Past
Jay-jay's POV
Our class with Ms. Smith ended but the heavy aura in the room still hadn't gone away . I was tidying up my things when I noticed that my classmates didn't seem to be looking at me. They were just passing in front of me and what's worse, they all had very serious faces. Weird. What's wrong? I left the room and walked with the others but... why did they seem to be avoiding me? I smelled myself, I didn't smell like gunpowder. Why could it be? I saw Felix and remembered the chocolate in my bag. There were still a lot of these and Ci-N wasn't there either. I guess I'll just give it to him. "Felix!" I called as I ran towards him. He didn't look back and kept walking. "Felix!" I almost ran out of breath just chasing him. I immediately grabbed his arm when I caught up with him he. I was surprised when he suddenly pushed my hand away. Why? "Hey.. Do you want some more chocolate? It's a waste of what I brought----" "Sorry Jay, I have to go." He answered seriously and quickly walked away from me. What's going on? Is this about my middle name or being Aries' cousin? What else? I noticed Keifer in the distance. Looking---no! He was staring and killing. The problem with this? I continued walking home. It seemed like Aries had already gone ï¬rst because I didn't see his car in the parking lot. That was better. He was the one who would be scolded by Kuya or not keeping up with me. When I got home, I was right! Aries had already gone ï¬rst. He was already home . Sitting on the sofa with his feet on the center table and watching TV. "Aries." I caught his attention. He looked at me but immediately turned his gaze back to the TV. "Why?" He replied boredly. "Did you do something in Section E?" Suddenly his expression changed. He seemed serious but the anger was still there. He put down the remote and faced me. "Why are you asking?" Why is that? Because they don't talk to me anymore and it's like they avoided me when they found out I'm your cousin... That's all. Of course I didn't say that. I'm not sure yet. "Nothing... I was just asking." Aries raised one eyebrow. Your answer was so clever Jay-jay. "I'm not stupid Jay." "Y-because, it's like they reacted when they found out Fernandez was my middle name." Accept my explanation! Please! Please! He sighed. "Maybe it's not me.. maybe it's Kuya." Wow. Really! "Okay. I'm going up." I said and quickly went up to my room. Aries was just having an intrigue. What does Kuya Angelo have to do with it? What is that? Let's think about Aries having an affair with me. The intrigues in our room aren't over yet. He'll join in! Speaking of thinking. Ci-N?! He still hasn't answered my text. I'm really worried about that kid. I thought about calling him. It was worth it for the load. Just to quiet the worms in my brain. The ringing took a while before I answered. ["Hello?"] The person who answered said. "H-hello? Is this Ci-N?" I asked. ["Yes.. Who is this?"] "Hey! You idiot! Why didn't you come in?!" ["Jay-jay?"] "Yes! It's me! What's wrong?! Why didn't you come in?!" ["You can stop yelling. I feel bad. Why? Do you miss me?"] There was a hint of teasing in his voice. He's crazy! "Idiot! No way!" ["Oh... I was sad. Maybe I'll come in next week."] "Huh?! What happened to you?" If he's just feeling bad, why is he coming in next? What's that? He's got dengue? ["Nothing... I just really feel bad"] "What is your deï¬nition of feeling bad? Why next week? What are you sick of?" ["My groin hurts. Hehehehe."] Wow! Best answer from Ci-N Peralta. "You're so nice to talk to, aren't you?" I heard her loud laughter on the other line. Animal! Boys are boys. "You're a jerk! Ci-N! A jerk!" I shouted and ended the call. This kid is also abnormal. I'll just ask him when he gets in. I'm so tired here in this Section. It doesn't seem like anything bad happened to him. I thought he was already being harassed by those following him yesterday. