Exam
Jay-Jay's POV
Why am I so scared? He's still Yuri. He's still my riend. "Sshh. . ." he said and wiped my cheek with his thumb. I didn't realize I was already crying. I was still leaning against the wall and his arms were blocking both of my heads. I was trapped and couldn't run. "Sshh. . . I won't hurt you." "T-You're scaring me," I replied and he laughed a little. And I actually laughed. "You wouldn't be afraid if you didn't think badly of me." That's right. What he said was true, if I didn't think badly of him, I wouldn't be afraid like this. But what can I do, I can't help it. There's so much I don't know about him, plus he might have bad plans for Keifer. What if he got mad at me because I interfered with his plan? Or maybe I was an obstacle to his plan? Just like in the soap operas on TV, those who oppose the plan of the gangsters will be punished. Just put that out of your mind, Jay! "If you don't act like this, I won't be afraid." I said bravely. I won't let my life catch up to me. I'll ï¬ght even if I'm hungry. He bit his lip before smiling and speaking. "You always have an answer." Oh, I guess! He grabbed my chin and forced my face to face him. I dodged a few times so his hand ended up grabbing my jaw. One of my hands immediately went up to grab his wrist. "Calm down Jay, I just want to talk to you properly," he said and brought his face closer to mine. "I don't intend to hurt you. You trust me, right?" Do I still trust you? I took a deep breath to calm myself. When he noticed that I was breathing properly, he let go of me. I was still leaning against the wall while watching him take the paper with Keifer's name written on it. He held out the paper and faced me. "Apart from you, who else saw this?" I didn't know if I should tell the truth. If I lied, the situation might get even more complicated, especially if he caught me. But I couldn't abandon Ma'am Cindy. "W-No. Just me." He stared at me in the eyes. I tried to keep up with him to prove that I wasn't lying. I was so grateful when he accepted my answer. "Do you know what this is?" I wanted to say no, but who did I fool then? He's not stupid. I know he already has an idea that I know what that paper is. Plus I ran earlier when he showed me the paper. Needless to say, I was just scared by Keifer's picture. Huhu, how cute. I silently burst into tears and he sighed. "Of course you do. Is Freya the one who told you?" I shook my head slowly. I was confused why he thought Freya could be the one who told me. Is it because we're already talking or because she's also coming with us? Did she know I was gossiping with them back in the hospital? "Tell the truth Jay, Freya will be devastated if they ï¬nd out she told someone else about this." Which of them? And why will Freya be devastated? "W-She didn't tell me anything. Freya and I aren't close," I explained. It's true. We're not yet frenny enough to chat without ï¬ghting . It's like he's relieved. But it looks like he's still not done asking me questions. "Who did you ï¬nd out about this?" I shook my head. "I-I just suspected, because the names with that, some are familiar." "And what do you suspect?" I took a few deep breaths. "I-You have bad intentions for Keifer, maybe you'll bring him down like the other names with that." He stared at me. He didn't even deny if my suspicion was wrong . It seemed like I was right. It seemed like Ma'am Cindy was right. He approached me and held both of my hands. "Listen to me, right now I can't talk or tell you anything. But I need you to trust me. Me, Freya and the other people involved in this, we need to be free from the people who sent this." I was confused. Why is Freya with me? And free from who? I was only getting more confused by what he was saying. I was asking for an answer but it just added more questions. I was annoyed that he was doing this. Asking for an answer, what was it? "You have no one else to tell this to, Jay." I tried to take my hands off him. I could see that he was hurt by what I did. "How can I be sure that you won't hurt Keifer?" I really had a trust issue now. He stared at me. "I won't. I know I won't hurt him." It was hard for him to trust me now but I would still do it. Because he's still my friend. Because he's still the Yuri I know. So even though it was against my will, I nodded. "I don't have anything else to say, as long as you don't do anything to him that will hurt him," I said and it was like we had an agreement. He smiled at me. At that moment I knew his smile was genuine . I could be angry with him and ï¬ght him because of what I had proven, but now I thought that maybe he was carrying a heavy burden. I didn't want to be a burden to him. But the moment I noticed something bad, I wouldn't hesitate to tell Keifer the truth. Even though I knew that their friendship would be ruined again. "Thank you for trusting me, when the right time comes, I will tell you everything," he said and turned his back on me to leave