I woke up with a headache—the kind that sits heavy behind your eyes and makes you regret every thought you had before sleeping. I lay there for a few seconds, staring at the ceiling and waiting for the world to stop spinning, then forced myself out of bed. No time to be weak, I reminded myself. Not today.
My first instinct was to reach for my phone. I patted the empty mattress, the side table, and my pockets. Nothing.
With an irritated sigh, I stepped out of my room, squinting against the morning light. That's when I saw it. My phone was lying on the small table in the hallway, its screen glowing softly as if it had been waiting for me.
The headache didn't just fade; it vanished.
The wallpaper staring back at me was Jay-Jay. It was a blurry photo she absolutely hated because she said it made her look "too soft." I loved it for that exact reason—it showed the girl behind the armor. I shook my head, a small, traitorous smile escaping me. She was a hazard to my mental peace.
I headed to the dining table and found Kerien already there. He looked suspiciously happy, his eyes bright and his posture upright.
"Good morning, Kuya," he chirped, way too cheerfully for this hour.
"Morning," I replied, pulling out a chair. I eyed him over the rim of my glass. "You're in a disturbingly good mood. Why?"
"Half because of Kuya Keigan," he said proudly. Then, with a mischievous glint in his eyes, he added, "And half because of Ate Jay."
I froze. My pulse spiked at the mention of her name, but I forced my voice to stay level. "How is he? Keigan?"
"He's better," Kerien said, his voice softening. "He's not talking to himself as much. He's stable, not angry. And last night, he talked to Ate Jay with me. I even slept in his room; it was really nice."
I stared at him, stunned. I was relieved to hear Keigan was improving, but the confusion was pulling at me. "What do you mean he talked to her? Since when does he talk to anyone?"
Kerien took a slow sip of his juice. "Well, after you went to your room and crashed, your phone buzzed. I was out for water, so I just... picked it up."
"You what?" I snapped.
"She was asking about you," he defended quickly. "When I told her you were already asleep, she asked why I was the one answering. She told me to hang up so I could sleep, too, but I didn't want to. I wanted to talk to her."
"About what?" I asked, my voice flat.
"Everything. School, studies, friends... just stuff. Blah, blah, blah."
I felt a twitch in my eyebrow. My brothers didn't do "stuff." They did cold silences and sharp glares.
"And Keigan?" I prompted.
"He came out of his room to see what I was doing. I just pressed the phone to his ear. At first, he was hesitant, you know? But then he started talking. Eventually, we put her on speaker and we both talked to her."
I leaned back, the silence of the kitchen feeling very heavy. "How long did this 'little chat' last?"
Kerien looked at the ceiling, calculating. "Maybe... two or three hours?"
"Seriously? Three hours?"
"Yes," he said simply.
I sank into my chair, staring at my brother in pure disbelief. My head was throbbing again, but for a different reason. These were the Watson brothers—guys who wouldn't give their own classmates the time of day without an extra dose of attitude. And yet, they had spent half the night gossiping with Jay-Jay like they were old friends.
She had bypassed my security, handled my brothers, and managed to do in one night what I'd been trying to do for months: make this house feel like a home.
"Three hours," I muttered, a mix of jealousy and admiration hitting me at once. "Get your things. We're leaving for exams."
As I grabbed my bag, a heavy thought hit me. If Jay-Jay had been on the phone with them for three hours after a long day of "problems," she hadn't slept. And if Jay-Jay hadn't slept, she was going to be in a terrifying mood at school.
I was in trouble.
Jay-Jay's POV
(Of last night)
I was pacing my room so hard I was pretty sure I was wearing a permanent circular groove into the floorboards. Angelo and Aries had just stumbled home, which meant the "King of Snakes" himself—Keifer—was finally back in his lair.
Finally, I thought, staring at my phone like it was a live grenade. He'd better be safe. If he got himself hurt after I specifically told him not to be an idiot, I'm going to personally haunt him.
"Just call him, Jay," I hissed to myself. "It's a quick check-in. Professional. Casual. Not at all like you've been holding your breath for six hours."
I tapped his name. My heart did a weird little salsa dance in my chest.
Ring... Ring...
"Hello?"
I froze. That was definitely not the smooth, arrogant voice I was expecting. It was higher, younger, and sounded like it belonged to someone who actually enjoyed life.
"Uh... hello? Is this Keifer's phone?" I squinted at the screen. Maybe I'd accidentally called a pizza place?
"It's Kerien," the voice replied. "Who's this? Wait—is this Ate Jay?"
My face heated up instantly. Ate Jay? "Uh, yeah. Hi, Kerien. Is your brother... around? Or did he drop his phone in a bush again?"
