Chapter 4: Chaos and Confessions
The next morning, everything felt different. I felt... prettier. Confident. I combed my hair into ponytails, applied some lip gloss to tease keifer, and headed down.
After a breakfast of Lechon, Aries (my "horoscope brother") drove me to school.
"Are you and Keifer together?" he asked bluntly during the drive.
I hesitated, then nodded.
"Please don't tell to kuya please please 🥺"
He sighed heavily. "I'll handle Kuya Angelo later. Just don't cross the line, okay?"
I beamed. "Thank you, Aries!"
As soon as I walked into the Section E building, the familiar chaos hit me. I tripped over someone's bag, but a strong arm caught my waist.
"Good morning, beautiful," Keifer whispered.
"Good morning, Keifer," I blushed.
"Ready to tell them?" he asked.
I took a deep breath. "Let's do it."
We walked into the classroom hand-in-hand. The room went silent for exactly one second before Keifer announced, "Me and Jay are official."
The room exploded.
"Finally!"
"Husband and wife!"
"JAYFER IS REAL!"
"I told you! Pay up, josh!!"
Ci-N suddenly started crying dramatically. "I'm not Jay's only child anymore! She's going to get pregnant and forget me!"
I smacked him on the head. "Gago! We're in high school!"
"Keifer! She used profanity!" Ci-N yelled.
Keifer smirked, pulled me close, and kissed me right there in front of everyone. The cheering reached a deafening level.
After The hooting and hollering of Section E felt like it could vibrate the very foundations of the building.
If I thought my face was red before, I was certain it was a shade of neon crimson now.
The taste of Keifer's quick, soft kiss still lingered on my lips, making my head spin more than any physics lesson ever could.
"Quiet down, you ulupongs!" Keifer shouted, though he didn't sound angry at all.
He still had that insufferable, beautiful smirk plastered on his face, his arm remaining firmly and possessively draped around my waist.
"How can we be quiet? Our King and Queen are finally official!" Felix yelled, jumping onto a desk and waving his notebook like a flag.
"I'm calling it now—I'm the godfather of the firstborn!"
I grabbed the nearest thing—a crumpled piece of paper—and chucked it at him.
"Felix! Stop talking about babies! We're in high school!"
But as the bell rang and the class began to settle into their seats, the conversation with Aries from this morning echoed in my mind.
"I'll handle Kuya, but don't cross the line."
Aries was going to tell Kuya Angelo.
My brother, who treated me like a fragile porcelain doll, was about to find out that I was dating the most notorious guy in school.
The "peaceful" morning I had felt like the calm before a very protective, very angry storm.
I pulled out my notebook, but instead of taking notes, I found myself doodling J + K in the corner of the page, wondering if Keifer's "Strong Arm" would be enough to protect him once Kuya Angelo found out.