Jay's POV
Walking into Section E hand-in-hand with Keifer was… a lot.
Not because I didn't like it—because I really, really did—but because my classmates reacted like we'd just dropped the biggest plot twist of the century.
Yuri was the first to speak. "So…" He dragged out the word, eyes flicking between me and Keifer like he was trying to solve a murder case. "This is… new."
David leaned forward across his desk, staring at me like I had grown two heads. "Very new," he agreed. "Extremely suspicious."
"What's suspicious?" I snapped, narrowing my eyes at both of them.
"You," David and Yuri said in unison.
I blinked. "Me? What did I do?"
"You're smiling," Yuri said. "You never smile like that in school."
"And you're… glowing," David added, tilting his head like I was some rare alien specimen. "Definitely suspicious."
Before I could answer, Ci-n didn't even look up from doodling in his notebook. "Told you all this would happen eventually. Pay up."
Half the class groaned and started fishing out bills from their wallets.
"You guys—" My jaw dropped. "You actually BET on me and Keifer?"
Yuri grinned. "Not me. I just sat back and enjoyed the tension."
David muttered something under his breath that I didn't catch, but the way his ears turned red made me squint at him. Okay, both of them were acting weird. Too weird.
Meanwhile, Keifer sat down like he owned the place, arm slung lazily over my chair—but his hand brushed my shoulder every few seconds, like he couldn't stop himself. His eyes? On me. Always.
By lunchtime, it wasn't just Section E. The whole school knew. Gossip spread like wildfire, and the stares we got in the cafeteria were enough to make me want to crawl under the table.
And then my phone buzzed.The groupchat.oh god.
Felix: u won't believe this but your sis has news.
I didn't even have time to groan before Percy Mariano himself stormed into the cafeteria, dramatic as ever.
"BABY SIS!" he practically shouted across the room. Every head turned. Great. Fantastic. Exactly what I needed.
He marched straight to our table, threw his arms around me like I'd been gone for years, and gasped, "You finally got a boyfriend? Oh my god, I was starting to think no one could handle you."
I smacked his arm. "Percy—"
He ignored me, turning to Keifer with a smirk. "Watson, huh? Hm. I guess you'll do."
Keifer's jaw tightened.
Percy winked at me. "But let's be honest, he's probably in love with me. I mean, who isn't?"
Section E burst into laughter. Yuri nearly choked on his drink. David actually cracked a smile.
Me? I wanted the ground to swallow me whole.
Keifer, though? His hand slid firmly into mine under the table, grip tightening possessively. When Percy finally flopped into the seat across from us, Keifer leaned in and whispered in my ear—low enough for only me to hear:
"Doesn't matter. He can talk all he wants. You're mine."
And just like that, my heart went boom.