Jay-jay's POV
When Aries was already scolding me and then Kuya was scolding me. They weren't satisfied yet, I was planning to ground them. It's a good thing Kuya Angelo took pity on me.
I'm currently waiting at our corner. David texted me and said he'd pick me up. It was still a long way away but I could see his car. When it stopped in front of me, I got in.
"I've already spoken to Denzel." He opened it for me. He started the car.
"What did you say?"
"I think he should explain it to you." David replied.
Oh, thrill.
I just kept quiet and waited for the trip. Maybe, it would be better if Denzel said it. I just looked out the window and watched the houses.
Until I noticed something. This is not going to school.
"D-david... Where are we going?"
"Kila Denzel... He's not going to school today."
I looked outside again. It was like we were in a different place. This was not the environment I expected Denzel and his place to be.
The houses were close together, some were patchwork and some were cement but not finished or only half of the house was then the rest was patchwork of wood. Some had only sacks blocking the windows. There was also garbage scattered around.
We stopped in front of a house. It was half wood and half cement.
David got out and so did I. People were looking at us. I think he just saw someone beautiful and handsome---Charot! David was the first to approach the door of the house.
"Denzel... Man!" He called.
A girl opened the door. She looked like Denzel's mini-me.
How cute! That girl is it.
"W-who are you?" The girl asked us.
"We are Denzel's classmates... Is she there?" I asked.
The girl nodded and motioned for us to come in. When we entered, the house was clean. The walls were painted and fully furnished.
We sat on the wooden sofa and waited for Denzel's little mini-me. He entered a room and when he came out, Denzel was following him.
"W-why are you here?" He asked us.
"You need to talk to Jay." David answered.
Really me?! Is it me?
Denzel looked at the child next to him. "Play outside first."
The child nodded and ran outside. Denzel sat down next to me. It seemed like he already knew where I was going.
"I understand if you're going to judge me after I tell you the truth." Denzel said.
I held his hand and forced a smile.
"I just used Grace." He said quickly.
My brain didn't process it that quickly. What was that? Why was it used?
"You saw our place, right? Would you want to live and die in this place?" He said while looking around the house.
Like me, growing up with money and getting what I needed. I'll definitely say no. Even when I was at Grandma's, it never crossed my mind to live in this place.
"Why was it used?" I asked.
"It's impossible for someone like me to get into HVIS. Even Eren, whose father was abroad, had a hard time getting in. Is it me?" He explained.
"Mom works at Grace's house. She doesn't have any parents anymore, her aunts are the ones who look after her. I said before that I wanted a life like hers."
"That's why it occurred to me that I would find a way to get rich." He added.
"And your answer was to court Grace?" I asked and looked at David for a moment.
"At first, no. But I was jealous of what she had. Before high school, she had a car, even though I didn't have a bicycle. So I became friends with her, I would tease her even though she often teased me. Until I caught her. I convinced her to let me into HVIS too."
"She did. But you got into a fight in your higher years, so you were dumped in Section E." David added.
Denzel nodded. "When I entered HVIS, I stopped Grace.
I felt guilty for doing that. But Grace didn't stop me,
she gave me things that were hard to refuse. Cellphone,
branded clothes and shoes. I thought that Grace would get bored of her on her own, so I let her."
He took a deep breath. "We became friends but we kept it a secret. Of course, there were many who objected. When we were about three years old, I planned to break up with her but I couldn't. I was scared, I was scared that I would lose her."
"Because you love her." I said. He nodded. "...Why don't you take responsibility for the child if you love her?" There was a hint of annoyance in my voice.
"I thought Grace wouldn't get pregnant so I broke up with her. I felt guilty for what I did. But the day you and Freya had sex, she told me she was pregnant." He washed his hands. "..I was scared! I can take responsibility for the child but Grace won't forgive me if she finds out what I did."
I wasn't in the place to lecture Denzel. He needed a friend to give him advice on what to do. That's not me, I don't know what to do in these situations.
When my classmate got pregnant, I just told her to go get checked at the clinic. Because I don't know what to do in this situation.
