Jay-jay's POV
"NO ONE'S ESCAPING!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, almost losing my voice.
These little brats are animals.
"Everyone's cleaning!" I added before anyone could reach the door.
"This room's tiny anyway, and it looks clean enough," Calix said while sneaking glances at his phone.
"Mica's waiting for me."
I pointed the broom at him. "I'll whack you with this! Flirt later!"
They were trying to escape just to avoid cleaning. You'd think I was asking them to sacrifice their lives. Calix scratched his head and backed away from the door.
I glared at the rest, and they stepped back too. Some picked up rags, others started sweeping. David grabbed the mop and bucket and stepped outside.
I kept a close eye on them, arms akimbo like some housekeeper in a grand mansion. And of course, as the self-declared supervisor, no one was getting away.
"Hey Ci-N! Where do you think you're going?" I called out to the brat.
He was trying to crawl out the door like a ninja. Maybe he thought being small made him invisible. He quickly stood up and brushed off his clothes.
"I'm going after David," he answered innocently.
"David can handle it. You—go wipe windows." I pointed toward Kit and the others who were cleaning the windows.
"I'm going after David." He repeated.
"No, you're not."
"I'm going after David."
"Why?"
"I'm going after David."
I gave him a deadly glare. "Do you want to get hurt?"
He shook his head. "I'm going after Dabid."
Is this kid on loop or something?
"Damn it! Just go already! You sound like a broken record!" Felix snapped, raising a rag like he was about to throw it at him.
Ci-N looked like he'd won the lottery and ran out the door. I turned to Felix immediately and glared at him.
"Why did you let him go?"
"Weren't you annoyed? He kept repeating himself!" he argued.
"You're mad at me now?" I snapped back, glaring even more.
He quickly shook his head and laughed it off, going back to what he was doing.
This guy's a real piece of work.
"No one else tries to sneak off! Just keep cleaning," I ordered, pointing at Josh, who was edging closer to the door again.
"You're so strict with us," Drew commented.
Strict? Like how you still owe me money—that's strict.
"You said something?"
He immediately shook his head and pretended to dust cobwebs. I scanned the room and noticed it looked like someone was missing. I knew David and Ci-N had gone out. I stopped counting their so-called king a while ago—he didn't matter anymore.
He shouldn't even bother coming back.
His birthday and everything else was over, and that traitor still hadn't shown up. Let him stay wherever he ran off to.
Hope the London Bridge falls on him the next time it's falling down.
He should be thankful I still remember the gunshot wound on his back—that's the only reason I'm being this nice. Otherwise? I swear, I'd blow up all the planes from the United Kingdom just to make sure he never comes back.
I went back to counting heads.
Someone really is missing.
I glanced at the door just as Ci-N came in, riding the mop like a horse, followed by David, who was soaking wet—hair and clothes included.
Did he take a shower?
"Are you done sweeping? Here's the mop," David said as he set down the bucket filled with water and a bit of soap.
"HAAAAYYAAAAA!" Ci-N screamed while pretending to strike with the mop as if it were really a horse.
"Go on! If that mop breaks, we're using your face instead!" I scolded the little brat before turning to David.
"How was the water? Refreshing to bathe in?"
I heard soft laughter from the other brats. David tried to compose himself, briefly glancing at Ci-N before turning back to me.
"Do I really need to explain what that kid did?" he asked, annoyed.
I just burst into laughter.
No doubt that little rascal messed with him again.
"Forget it. You've suffered enough," I said, walking toward Ci-N.
I tried to take the mop from him.
"Give it to me!"
He didn't want to hand it over until I raised a hand like I was about to smack him. He pouted but finally gave up the horse—err, the mop.
"Can I go home now?" he asked.
I shook my head. "We're not done yet."
"But Eren? I saw him leave earlier."
I froze.
So that's why someone felt missing.
I knew it! He snuck out on me!
I almost threw the mop in rage, but then remembered we didn't have a spare. And honestly, I wasn't about to use my face as a replacement.
"Oh wait, maybe he didn't leave after all. Look, Eren's coming back," Ci said, pointing at Eren who was running back.
I was ready to yell and scold him, but then something else caught my attention—the group of girls chasing after him. Their faces were clearly furious.
Something's not right.
"Hide me," Eren said, panicking as he searched for cover.
He was about to enter the room, changed his mind, then tried to go in again, hesitated, and finally decided to hide behind me.
"Get away from me! I don't want to get dragged into this!" I pushed him aside, but it was too late—the group of angry girls had already stopped right in front of us.
"Hey you!" one of them yelled at me.
"Hey me?" I replied, confused.
"Are you that bastard's new girlfriend?!"
I quickly shook my head. "N-no! Of course not."
I noticed the other brats were peeking out the door and windows.
"What's going on?" asked Yuri, still holding a broom.