the room. I sat down on the floor. There were so many things playing in my mind. I couldn't help but be afraid for Keifer. I thought I would have less to think about when Ram was gone, but now I have more to think about. It would be good if I had learned to think, but my brain is always looking for food. I also sat on the floor for a few hours. I heard Kuya and I coming , but I didn't leave the room. I didn't even realize that I had fallen asleep in my seat. I woke up because my back was hurting. I tried to stretch but I heard my bones crack. My hip was still broken. I crawled closer to the bed just to ï¬nd support to stand up. I felt like an old man being hypnotized. I was still holding my hips as I stood up. I looked for my cellphone to check the time. It was 5AM in the morning. I suddenly remembered that Mama and Aunt Gema were leaving today. I took a moment to clean up in the bathroom before leaving the room. I caught up with them in the living room, talking. Mama was wrapped up again and seemed to be cold. I was just getting closer but she saw me right away. "You woke up early," she commented. "Nothing, you're leaving now?" I asked and pointed to the several bags they were carrying . "Yes, we're just waiting for your Tito Julz." I nodded and looked at Tita who was busy giving instructions to the maids. I faced Mama again. "You're going back here, right?" I couldn't help but think that the police might pick her up there. She laughed a little. "Of course. I'm going to look for a job here." I didn't know but my body and arms moved spontaneously to hug her. She was obviously surprised by what I did but she joined in hugging me too. I was so behind on her. I still want to make up for it and apologize to him properly. Come back here, I'm telling you, I'll follow you to jail. "What's wrong with you?" he asked but I didn't answer. I let go and said goodbye to him. "I'm going back to sleep." I heard Aunt Gema's soft laughter. I also said goodbye to Aunt. Not long after, Uncle Julz arrived followed by Brother Angelo. They talked for a moment before ï¬nally saying goodbye to us. They got into the car one after another. Brother was at the door watching them while I was still standing where they left me. I was scared for Mama. I hope there was nothing wrong with her there. "Why are you up so early?" Brother asked when he turned around and saw me. "My back hurt. I fell asleep on the floor." "What's so stupid of you that you ended up on the floor?" Stupid right away? It couldn't have been that he just fell asleep or fell off the bed? "No, I just fell asleep there. Where are Ma'am and Sir?" I changed the subject. "In the last guest room, Yuri is in Aries' room." "Aries agreed?" I asked in disbelief. I knew they were getting along a bit but of course that horoscope still had a different way of thinking. He still wasn't comfortable being with his old friends for a long time. It's good progress if my brother agreed. But I can't help but worry, I just don't know for whom. "As if he had a choice to say no," my cousin replied and I turned away . Oh, of course not, you are the law. I went back to my room to hopefully sleep again. But my sleepiness was gone so I tried to read my notes. I even ï¬xed the bench that tipped over last night after I tried to run away from Yuri. Even if it was a short lecture, I hope something still came to my mind. Maybe later I'll suddenly go blank while facing the test paper. It would be nice if someone could do magic and answer me again for me. What if I get sick again? How could I? I didn't notice the time so I was surprised when someone called me to have breakfast. I followed right away because I was already hungry, it was good that my stomach had held out. I was stunned when I saw Yuri setting the table. She smiled sweetly at me. "Good morning," she greeted. I just nodded and looked at Ma'am Cindy who had food. She smiled at me and greeted me. Sir Alvin who was next to her did the same. "I hope you don't mind about us barging in," I shook my head and was ready to answer but Kuya Angelo who had just arrived did it. "You're not barging in. I invited you to be here." "Your cousins might still be here. Imagine their teachers in one roof with them," Sir Alvin explained. Sir was right. It's strange that they're here at home. But I understand their situation. They need to hide their children. They need a good place to live, even for a while, before they ï¬nd a good and permanent place. It's just embarrassing because they'll see how we act at home. I won't be leaving my room all the time. I'll put the fridge in my room. "Good morning," Aries greeted me as he suddenly appeared behind me. Well, he's a good guy now. "We're all done, shall we eat?" Ma'am asked and we took our seats. I wasn't comfortable sitting next to Yuri so I switched places with Aries. It was a sacriï¬ce because Kuya Angelo was next to me. It was also a good thing that no one noticed what I did. I ate quietly