Festival Day 5.5
Jay-jay's POV
The people in the auditorium were shouting loudly. I could hear them rom my seat . I was on the side of our room right now. I didn't want to watch, I was just going to catch up with who would win. After what happened earlier, I didn't want to talk to anyone . I went home and cried there but Kuya Angelo saw me. I also had to go back to school because we were still on patrol . But I chose to stay behind while the others watched and waited for their turn. I was holding my cellphone and checking their texts to me. From: Ci-N Message: The contest is at 11am. We'll pick you up now. From: David Message: Where are you? Are you leaving? From: Yuri Message: Answer my call! Please! From: Ci-N Message: Jay! Answer it! We're worried! I can't help but cry while reading their texts. I know it's all my fault. It hurts me, we prepared so well or the contest but it ended up being nothing. "Aren't you being teased in your place?" Yuri asked and suddenly sat down next to me. I wiped my tears and tried to calm down. "No... Why are you here?" I looked next to him. He was carrying a guitar. He smiled at me and looked up at the sky. "I don't know where to go." "You should be in the auditorium... Aren't you going to wait for the announcement of who won?" I asked him and tried to reach the guitar from his hand. "I don't want to! I'm disqualiï¬ed, why should I even ï¬nd out who won?" I was stunned by what he said. Disqualiï¬ed? I don't know that. But why ? "Why were you disqualiï¬ed?" "They said there was only one contest per person." Yuri answered and smiled at me. He also reached for the guitar when he noticed I was having trouble reaching it. I put it on my thigh and felt like a guitarist. "Does that mean that if Ci-N made it, he'll be disqualiï¬ed too?" Yuri nodded. But nothing in the rules said that. This must have been Freya's ploy. Yuri's effort was wasted. Her song was still beautiful. "Jay..." Yuri called to me. "...Who's Cyrus?" I was stunned, because I didn't know if I should tell him. It's boring to hear but I really don't have much to say. It's not bad to say it sometimes. The worms in my brain have a point. They say that if you let what's inside you out, it'll be easier. "My ex-boyfriend." "How was your meeting?" "Uhmm... It wasn't good." Yuri looked at me. "Can you tell me?" I answered him with a curt nod. "He didn't want me to leave. He just wanted me by his side. He even choked me because he was angry." Yuri suddenly became serious. "He did that?" "Yes... It's a good thing his amily was there to help him." "You're not thinking of getting back there, are you?" "Oh my god! I'm really not going back there!" "It's a good thing..." Yuri whispered. I plucked the guitar string. At least to experience it. I'm not good at it. I just want to try. "Do you want me to teach you?" Yuri asked. I shook my head and handed the guitar back to him. "I don't have the patience for that." I've tried playing the guitar before because I'm losing my appetite. So I just stared at him and dreamed. He laughed a little. "I'll just play with you." I smiled at him and let him do what he wanted. I was in the mood to listen to music. "Through all of time and space I'd always rearrange Everything around me, so things would go as planned But I found clarity Some things aren't meant to be Take it as you go on Your future's in your hands And all we want is love So as I look above..." I admit, it eels good to be doing this now Yuri. Add to that the pleasure of hearing his voice. "...Oh it's the stardust in the sky that Makes me realize that I'm not the only one And just know dreams come true So make sure every single thing that you do Just take your time And look up at the stars tonight..." Since the lyrics said look up at the stars tonight, I looked up. That 's all I failed at. There were only a few stars. Pfffttt... Yuri even looked up for a moment and laughed a little when she noticed that there were only a few stars. "...I've never wanted more than To show the world what I can do, to make them see That were just all unique in our own ways To do what we were made to do And it's our destiny to ï¬nd out what we were meant to be I look up and I see that..." I closed my eyes because the feeling of her song was so good. Sometimes I really envy those who have talent in instruments and singing. But I want to feel what Yuri is singing now. My fear in my thoughts disappeared. "... It's the stardust in the sky that Makes me realize that I'm not the only one And just know dreams come true So make sure every single thing that you do Just take your time And look up