Birthday Wish
Jay-jay's POV
"Your Brother Angelo is right Jay." Tita said. "...Don't come in." "Because Tita..." The Vultures were planning to send a video message to their King. "...maybe." "You almost did last night. It's a good thing Aries was there." I bowed, Aries and I were both not allowed in by Brother Angelo. He knew that we went out last night and when I saw him running after the car, it really happened. Brother tried to chase the car but it was going too fast. Plus, there was no license plate. "Don't be naughty. Get some rest." Tita added. She kissed me on the head before standing up and leaving the room. I immediately looked for my cellphone to text Ci-N. To: BatangKumag Message: I can't come in. I'm sorry. (I'm not going in. Something happened.) I only waited a second and he immediately answered my text. From: BatangKumag Message: What happened? Did something happen? Who did it happen to? I winced. I can imagine his look as he asked me that. His eyes widened and he seemed excited to know my answer. I heard a knock on the door and it slowly opened. Aries' face appeared before me. "Are you okay?" he asked. I nodded. "You? Are you okay?" He came in and approached me. He forced a smile. "It's okay too." "Can you give me my fate for today?" I asked innocently and a loud slap on my forehead made me fall. "Aagghhh! It hurts!" I screamed while holding my forehead and rolling around on the bed. "What the hell! Ouch!" "You're just a fool! You almost died last night and you still think like that!" He said annoyed. I cried as I looked at my forehead in the mirror. It was red and looked like there was a lump. I felt like my brother's nails were as hard as a rock because of the pain. I think my soul was hurt too. "Pain..." I whispered. "...the pain. " "You're welcome." He said irritably and came closer to me. "...look at me." I faced him annoyed. "Oh there! Look!" I almost bumped my forehead against his. He gave me another slap. I almost collapsed on the floor because of the pain. I heard his loud laughter as he walked out of my room. And he was really happy about the pain I was experiencing. But for some reason I couldn't understand. Something tickled my heart. I smiled and fell flat on my bed. Is this it? Is this how it feels when you and your brother are okay? I took out my cellphone again and this time I texted Percy. To: Percing Message: ui! ui! Twg ka! My sister-in-law! (Hey! Hey! Call me! I have something to say!) I smiled while waiting for her answer. It took a few minutes and I almost sent the text again. From: Percing Message: eeww... Poor! No excuse. My eyebrows immediately crossed. But isn't that right? I was calling her to tell me about the events and then she said this. You blue eyes! I'll make them black. To: Percing Message: buset! Just do it! It didn't take long and she did as I ordered. I quickly answered her call. ["Yes? Hello?"] She opened her mouth to me. "Buset! What are you saying, I'm poor?!" ["I wish you were the one to call me."] "Maybe I don't have an excuse, right?" I answered sarcastically. ["You're poor after all. You're Jay-jay the Poorita girl now."] She said and laughed out loud. She was really crazy. "You're crazy! I have something to tell you." ["And... What is that fat horse?"] I winced as I looked at my cellphone before putting it back to my ear and talking to him. "Aries and I are okay!" I said happily. ["Oh? Not really?"] "Yes, of course... Yata?" ["Why is there a 'yata'? You're not sure? What is that!"] "Maybe he'll suddenly hit me." ["Do this..."] He said as if giving instructions to the child. ["...go to him. Touch his forehead, when something is hot- of course he's sick- that's why he's talking to you."] I felt embarrassed as I slapped my forehead. I'm going crazy with this guy. Is that right to say? Awesome! I gained about 0.01% courage. "What if he's not sick?" ["Good news! Maybe he's really saying hello to you."] I bit my lower lip. It's not sick, Percy was just being mean . It was just making me nervous. What if tomorrow or later we're going to get angry again. What if he only talked to me because Kuya ordered him to-it's impossible because it's hard to force him. What if because... "Someone is trying to kill me." I didn't say it on my own. ["What?!"] Percy suddenly said, making me turn back. It was then that I remembered that I hadn't told him what I had seen and happened. "Percy... Do you remember what you said when you and Keifer were ï¬ghting before. The one who said that someone wanted to kill me?" ["Yes. Shit! Don't tell me-."] "Someone is sending me death threats and then.... Y-last night, someone wanted to attack me." ["What the.... Do your classmates know this? Yuri's? Keifer's?"] He asked worriedly. "I-I don't know." He sighed deeply. ["I'm going to talk to your Kuya Angelo. I have to go."] He didn't wait for my answer. He immediately hung up the call. I hugged my knees. What else was going through my mind. What if Aries had just talked to me because he thought... He thought it was the end of me. It's annoying! Why did he have to do that? Can't he just say hello because he wants to, because he misses me too, because he really wants to make up with me. Someone really needs to try to get back at me. He really needs to, he needs to think that I'm going to die. He really needs that. It's annoying. I can't take this anymore. I