Jay Jay's pov:
Days have passed while being cold to everyone, all section E was trying so hard to make me forgive them..but it's not easy especially when you remember how broken you were.
And now it was that troublemaker's birthday.. Ci-N, through the past few days he was trying the hardest, he would keep bringing me my favorite milkshake, chocolates.. the ones we used to eat everyday after school knowing if we had showed it to our classmates they would've taken it all, so we would eat it without anyone noticing.
I've been thinking about forgiving him.. only him, I honestly miss our friendship so much. I know he does too..
And now I'm standing in front of the rooftop enter sign as I caught my reflection in one of the mirrors, I had cut my hair as the quote says 'new year new me'.
(Check the comments)
I was clutching my gift tightly to my chest.. I had made it yesterday with the help of rakki and mica, we've been so close those days they have become my ride or die.. just like that brat Ci-N.
And then there was Keif- WAIT why am I even thinking about him I don't love him anymore.
But just thinking of his name made my breath hitch a little.
"Breathe Jay" Mica whispered softly behind me.
"I'M SO EXCITED" rakki said while spreading her arms in the air.
"Of course you're excited it's you're boyfriend's birthday after all" I said teasingly as mica laughed softly next to me.
"Wai-WHAT NO HE'S NOT MY BOYFRIEND" rakki said defensively though she was blushing.
"Yet" I said calmly making her even blush more until her face looked like it was on fire.
Mica now was laughing freely holding her knees for support.
"Jayyyyy!!!!" Rakki said while lighting hitting my shoulder.
"Okay okay enough let's just enter Ci-N would probably be sulking by now seeing that we're late" I said as I pushed the door open.
"What the.." I said in disbelief as I scanned the surroundings.
The party looked like it was made for a freaking 7 years old !!!!
-
Keifer didn't leave immediately after giving his gift. Instead, he stood by the ledge, his back to the party, looking like a dark sentinel overlooking the campus. He was cold, unmoving, and silent—a king who had delivered his decree and now simply existed in the space he had outgrown.
But then, the heavy metal door creaked open again.
Jay Jay stepped back onto the roof after a quick trip downstairs with Mica and Rakki. The boys of Section E went dead silent. Even Blaster dropped his pick.
Jay Jay had cut her hair. The long, tangled locks from her hospital stay were gone, replaced by a sharp, chic cut that hit just at the bottom of her neck. It made her look older, fiercer, and dangerously beautiful.
Keifer turned slowly, his eyes narrowing. The sight of her new hair hit him like a physical blow to the chest. He wanted to say it looked incredible. He wanted to run his fingers through the fresh ends. Instead, he just tightened his grip on the railing until the metal groaned.
"Jay! The hair!" Ci-N squealed, jumping up and down. "You look like a movie star!"
Jay Jay didn't even look at Keifer. Her eyes were locked on something else in the corner of the rooftop. Sitting near the water tank was a massive, six-foot-tall Snorlax. It was plush, round, and looked incredibly soft. There was clearly a man inside the costume—you could see his sneakers peeking out from the bottom—but Jay Jay didn't care.
"Snorlax!" she breathed, her eyes lighting up for the first time all day.
Forgetting her crutches for a second and leaning on Mica, she practically lunged toward the giant Pokémon. She threw her arms around its big, fuzzy middle, burying her face in the soft fabric.
"Aw, Jay! That is so cute!" Mica squealed, immediately pulling out her phone. Click. Click. Click. "Stay like that! The lighting is perfect!"
The man inside the Snorlax gave a muffled, confused "Oof," but he hugged her back, his giant plush paws patting her new haircut.
From the edge of the roof, Keifer's entire world turned red.
He didn't care about boardrooms. He didn't care about the inheritance. All he saw was a stranger—a man in a cheap polyester suit—touching his Queen. Seeing Jay Jay smile and hug a giant stuffed animal while she wouldn't even look at him sent him over the edge.
"Get your hands off her," Keifer hissed.
He didn't just walk; he sprinted. The "King" mask shattered. He looked absolutely fuming, his coat flying behind him like wings of a dark bird. His eyes were wild with a jealousy so sharp it could have cut the air.
"I said, move!" Keifer roared, reaching out to rip the Snorlax away from her.
Jay Jay was faster. The second she saw Keifer charging like a bull, she grabbed the Snorlax by its plush arm and yanked.
"Rakki! Help!" she shouted.
Rakki, always the strategist, moved in an instant. He grabbed the Snorlax's other arm, and together they dragged the giant, stumbling Pokémon toward the back exit behind the elevator housing.
"Wait! Jay!" Keifer yelled, skidding on the concrete as he tried to round the corner.
But Jay Jay had already shoved the Snorlax into the small storage nook and ducked behind a stack of crates with Rakki. Keifer stood in the middle of the roof, chest heaving, looking around like a predator who had lost its prey.
