Love Hurt
Jay-jay's POV
"How's Mayo?" Edrix asked as I stepped out of the clinic.
"Still being tended to by the nurse."
"Tsk! You really hit him hard. Even Kit's punch wasn't that strong," he said, shaking his head.
Damn it!
"He made me angry," I reasoned, but he just laughed at me.
I sat on the bench outside the clinic.
Edrix followed me. I didn't want to go back to class yet. I was sure those idiots would just bombard me with questions.
"What did you and Mayo even fight about?" he asked.
"N-nothing... It's complicated," I said, avoiding his gaze. I think Edrix got the message—I didn't want to talk about it. He didn't ask any more questions and fell silent.
Then his phone rang. He picked it up, and I instantly saw Freya's face on his wallpaper.
Haizt! That thing Kiko said...
"She's got a new boyfriend again," Edrix said, turning the phone toward me.
It was a Facebook post of Freya with a handsome guy. The caption read: My new love. Nice!
"This is what I dream of..." Edrix whispered.
"...For her to post a picture of us and proudly say I'm the one she loves the most."
I could feel the pain and weight behind his words. How long had he been keeping those feelings for Freya?
"H-have you ever tried telling her how you feel?" I asked. He quickly shook his head, still staring at his phone.
"I can't... She hates people from Section E, remember?"
Right. And it probably got worse when I bumped into her the first time.
"I'd help you win her over if I could. But we're enemies, remember?" I said, forcing a smile. He did the same.
Though honestly, even if we weren't enemies, I'm not sure I'd help. I still don't know what really happened between Freya, Yuri, and Keifer.
"Falling in love is hard, huh?" someone suddenly said.
We both looked toward the clinic door.
Mayo was standing there, holding tissues and an ice pack.
He sat down beside me. Now I was sitting between the two of them.
"Man... Your punch really hurt, Jay," Mayo said.
"Well, it's your fault. You made me angry," I retorted.
He chuckled a bit. Edrix and I exchanged glances, wondering if Mayo was delirious or just had his brain shaken loose by my punch.
"Sorry... I didn't mean what I said. You're different from Ella. You're not the same," he said, smiling at me.
I'm different from her...
"I was just overwhelmed by anger," he added.
"S-sorry too... for punching you," I said, smiling back.
"Alright, you two are good now," Edrix declared, standing up. "Let's head back."
Mayo checked the time on his phone.
I glanced at it too. We'd been here for a while now.
"We won't make it. Let's just skip to the next class," he suggested.
Yeah, we were already too late. And honestly, I was too lazy to go back right now.
Edrix sat back down. "Alright, let's go later."
"So, who were you guys talking about earlier?" Mayo asked.
"Girls!" I replied. Edrix instantly shot me a glare.
"...his girl," I teased.
"His girlfriend?" Mayo asked.
"No," Edrix answered.
"Just someone he dreams about," I added.
Edrix glared at me again, but I just laughed.
"Did you tell her how you feel?" Mayo asked.
Edrix shook his head and looked down. "I don't even know if she notices me. Or if she even knows I exist."
"So you just stare from afar?"
"Pretty much."
"At least you've got that. In my case, she knows I love her but she still avoids me," Mayo said, pressing the ice pack to his face.
"That sounds worse."
I kept looking back and forth at them. It was nice hearing them talk. It was simple. No drama.
I leaned back and sighed. "Love really is hard," I said.
Mayo and Edrix both turned to me.
"You're struggling? And here you are with two people who like you!" Edrix said, and I grimaced at him.
"You've got Yuri, and then Keifer too," Mayo added.
W-what? Hold on!
"Maybe it's someone else. Not those two," Edrix suggested.
"Maybe... So, who is it? Come on, tell us," Mayo urged.
Uh-oh.
"Keifer will be mad at you," Edrix warned.
"And poor Yuri. She'll be heartbroken again," Mayo chimed in.