quickly stood up and walked out. I immediately went straight to his room but he wasn't there so I walked to the living room. He wasn't there either. I was about to go to the kitchen when I noticed someone outside. Aries was standing and it looked like someone was looking at his hands. I approached him and was just as surprised to see that he was holding a photo. I quickly snatched it from him. The two of us were in that picture. Sitting on the road while holding Aries kissed my cheek and seemed to be saying something. I can't be wrong, this is our scene last night. "They're closer than I thought." I heard him say. I hadn't spoken yet when he suddenly approached the gate and closed it. Every step he took towards the house was also quick. I immediately followed. "Manang! Make sure you take a good look at who's outside before opening it! Don't just let anyone in!" He shouted at their maids. I stood there tied up at the door while holding the photo. My hands were shaking. I was starting to get scared again. Why did this happen now when he wasn't there? Why now when I feel like I'm alone ? Why now when I feel like I'm being a coward? But I'm Jay-jay...if I shouldn't be scared. I don't remember ever backing down from a ï¬ght. I didn't back down from anything. Whether my opponent was a woman or a man. After all, I shouldn't be scared here. He was just threatening and that was all he could do. "You fool. You can't scare me." I whispered and crumpled up the photo. I quickly walked back to my room and took a shower. I got ready and put on my uniform. I was going to school, I wouldn't be scared by someone like him. I was organizing the contents of my bag when my cellphone suddenly rang. I picked it up and looked at it. An unknown number was calling. I held my phone tightly. My ï¬ngers were still shaking when I pressed the answer button. "H-hello?" I opened it to the caller. ["Jay-jay? Is this Eren!"] He answered loudly. My forehead furrowed when I heard a noise from his side. It was like they were having a ï¬ght or a ï¬ght. "W-what's that... Why's that noise?" ["Jay! We need your brother's help!"] "H-what's that-Hello?! Hello!" The noise suddenly stopped. When I looked up, the call was over. I picked up my bag and quickly ran. Luckily Aries wasn't in the living room. I took my bike and used it to get to school quickly. I was sweating profusely because of how fast I was running. I had to get there quickly. I was just at the gate when I saw large vehicles being used for construction. I couldn't... No way! I hurriedly approached our building. There were so many people making a fuss, some students were curious and the Guidance Councilor was ï¬ghting with the Ulopongs. I tried to squeeze through the people to get closer. "You can't touch that!" I heard Felix shout. "The board has already issued an order! We need to clean up the mess here!" The Guidance Councilor said. "Maybe we can do it the next day?! We'll be the ones to remove the remaining mess!" Yuri pleaded. I looked around. The piles of old tables and benches were gone. The other trash was gone too. When I looked at the Ulopongs, they were blocking the stairs to the second floor. "We can't! Demolition starts next week! It's too late !" "Wait for Keifer to come back! Talk to him about this!" Rory added angrily. "Why are we waiting for him?! We have a schedule to follow!" "If you demolish this building, where will we be staying?!" Mayo asked angrily. "In the open auditorium!" "What?! Are you crazy?" Edrix replied in a low voice. The Councilor glared at him. "How dare you talk to me like that?! You have no respect!" "Why?! Do you respect us?!" Blaster. I tried to get in the middle of them. The old man might have a heart attack . "Ma'am! Ma'am!" I shouted while raising both my hands. "...I'm begging you. Give us time, we'll ï¬x this." "Miss Mariano, we don't have any more time to give you! There's a schedule for the broad to be taken down and that's all we have to follow." "I'm begging you Ma'am. H-until tomorrow! We'll ï¬x this, until tomorrow!" I asked and almost knelt down. The councilor and the Ulopong looked at me. He gave us a sharp glare. "See you tomorrow, Miss Mariano!" He said while poking me. He turned and walked away. The workers who were still wearing hard helmets followed him. Even the curious students left . I faced the Ulopong. Their eyebrows still met. "Let's go into the room ï¬rst. We need to talk-." Yuri didn't ï¬nish what he was saying because the Ulopong suddenly turned away. Yuri looked at me and forced a smile. He put his arm around me and walked towards the room. When we entered, the fans were still beating themselves up . The only ceiling fan wasn't working. It was also a bit dark because the only light was off. "There's no electricity. They cut the line." Ci-N said sadly. Their shoulders slumped as if the sky had fallen on the others. They seemed lost and hopeless. "What's the plan? Let them destroy the room upstairs?" Drew asked annoyed. "N-no!" I quickly answered. "So what are we going to do?" I bowed my head. I didn't want to say it and admit it to myself. We really can't stay in this building anymore. "Can't we ask your brother for help?" Eren asked. I haven't tried yet but I feel like he won't be able to help us either. "I don't think n-no. Brother is already having a hard time with their problems, I don't want