ROOM 7
Chapter Four: The Chase
---
Jay Mariano had a very specific list of things she would never do.
She would never skip a study session. She would never eat fast food after 10 PM. She would never let anyone see her cry. She would never, under any circumstances, run after Keifer Watson like some lovesick fool in a bad romance novel.
This morning, the universe decided to test every single one of those boundaries.
---
Part One: The Provocation
It started, as most things did in Room 7, with Keifer being annoying.
Jay was at the common table, reviewing her notes for her business law midterm. Her highlighters were arranged by color. Her sticky notes were perfectly aligned. Her coffee was exactly the right temperature.
Everything was perfect.
Then Keifer sat down across from her.
"Good morning, Mariano."
"Go away, Watson."
"I can't. This is my table too."
"You have your own desk."
"My desk is lonely."
"Your desk is a piece of furniture. It doesn't have feelings."
"You don't know that. Maybe desks have feelings. Maybe my desk is sad because I never sit there."
"Then go sit there and make your desk happy."
"But you're here." He grinned. "And I'd rather be here."
Jay closed her eyes and counted to three. "What do you want?"
"Nothing. Just existing. In your presence. Breathing your air."
"That's called stalking."
"That's called sharing a room. There's a difference."
"There's literally no difference."
"The difference is intent." He leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands. "Stalking is creepy. Sharing a room is coincidental. I'm just... coincidentally existing near you."
"You're doing it on purpose."
"Am I?"
"Yes."
"Prove it."
"I don't have to prove it. I know you."
"You know me?" His eyebrows went up. "That's a strong word, Mariano. What do you know about me?"
Jay opened her mouth. Closed it.
She knew that he woke up at 5:30 AM, not 5:00 like he claimed. She knew that he talked to Bruce the shark like he was a real person. She knew that he hummed when he was concentrating. She knew that he checked on her every morning — not obviously, but she'd caught him looking. She knew that he'd memorized her coffee order after just one week. She knew that he smiled differently at her than he smiled at everyone else.
She knew too much.
"That's what I thought," Keifer said smugly. "You don't know anything."
"I know you're annoying."
"That's not a fact. That's an opinion."
"An opinion shared by everyone in this room."
"That's because you've brainwashed them."
"I haven't brainwashed anyone."
"You've definitely brainwashed Yuri. He used to be on my side."
"Yuri is on the side of justice."
"Yuri is on the side of whoever buys him food."
Jay grabbed her highlighter and went back to her notes. "I'm done talking to you."
"Are you though?"
"Yes."
"Are you really?"
"KEIFER."
"JAY."
She looked up. He was smiling — that stupid, infuriating, charming smile that made everyone forgive him for everything.
"You said my name," he said softly.
"I say your name all the time."
"You say 'Watson.' You never say 'Keifer.'"
"It's the same thing."
"It's not." He leaned closer. "Say it again."
"No."
"Say it."
"Go away."
"Say 'Keifer.'"
"I will throw this highlighter at your face."
"Worth it."
She threw the highlighter.
He caught it.
"You have a catching problem," she said.
"I have a talent."
"You have a problem."
He tucked the highlighter behind his ear — next to the pencil he'd stolen from her last week. "I'm keeping this one too."
"Those are my favorite colors."
"Now they're my favorite colors."
"You don't even highlight."
"I'll learn."
Jay stood up so fast her chair screeched against the floor. "Give me back my highlighter."
"Come get it."
"Give it back."
"Come. Get. It."
He was already backing away, that stupid grin still on his face, the highlighter tucked safely behind his ear.
Jay's eye twitched.
"Keifer."
"Yes, Mariano?"
"Give me the highlighter."
"No."
"Give it to me right now."
"No."
"I'm warning you."
"I'm trembling."
She stepped toward him. He stepped back.
"Last chance," she said.
"Or what?"
"Or I'll—"
"You'll what? Chase me? In front of everyone?" He looked around the room. Lyra was watching from her bed. Yuri had his phone out. Freya was reaching for her camera. Mica looked up from her book. Calix paused mid-bite of his sandwich. Alex lowered his headphones. David set down his snack bag. "Go ahead, Mariano. Make a scene."
Jay's hands curled into fists.
She was supposed to be above this. She was supposed to be the calm one, the collected one, the one who never let anyone see her lose control.