at the stars tonight..." Suddenly she stopped. I knew she wasn't ï¬nished singing. I opened my eyes and stopped. Everything stopped for me. Because the moment my eyes opened was when her lips touched mine. Y-yuri... I didn't even count how long we've been like that. But when he pulled away from me, I waited for him to speak. I wanted to ask 'Why'. Why did you kiss me? Why are you doing this? Why? But my mouth wouldn't open. My body didn't want to move either. The only thing I could feel was the incessant beating of my heart. Speak! Explain Yuri! Please! He didn't speak. He just looked at me. He put down his guitar for a moment without taking his eyes off me. He moved closer and slowly touched my cheek. He brought his lips closer to mine but before he could do that... "Yuri..." We both stood up and looked at the speaker. Keifer was staring at us without any reaction. I looked at what he was holding in his right hand. Trophy? Why is there-----the contest! I listened to the sound coming from the auditorium. It looked like they were ï¬nished and someone had won. "K-keifer... Why are you holding a trophy?" I asked. He looked at what he was holding and came closer to me. His eyes were empty . "Oh!" He said as he handed over the trophy. I took it and looked at what was written. Battle of the Band Champion Section E They won! That's great! Our section won! "Did you win?" I asked him with a smile. "Yes..." He answered tersely. My smile disappeared when I noticed that he was serious. He was also looking at Yuri. I felt lonely. "I-I'm just going there, I'll catch up." I said goodbye and quickly left. The truth is, Keifer's aura was strange. Yuri also looked serious looking at him. I felt like something bad had happened and they were about to ï¬ght. I entered the room. I was still holding the trophy. "Jay!" Ci-N called to me. "...We only got second place in Dance Troops." "That's okay... At least we got something instead of nothing." I said. "Why are you here? Have you and Keifer met yet?" Felix asked me while taking the trophy. "Ahh, yes. Yuri and I were just talking." "Keifer had a big smile earlier! He said he would let you know!" Ci-N said while looking at the trophy. But he didn't look happy earlier. He looked more like he was thinking or feeling something or being annoyed. "Where's the patrol at 11pm?!" Someone shouted. We both looked at the time. It was already 11:02pm. "Hala! That's us!" We immediately grabbed the flashlights and went out. I remembered Yuri and Keifer. I was about to go to them but they were already going back to the room. Yuri and I met each other's eyes. I immediately looked away. The kiss... I walked with David. I couldn't look at Yuri. Even though I wasn't the one who did it, I couldn't help it. Because... We all stopped in front of the main building. They said we couldn't clean up yet. There was a party in the auditorium. So we'll patrol ï¬rst. Yuri and I just followed. Keifer walked as fast as he could . He stopped in front of us for a moment but he was looking in another direction . "It's up to you who you want to be with!" He said annoyed and walked off somewhere. David and I looked at each other. It was as if some kind of spirit had possessed him again . David, Ci-N and Eren were already walking. I was about to join them but Yuri grabbed my arm. "Can we talk?" He asked me. I nodded. We were already walking towards the ï¬rst year building. I think we had reached the second floor but he still wasn't talking. "Yuri..." I called him. "...Y-you earlier----" "I thought you'll never ask." I looked at him. So, he was just waiting for me to speak. What a jerk! He was the one who offered to talk then waited for me to ask. "W-what do you mean when you did that?" I asked him. "You... What are you thinking about?" Should I return the question to you... "Y-because... Y-you won't kiss someone without meaning it." I replied and scratched my head. I feel like I'm the one who ended up in the hotseat. Am I the one to blame here? "If your thinking if I like you. I won't deny it..." I was stunned. Was he saying he likes--- "...but I won't also conï¬rm it." Ha?! My head suddenly hurt! What a mess this Yuri was talking about. He wouldn't deny that he likes me but he wouldn't also conï¬rm it. I just sighed! "I'm confused by what you said." "Jay... Look, if I deny it you will think that I lied but if I conï¬rm it there is a possibility that you'll stay away from me. So I won't answer anything." He explained and walked towards me ï¬rst. Loading..... I don't want what he was saying to sink into my brain. How are you? There are so many theories.