(timeline: 2 days after the plan reveal day)
Kiefer pov.
She didn't come to school for the past 2 days. Today, Jay came early to school. That itself was concerning. She sat in the corner chair closest to the door, distancing herself from all of us.
Ci n tried talking to her. Eman tried giving her the food he cooked. Felix tried apologising. Calix tried to explain.
She ignored all of it. Turned a complete blind eye to us. It hurt. It fvcking hurt my heart to see my jay- my meddling, soft hearted, hard headed, chaotic, caring Jay- become so cold towards section e because of my plan.
It's my fault. I made her like this. I'm good for nothing.
Things at home wasn't any better. I had reduced to drinking too much even during day- so much that I drank alcohol instead of eating food. Kiegan was becoming worse. His condition was making him unpredictable, he became angry sometimes, then suddenly became sweet and innocent again.
It was starting to look like he had to see a therapist. But everytime I try talking to him about it he breaks down and tells me I don't care about him and Kieren as much as Jay. He kept saying pushing jay away was the right thing to do.
It felt like I was caught between two fires. I wanted to break down. I was so extremely tired of this act. I was tired of always pretend to be okay. I was constantly exhausted with my own family nonsense. The only reason I'm still doing this is mainly for my mother. She died to protect this and I can't give up.
Then there's my so called father. He keeps sending men to my house. He even went to kieren's school claiming he was the father and came to pick him up. He tried kidnapping kiegan too. Good thing I had already informed the school authorities about the monster who claims to be our dad. They called me immediately and explained the situation.
So there I was, acting cold and pretending not to care that she showed up today, while all I wanted to do was go up to her and hug her and beg for her forgiveness.
Slowly, classes started and ended, teachers came and left, but my attention wasn't at all on the lesson. I didn't even try to focus. Time blurred together as my eyes kept flickering back to her.f
She looked really pretty. Even when she looked cold, even when she looked angry. That everyone knew. There was something about her that looked naturally beautiful. Like she didn't even try to look good (which I know she didn't since she was too lazy to put effort in makeup) but still ended up looking like an angel. A fairy.
Finally, the bell rang. Lunch break- which wasn't saying much as section E was banned from the canteen anyway. Eman and a few others were making pancakes for Jay. Ci n brought it to her and placed it on her table. She refused. Of course she did.
My phone suddenly pinged with a notification. A message. My heart dropped. It was an unknown number.
From: +639*******
Take care of your girl. Wouldn't want her getting hurt, would you?
I felt my rage rise so hot it blinded me for a second.
To: +639*******
Whoever the hell you are, stay away from her if you want to stay alive.
From: +639*******
You don't know her. She's not who you think she is.
What the hell?
A loud crash made me look up from my phone. Jay had pushed the plate away. Ci n lowered his head, trying not to cry.
"You don't get to do this! You hurt me, you broke me. Worse, you planned to hurt me. Do you understand how completely messed up it is to intentionally hurt a person for nothing reasonable? I trusted you." Her voice broke slightly on the last words. But she didn't cry, not because she wanted to look strong. No. It looked like she didn't even have energy to cry. Like she didn't have any tears left in her.
"We're sorry Jay. Please let me explain-" David started to say.
"You're sorry?" She laughed bitterly. "How touching. You're sorry. Congratulations. You have humanity."
"Jay-" ci n said.
"Stop this ci n. Don't you understand we'll never go back to normal. So stop this madness."
"Bakit? Why should I stop? Did you ever stop? Did you not help calix and mica? Did you not help Denzel and Grace? Did you not help me when I was accused of theft? Did you not help eman when his restaurant was down? No. So why should I?" He was openly crying now.
She avoided eye contact. She opened her mouth to say something else when 4 people rushed in panting and sweating. 3 boys and 1 girl. They looked like they'd been through war. And lost.
The whole section quited down, staring curiously at them.
"Who are you?" I asked. They ignored me. They were still panting and couldn't talk. I looked at Jay. The hurt, destroyed expression was gone entirely. Her face went cold. Dangerously so. Exactly like it was the day she saw her mother Jeanna. My heart stopped.
"Liam. Report." She said, her voice carrying an authority that I've never witnessed before.
"We lost him. He escaped." One of the guys said. He looked good. Tall, messy hair. And suddenly I didn't like the idea of her knowing him.
Her jaw tightened. "The kids?"
"Safe."
"How many?"
"5. 3 of them got panic attacks. 2 are badly injured. Already getting treated." Liam said.
"Damn it. This is bad. He was the only lead we had. Now we lost him." The girl said.
"Yeah. I told you we should have gone in." The other guy said. They started bickering. The 3 of them. The other one just watched silently.
"Silence" She said. She didn't even raise her voice, didn't need to. All 3 of them fell silent. Her eyes bored into theirs and they all straightened up instinctively.
"Do you all-" she started, her voice dangerously low. "-have a brain?"
"Uhmm...yes?" The guy who said they should have gone in said.
"Then use it. Liam." She said turning to him. "Why didn't you go in?" Not a threat or a warning. It was just a curious question.
"It was a trap. The place was bombed." Liam answered immediately.
"We could have still went in and-" the other guy started.
"And what Nathan? Died?" Jay said. The guy- Nathan apparently- flinched. "What is it that I always say?" Jay asked.
"Defence before offence." Liam answered instantly.
"Defence before offence." She agreed, nodding her head. "You did well Liam."
He grinned. "Learned from the best."
"James. Track him. Find him." The quiet guy stepped forward.
"Way ahead of you. He's in the old warehouse in the west street."(AN: not a real address) James said.
"Perfect. What are we waiting for? Let's go." The girl said.
"Patience, Ava. It was too easy. Which either means he was careless, which is highly unlikely considering it took us a month to find him-" Jay said, her voice unwavering. "Or it's a trap."
Ava frowned. "So what do we do now?"
"Moniter him. Keep tracking him. Keep an eye out for any unusual movements."
James nodded.
"Where are the children?" Jay asked.
"Headquarters. You're supposed to report there in 10 minutes." Liam said.
She nodded, already picking up her bag. Then froze as if just remembering we existed. "Uhmm... You didn't see that?" She tried.
"What the hell is happening here?" I asked.
"How many times have I told you not to come to my school?" She demanded to them.
Nathan blinked. Then grinned. "They don't know? They're just finding out now that their classmate is part of some heroic deeds?" Then he laughed. So did Liam and Ava. "Oh this is gold."
"Shut up." She grumbled. Then walked toward the door to leave.
"Tell us what's happening atleast!"
She paused, her fingers hovering over the door handle. "I don't owe you all a single damn explanation" she said without turning around. Then left.
I immediately turned to the 4 people. "What's going on. W- who is she?" I asked. The words 'who is she' felt wrong on my tongue. I was supposed to know. I was supposed to be the one who knows her, understand her, and be there for her.
"She's going to kill me for this," Liam said "but if you really care, then you deserve to know. She's in the CBI. She's kind of our head actually."
And with that bomb dropped, he left with the rest of them, leaving all of us shell shocked.
"Well, that happened." Felix said, laughing nervously trying to ease the tension. It didn't work.
"Damn" edrix muttered under his breath. "This just escalated quickly."
And I? I was still shocked, but also- proud.