Begin Again
Jay-jay's POV
Days passed without me realizing it. Because I didn't leave my room, I was ashamed to face Kuya. In the days that passed, I only talked to Percy and the GagongBaliw on my cellphone. They did nothing but annoy me. Speaking of cellphone. It rang and when I looked, Percy was calling me. I answered immediately because maybe he needed something. Because he still didn't come out of his room. "Hello." I said casually. ["Jay... It's Felix."] I looked at my phone screen for a moment to make sure the name of the person calling me was correct. "Why? Besides, why are you holding Percy's phone?" ["Because... It's Brother Percy because----"] Suddenly someone shouted 'I'm not going out!'. ["Well, he might run into someone and use up his energy again ."] The Persing Madman literally went crazy. I scratched my head. "Tell me, Honey knows his address." ["Who is Honey?"] "The troop of..." I hesitated to mention his name. "...your King." ["Ryder? The nephew of Keifer's lawyer?!"] He asked a little surprised. "Yes." I had no answer. ["Why did he join this?"] I felt awkward. I was too lazy to explain. I was still getting ready to go to school. "Just do it! Just tell me." He didn't speak and I could hear a little movement from his side. I heard the door slam. ["Hey! Get out... I'm going to school."] Felix said. He must be facing Percy. ["I don't want to... I'll just stay here."] Percy replied. ["You're welcome! Honey knows my house."] Felix said and I heard the door slam again. ["Jay?"] He called out to me. ["I told you ."] "What's the reaction?" Suddenly I heard a loud bang on the door from his side. I also heard someone's heavy footsteps. ["I'll take you!"] Percy's voice. ["I'm going to Tito Jasfher's house ï¬rst "] Papa's house? Yes, by the way. That's where he used to go home but when he and Felix were okay, he went back to their house. I suddenly became curious about what Papa's house looked like. ["I don't know..."] Felix said bored. ["Jay, I'll see you at school. Bye!"] The call died. I put my cellphone down on the bed before putting on my shoes. It's Monday and we're back to school again. We're the only ones who missed class. I don't know if it was our school trip. Whenever a visitor comes who looks like he's going to get rich, they suddenly won't let us in. After ï¬nishing cleaning up, I picked up my cellphone again. I also picked up my bag and left the room. I headed straight to the Dining where they were having breakfast. As soon as I entered, they suddenly fell silent as if an angel had passed by. Mama wasn't there because she had followed Andy with an apple. "Good morning." I greeted them. Aunt Gema and Uncle Julz smiled at me. Brother Angelo remained bowed while eating. Aries gave me a hard time. You thought you'd be able to sleep in too. "Good morning Jay. Are you coming in right away? Eat ï¬rst." Auntie was waiting for me but I immediately shook my head. "Thank you... I was just letting you know. I'm going in." "Just bring some food." She added and was about to call the maid but Aries stopped her. "Let her go, Ma. She'll leave if she wants to leave." She said without looking at us. I bowed my head but forced a smile. "I'm leaving." I didn't wait for them to say anything. I walked out of the house. I'll admit, Aries' words were different to me before. It was like he wanted me to leave. When I walked out of the gate of the house, I felt different. It was like something was missing that I couldn't understand. I was used to someone picking me up. Get used to not having one again. I kept walking to our corner. I was going to wait for a ride but I remembered that I hadn't had breakfast yet. I went straight to the Mini mart and bought a sandwich. While I was in line at the cashier, I looked at the man who came in. How could I not look at him? She looked like she had just woken up because of her messy, red hair. She didn't even glance at me and went straight to choosing food. Yuri's mouth was watering. I paid for what I bought and sat down on the bench next to the glass wall. I was eating quietly when someone approached me and stopped in front of me. "Hi Miss, can I share a table?" Yuri said as if she didn't know me. She didn't seem to mind. She adjusted her glasses and smiled. I met her eyebrows and nodded at her. She quickly sat down on the bench opposite me. She put down what she bought on the table between us. "Are you HVIS too? What year are you? I'm Yuri, by the way, and you?" She asked one after another. I was about to curse at her but I suddenly remembered something. It turned out that she wanted us to start over. By means of beginning----beginning where we haven't met yet. My car is your trip. "I don't talk to strangers." I said lifelessly. She snorted slightly. "Well then, let me introduce myself properly." He wiped his hand on his pants on his thigh and held it out in front of me. "I'm Yuri Hanamitchi, 18 years old. I'm Japanese with Filipino blood. Single and ready to mingle. I like the color red and I'm not related to Hanamitchi Sakuragi of Slumdunk." I just stared at him while he smiled at me. He looked stupid