Jayjay's POV
"You go!" I yelled at Ci-N.
"Please? What if your cousin sees me? He'll get mad at me again," he pleaded while stomping his feet.
I scratched my head in frustration. We've been like this for a while. He's asking me to get ice cream from the kitchen. He doesn't want to leave my room because Aries always picks on him when they see each other.
It feels like I'm the guest in my own room, and he's the owner—ordering me around.
Nice!
"You're so annoying!" I said and stood up from my seat at my study table.
"Yay! Thanks, Jay!" he clapped.
Whatever!
I left my room and headed straight to the kitchen. Only Manang was there. I grabbed some ice cream for the annoying kid and water too. On my way out, I bumped into Uncle Julz.
"It's late... You might get a sore throat."
"It's fine... I'm not the only one eating," I said, and he just smiled at me.
I continued walking back to my room. When I got inside, Ci-N greeted me with claps of joy.
"Where's the spoon?" he asked when I handed him the ice cream.
Oh wow, amazing!
"I forgot," I said and immediately went out of the room.
I almost slipped while running. Damn it! I grabbed what I needed and ran back to my room. I even passed by Aries, but he didn't pay me any attention.
Of course! What else is new?!
When I got back inside my room, I was out of breath. I looked at Ci-N and the ice cream. I felt so embarrassed!
The ice cream I brought him was almost gone. Wow! Seriously?!
"Hey! That's so unfair!" I yelled at him.
"You took too long!" he said, laughing. I was so annoyed that I threw the spoon at him, but he dodged it with ninja reflexes. What a pain!
"Hope you get tonsillitis," I muttered.
I went back to my study table. I needed to study properly.
Properly! Not well!
Because "study well" isn't in my vocabulary anymore. Of course, what more could you expect from someone like me? So I'll just try to do it properly.
But how can I do that when I can't get Keifer's face out of my head?
I was really scared. I'm still a girl, and I get scared too.
Just like with Kuya Angelo.
"Ci..." I called the annoying kid.
"Hm?" he answered, still munching on the ice cream.
"Have you ever seen Keifer angry? Like really, really angry?" I asked him.
He's been around Keifer longer than I have, so I couldn't help but ask.
"Of course... Plenty of times," he said.
"Really?"
"Yeah... But the one I can't forget is when he got super mad at Yuri," he said and stopped eating. I sat up straight so I could face him properly.
"W-What happened?"
"We didn't know the reason. He was just so mad and wouldn't stop punching Yuri. Ella was crying and trying to stop them," he explained.
This kid just handed me gossip again!
So this was back during Ella's time. I wonder what happened then?
"What did you guys do?"
"Nothing... No one could stop him. If we got close, we'd get hit too, so we just stayed back."
Is that how angry he gets? I don't know, but I don't think I want to see that. Just hearing him yell at me earlier already scared me. What more something like that?
"Poor Yuri."
"No... Yuri's an idiot," he said quickly, making me raise an eyebrow.
"Idiot, you say!"
He sat properly and looked at me seriously—something he rarely does.
"Yuri's a coward. That's why he always sticks with Keifer, because he's scared of going up against him," he said, and I paused. "And he's not a fair fighter. He does things in secret, without us knowing."
While Ci-N was saying that, something inside me didn't want to believe him. It's the first time I've heard him speak this way about a classmate.
Yes, he shares stories, but not like this—so bluntly.
"That's why I don't like him for you. Don't say yes if he tries to court you," he added before going back to his ice cream.
Too late! We're practically getting married already...
I turned back to my study table. It felt weird. It was hard to believe, but it came from Ci-N. He's known Yuri and Keifer longer than I have. I'm just not sure if this annoying kid is a reliable source.
"Let's watch a movie!" he yelled and grabbed a small bag from his luggage.
He opened it and pulled out a laptop. So he brought one with him?
I looked at the time on the wall clock. It was still early, so we had time to watch.
I packed up my stuff and sat beside him to watch.
While waiting for the laptop to boot up...
"Ci! That stinks!" I yelled while covering my nose.
The little rascal farted!
"Jay-jay! Come on! It's just the two of us here, and you're accusing me?"
