Forgiveness
Jay-jay's POV
"What were you talking about?" I asked Aries while we were having breakfast. "I'm not there." He replied boredly. I looked at him. "Tell me!" "Tsk! Stop it!" "What's that?!" Mama said irritably as she walked towards us. She drank the coffee from the cup she was holding before setting it down on the table. She looked at the two of us sharply as if she was saying that we were the most naughty siblings on the face of the earth. But Aries looked like a piece of earth. "Your quarreling is so bad! Can't you two just shut up?" She said annoyedly as she grabbed some bread. I just bowed down while eating my rice. While Aries didn't seem to hear anything. She was still angry and continued eating. I looked at the door when Brother Angelo came in. He was still ï¬xing his necktie before coming over to us and taking the cup of coffee that none of us had touched before . The coffee must have been cold. "Did anyone come into my room?" She asked without looking at us. Aries and I met each other's eyes. She was about to say 'I'll report you'. We stared at each other for a long time when she turned to face Brother Angelo. Come on! I'll report him! "That's Aries! Aries is the one who entered your room!" I said while pointing at Aries. His eyebrows immediately met with a sharp look at me. I bit both of my lips while gradually withdrawing my ï¬nger. Kuya looked at him. "You entered my room?" Aries' gaze remained on me. "Yes, it was me." Wooooossshhhhh! Save! "...I saw the contents of the brown envelope on your table." This added reason for Kuya to be stunned. Their gazes shifted to me. I immediately looked away and went back to eating breakfast. Mama was clearly confused by what was happening. "What are you talking about?" she asked. Secret! No clue! No one spoke to us. Kuya and Aries' gazes remained on me. I was forced to shove all the food into my mouth. Kuya Angelo was the one who broke the silence. "It's nothing Auntie. I'm leaving, please just tell Mama." "S-okay." Mama replied. Kuya quickly took the things and walked away. Aries stood up next without saying a word. I forced myself to chew the food in my mouth so I could leave because I knew Mama would just tease me. Eat quickly, Jay! He was about to ask when I suddenly stood up and swallowed everything in my mouth. I drank water to make the vomit go down faster . "I'm going to take a shower." I said goodbye and didn't wait for him to say anything. Every step I took was big but I wasn't going to my room. But to Aries' room. I didn't knock and went straight into his room which I wish I hadn't done. It was my mistake, I went straight to his bed, a distance from the door. My brother was topless and only had boxers left. Shit! My eyes! Oh no! My eyes! "What the fvck!!" He shouted when he saw me. To be honest, that's not new to me because I'm probably used to the Ulopongs. I've seen them in boxers a few times and they don't even bother getting dressed in front of me. That happens during our PE. I looked down at the bottom of his chest on the left. There were two scars on his ribs . Those lines were probably half a hand's length each. What was that?! He must have noticed that I was staring, so he simply hung the towel over his left shoulder to cover what I was looking at. "What do you need?! Don't you really know how to knock?!" He said annoyed. I almost forgot where I came from. It's his scar's fault. It's distracting! I just saw him topless today. "I was just going to say thank you for what you did earlier." He raised his eyebrows at me. "Because I have no choice. You're going to teach me. Otherwise, thank you, I want to know something so I've already admitted it!" "What do you want to know?" He waved his hand. "Am I required to tell you that?" I looked away and walked away. "Yes, I hope so." He let out a deep sigh. "I want to know why Kuya has those pictures and if he has taken any action. Okay? Satisï¬ed?" I nodded slowly. "I have one more question." "What?! Spill the bean." I was really embarrassed to ask him this but because... "Are we okay?" He was obviously taken aback by what I said. He was confused at ï¬rst but he was also clearly thinking. Tell me my Horoscope for today. "Get out." His only answer. His eyes became serious. He looked at me but he quickly looked away. I was about to protest when he spoke again. "Please get out of my room." His authoritative command. I had no choice but to follow his orders. I walked out of his room and closed the door. Every step I took towards my room was heavy. I didn't understand his attitude and I didn't understand myself either . I'm angry with him. I feel bad for what he's done. But I won't deny it, there's a part of me that wants to make up with him. I also miss our time together. I went straight to the bathroom and took a shower. I was brushing my teeth when I remembered Aries' scar below my chest. Where did he get that? Why does he have that? That scar felt weird to me. I felt like I was touching my chest below my chest. If I'm not mistaken, his scar was right next to his ribs . Wait a minute... Is that right? Right next to his ribsâ€"right next to his lungs? Is that whatâ€". 