Aries'POV
Who the hell is calling at this time? I groaned and picked up the phone without even checking the caller ID.
"Hello?" I muttered, my voice thick with sleep.
"Bro, be happy! Why are you always like this?" I immediately recognized the voice. It was that so-called "handsome" Percy.
"Like what?" I asked, irritated.
"Like a horoscope! Jayjay is always right—you really are a horoscope," he teased.
"Why did you call?" I snapped, ignoring the jab.
"Are you forgetting that today is Jayjay's birthday?"
I sat up straight in bed. I remembered. I mean... I just... okay, fine, I forgot for a second. "I remembered! I was just about to go wish her at midnight," I lied.
"Open the door," Percy said.
"I can't open your house door from here, idiot," I replied.
"Open yours," he said.
"Why?"
"Because I'm at the gate! And I'm not alone—Yuri and Keifer are with me," he said.
"Why?" I asked again, still half-asleep.
"Because we're here to surprise her, stupid!"
"Fine, wait," I said. I headed downstairs to open the gate. There they were: Keifer was holding a cake, while Percy and Yuri were lugging bags of decorations. They practically pushed me aside and marched into the house.
"Wait, wait! Why the decorations?" I asked, trying to keep my voice down so I wouldn't wake up Kuya or Jayjay.
"We're going to decorate her room, stupid," Keifer said.
"Oh, so I'm stupid? Then you're an idiot," I countered.
"Stop it! It's already 11:40. We only have twenty minutes!" Yuri hissed.
We crept upstairs to her room. We carefully pushed the door open and slipped inside. Keifer placed the cake on her study table, while Percy, Yuri, and I started on the decorations. They took the other walls, while I carefully stepped onto the edge of the bed next to Jayjay to reach the wall behind her headboard.
I had just finished taping up the last banner when Jayjay suddenly shifted her position. My heart nearly stopped. I jumped down from the bed instinctively, but in my panic, I landed right on top of Percy.
"You stupid idiot!" he whispered-yelled as I crushed him.
"Stay down! Stay down!" I whispered back frantically. We all ducked behind the furniture.
"Why?" Keifer whispered from the corner.
"I think she's waking up!"
"How do you know?" Yuri asked.
"She moved!" I whispered. We stayed frozen for a long minute, holding our breath. When her breathing stayed steady and she didn't move again, we slowly stood back up.
I climbed back onto the bed to finish the headboard while the others rushed to finish their sections. At one point, Percy almost knocked the cake off the table with his elbow, but Keifer caught it just in time.
Finally, the room was ready. We stood at the foot of the bed. I was holding the cake with both hands, Keifer was on my right, Yuri was on my left, and Percy was on Keifer's other side. We watched the clock tick down.
It was finally 12:00 AM. Here we go.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to Jayjay, happy birthday to our fighter!" we all sang out.
She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes, and blinked at us in the dim light. "Thanks," she mumbled, before immediately dropping back onto her pillow.
Percy rushed to her side to shake her awake. "Baby sista, wake up! You have to cut the cake!"
"I want to sleep..." she muttered into her pillow, clearly still half-dreaming.
"Then let her sleep," Keifer said softly. We all turned and looked at him like, Seriously?
"Shut up," I snapped at him. I turned back to the bed and took a deep breath. "Jasper Jeen Mariano!" I shouted, perfectly mimicking Kuya's stern tone.
She sat up instantly, eyes wide with panic. "Aries!" she barked. She grabbed a pillow and was about to hurl it at my head, but she froze when she finally saw the cake in my hands. "Thank you so much!" she said, her annoyance vanishing as she jumped out of bed.
"So, how's the surprise?" Percy asked, grinning.
"So good," she said, looking around at the decorations.
"Do you like it?" Yuri asked.
"No..." she paused, "I love it!"
We all laughed, the tension from earlier completely gone. "Whose plan was this?" she asked.
"Keifer's," Percy revealed. Jayjay turned her gaze to Keifer.
"Thank you," she said.
I actually saw Keifer blush. My jaw almost dropped. "Percy, take a picture of Keifer! He's actually blushing!" I yelled, and Percy scrambled to get his phone out.
"Okay, okay, just cut the cake now," Keifer urged, trying to hide his face. Percy handed her the knife, and we started the song again as she sliced into the cake.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to Jayjay, happy birthday to our fighter... happy birthday to our glue!"
She paused, looking at us curiously. "Glue?"
"Yeah," Yuri explained with a smile. "Because you're the one who glued the four of us together."