"Sopiea? What are you doing here?" Drew asked one of the girls standing near him.
"Hey, Darlyn!" Rory called out to another girl, but she just rolled her eyes at him.
"Elyanna Shielo? Why are you here? You don't even go to this school," Kit asked one of them, but instead of answering, she just started crying.
"Why are all of them here? Even Hyacinth's sister is here," Felix said to Eren, who was still hiding behind me.
"Even Princess Jane's here—and she's from a different school altogether."
"Was that Michaila?" Mayo asked Kit.
I was completely lost. Most of these girls were familiar to the other brats too—but why were they all targeting Eren?
I think I'm starting to figure this out.
I pulled Eren away from behind me.
"Face them."
But the shameless guy clung to my arm like a gecko.
"No... they're going to kill me,"
he pleaded with teary eyes.
"Babe…" one of the girls sobbed.
"Why did you lie to me?"
Eren and I both froze, slowly turning to face the furious girls.
"H-hi Babe," he said with a forced smile.
"It's true!" one of the girls cried, and soon, the others followed, breaking into tears.
I winced at their reactions.
What's with the word "Babe"? It's just an endearment.
"W-wait, Irish Divine," Eren tried to explain to the girl who screamed, "It's true!"
"Let me explain—"
"You jerk! I'm not Irish Divine!"
she yelled, bawling louder.
"Ah, I mean… Clarisse," Eren corrected.
"I'm Clarisse!" shouted another girl from the back.
Eren scratched the back of his head, clearly struggling to remember who was who.
Wow. How many of them are there that he can't even remember their names?
"Diana Kristine," he guessed again.
The girl in front of him, whose name he was desperately trying to recall, was visibly irritated.
"That's me! What is wrong with you?!" snapped one girl as she stomped her foot.
"You're unbelievable!" the girl facing him screamed.
"You have so many girls you can't even remember our names! MY NAME IS JULIA!"
she shouted before slamming her bag at Eren.
There it is. I was right all along.
Denzel and Rory quickly stepped in to hold the girl back as they stood between her and Eren.
"Hey! Hey! Hold on!"
"Relax! We'll settle this!"
"Eren! Why did you lie to me?!" she cried, stopping the hits as she collapsed to the floor, crying even louder.
Then, as if in competition, the other girls cried louder too. They sounded worse than mourners at a funeral.
"Jay-jay…" Ci-N whispered to me.
"Is Eren dead? Why are they crying?"
"Not yet, but he's close. Let them cry first," I whispered back, and he nodded in agreement.
"You told me I was the only one you loved," said another girl, now kneeling.
"Reyna, don't cry," her friend said, glaring furiously at Eren.
"He's not worth it. Guys like him don't deserve our tears."
"You're disgusting, Eren. You kept denying that you were texting Angel. But it's true," another girl snapped.
"I'm Angel!" one of them said, pointing at herself.
"I'm the one he kept denying. He claimed it was that Kate Kristine Joy who was chasing him."
"You're shameless!" shouted another girl, throwing her expensive phone at him.
"I bet Jackie Versoza is your girlfriend too!"
"Then who are Jean Jaya and Sophia San Diego on your phone?" another girl from the corner asked.
So many!
We all stared at Eren—every single one of us in shock at how many girls he had.
And all of us shared the same thought—we wanted to smack him.
"No wonder Nezairah and Cyril told me to be careful with you!"
"You really were flirting with my cousin Vanessa!"
"Maybe it's true that you really got Rain Jane's number."
"Who's Shekina? The one you've been talking to—another one of your girls?"
"No wonder Rosilyn and Mikay seem mad at me. You're hitting on them too."
"And then there's this whole story about Maribel Rael and Bea being your stalkers. Turns out you were courting them too."
"You even planned to go after Sandy, Gisela, and Shaira. You're doomed once our older brothers find out."
This is insane!
"So many! What, are you shy about it? Want to add more?" Felix asked sarcastically, clearly irritated.
Who wouldn't be mad? It's like he collected girls like toys. We were all disappointed in him.
I already knew he was a womanizer, but I didn't expect it to be this extreme.
He juggled all those girls, and he couldn't even remember their names anymore.
"Bro, I used to be a womanizer too—but not like that," Calix said, shaking his head.
"It's like you were collecting clothes," added Blaster.
Eren just pouted at us.
"What can I do? I'm just full of love."
Wow.
"You sure love a lot," I said, annoyed.
He came closer to me and grabbed my arm again. He was about to say something when one of the girls suddenly pointed at us and screamed.
"I knew it! She's the new girlfriend!" she shouted, turning to the others.
"She's the one he replaced us all with!"
They all glared at me with fury. Suddenly, they charged toward us.
Yuri and David quickly stepped in front to protect me, but a few of the girls still managed to reach me. Eren, as usual, stayed behind me—using me as a shield.