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Keifer's POV "What now?" Yuri asked. "What do you mean 'what now'?" I asked back. "About that Jay-jay. He's actually the cousin of that stupid Aries." Yuri said while clenching his ï¬st. As far as I remember I should have been the one to get angry because I was the one who was robbed. Seeing Yuri's reaction now, makes me think that he still has feelings for Ella. "She needs to leave our section as soon as possible. We don't know her agenda." "Keifer!" Edrix shouted while running and waving a few papers from his hand. Edrix is one of our classmates, our computer expert. "What did you ï¬nd out?" I ask. He catches his breath ï¬rst. He handed us the papers he was holding. It's Jay-jay's school records. "The ï¬rst one is from our school principal records and the second one was from her previous school." Edrix explained. "...there isn't much info on his records now----of course he just started. But if you check his previous school records. Damn!" I did what he said. I checked the second one and for Pete's sake, he even beat my record. "First offense... Stabbing classmate using a pen." I read. Seriously? "Second offense... Punching two of her boy classmates. Third offense... Punching a girl classmate which caused bleeding. Fourth offense..." Almost of her offenses are ï¬ghting with classmates. She also has gambling issues and cutting classes. I skip a few offenses until I reach the last one which makes me read it twice before reading out loud. "42nd offense... Kicking and punching a boy that almost led to... death." I almost whispered the last word. Edrix and Yuri look at me. "She did that?" Yuri asked. "Have you noticed anything?" Edrix suddenly asked. We just look at him. "...There's no punishment included. I also called that school but they don't want to give Jay-jay's full information." "Guys!" Rory showed up. Also one of our classmates, information seeker. "... I've found out that Jay-jay's mother is the half sister of Aries' mother." "What else?" I ask. "They are a broken amily, they can't see their father and mother, they get married separately . She grew up with her grandma but last month Aries's mother took her away." Rory added. "Which means how long have they been together with Aries. We're not sure if Aries is watching us." Yuri said. "Aries has no reason to do that..." "We are still a threat to him... You are still a threat to him." Yuri said pointing his ï¬nger at me. Well he has a point. I've been bullied inside and outside of school so I can't blame him if he's afraid of me. "Keifer..." Rory started while reading something on his phone. "...I think Jay don't have a good relationship with Aries." "What do you mean?" I asked and he handed his phone to me. This information that Rory gave me makes me confuse about Aries. I know i can use this information against him but i need to know more to make a plan. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Jay-jay's POV I woke up suddenly. I don't know but I feel thirsty. I got up and walked to the kitchen. I got some bottled water and brought it back to my room. I might wake up again and be thirsty so I brought it. I was almost to my room when I noticed that the light in Aries' room was on and it seemed like he was talking to someone. Not that I wanted to listen or anything but I heard a familiar name. "Talk to him... He's still your dad." The person I was talking to who looked like Aunt Gema said. "No! He's not my Dad your husband is my Dad. I won't talk to him. Last time we met what did he do? He even hurt Jay-jay reason for us to----" He stopped speaking. I know what he meant to say. The incident that happened 4 years ago. The truth is, I really don't understand that incident. I don't remember much of what happened. And if I look closely, I don't remember many events in my life. I went back to my room and lay down. I just stared at the ceiling. I was thinking about the incident that happened between Aries and his Dad. It was Aries' birthday and we were getting ready to celebrate but his real Dad kidnapped him. I was the only one with him at that time so I was the only witness and they got involved. We spent several nights screaming for help and hoping someone would hear us. He didn't do anything to us, he just fed us every night then left and left us locked up again. Until one night I woke up screaming, I saw Aries struggling away from his Dad and asking for help. I tried to help him but his Dad was too big. He just pushed me like a toy. I tried to get closer several times until the last push he gave me hit my head. I was covered in blood , I was panicking because everything had just gone dark. I woke up in the hospital and Aries didn't talk to me anymore. Even Aunt Gema and I don't know the reason. I have wounds on some parts of my body that I don't remember being injured. But that incident changed things between Aries and I. I know something happened that I don't know about. Because it's only been a few months since it happened again.