SECTION E — AFTER HOURS:
KEIFER'S POV — THE MEETING
The school looked different after sunset.
Quieter.
Sharper.
Like it was holding its breath.
Section E gathered at the old concrete court behind the science block—the place teachers forgot existed and cameras never reached. Sixteen boys. No Jay.
That mattered.
Cin sat on the bleachers, legs wide, cracking his knuckles.
Rory leaned against the fence, phone already in his hand.
Edrix crouched on the steps, laptop balanced on his knee, eyes glowing with code.
Yuri stood beside me, arms crossed, jaw tight.
Blaster, Denzel, Josh, Felix, Calix, Mayo, Kit, Eren, Drew, Yuri—every one of them was here.
Sixteen.
And every single one of them hated Aries Fernandez.
Which meant—now that they knew Jay was blood—
Everything had shifted.
"She's a Fernandez," Blaster muttered, breaking the silence. "Explains a lot."
"Explains why Aries has been circling like a guard dog," Denzel added. "And why Angelo showed up like the school still belongs to him."
That name still had weight.
Angelo Fernandez.
A ghost from our section's past.
I stayed quiet, staring at the cracked concrete.
Jay's face kept flashing in my mind.
That calm.
That smirk.
The way she never looked cornered—even when she was.
Yuri spoke up. "Careful. If Angelo's involved—"
"I don't care," Cin snapped. "I don't care if her whole family crawls out of hell. She embarrassed Freya. She embarrassed the school. She embarrassed us."
That got murmurs of agreement.
Because whether they admitted it or not—
They had gone there expecting to see Jay break.
And she hadn't.
She'd won.
I finally spoke. "We need information."
All eyes turned to me.
"Not rumors. Not fear. Facts."
Edrix's fingers paused over the keyboard.
"I already started," he said quietly.
---
SECTION E POV — THE DIGGING
Edrix projected his screen onto the cracked white wall.
Files bloomed open.
School seals.
Disciplinary reports.
Expulsion notices.
One after another.
"Jay Mariano," Edrix said. "Three previous schools."
Rory let out a low whistle. "That many?"
Edrix nodded once. "More."
He clicked.
Incident Report #12
—Physical altercation with senior student.
—Three fractured ribs.
Click.
Incident Report #19
—Assault on faculty member during disciplinary confrontation.
Murmurs rippled.
Click.
Incident Report #27
—Property damage. Security intervention required.
Click.
Incident Report #41
—Unprovoked altercation. Student hospitalized.
The number kept climbing.
Josh swallowed. "How many?"
Edrix didn't look up.
"Fifty-three."
Silence.
That number hit harder than any punch.
Rory laughed weakly. "You're kidding."
"I wish I was," Edrix replied. "Combined… Section E doesn't come close."
Even Blaster went quiet.
"And this," Edrix added, voice lower now, "is what's not sealed."
Yuri exhaled slowly. "She's not reckless."
"No," Edrix agreed. "She's selective."
That scared them more.
"She doesn't explode," Felix said carefully. "She calculates."
"And she's protected," Calix added. "By money. By power. By people who scare admins."
I clenched my jaw.
Angelo's hand on her shoulder replayed in my mind.
Not loud.
Not threatening.
Certain.
"She's untouchable," Kit muttered.
"No," I said sharply.
Heads snapped toward me.
"She thinks she is."
---
YURI'S POV — THE UNEASE
Something felt wrong.
Not fear—Yuri didn't fear Jay.
But tension.
"She didn't use violence," I said slowly. "Not yesterday. Not once."
Cin scoffed. "She destroyed Freya without touching her."
"Exactly," I replied. "That's not someone who needs fists."
My eyes went to Keifer.
He was staring at nothing. Too still.
That was when I realized—
He wasn't angry.
He was thinking.
Dangerously.
"You saw Aries," Keifer said suddenly. "And Angelo."
Everyone stilled.
"They didn't step in," he continued. "They didn't threaten. They watched."
His voice hardened.
"That means they trust her to handle things herself."
Denzel frowned. "So?"
"So," Keifer said, turning at last, eyes dark, "she's not controlled by them."
A beat.
"She's the one they're watching."
That landed heavy.
Rory muttered, "So what do we do? Fight her?"
Keifer laughed quietly.
"You don't fight a storm head-on."
Yuri felt it then.
The shift.
The idea forming.
"You wait," Keifer said, "until it opens a weakness."
---
KEIFER'S POV — THE PLAN
Jay had weaknesses.
Everyone did.
They just weren't obvious.
"She doesn't trust easily," I said. "But she reacts to presence."
Cin smirked. "You mean—"
"She notices control," I finished. "Authority. Calm. Resistance."
I met their eyes, one by one.
"She doesn't bend to force."
Silence.
Then I said it.
"I'll make her fall for me."
The air changed instantly.
"What?" Josh blurted.
Rory stared. "You're insane."
Edrix leaned back slowly. "That's… dangerous."
"That's perfect," Blaster said, grinning.
Yuri turned to me sharply. "Keifer—"
I didn't break eye contact.
