I waited for the explosion.
I waited for her to tell me to shut up or to stare me into a puddle of shame.
Instead, Elara's eyes went wide, and then she burst out laughing.
It wasn't a "cool" laugh. It was a loud, belly-aching,
"I-can't-breathe" kind of laugh.
"Do you know, Jay?" she gasped, clutching her stomach. "It doesn't matter how handsome a 'brother' is. It doesn't matter if the whole world thinks he's a god or a king."
She leaned in closer, her eyes watering from laughter.
"To his sister, he always remains the ugliest, most annoying, most primitive animal in the world.
Looking at Keifer's face and feeling 'attracted' would be like looking at a wet floor mop and feeling inspired. It's impossible."
She laughed even louder, the sound echoing off the nearby walls.
I felt a wave of guilt hit me—not because I asked, but because she was laughing so hard at Keifer's expense.
I opened my mouth to say, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to roast him," but I never got the chance.
"I'm a what?"
A cold, dark shadow fell over both of us.
We looked up, and there he was. Keifer Watson. He was standing right in front of the bench, his arms crossed over his chest, his face a masterpiece of offended pride and pure, unadulterated shock.
He had heard everything.
"An ugly animal, Elara?" Keifer's voice was dangerously low, his ego visibly bruised and bleeding. "You just called me a wet floor mop?"
Elara stopped laughing just long enough to look him up and down with a bored expression.
"Oh, did I say animal? I'm sorry, Jay, I should have been more specific. He's more like a very confused, very vain llama."
The entire section of the park seemed to go silent. Felix, who was halfway through a hotdog, stopped chewing.
Mayo's eyes looked like they were going to fall out.
Even the tourists nearby seemed to feel the shift in the atmosphere.
We all knew the "Rules of Keifer." He had enough self-respect to fuel a jet engine.
He was the Ice King. No one—not even the other members of the Big Four—talked to him like that. Maybe! Hehe!
"You're a creepy doll," Keifer hissed, stepping into Elara's personal space.
"And you're a pampered, reckless brat who screams on roller coasters," Elara shot back, standing up to meet him eye-to-eye.
And then, it happened. The moment that would go down in Section E history.
The tension was so thick you could have climbed it like a ladder.
Every member of Section E was frozen in place. Felix actually stopped breathing; I could see his face turning a light shade of blue.
This was Keifer Watson—the guy who could make teachers apologize to him. And Elara had just called him a "confused llama."
"Say that again," Keifer challenged, his voice dropping an octave.
His ego was practically radiating off him like heat waves. "I dare you."
Elara didn't even blink. She tilted her head, looking him right in the eye. "A. Confused. Llama. Should I say it in a way your tiny brain can process? Or do you need me to draw it in crayon?"
"What the fu*k.?"
Thwack!
It happened so fast. Elara's hand whipped out and gave the back of Keifer's head a resounding smack. The sound echoed across the stone pavement.
" Don't abuse in front of me."
The collective gasp from the boys was loud enough to scare the pigeons.
"Oh my God," Mayo whispered, clutching his chest. "She's a dead woman. We're all witnesses to a homicide."
Keifer stood there for a second, his eyes wide, his hand slowly reaching up to touch the back of his head.
He looked like he was trying to process the fact that someone—someone who wasn't me—had actually dared to strike the King.
"You..." Keifer growled. He didn't call the guards. He didn't use his cold, terrifying "Watchman" voice.
Instead, he lunged forward and pinched Elara's ear, twisting it just enough to make her yelp. "You little demon! Who gave you the right?!"
"OW! Let go, you narcissistic beast!" Elara shouted.
She didn't back down; she reached up and started pulling on Keifer's collar, trying to shake him. "Your face is so ugly it's a public health hazard!"
"My face is a masterpiece! You're just a creepy, emotionless doll who needs a software update!" Keifer shot back, his hand still firmly on her ear.
"Software update?! I'll update your nose to the back of your head!" Elara reached out and pinched his arm so hard he actually let out a muffled "Gah!"
The boys were losing their minds.
Felix: "Is... is he not going to kill her? Why is he just pinching her back?! He looks like a kindergartner!"
Mayo: "This is the most terrifying thing I've ever seen. It's like watching two nuclear bombs decide to have a pillow fight instead of exploding."
Akari was watching with her hands clasped under her chin, her eyes sparkling with a weird, girly excitement. "Oh, Yuri-kun! Look at them! It's so lively! It's like a sibling rivalry in a manga! Should I go give them some of my strawberry lip balm?
Keifer-san's ear looks very red and irritated!"
Yeah ! We Heard it right, she is really a kind of pookie 🤩 but just here. When it comes to fighting, she is red haired karate master.
Yuri: (Massaging his temples) "Akari, please don't go anywhere near them. I'm pretty sure they've both lost their minds."
I finally couldn't take the absurdity anymore. I jumped up from the bench, waving my arms like a frantic referee between two heavyweights.
"STOP IT! BOTH OF YOU!" I screamed, laughing so hard my ribs were starting to ache.
"Keifer, your 'Ice King' reputation is currently in the trash can! Elara, stop trying to peel his ear off! You're both literally the most powerful people in this park and you're fighting like toddlers over a plastic bucket!"
Keifer's POV
Jay-Jay was shouting, but all I could focus on was the fact that my ear felt like it had been through a meat grinder.
How is she this strong?! I have spent my whole life being the cold, untouchable Watson.
Yeah that's a different thing that I got melt in front of jay. But still...
My self-respect is a fortress. I don't let people touch me. I don't let people insult me except jay and my these 3 so called friends.
Huh! Why this fu**ing number increasing.
If anyone else had called me a llama, I would have had them blacklisted from every mall in the city.
But with Elara... it was like my brain had flipped a switch to "Annoying Sibling Mode."
I wasn't even thinking about being the leader of Section E. I was just thinking about how much I wanted to mess up her perfectly straight hair.
"You're a loser," I muttered, finally letting go of her as Jay-Jay shoved us apart. I straightened my jacket, trying to regain some shred of dignity, even though my ear was glowing like a red neon sign.
"And you're still an ugly animal," Elara whispered back, smoothing her clothes with a satisfied, smug expression that made me want to start the fight all over again.
I looked over at Akari, who was offering me a sparkly heart-shaped bandage with a polite, hopeful smile.
"Keifer-san? For your ear? It has bunnies on it!"
I stared at the bandage. I stared at Akari. Then I looked at the "Snakes," who were all trying—and failing—not to laugh at me.
"No. Thank you, Akari," I said, my voice stiff.
I looked at Elara one last time. She stuck her tongue out for a fraction of a second—a move so childish it shouldn't have been possible for her—before her cold, robotic mask slid back into place.
Worse than siblings. Definitely.
I felt Jay-Jay's hand slip into mine, her warmth finally grounding me.
I squeezed her hand tight, looking up at the sky.
"Happy now, Jay? I've officially been humiliated by a 'doll' and offered a bunny bandage."
"The happiest," she giggled, leaning her head on my arm.
"You look more human tonight than you have in a year, Keifer."