for what he was doing but part of me was laughing. I patted his hand. "I'm not interested." I replied. Yuri lowered his hand but he was still smiling at me. "Nice meeting you not interested." He said. Okay... His sense of humor has been ruined. The strength of this trip. He really stood by that 'start all over again' . Good luck if it lasts. "What trip is that?" I asked him irritably. "Hm?" He replied while opening the package of the food he bought. "This is delicious, do you like it?" I wanted to slap myself. I'm talking about what he's doing---- what he's doing to me right now. "Crazy." I whispered but I also meant to let him hear. He smiled at me before biting into the sandwich he bought. He also drank the Juice he bought. He faced me as if waiting for my reaction to his food. Hesitating... "Not interested, what year are you?" He asked me. Every time I chewed heavily while looking at him boredly. After all, I should really join his trip because that was part of our agreement. I sighed and put my food down on the table. I also shook my hand and slightly brought my face closer to his. "Jasper Jean Mariano is my real name. Jay-jay is my nickname. I'm in my 4th year of high school, 17 years old and about to turn 18 in May. I like foooood, because food is life..." My face got longer as I said foooood. "...I like to stomp, stomp and trashtalk. Every breath I take is accompanied by something cheap. And the last one...I DON'T LIKE...I don't like what we're doing. We look like fools!" He just looked at me silently as if he was shocked by my last words. It's true, we look like fools. We've known each other for a few months. We even kissed! Then suddenly here we are and introducing ourselves to each other. That Tataa?! His head tilted slightly. "So, your real name isn't Not Interested ?" I kept slapping my forehead. It was really stupid! I was also banging on the table. Why am I torturing myself like this? I almost forgot that this guy was Section E. He was also a cobra.... I raised my head and continued eating. I had ï¬nished it but honestly I was still hungry. I looked at what Yuri was eating. He must have bought a dozen sandwiches. I need to take a segway to get this guy some food quickly. Even here he made up with me. "W-why are you talking to me?" I asked casually while looking at the sandwich in front of him. "I just wanted to get to know you. You're wearing an HVIS uniform. It's probably not bad to have a new acquaintance who 's also my schoolmate." He explained while looking into my eyes. I just nodded but the truth is that I had already quickly eaten a sandwich while he was talking. "You said you're a 4th year, what section are you in?" He asked. I started to chew on the sandwich I had just eaten. I'm just saving money right now so I don't want to buy anything. It's getting tough! "Section E." I answered between chewing. He pretended to be surprised by what I said. "Really? That's great, I'm also Section E." Eh? I just took his trip. I also acted like he was reacting. "Really?! What's great?" I said while holding out another sandwich near him again. "We're going to go to school together." His suggestion. I can save on the fare! I nodded at him with a smile. "Okay!" Then I took another sandwich. He was still smiling at me. He took the sandwich he bought and ate it. He didn't seem to notice that he had already bought less. While he continued eating, he handed me some of the remaining sandwiches in front of him. "Finish it up..." He said. "...so you don't have to eat one by one." I winced. He knew what I was doing. But I wasn't embarrassed. I took the ones he gave me and put them in my bag. I continued eating and he did the same. After ï¬nishing eating, he immediately took me to his car. He said we got in together . He looked like a kid who had made a new friend. He was so happy,smiling and happiness was everywhere. Maybe if he was like this when we ï¬rst met----the very ï¬rst time. We probably became friends right away. We probably won't be like this again. I don't know... When I got to school, I waited for him to park properly before getting off. I just winced as I looked at him. I looked at some students who were looking at us and whispering. I didn't know what they were talking about but they looked serious. "What's that?" Yuri asked while looking at the students gathered near our building. I ran closer. I tried to squeeze in with the students curious. A large tarpaulin appeared before me. It was attached to a large plywood supported by two wooden posts. Notice for Demolition! I couldn't read the entire notice. I immediately ran to our room. Just then, I saw Sir Alvin chasing our Guidance Counselor and several teachers. "Sir!" I called out but he just passed me. "Sir Alvin!" The Councilor shouted at Sir to stop him from following them. "...That's an order from the higher-ups. There's nothing we can do." "But Ma'am! Can't you wait for the kids to graduate? Just a little while." Sir Alvin spoke. "There's nothing I can do about it. I know you've known for a long time that the Board Members wanted to demolish this building but you've always