I looked at David. I motioned for him to speak but he didn't understand what I meant. We looked like fools talking with our faces.
"What are you doing?" Denzel asked us so we stopped.
"Sister, who do you need?"
We both stopped. It was the voice of the boy who greeted us earlier. The child came inside followed by a woman also in HVIS uniform.
It was Grace! She was crying and looking at Denzel with a bad look. She heard what we were talking about!
"You're lying!" Grace shouted at Denzel and ran out of the house.
I followed her, I saw her get into a car parked next to David's car. I turned to Denzel but he didn't even move.
"Aren't you going to at least follow her?!" I asked him annoyed.
"W-this is better. I can't be a good husband to her." He said and entered the room.
I looked at David. He didn't react. I wanted to be annoyed with him because he didn't say anything but I was too.
I took my bag and left the house. David followed me. We both got into the car.
"What's up? What's the plan?" I asked David.
"Let's go to school first." David said.
He started the car. I was quiet the whole way. I wanted to think about what could happen to Denzel and Grace but I didn't want to make assumptions or give myself hope.
We were almost to a bridge when I saw the same car that Grace was in.
"David! Stop!" I ordered.
He stopped the car just near Grace's car. I got out and immediately checked inside but there was no one. I looked around and saw Grace on the side of the bridge.
"David! It's Grace!"
We quickly ran towards Grace but she looked at us with a look of anger.
"Grace! Let's go here!" I shouted at her while holding out my hand.
"Grace... We can talk about this." David said.
She suddenly started crying. "If anything bad happens to us, will Denzel and I be held responsible?"
"The situation will only get worse if you do that." David replied and forced to offer his hand to Grace.
"I love Denzel. But what he did to me hurt." She said while crying.
"He regretted it! He knew it was wrong so he tried to fix it!" I explained.
I looked under the bridge. The bridge was very high. The river current was also quite strong. Maybe the sea would pick Grace up if she fell.
"Repaired? By breaking up with me?!" Grace asked crying.
"GRACE!"
We looked at the one who shouted. Denzel, with our classmates.
Why are they here?
Denzel came to our place. I could see his concern. Now are you scared?!
"Grace! Come here! Let's talk!" Denzel shouted.
"You're a liar! You just used me!"
"Yes... I did it but I regret it! Believe me!"
Yuri and Keifer came to me. The others followed them.
"What happened?" Yuri asked.
"We tried to talk to Denzel, he told us the real reason. Then Grace was just outside listening." I explained very quickly.
Keifer looked at me with a frown. "You're interfering again."
"I just want to help." I answered him. "...Why are you here? Huh?"
"David called me. We went to Denzel and followed Grace but we saw you here." Yuri explained.
I don't remember David calling anyone. I must have been deep in my thoughts, I didn't notice.
"Grace! For our baby's sake, let's talk first!" Denzel pleaded.
Grace shook her head while crying.
"Shh. We're only going to be here for a while!" Keifer said angrily and suddenly approached Grace. Closer to Denzel's place.
"Don't come any closer!" Grace shouted at Keifer.
Keifer stopped and crossed his arms. "What? Are you going to jump? Just jump! Jump!"
My eyes widened at what he said. What an idiot! Are you trying to encourage him to commit suicide?
"Keifer!" I shouted.
He just gestured at me with one finger.
"Jump! You're a coward! You thought that was Grace Miller, Freya's friend. She's just a coward!" He added.
I almost slapped my own forehead because of what he was saying.
He was just fueling Grace's resentment.
"I thought you were good at torturing! The braver the more fun to torture! But you? Just one more problem, you'll give up! You really are a coward!" Keifer added.
Grace just looked at him silently. She wiped her tears and it seemed like she had realized something.
He slowly moved away from the side and walked towards Keifer.
"I'm not a coward. This problem won't bring me down." SHe said firmly to Keifer and walked towards Denzel.
"...Follow me, let's talk."
Denzel immediately followed and got into Grace's car. I turned my attention back to Keifer. Should I be surprised by what he did?
We almost got angry when Grace yelled at him to leave the side but he just fought back.
"Let's go inside! The scene is over!"