but they continued talking. Sometimes I answered their questions but I didn't interrupt the conversation. Breakfast was over and I went back to my room ï¬rst to get ready . I still couldn't organize my things in my bag. My notes were scattered . I was quick to shower and get dressed. It was exam day, it was scary. When I reviewed, I was so nervous, unlike before when I only had stock knowledge and no knowledge, just stock. At least it was done. After getting ready, I left the room. It was just the right time because my brother was planning to visit me. He stopped when he saw me. He must have been surprised because I was ahead of him. Amazing. You'll be amazed! "Are you sick?" he asked me. "Why again? Because I was ahead of you?" I answered annoyed. He thought he might be able to tease me. "No, because your lips are pale," he answered and turned away. I immediately touched my lips. They were dry but I couldn't tell if they were pale. I thought this horoscope had done something wrong again. I just hoped it would predict what would happen to me in the exam. I followed him without saying a word. I really eel like he's just teasing me.Could it be that my lips are pale because of nervousness? I'm worried about our exam, maybe the lessons I've studied over and over again will suddenly be erased. Just hold on to my brain, please. Aries and I got in the car, I was hesitant when he took Yuri with me. I didn't say much the entire way to school. Sir and Ma'am Cindy, went to school separately. I still don't understand why they set it up like that but I just let it be. The adults are really messy. Big Brother is the most messy, because he's old. If my cousin could only hear what I'm saying in my mind, he'd probably get mad at me. I just laugh at my insults to him. I can't even tell him everything to his face, so they're just in my little brain. We arrived at school safely, when we got to the parking lot, I immediately saw the King of Cobras. I immediately approached him hoping to surprise him but he had already seen me. "I'm so annoyed, I was going to slap you." He laughed softly. "Just repeat that, I'll pretend that I didn't know." "Eh? Where's the surprise?" "Add the word surprise," he said and I flinched. It was a bit sudden but he was making me nervous. I punched him in the arm. "Bwisitâ€"!" I was cut off by Yuri's sudden appearance in front of us. I couldn't help but grab one of my hands on Keifer's arm. He looked at me before turning his gaze to me and smiling and acing the King. Why was I nervous? "How's Keigan?" he asked. "Good, I think. He locked himself in the room again and they had a hard time letting him out so there was a commotion," he explained. They started walking so I had to follow. I let go of Keifer because they were both pinching me. I went behind him and immediately grabbed the end of his shirt so I wouldn't be able to get away from them. They continued chatting while I just listened. Yuri would look at me every now and then but I just avoided it. He also tried to ask me questions but I kept my answers to him to a minimum. I felt isolated from him. I felt bad for him because I felt this way about him. We arrived at the room and I immediately noticed everyone's silence. I looked at the Ulopong and most of them were looking at Drew, Rory and Edrix who were in the corner of the room with a frown. Some greeted me but most of them were indifferent. I tried to smile at Drew but they only forced a smile back at me before looking away. The same goes for Rory and Edrix. They were clearly avoiding each other. "Jay," Keifer called to me and pulled me slightly closer to my table. "Please ignore them." "Why would I do that?" "For your safety," he replied. I was about to complain but I saw Keifer's seriousness. After all, he should have avoided it because he was the next target. I pouted and just sat down at my table. David was awake now, probably because he had an exam so he needed to be active. Ci-N was playing on his cellphone. Sir wasn't there yet so I took my notes to read. Seriously serious about reading, not understanding anything. Now I have proven that students really do become religious when exams are approaching, because they can only pray for a miracle to pass. It makes me cry. It didn't take long for Sir to arrive. He greeted us and simply looked at the corner of the room where the three of them were. It seemed like Sir was hiding some resentment towards Drew. He just glanced at me. But if I were Sir, I would take it personally and drop it. Just kidding, Drew is also pitiful. His grades are also questionable and he might not graduate. So I hope he can make up for it now so he won't have to struggle anymore. I know his priority now is to pay off his debt, but his diploma will also help him a lot. I hid my things and left behind what I needed for the exam. When the test paper arrived, I immediately said Thank you, Lowd. Yes, I'm not a zero on this. I already have one point. We started