We all shared a rare, genuine smile, and she beamed back at us.
"Okay, now we shouldn't let this cake just sit here. We need to eat it! Give me the biggest piece!" she demanded. We all burst out laughing—typical Jayjay.
I sliced the cake into pieces and gave the biggest one to Jayjay, just like she asked. We all ate together, talking and teasing each other as if it weren't the middle of the night.
"Jayjay, you were right. Aries really is a total horoscope," Percy said, his mouth full of cake.
"I know, I know! But only I can call him a horoscope," she reminded him with a grin. We continued back and forth like that for a while.
"How's your girlfriend, Yuri?" Jayjay asked, turning her attention to him.
"She's good," he replied simply.
"But you're not," she teased.
Yuri nodded, not even trying to deny it. "Exactly."
"Keifer, how's your business going?" I asked, wanting to shift the topic.
"It's good. Actually, I might have to go back to London for three days," he mentioned.
Suddenly, Jayjay stopped eating her cake. She just froze. I looked at her, wondering why her mood had shifted so fast.
Jayjay's POV
He's going back to London? Is he going to abandon us again? "W-when?" I asked, my voice slightly shaking.
"Next week," he answered.
"So early..." I whispered. I didn't mean to say it out loud, but they all heard it.
Keifer set his plate down and walked over to stand right in front of me. I slowly looked up from my cake, my heart racing.
"If you don't want me to go, I won't. It's not absolutely necessary," he said, searching my eyes.
"No, go. Your business is important," I said. I tried to sound supportive, but I didn't mean a single word of it. I hated the idea of him being thousands of miles away again.
"So, what's going on here?" Aries asked, looking back and forth between us.
"Nothing!" I replied quickly, before anyone else could say anything.
"I'm not going. That's final," Keifer announced, heading back to his spot.
I bit my lip, trying so hard to stop that stupid smile from spreading across my face, but I couldn't. He was staying for me.
We had finished eating and were just sitting around, talking and laughing so hard our sides hurt. Suddenly, my door flew open—like someone had literally kicked it in.
There he was, standing in the doorway: Kuya Angelo, and Ate Ion was right behind him.
"Happy birthday, Jayjay," Kuya said. We all looked at each other, totally confused. He didn't sound or look like the Kuya we usually know. He was actually... nice? Anyway, I definitely liked this version of Kuya much better!
"Thanks, Kuya!" I said. I stood up and went over to him. He ruffled my hair, and I couldn't help but smile.
"Happy birthday!" Ate Ion added. I gave her a big hug, and she hugged me back just as tightly.
"Thanks, Ate Ion!"
"You're welcome," she said as we pulled away from the hug.
"Kuya, Ate Ion, let's eat some cake!" I invited them, gesturing to the table.
"No, Jayjay, we can't eat sweets at midnight. Sorry, baby," Ate Ion said with a regretful smile.
"Oh, that's fine! You can just have some in the morning," I said.
"We're going back to bed now. Bye-bye!" they said, waving as they headed back out the way they came.
I turned back to the boys, and everyone seemed fine except for Keifer. But why? What had happened to him in the last two minutes?
"Hero, what's wrong with you?" I asked, laughing softly as I sat back down in my spot.
"What? Nothing is wrong with me," he replied quickly.
"You look like..." Aries started.
"You're angry," Yuri finished.
"Or maybe jealous," Percy added with a smirk.
"Why would he be jealous or angry?" I asked, completely confused.
"Yeah, why would I be angry or jealous?" Keifer repeated, letting out a stiff laugh to try and ease the tension.
"Umm-hmm," Percy, Aries, and Yuri all said at once, shaking their heads in sync. Why were they behaving like this?
"Are you guys plotting something against me?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.
"No!" the four of them answered at the exact same time.
"You all look... suspicious," I muttered.
"Nothing is going on. They're just dragging the topic. I'm perfectly fine and happy," Keifer said, forcing a smile. But I know him—that smile was definitely fake.
"Are..." Aries started.
"We..." Yuri paused.
"Dragging?" Percy completed.
"Yes, you are!" Keifer snapped.
"Okay, then. If you don't tell her why you're actually angry and jealous," Aries threatened.
"We're going to tell her ourselves," Percy and Yuri said in unison.
"I am really not!" he insisted, but the other three weren't convinced at all.
"Fine. Ate Ion called you 'baby,' and now Keifer is jealous," Yuri said in one breath, speaking so fast I almost missed it. The other two nodded in total agreement. Are they kidding me?