But Keifer Watson had been pushing her buttons for five years.
And today, something snapped.
---
Part Two: The Chase
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"
Jay lunged.
Keifer was faster. He always had been. He dodged sideways, nearly tripping over David's duffel bag, and bolted toward the door.
"YOU CAN'T CATCH ME, MARIANO!"
"I'M GOING TO CATCH YOU AND THEN I'M GOING TO END YOU!"
"DRAMATIC!"
"ACCURATE!"
She ran after him, weaving between beds and desks and startled roommates.
David, who had been peacefully eating chips on his bed, barely looked up. "Should I stop them?" he asked calmly.
"No," Alex said, pulling his headphones back on. "Let them figure it out."
"Someone's going to get hurt," Mica said softly from her bed, where she was curled up with a novel.
"Hopefully Keifer," Calix said, not looking up from his sandwich.
"Calix!"
"What? He's annoying."
"You love him."
"I love him and he's annoying. Two things can be true."
Lyra shrieked and pulled her feet up as Jay sprinted past her bed. "JAY, WATCH OUT—"
"OUT OF MY WAY!"
Yuri whooped and started recording. "THIS IS GOING ON THE INTERNET!"
"PUT THAT DOWN!" Jay screamed.
"NEVER!"
Freya's camera clicked. "The lighting is terrible but the emotion is there."
"FREYA, I SWEAR—"
"JAY, FOCUS!" Keifer yelled from the doorway. "YOU'RE LOSING!"
"I'M GOING TO LOSE MY MIND!"
"SAME THING!"
Cole moved left. Care moved right. They crashed into each other and started arguing.
"THIS IS YOUR FAULT!"
"HOW IS THIS MY FAULT?"
"YOU WERE IN MY WAY!"
"YOU WERE IN MY WAY!"
"BOTH OF YOU MOVE!" Jay screamed as she sprinted past them.
"WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT US?" Cole demanded.
"YOU'RE YELLING AT EACH OTHER!"
"THAT'S DIFFERENT!"
"HOW?"
"WE'RE ACADEMIC RIVALS!"
"YOU'RE IN MY WAY!"
Keifer was already in the hallway, laughing. His laugh echoed off the walls — bright and loud and infuriating.
"YOU'RE SO SLOW, MARIANO!"
"I'M WEARING SLIPPERS!"
"EXCUSES!"
She rounded the corner. He was at the end of the hall, holding up the highlighter like a trophy.
"COME AND GET IT!"
"I WILL!"
She ran faster. Her slippers slapped against the tile floor. Her hair flew out of its ponytail. She probably looked ridiculous — the great Jay Mariano, heiress to a shipping empire, chasing a boy down a dorm hallway at nine in the morning.
She didn't care.
Back in Room 7, the remaining roommates gathered by the door.
"Should we follow them?" Lyra asked.
"Obviously," Yuri said.
"I'll bring snacks," David offered, already grabbing his bag.
Mica closed her book. "I want to see how this ends."
"Badly," Calix predicted. "Definitely badly."
"You're coming anyway."
"I'm coming anyway."
Alex sighed and stood up. "Someone has to make sure they don't kill each other."
"That's never been you," Lyra said.
"First time for everything."
Freya adjusted her camera lens. "I need better lighting. The hallway is too dark."
"THE HALLWAY IS FINE!" Lyra shouted.
"ART HAS STANDARDS!"
"THIS ISN'T ART! THIS IS CHAOS!"
"CHAOS IS ART!"
---
Part Three: The Stairs
Keifer hit the stairwell first.
"GIVING UP YET?"
"NEVER!"
"I'M GOING UP!"
"I DON'T CARE!"
Up they went. Third floor. Fourth floor. The stairwell echoed with their footsteps and Keifer's laughter and Jay's threats.
Mica, climbing steadily behind them, turned to Calix. "How many floors is this?"
"Five, I think."
"Five?"
"At least."
"Should we stop them?"
"No." Calix was grinning. "This is the most entertainment I've had all week."
"You're terrible."
"I'm honest."
Alex caught up to them, breathing hard. "Why are they like this?"
"Because they're in love," Yuri said, still recording.
"They're not in love. They're insane."
"Same thing."
David, somehow not even out of breath despite carrying a bag of snacks and a water bottle, said, "Anyone want a granola bar?"
