When Truth Slaps

The twins were acting weird again.

After they bolted out of the cafeteria three days ago, they looked more distressed. And guess what? They wouldn't tell me.

It was actually annoying that they were keeping details from me again. It wasn't like I'm going to tell anyone. I mean, friends tell friends if something was up, right?

I may not be as badass as Jace, but I can still help.

"Stop staring at me."

I looked up to see Elli glaring at Jun, who was just grinning at her.

Truth be told, I admire the guy's guts. He was the only one who can still grin at Elli like that when it was obvious she wanted to kill him with her bare hands. And they just met a few days ago.

I wasn't really sure if he was doing it just to rile up Elli, or to pull her attention. Either way, it was still fun to watch.

"Stop being so cute," Jun retorted that almost made me cringe.

"I'm not cute!" Elli snapped at him, red faced.

Jace was just shaking her head at them both. I didn't even realize the guy was goofy until he opened his mouth. He was different from Jace. Jun was a compelete dork whereas Jace was a little bit serious.

Sure she joked around, but not as frequent as Jun. She still looked around whenever we were outside. But she looked more relaxed than before.

"Yes you are," Jun replied cheerfully.

Elli let out a breath. "Jace, I'm begging you! Shut him up or I'll rip his tongue out and feed it to him!"

The whole cafeteria fell silent. Apparently, everyone heard her threat.

Jun suddenly burst in laughter. Jace sighed and whacked her gutsy best friend upside the head.

"If you want to live longer, shut the hell up," Jace said nonchalantly.

Jun chuckled and held up his hands in mock surrender. "Fine. But she's still cute."

I give it to the guy. He was truly one gutsy dude. I really hope he lived longer. Especially when he put himself on Elli's bad side.

"That's it!" Elli growled and threw her whole tray to Jun.

Fortunately, and incredibly might I add, Jace caught the tray and shielded Jun with it from Elli's food. Elli growled again and glared at her cousin before she stood up and stomped out of the cafeteria.

"Wow," I breathed out, finally making a noise after the tension between Elli and Jun. "That was scary."

Aeron chuckled. "I didn't know this time would come."

Jace sighed again but didn't say anything.

"What?" I asked my best friend in confusion.

He rolled his eyes at me. "You're clueless, as always."

I frowned at him and looked at Jun, who was smirking while looking at the cafeteria doors where Elli stomped out.

"I know that idiot likes her," I said, nodding towards Jun.

"Hey!" the idiot protested. But he didn't deny that he liked Elli.

"Well, duh," Aeron rolled his eyes. "It's super obvious."

"I'm right here, you know?" Jun shook his head at us.

"And that's my sister, you know?" Aeron retorted. But it was obvious he didn't mind at all. He probably trust the guy too much, despite the fact that we just met him.

"I'll go on ahead," Jace said, standing up with her tray. "See you later," she told Jun before nodding at Aeron and I.

"See ya," Jun replied with a wave of his fingers before turning back to us. "So, what should I do to impress Elli?"

Aeron cringe. "Dude, seriously? You just met her like, three days ago."

I smirked. I see he totally cared about Elli. He just wouldn't do it in front of her. She's his twin after all.

"I don't think that's a problem at all," Jun said confidently.

Aeron scowled at him. "It will be when you decided she's too crazy for you."

Jun shook his head in amusement. "You have Jace to beat the hell out of me when I hurt your sister."

I chuckled and nudged Aeron on the ribs. "Just give him a chance."

My best buddy grinned at me. "Because you can totally relate to him?"

Jun turned to me and chuckled too. "Right. Nice to know we're in the same page."

I swore under my breath. "We were talking about him," I jerk my thumb towards Jun, "and his guts in subtly asking your permission to pursue Elli," I reminded them with a scowl.

Aeron laughed and slapped me on the back. "You don't to have to act pissed off whenever we tease you with my cousin, dude."

I ignored him. He wouldn't hear and heed any of my reasons anyway.

"Tell us how you met Jace," Aeron finally turned to Jun.