I was about to smack him, but then his stomach growled and was followed by another fart.
"My stomach hurts..." he whispered while rubbing it.
I grabbed his laptop. "Run to the bathroom! Quick!"
He immediately stood up and ran to the bathroom. Just as he entered, the laptop finished booting.
I knew how to use this thing. I decided to snoop around.
I knew his password.
This guy's an idiot when it comes to passwords!
12345! Welcome Ci-N_ Claims he's handsome. Pffft!! So full of himself!
I looked through the movies to pick something. There were so many, I didn't know where to start.
Then I checked the pictures. I saw three folders: Random, With_Jay-jay, and Secret. Because I'm a hopeless rebel, I opened Secret.
It led to another folder. I didn't want to keep snooping—this was tiring!
I was about to hit the back button when something caught my eye.
Kiko_Matsing
Kiko Evans suddenly popped into my mind for no clear reason. I wondered how he was. I hadn't heard anything about him since Freya stormed in and almost ripped my scalp off.
Something pushed me to open that folder. I think it had about 10 to 12 photos. I clicked one to enlarge it and see clearly. But I froze at what I saw.
Kiko!
Lying on the ground, covered in blood, unconscious. What happened?! I clicked next hoping for answers. But it was just a different angle of the same scene.
Clicked next again. There was one where Kiko was sitting. Ci-N and some others were in the frame too, smiling and making peace signs like it was nothing.
W-What?! W-What happened here?!
I kept clicking until I reached a video. I played it.
The camera was on Kiko, who was struggling as Kit and Eren held him down.
"Beat him up!" Ci-N's voice yelled.
"Smash his balls so he learns!" someone else shouted.
"Let's just cut it off to be sure!" another added, followed by laughter.
Even if the video wasn't very clear, I knew they were all there. Besides the shouting voices, you could see their shadows. There were many of them.
Yuri and Keifer came in from the other side. Both were smoking.
"You know why you're here, right?" Keifer asked seriously.
"Obviously! So you can all gang up on me!" Kiko snapped.
"You're really something! You had to go after Jay-jay," Yuri said, lighting another cigarette.
"She was supposed to be mine! You all just got in the way!" Kiko shouted—and Yuri punched him hard in the stomach. He nearly collapsed from the pain, but Kit and Eren held him up.
I didn't understand why they were doing this. I thought they already dealt with Kiko that night he tried to hurt me. So why this?
"I'm getting bored! Let's start already!" Keifer shouted and threw away his cigarette.
The camera shifted—probably held by Ci-N. He was now beside Keifer.
As the angle adjusted, I noticed the others lined up in front of Kiko.
David went first.
"I have a lot of reasons to hurt you back, but I chose Jay-jay for this one," he said, then punched Kiko in the face. Kiko collapsed again, but Kit and Eren picked him up. I could only cover my mouth in shock and pity.
After David, the others followed. If not punching his face, they were hitting his stomach or kicking his groin. But what I couldn't bear was how they all laughed while doing it.
"You picked the wrong girl!"
"Jay-jay's ours!"
"Let that be a lesson!"
"Finish him! Finish him! Finish him!" they all shouted in unison.
I felt the pain for Kiko. I knew he did wrong and hurt me, but it didn't have to go this far.
Someone else took the camera. Ci-N now stood in front of Kiko.
"My turn!" he shouted.
He kicked Kiko in the face. They let him fall to the ground. They all burst out laughing. Kiko was bloody and not moving. His eyes were swollen shut. It was clear he was struggling to breathe.
My god!
"I'm not done with you yet!" Keifer shouted and kicked Kiko in the knee.
He was so weak, all he could do was cry. I could feel he wanted to scream from the pain, but he couldn't.
⸻
I raked my fingers through my hair. This is my fault. They wouldn't have hurt Kiko like that if not because of me. Tears fell uncontrollably out of frustration and guilt.
"Jay-jay! I'm good now!" Ci-N said as he came out of the bathroom.
I immediately stood and faced him.
"What? Are you crying?"
"Why did you do that to Kiko?!" I shouted at him.
He looked confused at first, but when he saw his laptop on the floor, he froze.
"Ci-N! Why?!"