Jay-Jay POV
I woke up with a headache.
Not the physical kind.
The emotional kind.
The kind that comes from crying too hard and pretending too well.
I got dressed.
Grabbed my bag.
Avoided the mirror.
Because if I looked too long, I'd see the cracks.
And I didn't have time to fall apart again.
I walked into Section E's morning chaos.
Ci-n was yelling about toast.
Blaster was singing about socks — again.
Keifer was already there, reading a book like he hadn't emotionally wrecked me three times this week.
He looked up.
Smiled.
Soft.
Unaware.
I smiled back.
Tight.
Fake.
"You okay?" he asked, voice gentle.
I nodded.
Lied.
He didn't push.
I sat beside him.
Yuri wasn't there.
Which made everything worse.
Because silence from Yuri was never neutral.
It was loaded.
Sharp.
Dangerous.
Sir walked in, holding a clipboard like it was a weapon.
"Section E," he said, "your exams begin next week. Please prepare accordingly."
Of course.
Because my life couldn't possibly get any better.
Exams.
My favorite part of the year.
So relaxing.
So perfect for someone emotionally compromised and romantically obliterated.
I stared at my desk.
Keifer leaned over.
"Want to study together later?"
I nodded.
Lied again.
Because how do you study with someone whose name is circled on a hit list?
You don't.
You just pretend.
Smile.
Survive.
And hope the dagger stays a doodle.
Lunch came.
I was halfway through pretending to study when someone knocked on the classroom door.
Sir opened it.
Aries stood there.
Tall.
Calm.
Mildly terrifying in that older-sibling-who-knows-everything way.
"Jay," he said softly.
My spine straightened like I'd been caught committing emotional fraud.
"Yes, Aries?"
"You're coming home tonight," he said. "Family dinner. Non-negotiable."
I blinked.
"Oh. Okay."
"And call Jare," he added. "He's not answering my texts."
"Got it."
He nodded once, then left like a storm that didn't need thunder.
I sat there, stunned.
Keifer leaned over, grinning. "You okay?"
"Family dinner," I muttered. "Apparently I'm being summoned."
He raised an eyebrow. "Want me to come?"
I looked at him.
Really looked.
At the boy who made me laugh when I wanted to cry.
At the boy who didn't know he was on a list.
At the boy who still made my heart do stupid things.
"Yeah," I said. "You should come."
His eyes lit up.
"Wait—seriously?"
"Yeah," I said again, softer. "You're important to me. They should know that."
He blinked.
Then smiled.
Wide.
Real.
Happy.
And for the first time in days, something shifted.
Something light.
Something good.
Maybe not everything was falling apart.
Maybe some things were falling into place.