It was obvious his question took Jun off guard, but he recovered easily. "We were in the same school since we were kids," he explained vaguely.

"And?" Aeron prodded him to proceed.

Jun shrugged. "Our fathers are sort of acquaintances. That's it, really."

Aeron raised a brow at him. He totally knew Jun was evading the question. And that he was omitting a lot of details about his and Jace's friendship.

"So," I piped in before Aeron could say anything. "Are you into martial arts too?"

Jun raised a brow. "I take it you saw her in action."

It wasn't a question but I nodded anyway. He smirked.

"Let's just say she's the one who taught me how to fight," Jun simply said.

And I was pretty sure he was lethal too. If Jace looked intimidating, Jun was far from it. But I could sense he was a force to reckon with.

"Where are you staying anyway?" Aeron asked, obviously changing the subject.

"I'm renting next door with Jace."

Huh. That was why they were always carpooling.

The bell suddenly rung. We automatically got up with our trays and put out our trash. Aeron just slapped me on the back again before walking away.

"See you later," Jun said before heading off too.

I walked towards my next class, thinking where did Jace go. I wondered if she was feeling something was off with the twins too. But then again, knowing her—even in a short period of time—I knew she already know about it. She was, after all, intuitive. Especially when the twins were involved.

I just hope they would tell me what was bugging them.

~~•~~•

Aeron texted me to meet them in the school lot after last period, which was gym with Jace and Jun.

I figured that they were ready to tell me what was wrong. Finally.

Jace and Jun were already waiting for me outside the locker rooms. I didn't find it odd since we always walked out of school everyday.

Jace might not admit it, but I'm pretty sure she was just trying to look out for me since the incident with Bull. I didn't mind, really. I'm sure Bull wouldn't try anything again after Jace broke his nose effortlessly.

"Good game, man," I fist bumped Jun as we walked towards the school's exit. "Didn't know you're a beast in the field."

Jun just grinned at me. We played a two-on-two soccer. I was partnered with him and we beat our opponent easily. He moved like a pro. I could tell almost every girl in class fell in love with him as they watch him play.

"He was in our school's soccer team," Jace said nonchalantly. "He was the team captain."

That explained it. No wonder he played like he owned the field.

"And Jace was in the Archery team," Jun said, grinning at her. "She can shoot a target however the distance and however small the target is."

I raised a brow at Jace with the small glimpse of her life back in Japan.

"Really?" I asked, never doubting it.

Jace shrugged. "That was two years ago."

I was about to say something when Elli yelled at us from Aeron's truck.

"I'm sorry for the interference, but we should really hurry up!" Elli snickered at us—mostly to me, actually. "Jace got work to go to!"

Jun smirked beside us. "I'm pretty sure I'm the one who's intrfering, not to mention the third wheel too."

"Urussai!" Jace hissed at Jun, who just laughed at her.

I rubbed the back of my neck in embarrassment. Really, I sometimes wondered why I'm friends with the twins. And Jun had to be just like them.

Jace glared at Elli before hopping in Jun's Escalade and slammed the door shut. I got in the truck's backseat before Elli could humiliate me further.

"Hi, Elli," Jun greeted her enthusiastically.

"Né, kirainahito," Elli greeted back with a sneer. At least, I thought so.

Jun grinned wider at her. "I see you're doing your homework."

Aeron sighed. "Can you not flirt with each other when I'm around? It's disgusting."

Elli gaped at her twin in horror. "I'm not flirting with him!"

"Of course you aren't," Jun smirked at her. "See you at the duplex, koibito."

Before Elli could answer, Jun got in the Escalade and honked at us before driving off.

Aeron followed them silently. Elli tapped wildly on her phone. And then she exploded.

"That a**hole!" she spat, her face red. "He's really an a**hole! That d*ckwad of a j*rk!"

Aeron looked at her in curiosity. "What the hell's wrong with you?"

"He called me sweetheart!" she yelled in anger.

I chuckled. "Wow. That guy," I said, thinking it wasn't really a big deal.

Elli glared at me and I held up my hands in mock surrender.

"Just saying."