"She respects strength," I continued. "Not cruelty. Not noise. She challenges power she can see."
Cin laughed. "And you're the biggest one here."
"I'm the president," I corrected. "The one person she hasn't figured out."
Yuri shook his head. "You don't play with people like her."
"I'm not playing," I said coldly.
"I'll get close. Earn trust. Let her lower her guard."
A pause.
"And then?"
I didn't answer immediately.
When I did, my voice was flat.
"I break her."
Silence exploded into noise.
"Finally," Blaster said.
"About time," Denzel added.
Rory grinned. "That's brutal."
Cheers followed. Not loud—but approving.
Except Yuri.
"You're turning this into something personal," he said quietly.
I looked at him.
"It already is."
---
SECTION E POV — THE AGREEMENT
The boys gathered closer.
Sixteen shadows tightening into one shape.
"This stays between us," Keifer said. "No leaks. No warnings."
Cin nodded. "We watch her. Feed you info."
Edrix added, "I'll monitor communications. Patterns. Schedules."
Rory grinned. "I'll poke the edges. See how she reacts."
Yuri hesitated.
Then nodded once.
"If you do this," he said, "don't lose yourself."
Keifer didn't respond.
Because somewhere deep down—
He already had.
They dispersed slowly, adrenaline humming, excitement sharp and cruel.
None of them noticed—
Not one—
That they had all assumed the same thing.
That Jay Mariano was the one about to fall.
And not the sixteen boys standing in the dark—
Believing they were in control.
---
— KEIFER'S POV
As I walked away alone, one thought burned steady in my chest.
She thinks she's untouchable.
I smiled faintly.
"So did we."
And somewhere across the city—
Jay Mariano was already moving.
Calculating.
Always two steps ahead.
Whether we knew it or not—
The game had started.
And no one ever wins a game
where the opponent already knows the ending.
Alright. This is where it gets quietly dangerous.
Jay doesn't react like a normal person would—she notices. She catalogs. She prepares.
---
JAY'S POV — THE NEXT DAY
The air was wrong the moment I stepped into the building.
Not tense.
Not hostile.
Polite.
That was worse.
Section E's hallway usually felt like a loaded weapon—noise, shoves, laughter sharpened with teeth. Today, it parted for me.
Cin held the door.
Actually held it.
"Morning," he said, casual. Too casual.
I slowed a fraction. Just enough to register it.
Rory nodded at me from the lockers. No comment. No smirk.
Edrix glanced up from his phone—and didn't look away when our eyes met.
Blaster moved his bag so I could pass.
No one touched me.
No whispers.
No mocking applause.
No challenge.
I walked in anyway.
Boots steady. Spine straight. Expression neutral.
Inside the classroom, it was the same.
Josh slid a chair back.
Felix pushed my notebook closer when it fell.
Mayo offered me a pen like we were classmates instead of enemies.
Nice.
I took the pen.
"Thanks," I said lightly.
His eyebrows twitched—surprise flickering for half a second before he masked it.
Noted.
I sat.
Didn't relax.
You don't relax when predators stop circling and start coordinating.
I scanned the room without moving my head.
Sixteen boys.
Sixteen shifts in behavior.
Zero coincidence.
Keifer wasn't looking at me.
That alone was loud.
He stood near the window, talking to Yuri in low tones. Yuri looked tense. Keifer looked… calm.
Not cold.
Not angry.
Focused.
That was when I knew.
Something had been decided.
Sir Alvin entered, clapped his hands once. "Settle down."
No one argued.
That almost made me smile.
As the lesson started, the kindness continued—small, strategic gestures.
A passed note with the homework reminder.
A chair nudged back so I wouldn't hit my knee.
Someone answering a question with me instead of over me.
They were building something.
Trust.
I leaned back slightly, resting my elbow on the desk, eyes half-lidded.
So this is the play.
No intimidation.
No force.
Assimilation.
I glanced at Keifer then.
This time, he was already watching me.
Our eyes locked.
He didn't look away.
Didn't smirk.
Didn't challenge.
He gave me a single, respectful nod.
Like equals.
Like allies.
Like someone extending a hand instead of a blade.
I returned the nod.
Slow.
Measured.
And smiled—just enough.
Inside, my mind was already moving.
They dug into my past.
Ugh you know head of software company..
But if they digged that meant one thing.
They weren't trying to scare me anymore.
They were trying to own me.
I let my shoulders ease. Let my guard appear to lower. I laughed once at something Rory said. Let Cin sit closer than usual.
I played along.
Because if Section E thought kindness was the way in—
They were about to learn something important.
I don't trust sudden peace.
I dissect it.
And whatever Keifer Watson thought he was doing—
Whatever game he believed he was running—
He had already made his first mistake.
He assumed I didn't see the shift.
I did.
And unlike him—
I don't need people to be nice to me
to figure out how to end them.
I picked up my pen, eyes still on the board.
Alright, I thought calmly.
Show me who's leading this dance.
Because whoever stepped forward first—
Was going to fall hardest.
And I was already counting the steps...