The other Ulupong boys were trying to hold the girls back too—but they weren't exactly innocent about it.
Drew was hugging a girl from behind by the waist, while Blaster was outright embracing the girls.
"You little flirt!" one girl screamed as she tried to reach for me.
Thank goodness for Yuri, who blocked her path—otherwise, she might've actually gotten to me.
Still, some of them had already scratched me earlier.
My skin stings.
Since they couldn't get close to me, they turned their anger toward those trying to hold them back.
Things got more chaotic, with the Ulupong boys yelling over the noise.
Some of the girls even ended up pulling each other's hair—probably because tensions had flared after all the revelations.
That's when I realized there were other students watching the scene.
"Jay-jay!" I heard Ci-N's voice.
"Help me!"
"Ci-N!" I shouted, trying to find him.
"Where are you?"
"Over here—ouch!" he cried.
I saw Ci-N sitting on the floor, his hair being pulled by a girl.
"David! Ci-N!" I shouted to him while pointing.
But David couldn't get to him—he was being beaten repeatedly by a girl.
I didn't even know how to reach Ci-N.
If I threw myself into the middle of all that, it would be like diving into a swamp full of crocodiles.
I'm dead if I go in there.
I turned to Eren who was still hiding behind me. He was the only one here not in pain, and yet he was the very reason this chaos was happening.
"Help Ci-N!" I screamed at him.
He kept shaking his head.
"They'll kill me."
"I'll be the one to kill you if you don't help him!" Yuri shouted furiously.
I was a bit surprised by his outburst—but honestly, he had a point.
If Eren didn't do it, I probably would've been the one to end him.
"Ughhh…" Eren complained.
I slapped him. Not too hard—but enough to snap him out of his nonsense.
"You damn idiot! Are you going, or are you going?" I growled, voice laced with threat.
Tears forming in his eyes, he had no choice but to rush into the brawl.
He crouched low, covering his head with both hands—but he still didn't escape unscathed.
He was scratched, slapped, kicked, and even had his hair pulled before he finally reached Ci-N.
When Ci saw him, he immediately clung to Eren so he could get out of there.
I was so focused on them, I didn't even notice that a girl had broken past the others and was suddenly right beside me—pulling my hair hard.
"O-owww!" I cried out, trying to pry her hands away.
"JAY!" Yuri shouted.
"What's so special about you?! Why did he choose you and not me?!" the girl screamed, still yanking my hair.
"He didn't choose me! There's nothing going on between us! That jerk's just my classmate!" I desperately tried to explain.
"Liar!" she yelled, raising her hand to slap me.
On instinct, my hand shot up and blocked hers—then swatted it away.
I heard her cry out, and her grip on my hair loosened just enough for me to pull away and escape.
She didn't even realize right away that I had gotten away.
Yes! Ninja moves.
"You! I'm not done with you yet!" she snapped and started to charge again.
Panicked and scared out of my mind, my fist instinctively shot up to punch her.
Oh no—
She dropped to the floor. Her lip and nose were bleeding.
"Why did you punch her?!" Eren yelled angrily.
He ran over to her immediately.
Meanwhile, I felt Ci-N holding onto my arm. I turned slightly to look at him—his face was scratched up and his hair was a mess.
"Apple pie! She punched me!" the girl cried to Eren, sobbing.
"It hurts so much!"
"Apple pie, don't cry anymore. It might get worse," Eren said, frantically looking for something to wipe her face with.
Apple pie… of course.
That's when I realized—everyone had stopped fighting.
Almost all of them were now watching Eren as he fussed over "Apple pie."
I could see the envy and jealousy in the eyes of the other girls.
This guy's effect on them is unreal.
He cheated on them all and yet they're still not over him.
"It's her fault!" one girl shouted, pointing at me.
"So what?!" I snapped.
"You want to get punched too?!" I asked, raising my fist at her.
She immediately fell silent and backed away.
Even the other girls distanced themselves from me.
"Section E?" someone asked.
We all turned toward the voice—it was Sir Alvin.
I couldn't help but worry and panic. If we were still in our old room, I wouldn't have been this nervous. But this was a different room, a different building, and they followed actual rules here.
He let out a deep sigh before turning to a student beside him.
"Get their names," he said, then looked back at us, disappointment written all over his face.
"Clean this mess. I'll wait in the Guidance office."
We all flinched. It was hard to accept what he just said.
Guidance? That fast?
Back in our old room, we got into way more fights and never got sent to Guidance like this.
"Sir! Wait a minute!" I called out and tried to follow him, but a hand grabbed my arm to stop me.
"Stop it, Jay," David said, letting go of me.
"We'll be the ones to talk to Sir."
He walked after Sir Alvin, followed by Yuri, Felix, and Calix.
Why does it feel like Calix is heading somewhere else entirely?