'Jay-jay! It's me! WAAAG!' "Argh! That hurts!" I screamed as I held my head. I let go of my toothbrush and grabbed the sink with one hand . My head suddenly throbbed as that thing suddenly entered my mind. It was Aries' voice. I couldn't be wrong. But it was vague, I couldn't understand. It was like a part of the past that suddenly flashed back to me. When it happened, I didn't seem to remember anything like that. I elt my heart pounding. My headache went away after a few minutes. Maybe I just needed to take a shower. I continued what I was doing in the bathroom and tried to forget what had come to my mind. After that, I quickly got dressed and ï¬xed myself. While I was combing my hair, my cellphone rang, indicating that a text had arrived. Yuri was on my mind so I immediately picked it up to check it but an unknown number appeared before me. From: +639********* Message: You're dead I was overcome with a strange nervousness because of that message. I almost dropped my cellphone. I hope this is just a prank. I hope I'm making a mistake in my mind. I hope not.... Maybe when I leave the house, someone will be waiting for me. I don't feel like going to school. I might get bullied at school, I still want to look good when I die. How can I leave this? I know Aries won't take me with him. Yuri! That's right! I'll have him pick me up. I'll also ask him what he and Aries talked about. I'll also tell him about the message I received. My hand was still shaking as I looked for his number but a message suddenly came in and I pressed the name right after the call. Crazy! I answered the call quickly so I didn't get killed. I had no choice but to talk to him for a moment to explain my stupidity on the cellphone."Hello? Sorry... I just pressed the call. I'm going to hang up." I said and waited for a moment for his answer but as usual he didn't speak again so I hung up the call. Less than a second later a message came rom him. From: GagongBaliw Message: Why are you not responding to my messages? I looked at his message. It was as if he wasn't a jejemon now. I ignored him and just replied. To: GagongBaliw Message: bc ksi me. Dming nangyri khapon. (I was busy. A lot happened yesterday.) From: GagongBaliw Message: Still! You should have texted me at least! To: GagongBaliw Message: demanding! Are you a boyfriend? From: GagongBaliw Message: no! But I'm your future. I just winced at what he said. This guy is okay. But he has a good effect. For a moment, my fear disappeared because of him. I didn't reply to him. I had already done what I wanted to do and that was to call Yuri to pick me up. ["Hello? Jay?"] He asked me after answering the call. "Hey, can I do you a favor? You're not at school yet, right?" ["Not yet. I'm just on my way. What favor is that?"] "Can I do you a favor?" I said without hesitation. I heard his soft laughter. ["Actually, I've been waiting for you here outside your house for a while."] I was shocked by what he said and panicked. I couldn't answer or turn off the call. I quickly picked up my things and ran out of the room. "Jay! You might trip!" Auntie shouted when I met her. "I'm going to school." I answered her. I went straight out of the house and there was Yuri leaning against his car. He smiled at me and waved. I immediately approached him. "Let's get in! We might be late." He smiled at me. "Yes. Here you go." He opened the car door for me. He was the one who fastened my seatbelt. I felt like I was spoiled by him. He always does that. I think I'm starting to depend on him and that's not good. He quickly went to the driver's seat to start the car. While he was driving, I couldn't help but look at him. He was so attentive. He hadn't changed how he took care of me. I felt like he was even more attentive now than before. Now that he hadn't held anything against me. "Why do you stare at me like that?" He asked, bringing me back to reality. "...You're already in love with me, right?" I winced. "Eh?" He smiled sweetly at me. "Tell me when you're in love, huh?" "Why would I do that?" "To make you suffer. I'm the only one who suffered from our love? You should too." He punched her hard in the arm, causing her to scream loudly. He immediately rubbed her arm. "Itai! Itai! Itai!" (Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!) She said crying. Why is she calling her father? "Sore wa totemo warui ga itai!" (It hurts so bad!) She said to me annoyed. My eyebrows furrowed and I looked at her evilly. I pointed at her in the ace. "You're right too!" I shouted. She turned to face me crying. "I am not cursing you!" "Are you crazy!" She grabbed the steering wheel in annoyance and started the car. I leaned my arm cross-arm on the seat and looked outside. During the ride, she still didn't move. She looked upset from the force of my punch to her. There was a time when I looked at her and I could see that she was hiding the pain. I guess I did too much. She rubbed her arm again and simply looked at me. But she immediately looked away and focused on driving. We arrived at school without moving. I didn't wait for him to open it. I did it for myself. I quickly walked to the room. When I entered the classroom, I expected to still have food on the table but I didn't see anything. It was just Felix. He just made arrangements, then didn't bring any food. I looked at Felix annoyed but he was busy talking to his fellow Ulopongs. I was about to sit down when David handed me a sticky note. I looked at him in surprise but I took it to read. 