Jay-jay's POV
"Open it now!" I urged Calix impatiently.
"I'm nervous!" he replied.
I glared at him. This was his chance to find out Mica's decision, and now he didn't even want to look? Ridiculous!
Earlier, after talking to Mica, she handed me a letter with a smile and asked me to give it to Calix. That letter contained her decision.
I gave it to him immediately, and he pulled me up to the second floor of Section E's building. Now, here we were, acting like fools, arguing over opening it.
"I'll just open it myself!" I said, trying to snatch the letter away.
Calix quickly pulled it out of my reach. "No way! I should be the one to open it!"
"Just hurry up already..." I pleaded.
"Alright, alright!" he finally said.
Slowly, he opened the envelope, took out the letter, and unfolded it.
This is so suspenseful!
I waited for him to speak. He kept staring at the letter, and suddenly, tears started falling from his eyes.
Shit.
I didn't know what to say. He kept reading, and the tears kept flowing. I wanted to say sorry, but for what?
When he finished reading, he lowered the letter slowly, still in shock, tears still streaming down his face.
"Calix..." I called out.
He looked at me, then suddenly smiled. I didn't know if he'd gone crazy or if he was just trying to act happy.
"Hahaha... T-thank you, Jay!" he said.
I'm getting nervous—did he actually lose it?
"Jay! S-she gave me a chance!"
The moment he said that, I jumped up and clapped. I know, I was being dramatic, but I was already expecting the worst.
Calix wiped his tears and laughed. The sadness in his expression was completely gone, like everything was okay again.
"Don't you dare hurt Mica again! Or else, you're dead to me!" I warned him.
He just laughed harder. I was happy for them. Calix wouldn't cry anymore, and Mica wouldn't have to endure everything alone.
Now, I really needed to talk to Aries. He had to stop targeting Mica and punish the real culprit.
We returned to the classroom, both of us smiling widely. Even our classmates noticed Calix's grin. He happily shared the good news.
I couldn't wait to face Aries. After class, I moved as fast as I could, practically running to get home quickly. But Aries wasn't there yet. I waited by the door to make sure we wouldn't be interrupted.
I had been standing there for almost an hour when I finally heard a car horn outside.
He's here! He's here!
Aries got out of the car and shot me an annoyed look. He was about to walk inside when I blocked his way.
"Tsk! What now?" he asked angrily.
I held up my phone and let the video play. He watched it for a long moment before his brows furrowed.
"What is this for? Why do you even need to show this to me?" he asked.
Wait—he's not angry?
"Proof! That it wasn't Mica who called Ella the 'M' word. And not only that, Freya said it again!"
He crossed his arms and faced me. "What do you want me to do?"
"S-stop bothering Mica..." I answered.
This wasn't the reaction I expected. He was supposed to get mad at Freya.
"Granted," he replied and walked inside.
I quickly ran after him and blocked his way again.
"What now?!" he snapped.
"You're not even going to confront Freya about this?! She deserves to be punished..."
Aries chuckled. "That's it! You just want revenge on Freya, don't you?"
"W-what? I—"
"You're using me to get back at her! You showed me that video as proof, but you also used it to provoke me into getting mad at Freya!"
"N-no—"
"Because that's what you want! I am not going to punish Freya!" His tone was now filled with anger. "Don't ever try to use me again!" he said before walking away for good.
I knew he was right. I shouldn't have tried to use him to get revenge on Freya. But the truth was, he punished the wrong person.
Defeated, I went to my room, flopped onto my bed, and stared at the ceiling.
Why is this so unfair?
I was only trying to help Mica while punishing Freya at the same time. But Aries wouldn't do it—just because it was what I wanted.
Why?
Why are you like this, Aries? Do you hate me that much? I tried to make amends, but you keep pushing me away. Can we never go back to how we used to be?
Back when we played at Auntie's house. When you used to pick me up at home and beg my mom to let me out so we could play. When you asked me to go swimming in the river and proudly told me about your school here.