"He's crashed, Ate. Out cold," Kerien whispered loudly. "He looked like a zombie when he walked in. Why are you calling so late? Do you miss him?"
"MISS HIM? Ha! No. Negative.
Zero percent," I blurted out, tripping over my own tongue. "I was just... checking if he was still in one piece. For, you know, academic reasons. Anyway, tell the zombie to text me when he's less dead. Bye!"
"Wait! Don't hang up!" Kerien practically squealed. "I'm bored. Everyone in this house is either brooding or sleeping. Talk to me."
I blinked. I knew Keifer's brothers didn't go to our school—Keifer kept them tucked away in a completely different private academy, far from the madness of Section E. I'd always imagined them as mini-versions of Keifer: cold, silent, and intimidating.
"You want to talk to me?" I asked, sitting down on my bed. "Don't you have, like, fancy private school homework to do?"
"Finished it," he said proudly. "Tell me about your school. Is it really as crazy as the rumors say? Do people actually jump off the roof for fun?"
And somehow, I started talking. I told him about the chaos, the pranks, and how I spent half my time wondering if I was in a classroom or a battlefield. Kerien was a great listener, laughing at all the right parts. He told me about his school, too—how it was "boring and quiet" compared to my life.
Suddenly, I heard a rustle on his end. A second, deeper voice muttered, "Kerien? Who is that? Give me the phone."
My breath hitched. Keigan. The middle brother. The one Keifer was always so worried about.
"It's Ate Jay!" Kerien shouted. "Here, Kuya Keigan, listen!"
There was some muffled scuffling, and then... silence.
"Hello?" I said softly. "Keigan?"
A long pause. Then, a very hesitant, "H-hi."
"Hey," I said, my voice softening. I remembered Keifer saying Keigan struggled to talk to people. "I heard you had a long day. I'm just hanging out with Kerien on the phone because I can't sleep. Want to join the midnight radio show?"
I heard a tiny, shy huff that might have been a laugh. "Okay."
For the next two hours—wait, was it three?—I became a professional talk-show host. I asked them about their favorite games, what they wanted for dinner tomorrow, and even gave them advice on how to handle their "grumpy older brother." I told them stories about the Section E boys (leaving out the parts involving illegal street racing and weapons, obviously).
By the time Keigan started talking about the stars he could see from his window, I realized I was smiling so hard my cheeks ached. They weren't scary Watsons. They were just... kids. Kids who needed someone to talk to who didn't look at them with pity or fear.
"Ate Jay?" Kerien's voice came back on the speaker.
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for talking to us. Kuya Keifer is always so busy protecting us that he forgets to just... talk."
My heart felt like it had been squeezed by a giant hand. "Anytime, kiddo. But seriously, it's like 3:00 AM. If you don't sleep, you'll look like Keifer in the morning, and nobody wants that."
They both laughed—a real, genuine sound—and I also told them to not to tell keifer, I don't know why, but yeah. we finally hung up.
I flopped back onto my pillow, staring at the ceiling. Great job, Jay. You called to check on one guy and ended up becoming the best friend of his entire family tree. Then I looked at my desk. My Biology notes were staring at me. The exam was in four hours.
"Oh, man," I groaned, throwing a pillow over my face. "I'm going to fail. And it's all the King of Snakes' fault for having such cute brothers."
I was exhausted, grumpy, and unprepared. If Keifer even breathed in my direction at school today, I was going to lose it.
Keifer's POV
The drive was quiet, save for the hum of the engine and the occasional sound of Kerien shifting in his seat. I had already dropped Keigan off at his academy—he'd walked into the building with a calmness I hadn't seen in weeks, which should have made me relax. Instead, it just made me more suspicious of what exactly Jay-Jay had said to him last night.
As I steered the car toward Kerien's school, he cleared his throat.
"Oh, Kuya? I forgot to tell you something," he said, staring out the window with a look that was entirely too innocent.
"What's that?" I asked, my eyes fixed on the road.
"Don't tell Ate Jay."
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel, my brow furrowing. "What?"
"I'm telling you now... but don't tell Ate Jay that I told you what she told me not to tell you."
I blinked, my brain momentarily short-circuiting. "Wait—what? Say that again, but in English this time. What did she tell you not to tell me that you're currently telling me?"
Kerien let out a long, dramatic sigh like I was the one being difficult. "Oho, Kuya. About that call last night. She specifically told me not to tell you that we talked."
I felt a strange prickle of heat behind my neck. "And why would she do that? Why the secret?"
Kerien shrugged, a mischievous little smirk playing on his lips. "Maybe because... I don't know. Maybe she's embarrassed? Or maybe she doesn't want you to know she actually cares about us."
I went silent. Embarrassed?
