(Jayjay POV)
The weekend faded faster than I expected. After everything that happened — the blood, the shouting, the secrets — it almost felt unreal to wake up to birds and sunlight again.
We'd all stayed at Adrian's house for the weekend — "doctor's orders," as Yuri joked — but now Monday had arrived, and reality wasn't waiting.
We got ready together, the house filled with the sound of hair dryers, footsteps, and Yuri yelling, "Who took my tie again?" It was chaotic but… warm. Like we'd somehow built a small family from all the pieces of ourselves that had broken.
By the time we got to school, our cars pulled into the parking lot one by one. When we stepped out — Adrian, Keifer, Yuri, Ciel, David, and me — I could feel the stares.
Whispers fluttered around like tiny birds.
"Adrian looks so good today."
"Yuri's literally glowing."
"Wait… is that Keifer?!"
I rolled my eyes, trying to ignore it — until I caught a few girls whispering about him.
"He's even hotter with that bandage."
"Bad boy vibes."
A tiny spark of jealousy flickered in my chest. Before I could say anything, Keifer caught my expression and grinned.
He leaned closer, whispering, "You know I belong to only you, right?"
My heart did that annoying flutter thing. "You better," I muttered, trying to hide my smile.
Of course, that's when the Section E boys decided to make it worse.
"Whoa, PDA alert!" Yuri teased.
"Someone's jealous~" David sang.
Adrian just shook his head, chuckling under his breath.
As we walked down the hall, some of the group split off — Ciel and Yuri to the washroom, David to the cafeteria. That left me with Keifer (still nursing his shoulder) and Adrian.
We turned the corner — and ran straight into them.
Aries, Ella, and Freya — the trio from Section E.
"Jayjay!" Freya called out, her eyes scanning the hallway. "Where's Edrix? I haven't seen him since last week."
I smirked. "Probably at the cafeteria — or the gym trying to look cool."
Freya blushed immediately. "Wha— I didn't— I wasn't—"
"Sure," I teased, laughing. "You totally weren't asking for him."
Adrian snorted behind me, clearly enjoying it.
Then Aries, being Aries, jumped in before the laughter could fade.
"So, where have you been, Jayjay? You disappeared the whole weekend. Everyone thought you were sick! Or on some secret mission again!"
He fired questions so fast I could barely blink, let alone answer.
Before I could respond, Keifer stepped between us with that quiet protectiveness that always makes my chest ache a little. "She doesn't need to explain anything to you, Aries."
Aries blinked. "What? I was just asking—"
Keifer gently took my hand, steering me away. "Yeah, and now we're going to class."
"Hey!" Aries called after us. "Bring her back!"
Adrian just burst into laughter, following behind us with his hands in his pockets. "Man, you two are gonna cause a riot one of these days."
Keifer looked over at me with a faint smirk. "Let them talk."
And just like that, we walked down the hallway — three friends caught between normal school life and a storm that hadn't fully passed.
For the first time in a while, it felt like peace.
Even if I knew it wouldn't last forever.