jay's full information."
.
"Guys!" Rory showed up, another one of our classmates, our information seeker. "...I've found out that Jay-jay's mother is the half-sister of Aries's mother."
.
"What else?" I asked.
"They're a broken family, her father is missing, and her mother keeps marrying different men. She grew up with her grandmother, but last month, Aries's mother took her in," Rory added.
"Which means she and Aries have only been living together recently. We're still not sure if Aries actually sent her to spy on us," Yuri said.
"Aries has no reason to do that..."
"We are still a threat to him... You are still a threat to him," Yuri said, pointing his finger at me.
Well, he has a point. I've beaten him up multiple times inside and outside of school, so I wouldn't blame him if he was scared of me.
"Keifer..." Rory started while reading something on his phone. "...I think Jay doesn't have a good relationship with Aries."
"What do you mean?" I asked, and he handed his phone to me.
The information Rory gave me confused me about Aries. I knew I could use it against him, but I needed to know more to form a plan.
Jay-jay's POV
I suddenly woke up. I don't know why, but I felt thirsty. I got up and walked to the kitchen. I took a bottled water and brought it back to my room.
Just in case I wake up thirsty again, so I brought it with me. I was almost at my room when I noticed that the light in Aries's room was on and it seemed like he was talking to someone.
It's not that I wanted to eavesdrop or anything, but I heard a familiar name.
"Just talk to him... He's still your father," said the person he was talking to, who seemed to be Tita Gema.
"No! He's not my dad! Your husband is my dad. I am not going to talk to him. Last time we met, what did he do? He even dragged Jay-jay as a reason for us to—" Aries suddenly stopped talking.
I knew what he meant to say—the incident that happened four years ago.
Honestly, I never really understood what happened that time. I don't remember much about it. And if I think about it, there are a lot of events in my life that I don't remember clearly.
I went back to my room and lay down, staring at the ceiling, thinking about that incident between Aries, his father, and me.
It was Aries's birthday, and we were preparing to celebrate when his real father kidnapped him. I was the only one with him at that time, so I ended up being taken too as the sole witness.
For several nights, we screamed for help, hoping someone would hear us. He didn't do anything to us—he only fed us at night before leaving and locking us up again.
Until one night, I woke up to someone screaming. I saw Aries struggling against his father and asking for help. I tried to help him, but his father was too big. He just pushed me away like I was a toy. I tried to get closer several times until the last time he pushed me, my head hit something. I was covered in blood then. I panicked as everything went dark.
I just woke up in the hospital, and Aries never talked to me again after that. Even Tita Gema didn't know the reason. I had wounds on some parts of my body that I didn't even remember getting injured from.
But that incident is what changed things between me and Aries. I know something happened that I don't know about. Because just a few months later, it happened again.