"Huh?" I blinked.
"He's jealous because Ate Ion called you 'baby'," Aries repeated slowly, making sure I heard it this time.
"Baka," Yuri muttered under his breath. I immediately grabbed a pillow and huffed it at him.
"HEY! I know what Baka means!" I shouted, and they all burst out laughing. I turned back to Keifer, who was looking everywhere but at me. "So... are you actually jealous?"
He shook his head frantically "No," while the three "idiots" behind him nodded "Yes."
Oh God, please give me the patience to deal with these four guys!
"But the story seems very different from their point of view," I said, pointing at the three grinning idiots. Keifer turned to them, his expression hardening.
"I'm not jealous or angry. That's it," he said firmly. He then subtly signaled with his eyes toward the "Happy Birthday" banner hanging over my headboard. Oh! So he was only holding back because he didn't want to ruin the mood on my birthday.
"Fine. We have school in the morning, so everyone go home now!" I announced, clapping my hands to get them moving.
"I want to stay here," Percy pouted.
"Go home, Percy," Keifer ordered. Finally, they all stood up.
We all headed downstairs to the front door.
"Bye, baby sista!" Percy said, giving me a wave.
"Bye, blue-eyes-hypnotize!" I teased, and he laughed as he walked out.
"Bye, Barracuda," Yuri said, letting out a chuckle.
"Bye, Stick!" I shot back, and this time I was the one laughing. He headed to his car.
"Bye, Jay," Keifer said softly as he headed out last.
"Bye."
"Take care," he added, and I couldn't help but smile.
"You too, Hari," I said. He walked to his car, and soon I heard all three engines roar to life as they drove away. Aries and I closed the main door and locked it.
"I'm going to sleep," Aries said, letting out a massive yawn.
"Me too," I replied.
We both headed to our separate rooms. As soon as I entered mine, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Oh, crap! I was just in my shorts and a T-shirt. Dude, that is so embarrassing!
Wait, no it's not, I argued with myself. I've been in shorts and T-shirts in front of them a million times. But somehow, this felt different. No, it's not. Jayjay, just forget it. Yeah, yeah... forget it.
I decided to stop arguing with my own brain and just dropped onto the bed.
Suddenly, my phone buzzed. I checked the screen to see who it was—obviously, the King of the Ulupongs.
From: King Bingi Just reached home. Are you awake?
To: King Bingi I'm awake. I can't sleep.
A second later, his name flashed on the screen as he tried to call me. But before I could answer, another notification popped up. I decided to check the message first.
Unknown: Enjoy your last birthday.
My heart skipped a beat. Who is this? It has to be a prank, right? No... in my life, things are always more practical than they are pranks. Another text from Keifer slid across the top of my screen.
From: King Bingi Pick up the call.
He was persistent. I finally swiped to answer.
"Why didn't you pick up before?" he asked immediately.
"Umm... I was just reading a text," I said, my voice trailing off.
"Jayjay," he said, his tone warning me.
"What? I'm telling the truth!"
"From who?"
"I don't know. Some unknown person," I admitted.
"And what did the text say?" he asked. I swallowed hard, the words feeling heavy in my throat.
"It said... 'Enjoy your last birthday.'"
"Who the hell is that?" I could hear his jaw tightening over the phone. "Send me the number. Now."
"Okay," I whispered.
"And I'm picking you up for school tomorrow," he added firmly.
"Why not Aries?" I asked.
"Because I need you safe."
"I'm safe with Aries," I countered, though I knew it was a losing battle.
"Yeah, you are. But if you're with me, you'll be more safe," he insisted.
"Okay, fine," I sighed. I really can't fight with this guy when it comes to my safety.
"Good," he said, his voice softening slightly.
"Okay, bye. I'm actually going to sleep now," I said, letting out a long yawn.
"Okay, bye, Sleeping Beauty," he said before hanging up.
This guy and his flirting! I tossed the phone aside and tried to settle down. But my mind was racing. Who is behind that unknown number? Could it be Sato? No, he's dead. Jason? It's possible. Or could it be Keifer's dad? Why would he want me dead? Then I remembered Keifer telling me his dad threatened to kill me if Keifer didn't hand over his inheritance. Is he finally making his move?
I don't know when I finally drifted off while thinking about that mysterious unknown number.
The End🌸.
Like The Chapter? Guys if you have any suggestions about her birthday then share them and I'll try my best to add every single one of them, I have many in my minds but obviously it's jayjay's birthday and it have to be special so share freely.