"WHERE DID YOU GET THAT?" Lyra asked.
"I always carry snacks."
"It's nine in the morning."
"Snacks don't have a schedule."
Freya pushed past them, camera held high. "I'm losing the shot!"
"THERE IS NO SHOT!" Jay's voice echoed from above. "THIS IS NOT A PHOTO OP!"
"EVERYTHING IS A PHOTO OP!"
"FREYA!"
"JAY!"
On the fifth floor landing, Keifer paused to catch his breath. Jay was three flights below him, but he could hear her coming.
She was fast.
She was furious.
She was beautiful.
"KEIFER WATSON, WHEN I CATCH YOU—"
"IF!"
"WHEN I CATCH YOU, I'M GOING TO—"
"YOU'RE GOING TO WHAT? HUG ME? CONFESS YOUR UNDYING LOVE?"
"I'M GOING TO STRANGLE YOU!"
"KINKY!"
"KEIFER!"
He pushed through the rooftop door. Sunlight flooded the stairwell.
Jay burst through right behind him —
And stopped.
---
Part Four: The Rooftop
The rooftop was beautiful. Manila spread out below them, a sea of buildings and smog and life. The morning sun was golden. The wind was warm.
But Jay wasn't looking at any of that.
She was looking at Keifer.
He stood at the edge of the rooftop, backlit by the sun, still holding her highlighter. His chest was heaving. His hair was a mess. His grin was the size of the sky.
"You actually chased me," he said.
"You stole my highlighter."
"You chased me up five flights of stairs."
"I want my highlighter back."
"You could have given up."
"I don't give up."
"I know." He said it softly. Almost gently. "That's one of the things I love about you."
Jay's brain short-circuited.
"Love?" she repeated.
"Love. Like. Adore. Whatever word you want to use." He shrugged, but his eyes were serious. "You don't quit, Mariano. Even when you should. Even when it would be easier to walk away. You just... keep going. I've always admired that about you."
Jay didn't know what to say.
So she did the only thing she could think of.
She lunged for the highlighter.
Keifer dodged — but he was standing too close to the edge. His foot slipped on a loose pebble. His arms windmilled. His eyes went wide.
"KEIFER!"
Jay grabbed his shirt and yanked.
Hard.
Too hard.
They both went down.
---
Part Five: The Fall
Jay's back hit the rooftop floor first.
Keifer landed on top of her.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Jay could feel his heart pounding against her chest. His face was inches from hers. His breath was warm on her lips. Her hands were still fisted in his shirt.
"Ow," he said.
"You almost fell off the roof."
"You saved me."
"I didn't save you. I grabbed you."
"You grabbed me and pulled me to safety."
"I pulled you on top of me. That's not safety. That's a different kind of danger."
Keifer laughed — soft and breathless. "Did you just admit that I'm dangerous?"
"Shut up."
"You did. You definitely did."
"I said shut up."
"Make me."
Jay's eyes dropped to his lips.
His eyes dropped to hers.
The world went very quiet.
Then the rooftop door burst open and the entire room poured through.
---
Part Six: The Audience
"OH MY GOD!" Yuri shouted, phone still recording. "DID THEY FINALLY KISS?"
"WE DIDN'T KISS!" Jay shoved Keifer off her so fast he rolled across the rooftop.
"YOUR FACE IS RED!"
"IT'S THE SUN!"
"WE'RE ON THE ROOFTOP!"
"THE SUN IS EVERYWHERE!"
Mica stepped forward, hands on her hips. She was calm. She was always calm. But her eyes were sparkling. "Jay. You're lying on top of him."
"I WAS NOT ON TOP OF HIM!"
"Your legs were literally wrapped around—"
"THEY WERE NOT WRAPPED!"
"Mica's right," Calix said, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. "I saw everything. You had your legs around him."
"I DID NOT!"
"Freya has photos."
Freya held up her camera triumphantly. "I have multiple photos."
"DELETE THEM!"
"Never."
David walked past them and offered Keifer a granola bar. "You okay, man?"
Keifer, still on the ground, took the granola bar. "I think I died and went to heaven."
"You're not dead."
"Then why is an angel standing over me?"
Everyone turned to look at Jay.
Jay's face was the color of a fire truck.