I know those were just childish things, but our bond, our smiles, and our laughter—can't we ever have that again?
The next day...
I woke up late. There were no classes anyway. The weather was gloomy, and it looked like it was going to rain.
I walked to the kitchen—I was starving. I never realized how hungry you get when you sleep in.
As I went downstairs, I stopped. Why are they here?
"Hi, Jay!" Kiko greeted me and waved.
I forced a smile and waved back. The Section A kids were here. As usual, there was that witch Freya, Ella, Kiko, Mykel—who was glaring at me—and others I didn't know.
I went straight to the kitchen, where Auntie was preparing sandwiches.
"Auntie... why are Aries' classmates here?" I asked.
"They're working on a report. They're just waiting for Aries and the others," she replied.
She handed me a sandwich and a glass of juice. "Eat up..."
I did, since I was already hungry. I didn't want to stay in the house. I always felt weird whenever they were around. Especially Freya—just looking at her made my blood boil.
Since the weather was gloomy, I decided to go biking and explore. I hadn't really gone to other places around here yet. After eating, I went back to my room to get ready. I also grabbed my phone and headset.
Kiko was the first to notice me when I came down. "You're going out?"
"Yeah... for exercise too."
His face fell a little. "Okay... take care! I'll miss you."
Ahihihi... me'loves naman!
"Me too..." I answered absentmindedly.
He suddenly smiled. Wait—what did I just say?
"I-I mean... I'll miss myself..." I quickly added, and he burst out laughing.
"Hahahaha... You're so cute, Jay."
Cute?! He said I'm cute?! HE SAID I'M CUTE!!! AHAHAHAHAHA!!!
My heart did a somersault. Before it could completely jump out of my chest, I rushed out of the house.
I grabbed my bike and started pedaling. Damn you, Kiko! My heart is going crazy because of you.
Jay, you flirt!
While biking, I passed by some kids learning how to ride their bikes too.
Sigh… Aries was the one who taught me how to ride a bike.
I suddenly felt sad. I shouldn't be thinking about that. But these kids reminded me.
Then, my phone suddenly switched songs. And it hit me right in the heart.
(We Don't Talk Anymore – Charlie Puth ft. Selena Gomez)
🎶 We don't talk anymore
We don't talk anymore
We don't talk anymore
Like we used to do 🎶
"Jay! Come on! I have a new toy!"
"Coming!"
🎶 We don't laugh anymore
What was all of it for?
Oh, we don't talk anymore
Like we used to do 🎶
"Look at me! I'm flying!"
"You might fall! Get down from there, Jay!"
🎶 I just heard you found the one you've been looking for
You've been looking for
I wish I would've known that wasn't me
'Cause even after all this time, I still wonder
Why I can't move on, just the way you did so easily 🎶
"Mom hit me! Huhuhu!"
"It's okay, Jay… When you grow up, you can hit her back."
🎶 We don't talk anymore
We don't talk anymore
We don't talk anymore
Like we used to do 🎶
"I'll be back during vacation. I need to study first."
"Promise?"
🎶 We don't laugh anymore
What was all of it for?
Oh, we don't talk anymore
Like we used to do 🎶
"Let's play, Aries!"
"We can't anymore, Jay!"
🎶 I just hope you're lying next to somebody
Who knows how to love you like me
There must be a good reason that you're gone 🎶
"Why? You don't want to play with me anymore?"
"We're not kids anymore, Jay!"
🎶 That we don't talk anymore
(We don't, we don't)
We don't talk anymore
(We don't, we don't)
We don't talk anymore
Like we used to do 🎶
"Aries… what happened to your dad?"
"I don't know…"
"Are you okay?"
"I don't know…"
"Aries----"
"I think it's better if you don't talk to me anymore. Just… Just stay away from me."
I stopped. I hadn't realized that I was crying. Crying over the only memories I had left.
The times when Aries still played with me and talked to me. There were even moments when people mistook us for brothers. It was strange. Those were the only childhood memories I had.
And that was all I had left.