to add to them." "So we'll just leave it alone? Is that it?" Felix asked annoyed. "Like we have a choice." David answered. Felix quickly stood up and rummaged through the things in his back. He picked up a box and walked out of the room. Yuri, Rory and Edrix followed him. Ci-N and I looked at each other before walking to follow them. They were headed to the second floor. I ran to catch up with them and that's all I was worried about when I saw them breaking the doorknob of the last room. The picture room. "Felix..." I called him with a hint of pleading. He ignored me. Until he completely broke the doorknob and opened the door with all his might. We went inside one after another . One by one, he removed the photos from the wall and they went straight into the box. I felt weak as I watched him. My feet moved on their own to approach him and help him remove the ones he was removing . I couldn't help but stare at the faces in the photos. They were so happy to see even with bandages and band-aids on their faces. Some had serious faces, some weren't looking, some seemed surprised and clearly didn't care. I stopped when I saw the only picture of Kuya. I accidentally looked back and saw a letter. "Myki, you're so hard to take a picture of but you're still handsome no matter what angle. -Ion" It seems like Kuya has a friend named Ion. His handwriting is beautiful and looks like a woman but I don't want to assume because I was fooled by Calix's handwriting. I put the photo in the box. It took us a few minutes to ï¬nish. I was the one who carried the box back to the room. My feelings became even heavier when I saw them organizing the things in the back. "This is it, are we really leaving this building?" Denzel said sadly. I nodded slowly. We looked at Ci-N when we heard her sobbing. "This is my second home." She said. "This is where I'm happy even though I have problems at home." And this is where I was happy too. We chose to ï¬nish all the things that needed to be ï¬xed. We hauled as if we were moving house. We even sorted out the garbage in front of our room for the haulers tomorrow. It was dark before we ï¬nished. David and Ci-N drove me home because Yuri helped Eman. "Thanks for driving me." I said lifelessly to them. "Everything will be okay, right?" Ci-N asked. That was the same question I asked myself. I wanted to tell him that but I didn't want to give up hope on this little boy. I nodded at him while forcing a smile. They waited for me to enter before leaving. My body felt so tired that I couldn't understand. We lost... Section E lost. I felt so weak and useless. It was like we were useless with a part missing. It hurts to admit it but since Keifer disappeared, it's like we lost a leg. The school singles us out. They used to avoid Section E because they knew they would cause trouble and trouble but now it seems like we're the weak ones. The other students aren't afraid anymore. My body quickly falls off the bed. I want to sleep but my mind doesn't want to let me sleep. Whatever was entering and playing in my brain. They must have felt like my brain cells were a playground. I forced myself to get up from my bed. I changed my clothes and risked that it would be the reason for me to fall asleep. But sleepiness only made me more restless. I was sitting on the bed when the door suddenly opened and Aries' angry face appeared. "Where have you been?" He asked. "S-school." "You're really stubborn, aren't you?" "Something happened, so I really had to go there." He grabbed her by the throat. She looked like she was really ready to lecture me. She stared at me for a moment. I wasn't really in the mood to answer her. That's why I just let her ramble on. Nothing entered my mind. What she was saying just passed through my ears but didn't linger in my brain. "Aries..." I called out to her. "...can we talk tomorrow? I'm tired." I could see the surprise and shock on her face. He didn't answer and just walked out of my room. I sighed deeply. I couldn't understand. I was going crazy from what was happening to me. I felt like Author was possessed by darkness. He was happily enjoying making our lives miserable-my life to be exact. He couldn't be satisï¬ed- maybe that slap on the head was too strong. I heard my cellphone ring. I took it out of my bag and saw a text message. From GagongBaliw. From: GagongBaliw Message: hey. How are you? I wanted to scream loudly and say 'Whore! I'm not okay!'. I just didn't want to talk and our neighbors might get scandalized too. To: GagongBaliw Message: Keifer. I intentionally sent that to him. I wanted to get to know this idiot. From: GagongBaliw Message: Watson I was a little shocked even though I expected this. Of course he knew that because that's who he is! To: GagongBaliw Message: it's you. From: GagongBaliw Message: haha... Ur cute. I frowned. It was as if this Gagong was playing games with me. To: GagongBaliw Message: I'm done playing games. Who the hell are you? From: GagongBaliw Message: Any birthday wish for him. A picture followed his message. Keifer was standing in the middle of the large hall. He was wearing a black tuxedo and talking on his cellphone. To: GagongBaliw Message: who are you really? From: GagongBaliw Message: I know you more than you know me. I put down my cellphone. Wow! Have I been played with again? Who is this? Who is this GagongBaliw?