"You should be flattered," Aeron smirked. "Someone's finally interested in you."

Alas. He wanted to die a painful death.

"What did you say?" Elli asked quietly.

Aeron visibly stiffened on his seat. "Uh... Yeah. That guy—"

"He didn't mean it," I cut him off before he could dig his grave deeper and to refrain myself from being caught in the crossfire. "Your brother's being an idiot again. Just ignore him."

"He was born that way," Elli sneered at him.

I kicked the back of Aeron's seat before he could retort a possible insult.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Totally."

Aeron scowled at me from the rear view mirror. "Thanks dude," he said sarcastically.

I grinned at him. "No problem. So what are we going to do at Jace's?"

The twins visibly tensed at my question. I honestly felt bad I thought I burst their bubble. "Yeah. We'll explain there," Elli answered, her rage from Jun's teasing completely forgotten.

"Okay," I shrugged.

When Aeron parked his truck in the duplex's driveway, Elli immediately got off with her bag. I followed and we headed straight at Jace's door.

Jace was preparing some snacks while Jun was silently sitting by the kitchen island. He looked serious, and he just nodded at us when we stepped inside.

Elli sat on the couch and got her laptop from her bag. She puts it on the coffee table.

"Relax, Elli," Jun said. "Jace is good at this. I can vouch to that."

Aeron sat beside his twin, looking tensed too. I sat on the armchair in one corner as Jace puts the snacks on the coffee table.

"Did you do what I told you?" Jace asked Aeron, sitting beside them.

Aeron nodded and he slid the laptop in front of Jace. "Are you sure she won't find out we installed a program in her laptop?"

Jace shook her head and boot up the laptop. "Yeah, don't worry. The program will self-destruct after I'm done. I think you should explain to Tolkien what's happening now."

The twins snapped their head at me. "Maybe later? If we confirmed it?" Elli asked unsurely.

I shrugged. "No worries. I'm just here."

"Thanks Tolkien," Elli smiled at me. Aeron nodded, looking grateful.

Jace tapped on the keyboard, typing some codes. "Just as I thought," she murmured.

"What is it?" Aeron asked worriedly.

"She's got multiple firewalls. Good thing I didn't let you open her files. Although that's normal due to her line of work."

Elli grabbed her twin's arm. Aeron patted her hand in assurance. As if telling her it was going to be okay.

"I'm in," Jace said. And then she fell quiet while staring at the laptop screen.

"Is it bad?" Aeron asked, gritting his teeth.

Jace looked at the twins before turning back at the laptop screen. "She's working for someone who's after my father. And another one.. I'm not entirely sure yet which side."

Elli gasped, her hands flying on her mouth. Aeron put an arm around her, his fist clenching.

"Sh*t!"

Jace opened files after files. She glanced at Jun and he immediately stood up. He strode up the stairs and he got Jace's laptop when he returned.

I could feel they found out something really bad.

Jace boot up her own laptop and tapped wildly on the keyboard. She was muttering something under her breath as she copied Mrs. Wong's files. She stopped when she opened one. It contained pictures.

"Kisama," she muttered again. "Her boss was the one who tried to assassinate Jun two years ago. These pictures were taken when we were in middle school."

I took a peek and saw Jun's pictures, possibly taken by a long lensed high definition camera. Something paparazzis use to stalk celebrities.

"What the hell?" Jun just muttered while looking at the screen.

"Wait," Jace said as she plugged a flash drive in her laptop. "Your Mom's using her laptop." She pressed a key and the tab fitted the screen. "She's sending a not so encrypted message to the other side she's working with."

I honestly had no idea how Jace hacked Mrs. Wong's laptop that easily, and do a surveillance of her activity online, at the same time. I also didn't want to think how many laws she broke just by doing it.

I glanced at the screen and saw that the message was short. It looked just numbers and codes to me. But Jace understood it clearly.

"They're onto me," she said.

>>The Jabberwocky is here.

~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~•~~

The Japanese word/s used and meaning/s:

*Ne, kirainahito. - Hey, a**hole.

*koibito - sweetheart

*Kisama - Damn it