the exam, there were times when I couldn't remember the question but I'm proud to say that I remember most of them. Ci-N was the ï¬rst to ï¬nish and pass the paper, followed by Yuri, the King of the Snakes and David. Almost half of my classmates had already passed before I ï¬nished and could pass my own paper. I handed it to Sir with a wide smile. He even laughed at my appearance. "That was fast, is that all correct?" he asked and I shook my head while smiling. He just smiled at me silly before accepting the other Snake's paper. I went back to my seat and smiled proudly at David. He also smiled because of my reaction. "Good mood," he said. "Of course, I remembered a lot of the ones I reviewed." "Really? Did you notice the mixed answers too?" he asked, making my smile disappear. What mixed answers? What was that? I shook my head. "Huh? Is there one?" "Yes, that's the answer you thought was wrong," he replied seriously. I suddenly shivered. I didn't notice that. Does that mean the correct answer is different but I didn't see or even notice it. "There's nothing like that," Ci-N interjected into our conversation and David's silly smile gradually appeared. Oh, you're a jerk! He was just being threatening. "I'm just kidding," he told me and I immediately reached out to hit him. "You're a jerk! I thought my review ended in nothing!" He laughed weakly. I hit him a few more times and only stopped when Sir got our attention. He arranged the papers in front of us and waited for us to be quiet. "I've explained this before but I'll repeat it again. This will be your ï¬nal exam but we still have a post-ï¬nal exam," Sir began and we all focused. "You can make up for it if you have failed and you can also use the score there as your entrance exam score for the university or college of your choice." I nodded but I really didn't understand anything. "Sadly, not all universities are accepting the post-ï¬nal exam score as an entrance exam score. Unfortunately we are not accredited to those universities. So if you go to that school and pass all your exams, you don't need to take the post - ï¬nal exam." Suddenly the Ulopongs screamed so I turned to them. Another one appeared and Mayo tried to hug Kit but she was just pushed in the ace so she almost fell over. "Oh no," she complained. "You're so skinny," Kit replied. I shook my head. Sir grabbed our attention again. "Anyway, scores will be posted on Monday so enjoy the long weekend," he said and I clapped my hands. Waley, school is tomorrow, Friday is the fun. When Sir left, we also stood up. I thought the others were ready to go home but I was surprised when the crowd gathered behind the three of them. "What? The three of you have different faces!" Denzel said. Eman tried to stop him. I can't blame him for his anger because he almost thought badly of his wife while looking for a traitor. "We also have to take exams," Rory replied and Eren pushed him. Rory immediately retaliated against him so a ï¬ght started but Yuri and David quickly intervened. They dragged the people involved away. "Just kidding!" Eren shouted at David. "Calm down!" he replied to him. "How can we calm down, we're treated like criminals here! You won't even consider our reasons!" Rory said angrily . "That's just a reason!" Blaster replied to him. "Did you guys think we could approach you too? You don't trust us that's why you're acting like that." I also wanted to speak up to stop them but Keifer stopped me. He tried to push me away and took me outside our classroom. "Wait a minute, can't we at least stop them?" I stopped the King of Cobras. "David and Yuri are there, let's just leave them alone for now." He grabbed my hand and pulled me away. I didn't answer even though I was really annoyed. If his reason was still safety, I don't think we have any problems there anymore. Ram is gone, I don't know of anyone who could hurt or attack me except his Monster Dad. He's gone. I'm on a bad trip. I thought we were going straight to the parking lot but that's how surprised I was when he took me to the front of the Section A room. "Sorry, I can't take you. I need to do something urgently," he said and kissed my forehead. "I will talk to you later." "S-Okay, be careful." Before leaving, he kissed me twice on the lips and smiled broadly. "That's for the two profanities yesterday." I teased him, which made him laugh. He left me standing where I was. He waved before winking. I had no choice now but to wait for my brother to ï¬nish so I could go home with him . I must have been wandering around for a few more minutes when I noticed the Ulopongs running away. They seemed to be in a hurry and had somewhere to go. The last thing I saw was Rory, Edrix, and Drew. They were still talking while walking slowly. "I'm going straight home, I'll take care of my brother and Mom ï¬rst," Drew said to his companions. I pouted. An idea just came to my mind. I hoped I wouldn't get scolded for what I was thinking of doing.