'Jay, I enjoy our date. I hope you like the french toast and coffee. â€"Felix' Toast and coffee? Well, nothingâ€"I immediately looked at Ci-N. He didn't greet me like he always does. That was because he was eating something. He slowly turned to me when he felt me staring at him. He forced a smile even though his mouth was full of food. It looked like he got the toast but whose coffee was it? Ci-N didn't because he didn't drink coffee. But it seemed like I didn't need to look any further . I heard David take a big sip of what he was drinking . Nice! It seemed like they were arguing. He even made a aaaah after drinking the coffee that was supposed to be for me. I glared at him so he could feel my annoyance at him but he was really busy drinking and reading on his cellphone. "It's embarrassing to take food that was meant for me." I whispered to the two of them and Ci before sitting down. It was as if the two of them didn't hear anything. They still continued what they were doing. I just winced and it felt like they were both enjoying the ï¬ght. I looked at the door and saw Yuri come in. He kept coming in and didn't even look back at me. Wow, that's so intense! No one really noticed. I just felt awkward in the air. I know it was my fault but was it right to completely ignore me. It felt like my fault was too big. Whereas when I hurt him, he wasn't like that. I did something simple and then he's like that now. What's his trip? I simply looked at him from behind. He was talking to Rory but his face was serious. His expression was the same as the ï¬rst time I saw him. Back when I had a crush on him. I shook my head and looked back at the front. Sir Alvin just entered the room to take a class. "Your exam schedule has changed. It was supposed to be the end of March but it was postponed to the ï¬rst week of April." Sir said. "Why was it postponed Sir?" Eren asked. "Because he didn't advance." Ci-N suddenly answered and they laughed loudly. "Why did Pandak squeak!" Josh teased. The Ulopongs laughed again. I looked at Ci and his eyebrows met like that. He stood up and pointed at Josh. "I will kill your Pussy!" He shouted angrily. A moment of silence enveloped the room, almost like a cricket. Until they suddenly burst into laughter. Someone rolled on the floor and cried from laughter. I laughed too. Sir, who was just listening to us, also laughed. Ci-N became even more annoyed. Her face was starting to turn red from embarrassment. "Don't laugh at me!" She shouted while stomping her feet. "Think carefully about what you just said." Edrix said while wiping her eyes. "That's right! I'm talking about Josh's cat! Why are you laughing?!" "That's right! That's right! Sit down, Mr. Peralta." Sir said. Ci sat down while pouting. I turned to face Sir again to hear what he was going to say. "...Your exam will be the ï¬rst week of April. If I'm not mistaken, you also have two weeks of acation before the Post Final Exam. Lastly, your graduation will be in June." He added. Why is this?! Their schedule is so chaotic. Since this school starts in August. I haven't learned anything from the previous lessons. The truth is, it always seems like there's nothing to do. After Sir explained the full schedule he was on, he went back to teaching. He was busy with lessons because he had to catch up on the topic. Even our next teachers were focused on what they were teaching. Our last teacher left early for the morning so Eman was able to cook early. But I still wasn't going to eat here. I walked out of our room to go straight to the second floor. Where I always wait for my crazy Stepbrother. I was almost at the stairs when Calix greeted me. One hand was in his pocket while the other was scratching his cheek. He was bowing down and seemed embarrassed to face me. "What do you need?" I asked boredly. He looked at me for a moment before bowing down again. "Did you read....that....letter?" He replied shyly. I crossed my arms and looked at him intently. "Yes." He seemed to be amused by what I said and looked at me with a smile. It was as if he had a good hope. "What's your decision?" I raised my eyebrows at him. "No. You didn't write it, did you?" "Hey, I wrote it!" She defended herself. She wrote it? Well, the letter was a girl's. All she needed was a heart, a flower, and a unicorn to make it look like the writer was a rainbow heart. Unicorn! "Is your real trip different?" I didn't ask myself. Her eyebrows quickly met. "What?!" "You wrote a girl's letter! You even surpassed my writing. My penmanship was embarrassing." It was as if a storm had passed through my letter. "Mica said my writing was beautiful. That's one of the secrets of a love letterâ€"which is true because her writing is beautiful." "It's too beautifulâ€"it's questionable whether you really wrote it." I whispered but she seemed to hear it too. "I hope I didn't embellish it." She said, rubbing her head. She just made it pretty, that's all! Honestly, I was laughing at her. I had a strong eeling that she had asked Mica to help her just to write the friendship letter she said for me. A moment of silence enveloped the two of us. I looked behind her. Percy approached with food. I faced Calix again. "Thank you for your effort." I said and he looked at me. "...I'm proud but I'm not bad-temperedâ€"like you." He pouted. "...I won't take advantage of the opportunity you're asking for." His smile turned sweet to me. He was about to hug me but I immediately pointed it at his face. "S-sorry. I was just happy." "Thank you, I felt sorry for Mica." I said. "It's okay even if it's my mother." He said with a smile. I winced. "How rude!" "As long as you gave me the opportunity. You're that important to meâ€" as a friend, of course." I could only shake my head because of his attitude. He walked back to the room. I was left just looking at him. I don't know but....it felt strange.