Aries's POV
["She's here! There's nothing we can do! Just keep an eye on him!"] Kuya ordered me angrily.
I called him immediately after we arrived at the University. There's a reason why Kuya didn't sign Jay-jay's waiver.
"That's another problem. When sshe got here, he immediately stuck with him classmates so I wouldn't see her."
["Just make sure they won't meet! Not yet, Aries! Maybe there'll be trouble!"]
"I know. I'll do my best."
I ended the call. There are too many people here. I'm sure it'll be difficult for them to meet and besides, Jay-jay won't recognize him.
"Babe! Let's go!" She called me.
I quickly walked towards them. I'll just hope for the best right now.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Jay-jay's POV
Great! I was able to hide from Aries quickly. It's a good thing I got Mayo's ninja vibes a little.
"How awas you on your bus?" Ci-N asked me.
"I'm fine... Are you okay?"
He smiled broadly. You know something good happened to him.
"Rakki and I are together... I leaned my head on her shoulder. Ahihihi." he said while still shivering.
I just grinned. This kid is so weird! The boy was even more excited, when he shivered.
"It's in line! It's in line!" Eman shouted.
Because I was the only farm girl here with us. I was the one in the front of the line again. Next to me was -----😒
"What?!" The King of the Cobras asked me annoyed.
"Nothing..." I whispered, feeling like he heard me too.
We formed a line and a man approached us. He was wearing a dirty white polo shirt and brown pants. He also had a sash with the word 'Tour Guide' written on it.
"I'm your Tour Guide. Call me Randy." He said. He explained a lot in a cryptic way that I honestly didn't understand. I think the word I recognized was just lunch. He started walking so we followed. The buildings here are a mix of old and new. The grounds are vast and the students are numerous. Rich!
"Dude.. chicks." I heard Rory say.
"The first place we're going to is the university's history hall where you can see all the board members who built this school." The Tour Guide said.
We just walked and entered an old building. Upon entering, all that greeted me was a bulletin board. I was too lazy to listen to what the Tour Guide said. We stopped for a moment and came across a bulletin board. Unlike the previous ones, the pictures here are newer.
"Jay..." Ci-N called me. "...your relative?" He asked while pointing at a list full of names.
I approached and looked at the name he was pointing at.
Jasfer Mariano
That's great, he has the same name and surname as me. That's it, I don't remember any of our relatives having the same name.
I just shook my head at Ci-N. We looked at the bulletins with my honest picture. It's as if I know the one in the picture.
This is familiar to me. It's as if I've seen him before. I just can't remember where. I looked at him more closely but I still can't remember. A man who looks to be in his mid-40's.
The tour guide called us back and spoke to us about something. But he wasn't paying attention. The man in the picture was as if I'd already seen him. The worm in my brain was restless because of him.
Wherever this Tour Guide took us. I didn't understand anything he said. My focus was still on the picture. We got to the cafeteria and we were fed there.
"Hey...Jay!" Ci-N called me.
"Huh?"
"I said, are you going to eat that?" He asked while pointing at the food on my plate.
I shook my head and brought the plate closer to him. I didn't have an appetite, I ate a lot earlier so it was okay.
"Is there a problem? You've been quiet for a while." David commented and almost all of them looked at me.
"W-nothing... I'm just tired."
"Are you sure about that? You were excited just now." Yuri asked.
I just nodded and forced a smile. I didn't want to bring them into my thoughts. I'll take care of that. Suddenly Felix plopped down on our table. The table shook and the glasses almost overturned.
"What is that?!"
"Felix!"
"You look like a kid!"
"Good news!" He announced while smiling.
He suddenly showed us the paper he was holding. I couldn't understand it at first so I just read the big letters.
Scholarship Agreement and Approval
"Are you signing it?!" I asked in surprise.
Felix nodded with a big smile so we both clapped together.
"And all of this... I owe you." He said while looking at me.
He was about to hug me when Yuri's hand suddenly blocked it.
"There's no need to hug her." He said.
We both exchanged glances. Instead of speaking, Felix suddenly hugged me.
Come on!
"Hey! Felix!" I shouted.
"Why?! I want to hug her!" Felix said.
Before Yuri could answer, Ci-N also hugged me.
Son of...
"I want a hug too!" Ci said with a mischievous smile.
I tried to break free from their hug, but suddenly David hugged me too.
"Hey! What's going on with you guys?!" I asked, annoyed.
"Look at Keifer," Ci-N whispered to me.
Why would I do that?
But I did anyway. Oh my God! He looked like he was ready to kill someone. I could only swallow nervously.
"L-let go... T-that's enough hugging," I said, still trying to break free.
But Ci-N only tightened his hug and even rubbed his face against my shoulder like a cat.
I was about to say something when Keifer suddenly slammed the table. Everyone went silent and turned to look at him, including the students from this university.
"Move away or I will cut your arms off," Keifer said calmly but with authority.
They all let go of me at once. Ci-N even looked like a scolded child, lowering his head and pouting
The Tour Guide called us again. They said we were going to the theater because the school board members were going to speak. We went back to the queue and followed the Tour Guide again. We went to a new building. We entered the big black door. This was the theater they were talking about. It was so big and there were so many seats.
"Section E! This is where we are!" The Tour Guide called us and pointed to our seats.
Our seats were a bit far from the stage and it felt like we were really far from the other sections.
Tsk! Even here! We looked for a seat.
I looked at the person next to me for a moment and---😒. Yuri and Kiefer. I don't want to be next to these two. If I die of boredom, I'll die looking at them. Next time I'll stick with Ci-N or David. The one on stage started to speak so we fell silent.
