Our class with Ms. Smith ended, but the heavy atmosphere in the room still didn't go away.
As I packed my things, I noticed that my classmates seemed to be avoiding looking at me. They just walked past me, their faces unusually serious.
Weird.
What's going on?
I left the room and walked along with the others, but... why did it feel like they were distancing themselves from 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, and since Ci-N wasn't here, I figured I might as well give them 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 shocked when he immediately pushed 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? Was this about my middle name or the fact that I'm Aries' cousin? What now?!
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—just as I thought—Aries had arrived before me. He was sitting on the couch, feet up on the center table, watching TV.
"Aries," I called to get his attention.
He glanced at me but immediately looked back at the screen.
"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 was I asking? Because ever since they found out my middle name was Fernandez, my classmates stopped talking to me and started avoiding me… that's all.
Of course, I didn't say that. I wasn't even sure if that was the reason yet.
"It's nothing… I was just curious."
Aries raised an eyebrow.
Wow, great answer, Jay-jay.
"I'm not stupid, Jay."
"B-because… they reacted when they found out my middle name was Fernandez."
Please accept my explanation! Please!
He sighed. "Maybe it's not because of me… Maybe it's because of Kuya."
Wew. Yeah, sure.
"Alright, I'm going up to my room," I said, quickly heading upstairs. Aries was being really suspicious. What does Kuya Angelo have to do with this? Ugh, this is just another thing to stress over. As if the drama at school wasn't enough, now Aries was getting involved too!
Speaking of things to think about—Ci-N?! She still hadn't replied to my text. I was seriously getting worried about that kid.
I decided to just call him. It was worth the phone credit if it would put my mind at ease. It rang for a while before someone finally picked up.
["Hello?"] the person answered.
"H-hello? Is this Ci-N?" I asked.
["Yeah... Who's this?"]
"Hey! You idiot! Why didn't you come to school?!"
["Jay-jay?"]
"Yeah! It's me! What's going on?! 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 was just feeling unwell, why wouldn't he be able to come until 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 before ending the call.
That brat was just as abnormal as the rest of them. I'll just ask her when he comes back. This section is exhausting.
At least nothing bad happened to him. I seriously thought those guys who followed him yesterday had beaten him up.
Keifer's POV
"What now?" Yuri asked.
"What do you mean 'what now'?" I asked back.
"That Jay-jay… turns out she's the cousin of that bastard 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 was 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 come from 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 didn't know why, but I felt thirsty.
I got up and walked to the kitchen, grabbed a bottled water, and took it back to my room. Since I might wake up thirsty again, I figured I'd just bring it with me.
As I neared my room, I noticed Aries's light was on, and it seemed like he was talking to someone. It wasn't like I wanted to eavesdrop, but then I heard a familiar name.
"Talk to him... He's still your father," said the person who sounded like Aunt Gema.
"No! He's not my dad! Your husband is my dad. I won't talk to him. Last time we met, what did he do? He even dragged Jay-jay into it, which led 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.
Then, one night, I woke up to the sound of shouting. I saw Aries struggling against his father, crying for help.
I tried to help him, but his father was too big. He shoved me away like I was a toy. I kept trying to get close, but on his last push, my head hit something hard.
I was covered in blood. I panicked. Then everything went dark.
The next thing I knew, I was waking up in a hospital. After that, Aries never spoke to me again. Even Aunt Gema didn't know why.
I had wounds all over my body, but I couldn't remember how I got them.
But that incident changed everything between me and Aries. I knew something had happened that I wasn't aware of.
Because just a few months later, it happened again.