opposed it." He adjusted the book he was carrying. "...and now that Mr. Fernandez is no longer there to support you, there's no one to stop the entire Members from wanting it." Mr. Fernandez? Is that Brother Angelo. Why is he gone? I don't understand. "But Ma'am... You can see! This building is sensible. It's solidly built. So why are you having it demolished?!" Sir asked irritably. The Guidance Councilor, whom I was annoyed with, laughed a little. Nothing was as funny as that. What Sir said was true. Even though the paint was faded and it was full of dust and grime, it was obvious that its walls were solid. "It's solid, but look at the surroundings. It looks like a garbage dump! The walls are full of vandalism! And the students? They don't seem to be studying!" Ma'am pointed at Sir. "...If I'm obeyed, even those Section E students, I'll have them removed! They're only here because they have backers or because they can influence their families. But they're polluting this school because of their behavior!" Sir took a deep breath and tried to suppress his anger. "Section E is not the reason why this building is like this. You are the one who ordered the broken tables, chairs, cupboards and even old books to be piled here. Other students have soiled it, not them." Sir combed his hair with his hand. "...why are you making the whole Section E hot ?!" Ma'am's eyebrows crossed. "Why do you keep defending that Section?!" She looked at Sir from head to toe. "... what else can we expect from you? That's the Section you came from." Ma'am turned and walked away ollowed by the other teachers. Sir was left with his face washed a few times. I felt a presence behind me so I looked around. Section E except for their King. "Where are we going?" Ci-N asked sadly. "As long as we graduate early, that's okay with me." Eren said but he immediately got a slap on the back of the head from Calix. I looked at Yuri when I noticed that he was very serious. He walked closer to Sir. "I thought Angelo was the one blocking the Board Members. Why now it seems like he didn't do anything?" Yuri asked. Sir shook his head. "He didn't come to the last meeting. We also found out about the problem with their Company." It turned out that Kuya was Sir Alvin's assistant who stopped the Demolition of this building. But what is the connection with their company. What if there is a problem? Sir looked at us sadly but forced a smile. "Go back to your room. I'm just going to make a call." The Ulopongs walked one after another. Yuri grabbed my arm and slightly pulled me back to the room. But his eyes were still on Sir Alvin. If this building is going to be demolished, where will we go to the room? What about the pictures upstairs? Everyone was quiet when we entered. Even Ci-N was unimpressed when I sat next to her. The news was really bad. Monday is Monday too. "Sir Alvin used to be Section E." Drew said, so we turned to him. "...I saw him in the pictures above. I also saw that picture with Tiger and on his table in the faculty room." That's right. He and Kuya Angelo know each other. That's probably why he's so opposed to the demolition. Everything here is important to him . "Irritating! When do we need Keifer, he'll be gone!" Edrix said annoyed. Keifer will be gone?! Am I going to celebrate?! "Why will Keifer be gone?" Ci asked sadly. "Yes, he didn't tell us anything." Mayo added. Edrix sat down abruptly and put his eet on the table. "He submitted a letter to the school committee. He'll be gone for a month." A month?! 'I'm giving you space.' I remembered what he said to me again. Is this the space he's giving me ? One month? When is his birthday? When is his schooling? I looked back at his place and Yuri's eyes caught mine. He smiled when he noticed me looking at him. "What's he going to do when he's gone for a month?" David asked. "Preparing." Rory answered boredly. "...his birthday is on the 29th. All his rights to the inheritance left by his grandparents are being transferred to his name." That's why it's 1 month. He was just using that space. That idiot is ï¬ne. "But maybe he won't come back." Blaster said. "...Will you still go back to this trashy school if you have billions?" I noticed the way some of them looked at me. I turned my back on them and looked down. I didn't want to show them that I was affected by Blaster's words. Even though it was true! There was a pain in my chest as I thought that he might not come back. You already have billions! What's the point of trash? He could have bought a school, classmates, and a girl to love him. He still has a lot of money. "Keifer will come back." Ci-N whispered while looking at me. "...I know he will come back." I ruffled his hair and smiled at him. "Maybe not ." I was joking. He was getting upset while trying to ï¬x his hair. I was really confused by his behavior. He was so messy. That's why I don't want to believe him because he's messy. I just hope that when he comes back, he'll ï¬x all the mess he left behind. I also hope that he comes back early because of the mess he left behind. Maybe he won't have anything to come back to.