Jay-Jay? The girl who would yell at a gang of thugs without blinking was worried about me knowing she'd spent three hours talking to my brothers? It didn't make sense. Or maybe, it made too much sense.
"Alright," I muttered, pulling up to the curb in front of his school. "I won't tell her."
"Good," Kerien said, grabbing his bag and opening the door. He hopped out but leaned back in for one last jab. "By the way, Kuya? She's a much better listener than you are. You should take notes."
Before I could snap back a retort, he slammed the door and ran toward the entrance, waving a hand over his shoulder.
I sat there for a moment, the engine idling. My mind was a mess. She had stayed up half the night with them. She had hidden it from me. And now, I had to walk into our school and face her for an exam while carrying this "secret" Kerien had just dumped in my lap.
I checked my reflection in the rearview mirror. I looked tired. But if she had been awake until 3:00 AM, she was going to be a walking disaster.
"Fine," I whispered to the empty car. "Let's see who breaks first."
I put the car in gear and headed toward Section E. The real test hadn't even started yet.
Author's POV
The Section E classroom was usually a place of chaos, but this morning, it was a comedy of errors. At the center of it all was Jay-Jay, who looked like a cute but very grumpy owl. She was sleep-deprived, her brain was running on 2% battery, and she was currently using "anger" as a way to stop herself from face-planting onto her desk.
Keifer, meanwhile, was in a peak teasing mood. He leaned over, resting his chin on his hand, watching her with a playful glint.
"You know, Jay," Keifer whispered loudly as David and Eren walked in. "If you're that tired, you could just lean on my shoulder. I promise I only charge one kiss per hour."
"KEIFER!" Jay yelled, grabbing a stray eraser and hollowing it at his head.
Keifer ducked with practiced grace. The eraser sailed past him and hit David square in the forehead just as he crossed the threshold.
"Ow! What did I do?" David yelped, clutching his head.
"You!" Jay pointed a finger at him, her eyes narrowed. "Tell this... this King of Snakes to stop breathing so loudly! It's distracting!"
"Jay, I'm just sitting here!" Keifer laughed, his voice full of flirtatious mischief. "Is my heart beating too loud for you? Is that the distraction?"
"OUT!" Jay barked at David and Eren. "If you can't make him shut up, you're just as guilty! Get out before I start throwing the heavy books!"
David and Eren didn't need to be told twice. They scrambled back into the hallway like they'd seen a ghost.
Next to enter were Eman and Felix. They barely got a "Good morning" out before Keifer struck again.
"Hey Felix," Keifer called out, winkng at Jay. "Don't you think Jay looks adorable when her eye twitches like that? It's like a secret code for 'I love Keifer.'"
Jay's face turned a brilliant shade of red—half from fury, half from the memory of last night's phone call. She grabbed a nearby ruler. "Felix! Tell your friend that if he doesn't stop talking, I'm going to use this ruler to measure exactly how far I can kick him!"
Felix looked at the vibrating ruler in Jay's hand, then at Keifer's smug face. "Uh... I think I'll just go wait in the gym. I value my life." He grabbed a confused Eman by the collar and dragged him out.
The pattern continued. Rory and Edrix entered only to be caught in the crossfire of a flying highlighter meant for Keifer.
Josh walked in with a snack, saw Jay-Jay standing on her chair pointing dramatically at the door, and slowly backed away without making eye contact.
Finally, Yuri walked in, looking cool as usual. He stopped, seeing the classroom empty except for the two of them.
"Jay-Jay? Why is everyone standing in the hallway looking traumatized?" Yuri asked, casting a suspicious glance at Keifer.
"Yuri! Thank goodness!" Jay groaned, falling back into her seat. "Tell Keifer he's a nuisance. Tell him he's banned from the 10-foot radius around my desk!"
"I'm just trying to be a good classmate, Yuri," Keifer said, his voice dripping with fake innocence. "I was just asking her why she was up until 3:00 AM. She seems so... attached to my family phone line lately."
Jay's head snapped up. Her "angry bird" act momentarily faltered into pure panic.
Yuri looked between them, sensed the weirdly private energy of the argument, and sighed. "You know what? I'm not getting in the middle of this. I'll be in the cafeteria until the teacher arrives."
As Yuri shut the door behind him, the room went quiet. Jay glared at Keifer, her chest heaving. "You... you're a jerk."
"And you," Keifer leaned in, his voice dropping to a low, heart-skipping murmur, "are a terrible liar when you're tired. Now, are you going to tell me why you were talking to my brothers, or do I have to keep flirting until you explode?"
Jay-Jay huffed, crossing her arms and pouting. "They're just better conversationalists than you! At least they don't smirk every five seconds!"