Jay-Jay's POV:
After our class with Ms. Smith, the heavy atmosphere in the room still lingered.
I was packing up my things when I noticed that my classmates weren't looking at me
They just walked past me, and what's worse, they all had serious expressions on their faces.
Weird.
What's going on? I left the room and walked alongside the others, but..... why does it feel like they're avoiding me?
I sniffed myself----I don't smell bad. Why, though? I saw Felix and remembered the chocolate in my bag. I still have a lot, and Ci-N isn't here. Maybe I'll just give it to him.
"Felix!" I called out as I ran toward him.
He didn't looke back and kept walking.
"Felix!"
I was almost out of breath chasing him. I finally caught up and grabbed his arm.
I was shocked when he suddenly shook off my hand. Why?
"Hey.... Do you still want some chocolate? I have a lot here----"
"Soryy, Jay, I need to go," he said seriously and quickly walked away from me.
What's happening? Is this about my middle name or being Aries' cousin? What's going on?
I noticed Keifer in the distance. He was staring----no, glaring at me with a deadly look. What's his problem?
I continued walking home. It seems Aries left already since I didn't see his car in the parking a lot. That's better. He's the one who's going to get in trouble with Kuya for not going home with me.
When I got home, I was right! Aries was already here. He was sitting on the sofa, his feet on the center table, watching TV.
"Aries," I called to get his attention.
He looked at me but quickly turned his attention back to the TV.
"What?" He answered boredly.
"Did you do something to Section E?"
His expression suddenly changed. He looked serious but still angry.
He put down the remote and faced me.
"Why are you asking?"
Why? Because they're not talking to me anymore, and it feels like they're avoiding me 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 was just asking."
Aries raised an eye brow.
"Such a smart answer, Jay-jay."
"I'm not stupid, Jay."
" B-because, they reacted when they found out my middle name is Fernandez."
Please accept my explanation! Please! Please!
He sighed. "Maybe it's not me.... Maybe it's Kuya."
Wow. Really?
"Okay. I'm going upstairs," I said and quickly went up to my room.
Aries is so intriguing. What does Kuya Angelo have to do with this? What's going on? Aries is just adding to my worries. The drama in our room isn't even over yet, and now he's getting involved!
Speaking of worries, Ci-N?! He still hasn't replied to my text. I'm really worried about that kid.
I decided to call him. It's worth the load. Just to ease the worry in my mind.
It rang for a while before someone answered.
["Hello?"] The person said.
"H-hello? Is this Ci-N?" I asked.
["Yes.....who's this?"]
"Hey! You punk! Why didn't you come to class?!"
["Jay-jay?"]
"Yeah! It's me! What's up?! Why didn't you come to class?!"
["You don't have to shout. I'm not feeling well. Why? Did you miss me?"] There was a teasing tone in his voice.
This guy's crazy!
"Idiot! No way!"
["Aww.....I'm sad now. I might not be able to come until next week."]
"Huh?! What happened to you?"
If he's just feeling unwell, why won't he be back until next week? What's that? 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 ego hurts. Hehehe."]
Wow! Best answer from Ci-N Peratla.
"You're so fun to talk to, huh?"
I heard his liud laugh on the other end. Ugh! Boys will be boys.
"You're so annoying! Ci-N! Annoying!" I shouted and ended the call.
This kid's crazy too. I'll just ask him when he comes back to class.
I'm so tired of this Section. It's doesn't seem like anything bad happened to him. I thought maybe his followers had already confronted him yesterday.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
**Keifer's POV:**
"What's now?" Yuri asked.
"What do you mean 'what now'?" I asked back.
"About that Jay-jay. Turns out she's the cousin of that jerk Aries," Yuri said, clenching his fist.
As far as I remembered, I should be the one angry because I was the one who got robbed. Seeing Yuri's reaction now makes me think he still has feelings for Ella.
"She needs to leave our section as soon as possible. We don't know her agenda."
"Keifer!" Edrix shouted, running and waving some 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 and handed us the papers he was holding. It's 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 in her current records----of course, she just started. But if you check her pervious school records. Damn!"
I did what he said. I checked the second one, and for Pete's sake, her record is worse than mine.
"First offense..... Stabbing a classmate with a pen." I read. Seriously?
Second offense.... Punching two male classmates. Third offense... Punching a female classmate, causing her to bleed. Fourth offense....."
Most of her offenses involve fighting with classmates. She also has gambling issues and cuts classes. I skipped a few offenses until I reached the last one, which made me read it twice before reading it out loud.
"42nd offense.... Kicking and Punching a boy that almost led to..... death." I almost whispered the last word.
Edrux 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. He's also one of our classmates, an information seeker.
".... I found out that Jay-jay's mother is the half-sister of Aries's mother."
"What else?" I asked.
"They're from a broken family. Her father's absent, and her mother has had multiple husbands. She grew up with her grandma, but last month, Aries's mother took her in," Rory added.
"Which means she and Aries have only been together recently. We're not even sure if Aries is using her to keep an eye on us," Yuri said.
"Aries has no reason to do that...."
"We're still a threat to him... You're still a threat to him," Yuri said, pointing his finger at me.
Well, he has a point. I've confronted him several times inside and outside school. I can't blame him if he's 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 me his phone.
The information Rory gave me confused me about Aries. I know I can use this information against him, but I need to know more to make a plan.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
**Jay-jay's POV:**
I suddenly woke up. I don't know why, but u felt thirsty. I got up and walked to the kitchen. I grabbed a bottled water and brought it back to my room.
I brought it just in case I woke up thirsty again. I was almost at my room when I noticed the light in Aries' room was on, and it seemed like he was talking to someone.
It's not like I wanted to eavesdrop or anything, but I heard a familiar name.
"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 won't talk to him. The last time we met, what did he do? He even dragged Jay-jay into it as a reason for us to----" He stopped talking.
I know what he meant to say. The incident that happened 4 years ago. Honestly, I still don't fully understand what happened back then. I don't remember much about what happened. And if I think about it, there are a lot of things in my life that I can't remember.
I went back to my room and lay down. I just stared at the ceiling, thinking about the incident between Aries, his father, and me.
It was Aries' birthday, and we were preparing to celebrate when his real father kidnapped him. I was the only one with him at the time, so I was the only witness dragged into it.
For several nights, we screamed for help, hoping someone would hear us. He didn't do anything to us; he just fed us every night, then left us locked up again.
Until one night, I woke up to someone screaming. I saw Aries struggling against his father, begging for help.
I tried to help him, but his father was too strong. He pushed me away like a toy. I tried to get close several times until his last push made me hit my head. I was covered in blood, and everything went black.
I woke up in the hospital, and Aries never talked to me again. Even Tita Gema didn't know the reason. I had wounds on some parts of my body that I don't remember getting.
But that incident changed everything between Aries and me. I know something happened that I don't know about. Because just a few months later, it happened again.