"THAT WASN'T ABOUT ME!"
"It was definitely about you," Alex said quietly.
Alex never said anything. Alex observed. Alex stayed quiet. So when Alex spoke, everyone listened.
"See?" Lyra pointed at Alex. "Even Alex agrees."
"I didn't agree to anything. I stated a fact."
"A fact that agrees with me."
"That's not how facts work."
"THAT'S HOW THIS FACT WORKS!"
Keifer sat up, brushing dirt off his shirt. He was still smiling. Of course he was still smiling. He looked at the highlighter in his hand — slightly bent from the fall — then at Jay.
"You broke it," he said.
"YOU broke it. When you fell."
"I fell because you grabbed me."
"You grabbed me because you were falling!"
"You grabbed me because you couldn't stand the thought of losing me."
"I—" Jay stopped. Her mouth opened and closed. "That's— that's not—"
"Your face is doing that thing again."
"What thing?"
"The thing where you want to argue but you know I'm right."
"I don't know that."
"Your left eye is twitching."
"IT'S A TIC."
"It's a TELL."
Mica stepped between them. "Okay. Both of you. Breathe."
"I don't need to breathe—"
"Everyone needs to breathe, Jay." Mica's voice was soft but firm. The kind of voice that made you want to listen. "You chased him up five flights of stairs. You tackled him on a rooftop. You almost fell off the edge together."
"I saved him."
"You tackled him."
"Same thing."
"It's really not."
Calix came to stand beside Mica, slipping his arm around her waist. "Babe, let them fight. It's how they flirt."
"WE'RE NOT FLIRTING!" Jay and Keifer said in unison.
Then they looked at each other.
Then looked away.
Mica raised an eyebrow. "That was suspiciously synchronized."
"COINCIDENCE!"
"Nothing about you two is coincidence," Alex said.
David, still holding his snack bag, looked around the rooftop. "So... is anyone going to eat these chips? Because I brought enough for everyone."
"DAVID, THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR CHIPS!"
"There's always time for chips, Lyra."
Lyra threw her hands up. "I can't with any of you."
Freya circled them like a documentary filmmaker, camera clicking. "The lighting up here is actually incredible. Jay, can you look at Keifer like you want to kill him again? That was a great shot."
"I ALWAYS LOOK AT HIM LIKE I WANT TO KILL HIM!"
"Perfect. Hold that."
Keifer stood up and brushed himself off. He walked over to Jay — slowly, carefully — and gently placed the bent highlighter in her palm.
"Here," he said. "I'm sorry I broke it."
She looked up at him. "You're not sorry."
"I'm a little sorry."
"You're not sorry at all."
"No," he admitted. "I'm not. Because now you're looking at me like I'm something other than annoying."
Jay's heart stuttered.
Mica and Calix exchanged a look.
Alex pulled out his phone and started texting. Probably Aries. Probably something that would get Jay in trouble.
Yuri was still recording. "This is going in the Room 7 highlight reel."
"THERE'S A HIGHLIGHT REEL?"
"There is NOW."
"DELETE IT!"
"NEVER!"
---
Part Seven: The Walk Back
They went back inside as a group.
Jay walked in front, arms crossed, face still red. Keifer walked behind her, still smiling, still holding nothing because he'd given the highlighter back.
Mica fell into step beside Jay. "You know," she said quietly, "it's okay to like him."
"I don't like him."
"You chased him up five flights of stairs."
"Because he stole my highlighter."
"You could have let him keep it."
"It was limited edition."
Mica smiled. "Jay."
"What?"
"You're lying."
Jay didn't respond.
Mica squeezed her arm. "It's okay. I was scared too. When I first realized I liked Calix. His family is a Watson family. My family is Mariano-adjacent. It wasn't supposed to work."
"But it did."
"It did." Mica looked back at Calix, who was walking with Keifer, the two of them laughing about something. "Because we chose each other. Not our families. Not the feud. Each other."
Jay was quiet for a long moment.
"I'm not ready," she said finally.
"That's okay." Mica's voice was gentle. "You don't have to be ready today. Or tomorrow. Or next month. But someday, you're going to wake up and realize that being scared is worse than being happy."
"What if I ruin everything?"
"What if you don't?"
Jay didn't have an answer for that.
Behind them, Calix was saying something to Keifer. "Dude, you have to stop stealing her stuff."