Different people were speaking. Most of them were just welcoming us. But one person caught my attention The man in the picture on the bulletin board. He's the one I've been thinking about where I saw him. He looks really familiar to me.
"Welcome to Hamilton University! I'm Jasfher Mariano, one of the board members! We are happy to have you here! Blah blah blah blah..."
He introduced himself.
My heart was beating so fast. I felt the same way, when I wanted to meet Percy and find out who he was.
"Jay... Why?" Yuri asked me.
I ignored him. I didn't want to take my eyes off the man who was speaking.
Jasfher Mariano!
Come on! I immediately took my cellphone out of my bag. I opened the gallery and swiped.
Why are these all pictures of Ci-N?
I bit my lower lip. I felt like he was about to say something important. I needed to hurry or I might miss it.
I finally found the picture I was looking for—the one I needed to prove that I really knew the man who introduced himself as Jasfher Mariano.
It was a picture of me and my dad—the only picture we had together. I was still a baby, and we were standing in front of an unfamiliar church.
He looked just like him!
The man in the picture was just younger. But I couldn't be mistaken. It was him! But the name on my birth certificate was Boy Mariano.
Tears started falling down my cheeks on their own.
"What's wrong?" Keifer asked me.
"M-my dad..." I whispered, showing him the picture on my phone.
He stared at the picture for a moment before looking back at me. Then he quickly stood up and grabbed my hand.
"Come on... If you want to be sure, let's go talk to him," he said, pulling me along.
Even though I was scared, I stood up right away and let him lead me.
We looked toward the stage, but he had already gone down.
We were about to approach him, but the tour guide suddenly blocked our way.
"Sir, Ma'am, please go back to your seats," the tour guide said.
"You don't understand. We need to talk to that person," Keifer said impatiently.
The tour guide turned to look in the direction we were pointing at, giving us the perfect opportunity to slip past him.
We ran quickly, but when we got outside the building, we couldn't see him anymore.
"Where is he?" I asked, scanning the area.
We kept looking around until Keifer suddenly grabbed someone.
"Hey, Keifer!" I called out to him, but he ignored me.
"Did you see a man in business attire carrying a briefcase?" Keifer asked the guy he grabbed.
"There's a lot of them!" the guy answered rudely.
Keifer shot him a sharp glare, so I stepped in before things escalated.
"Sir... Do you happen to know Jasfher Mariano? I really need to talk to him," I pleaded.
"You should've said so earlier! He's heading to the parking lot right now," the guy said, pointing the way.
Keifer let go of him, and I quickly thanked the man. We half-walked, half-ran toward the parking lot.
But of course, just our luck! Their parking lot was massive—it was even bigger than the ones in malls.
"You go that way! I'll search here!" Keifer instructed.
I quickly ran in the direction he pointed.
I think I approached all the men who were getting into their cars.
I was already out of breath from running and looking at each car. I wanted to give up because of fatigue. Until I heard someone speak behind me.
I slowly turned around. When I saw it properly, tears started to fall on their own. My heart couldn't stop beating fast.
He was now in front of me.
I couldn't speak. He opened the door of his car and put in the brief case he was holding.
He was about to get in when he saw me. He stopped and seemed surprised to see me. He closed the door of his car and stared at me for a moment.
"J-jay-jay?" He asked and walked slightly closer to me.
Does he know me?! Shit!
"Y-you know me?" I asked and walked closer to him.
Suddenly, tears welled up in his eyes.
"O-yes..." he took a deep breath. "...oh my! I've been waiting for this day for so long." he said and ran his hand through his hair.
My crying got louder. I could barely breathe. I didn't know if it was because I was happy and I saw him or because he knew me but he didn't even show herself to me.
Either way, I didn't care. All I knew was that he was here.
"P-can I hug you?" he asked me.
I didn't say anything. I took the initiative to come over and hug him.
Tight. I gave him a very tight hug. If I had to take back the times I didn't hug him, I would.
"Jay... I'm so sorry... Forgive me, Papa." he said while still hugging me.
I waited so long to say these words. The words that would define him and define my personality.
"P-papa..."
His hug got tighter. But the hug didn't last long when someone suddenly pulled me away and pulled us apart.
"Let go of Jay-jay!" Aries shouted.
"Aries!" I shouted.
He grabbed my arm tightly. He glared at Papa.
"Go away!" Aries ordered Papa.
"A-aries... I'm talking. I want to be with my daughter."
Does he know Aries too?!
I tried to get away, but his hold on me got tighter.
I was hurt!
"Go away if you don't want me to tell Aunt Jeana!" Aries shouted again.
Papa looked at me as if apologizing. He went back to his car and quickly got in.
"Papa! Just a moment!" I shouted and tried to chase him.
Aries hugged me from behind to stop me. I tried to break free and get closer to Papa.
"Just a moment!"
"Jay! Stop!"
"Let me go, Aries!"
"Stop!"
Papa's car quickly drove away. I just fell to my knees when Aries let me go. I wanted to chase him for something else. He deliberately walked away and chose to leave me.
I continued to cry. It's just that the reason I cried earlier is not the same as today. It hurts just now that I saw him, he chose to leave me again.
"JAY-JAY!" someone shouted loudly and suddenly Aries fell to the floor.
I just covered my mouth in shock. Until a hand helped me stand up.
Yuri...
Keifer was also there and it looked like he was the one who knocked Aries down.
"What happened?" Yuri asked.
I looked at Keifer who also looked like he was waiting for my answer.
"S-Daddy... I-I saw him."