"Where is she?" Keifer demanded, spinning around to face Rakki, who had stepped out to block his path.
"Whoa, chill out, Keifer" Rakki said, holding up her hands.
On the other side Jay was hiding in a corner while still holding the man's wrist.
"what's happening here?" The man asked as he removed the costume from his head.
"Oh sorry na I just didn't want you to get hurt" Jay said as she apologized.
"It's okay.. can I go back to my work now?" The man asked with a worried eyes.
Jay didn't even get the chance to answer him as she heard the king of assholes yelling her name.
"Jay..." he ended, his voice losing its edge, sounding small.
"Go back to London, King!" Jay Jay shouted from her hiding spot. "Go play with your planes! Leave me and my Snorlax alone!"
-
The air in the storage nook was cramped and smelled of dust and old textbooks. Jay Jay sat huddled against the giant, fuzzy side of the Snorlax, her heart hammering against her ribs. She thought she was safe. She thought the crates and Rakki's quick thinking had bought her a clean escape.
But she forgot one thing: Keifer knew her. He knew the way she breathed when she was agitated, and he definitely knew that she couldn't keep her mouth shut when she was angry.
"He's lucky I didn't let Snorlax sit on him!" Jay Jay hissed under her breath to the confused man in the costume. "That arrogant, overblown—"
The crates didn't just move; they were violently shoved aside.
The sunlight flooded the nook, silhouetting a figure that looked less like a boy and more like a storm cloud. Keifer's eyes were dark, tracking her movement with terrifying precision. Before she could even reach for her crutches, his hand shot out, his fingers locking around her wrist in a grip that wasn't painful, but was absolutely unyielding.
"Out. Now," he commanded.
"Let go of me, you psycho!" Jay Jay yelled, but he didn't listen.
He pulled her through the rooftop door, ignoring the shocked gasps of Section E and the frantic "Hey!" from Rakki. Keifer didn't stop until he reached an empty, abandoned infirmary room on the top floor. He shoved the door open, pulled her inside, and slammed it shut, locking it with a definitive click.
The room was freezing, the late afternoon shadows stretching long across the floor. Keifer let go of her wrist, but he didn't back away. He loomed over her, his chest heaving, his face contorted in a mixture of fury and absolute exhaustion.
"A Snorlax, Jay? You're hiding from me with a man in a costume?" he roared, his voice bouncing off the tiled walls. "I am destroying my life to keep you safe, and you're treating this like a game!"
"I didn't ask you to destroy anything!" Jay Jay screamed back, her new haircut messy from the scuffle. "You left! You said I was a resource! You told the whole world I was nothing but a—"
"I had to—"
STING.
The sound of the slap echoed like a gunshot. It was pure reflex—a release of all the months of hospital tubes, silent nights, and the crushing weight of his betrayal. Jay Jay's hand trembled, her eyes filling with hot, angry tears.
Keifer's head snapped to the side. For three seconds, the silence was deafening.
Then, with a guttural growl of frustration, Keifer swung his fist. He didn't hit her—he never could—but he punched the concrete wall mere inches from her ear. The sound of bone hitting stone was sickening. Dust rained down on her shoulder, and the wall cracked under the force of his desperation.
He leaned in close, his face level with hers, his breath hot against her skin.
"Listen to me," he hissed, his voice trembling with a raw power that made her knees weak.
"I didn't say those things because they were true.
I was forced to push you away, Jay," he whispered, his eyes finally softening for a split second, revealing the shattered boy beneath the King. "I had to become the villain so you could keep breathing. I had to make them believe you meant nothing, so I could make you everything."
He pulled his hand back from the wall. His knuckles were split and bleeding, leaving a dark smear on the white paint. He didn't look at the injury. He just looked at her one last time—a look of such intense, agonizing longing that it felt like he was memorizing her soul.
"Wait for eighteen," he said, his voice turning back into that cold, professional mask. "Until then, stay away from men in costumes."
He turned on his heels, the hem of his dark coat snapping in the air. He unlocked the door and walked out without a backward glance, his footsteps echoing down the hallway as he headed straight for the waiting car that would take him back to London.
Jay Jay stood in the center of the empty, quiet room. The smell of his expensive cologne hung in the air
"Forced?" she whispered to the empty room, her mind a chaotic blur of confusion and hope. "Keifer... what have you done?"
***********************************
GUESS WHO'S BACKK????
I missed you all so sooo much and bc of your patience.. I FINISHED MY EXAMSSSS YAYAYAYAY
BUTTT.. we still have exams in the upcoming days but that's not important
What important is that I can FINALLY post chapterssss!!!
Pleasseee comment yalll!!!
Love youuuu🤍✨