"It's the only way she talks to me."
"Have you tried... talking to her?"
"I talk to her all the time. She tells me to go away."
"Have you tried talking to her about something that isn't annoying?"
Keifer considered this. "No."
"KEIFER."
"What? Annoying her is working."
"Is it?"
"She chased me up five flights of stairs."
"That's not a sign of affection. That's a sign of homicidal rage."
"Same thing."
Calix sighed. "You're hopeless."
"I'm in love. There's a difference."
Calix stopped walking. "Did you just say—"
"Don't tell anyone."
"I won't."
"Especially not Yuri."
"Obviously not Yuri. Yuri would put it on a billboard."
"Or Freya."
"Freya already knows. Freya has a folder."
Keifer groaned. "Everyone has a folder."
"Because everyone can see it except you two."
They walked in silence for a few steps.
"Calix?"
"Yeah?"
"How did you know? With Mica?"
Calix looked ahead at Mica's back. Her hand was intertwined with Jay's now — offering comfort, offering support. "I just knew. There wasn't a moment. There wasn't a sign. I just... looked at her one day and realized I didn't want to look at anyone else."
Keifer looked at Jay.
She was laughing at something Mica said. Her head was thrown back. Her hair was falling out of its ponytail. She looked nothing like the ice queen everyone thought she was.
"Yeah," Keifer said softly. "I know exactly what you mean."
---
Part Eight: Back in Room 7
The teasing continued for hours.
Yuri had edited the footage into a thirty-second clip set to romantic music. Freya had printed out photos and taped them to the wall. Lyra had started a group chat called "Jay & Keifer Wedding Planning Committee."
Jay had threatened to murder everyone at least twelve times.
No one took her seriously.
"Seriously," she said, standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed. "I will transfer schools."
"You won't," Lyra said.
"I will."
"You're too competitive. If you transfer, Keifer wins."
"I hate that you're right."
"I'm always right."
David raised his hand. "Can I say something?"
"Please," Jay said. "Someone who isn't trying to marry me off."
David stood up. He was calm. He was always calm. The only person in Room 7 who had never taken a side.
"I've been watching you two," he said. "Not in a creepy way. Just... observing."
"Like Alex?"
"Like Alex." He nodded at Alex, who nodded back. "And I think you're both scared."
Jay opened her mouth. Keifer opened his.
David held up a hand. "Let me finish. You're scared because your families have been fighting for generations. You're scared because everyone expects you to hate each other. You're scared because if this doesn't work, it won't just be a broken heart. It'll be a broken family. A broken legacy. A broken peace."
The room went quiet.
"But here's the thing." David looked at Jay, then at Keifer. "Your families don't hate each other. Your parents are best friends. Your little brothers adore each other. The only people still fighting are you two. And I don't think you're fighting because you hate each other."
"Then why?" Jay asked.
David smiled. "I think you're fighting because you're terrified of what happens when you stop."
No one spoke.
David sat back down and opened his bag of chips.
"Anyone want one?" he asked.
---
Part Nine: The Night
Later that night, long after everyone had gone to sleep, Jay lay in her bed and stared at the ceiling.
She could hear Keifer breathing from across the room. Two beds away. But in the silence, it felt like he was right next to her.
She hated that she noticed.
"Hey, Mariano."
His voice was soft. Quiet. Not the loud, annoying voice from earlier.
"What."
"Can't sleep?"
"No."
"Me neither."
Silence.
"Why not?" she asked, against her better judgment.
"Thinking about what David said."
"Me too."
"Are you scared, Mariano?"
Jay closed her eyes. "Terrified."
"Me too."
Another silence.
"I don't hate you," Keifer said quietly.
"I know."
"I never did."
"I know."
"The highlighter was an excuse."
"I know."
"I just wanted you to look at me."
Jay rolled onto her side, facing his direction even though she couldn't see him in the dark.
"I'm looking," she said.
"I know."
From across the room, someone whispered: "FINALLY."
"SHUT UP, YURI."
"MAKE ME."
"I WILL END YOU TOMORROW MORNING."
"WORTH IT."
Keifer laughed — soft and quiet and gentle.
Jay smiled into her pillow.
She didn't sleep.
But for the first time in five years, she didn't want to.
---
End of Chapter Four