"Son of a—" I muttered in frustration.
"We haven't even been here that long and we're already getting kicked out of this room."
Each of the Ulupong started making excuses.
I wanted to curse—at least a dozen times. Damn it!
We were finally getting some peace here, and now they had to show up?
I shot Eren a nasty glare as he fussed over his "Apple Pie."
I was so tempted to smack their faces with a mop.
Should I just use their faces as rags?
"Apple pie, she's glaring at me," the girl tattled when she saw me giving them the death stare.
Eren turned to me.
"What now, Jay? Still not satisfied after punching someone?" he said angrily.
I immediately raised a fist at him. If Ci-N hadn't stopped me, he would've really gotten it from me.
"Don't… he looks pitiful already," Ci-N whispered.
What about us who got dragged into this mess?
"This is all your fault!" I snapped, pointing straight at Eren's face.
"You should've dealt with your girls outside!"
"Come on, Jay-jay! I was scared! There were too many of them!" he whimpered.
I was furious just looking at him. I could have helped him—but no, because of his stupidity, we were now at risk of getting kicked out.
"Get rid of your girls already! Instead of being done with cleaning, now we have even more work to do," Edrix grumbled as he reached for a rag on the floor.
The others started looking for their cleaning supplies.
The girls had all retreated to the corners of the room.
"You should be the one cleaning this! Or better yet, your girls!" Mayo shouted at Eren, tossing a rag at the girls' feet.
They all backed away in fear. Some of them looked like they were about to cry.
"Whoa! That horse—oh wait, that's just a mop," I heard Ci say.
I turned to him.
He was holding a mop… or at least, half of one. It had split in two.
I felt like tearing my hair out from frustration.
We're going to have to replace that now. Great.
"You know, I usually don't say anything about your nonsense," Josh said to Eren in a calm but deadly serious tone.
"But right now… screw you."
That startled me a bit. Josh wasn't the type to curse, so he must've really had enough of Eren's crap.
"I think it's better if you just send your girlfriendssss home," Kit said calmly.
"Or better yet, they should be the ones to clean up. Since they were so bold destroying things and hurting people."
Eren looked at his girls. Some tried to act pitiful, but others stayed defiant.
"Clean up!" he barked at them with a threatening tone.
"Why would we—?"
"We're breaking up!" he cut one of them off.
"All of you! We're done!"
I saw the shock and sadness in their eyes.
Seriously? They're the ones heartbroken that this Ulupong dumped them?
They should've been the ones breaking up with him—he was the one who cheated.
Unbelievable.
"No! You said you loved me!" one of them cried.
"You're supposed to choose me!"
"Eren! I forgive you! Just leave them already!" another pleaded.
"I was here before all of them! So I should be the one you choose!" added another, pointing to herself.
We were all literally frozen, jaws dropped.
Amazed by the effect this trashy guy had on them.
Even after cheating, they still wanted him back?
I couldn't take it anymore.
"Dude, your looks have been defeated," Denzel said to Blaster, followed by laughter.
Edrix gave her a quick glare to silence her. Eren's girls were starting to cry again, and my head was beginning to hurt because of them.
"For heaven's sake, just send them away already," I said, but he ignored me.
"Clean this place up, and we'll talk later!" he snapped at them before helping Apple Pie to her feet.
"Eren…" they called out one after another, like they were praying to a saint for a miracle.
Unbelievable. It's the looks, isn't it?
Eren quickly turned his back on them, walking away with Apple Pie, who even had the nerve to roll her eyes at me.
His girls were about to follow, if not for Rory and the others stepping in to block their path.
"Hey! Hey! Start cleaning up! You're so good at causing chaos, and now you're just going to run away?" Drew said irritably.
They started forcing Eren's girls back into the room. Some were handed rags and brooms.
I just stood there watching them.
I've got a bad feeling about Sir Alvin calling us to Guidance. What if he reports us and we get kicked out right away? Or suspended?
I really wanted to follow them, just to know what was being discussed.
I turned to Ci-N, who was busy trying to fix the broken mop handle.
"Ci-N, I'm going to follow Yuri and the others to the Guidance office. You take care of things here for now," I said as I started walking away.
"Alright. Just bring something back. A new mop," he reminded me before I could get far.
A souvenir?
I was heading down the stairs when I spotted David and Yuri already coming back up.
Surprised that they were back so quickly, I immediately approached them for an update.
"What happened?" I asked.
"It's all good. Your brother's the one who talked to the guidance counselor and Sir Alvin," David replied.
Aries?
Yuri gave me a smile, as if to confirm what David had just said. I blinked in disbelief.
Wait—really?
"S-seriously?"
They both nodded in response.
I didn't know what kind of conversation took place, but I was deeply thankful for how the situation had been resolved.
Aries really came through in the most unexpected way.