"Cut it out!" I shouted at them. "You're saying too much! I just joined your love drama!"
Annoying!
"But seriously, it's not one of them?" Edrix asked again.
"I-it's not like that."
"You can't choose?" Mayo asked.
I looked down and bit my lower lip.
Ugh! I hate questions like this.
Both of them were obviously waiting for an answer. But I stayed quiet.
"If I were you, I'd go with Yuri," Mayo suddenly said, making us look at him.
"Why Yuri?" Edrix asked.
"Keifer's no good. He's selfish when it comes to girls. Even though Yuri was the only friend he had left, he still took what was his," Mayo explained.
Weird. Ci-N used to say the same things about Yuri. Now Mayo's saying the same about Keifer.
Yuri once said Keifer is selfish when it comes to girls. With two people saying it, and me kind of experiencing it too, it's still hard to believe.
"He took someone from Yuri? Who?" Edrix asked.
"Ella! It should've been Yuri. But Keifer got in first and now she's with him."
It should've been Yuri?
But Yuri said Ella never loved him. So how could she have chosen him?
"How did it end up being Yuri she wanted?" I asked.
"I don't know... But Ella said she really wanted to choose Yuri," Mayo replied.
Why does this feel more confusing now? I was about to ask Mayo more when I noticed Rakki walking toward us. He looked thinner and more stressed than the last time we saw him.
"Hey, Rakki!" I greeted.
"H-hi... Why are you guys here? Don't you have class?" he asked.
"This one's at fault," they both said, pointing at me.
"Hm?!"
"Looks like you skipped class. And dragged Jay-jay along too," Rakki teased them.
"No way! It's really Jay-jay's fault," Mayo said, pointing at his nose.
"That's karma..." Rakki said and turned to me.
"How's Ci-N? I heard she's living with you now."
Ughhh... I miss her.
"She's okay... Would be better if she knew how to do laundry and clean up after herself," I answered.
I'm the one doing her laundry. It's kind of embarrassing.
Like, I don't even wash my own clothes, but hers? I'm doing them.
Lazy brat!
"Don't expect much. Even at home, she tells people to get her water instead of getting it herself," Rakki said.
Same with us. Makes you want to flick her forehead. Born rich and the youngest in the family. No one ever scolds her since her parents are always away—except for her slightly crazy brother.
"Anyway, I'll go ahead. I need to have this signed by the nurse," he said, waving a paper.
"He looks thinner," Edrix noted.
I thought I was the only one who noticed.
"Probably stressed... He's dealing with a lot," Mayo said.
I looked at him curiously. "Problems?"
He glanced at the clinic door for a second, then looked back at me.
"Since Rakki sided with us, Section A blocked all their benefits. Now he's scrambling to get them back," he explained.
Poor guy. He's the president of their section, so all the responsibility falls on him.
"Don't tell Ci-N about this," Edrix suddenly said.
"Why?"
"Unless you want more trouble?" he said sarcastically.
True, that kid would stir up chaos. She might fight the Section A kids, the guidance counselor, and even our principal.
We talked about a lot of things after that—mostly about our crazy classmates.
That's how I learned Josh lost his girlfriend. They weren't sure when it happened, but ever since, he's been acting strange.
Drew, on the other hand, keeps sneaking into a shortcut near the school. He's in trouble with me! He still hasn't paid his debt and now he's up to something again.
We didn't notice the time.
"...Should've been during vacation—"
We all froze when someone fake-coughed.
"We've been looking all over for you, and here you are!"
Busted!
We slowly turned around. Standing there with arms crossed and a glare was the king of all troublemakers. I forced a smile, but he wasn't having it.
"Get back to class... NOW!" he yelled, and we scrambled to our feet and ran back to the room.
"This is your fault, Jay-jay!" Mayo said while running.
I glared at him. "You're the one who started the fight!"
"Stop it! Fight later! Keifer's coming! We're dead!"