JAY-JAY POV
THE NEXT DAY AT SCHOOL
I dragged my tired body to school and plopped onto my chair like a sack of potatoes. My ear was still a little red from Aries' "brotherly love" session, and my brain felt like it was still bufferring.
I had barely settled in when Ci-N practically teleported to my side, his eyes shining with excitement.
"Jay! The photos and the TikTok you posted yesterday? it's fire!" he exclaimed, gesturing wildly with his hands.
I blinked at him, still half-asleep. Honestly, after I hit 'post' last night, I didn't even bother to check the notifications. I was too busy trying to survive Aries and the mystery car in my dreams.
"Is it?" I asked, trying to sound cool and indifferent, though my heart did a little "pak!" of pride.
Felix leaned in from the side, a playful, teasing smirk on his face. He looked at me like he had just discovered my deepest, darkest secret.
"Jay, you had a TikTok account this whole time and you didn't tell us?" he asked, nudging my shoulder. "We thought you were just a professional trouble-magnet, but it turns out you're a secret influencer? I'm hurt. My feelings are officially crushed."
I leaned back
"I didn't think it was necessary to tell you guys," I shot back, my voice dripping with sass.
Felix just nodded sadly
But before I could even take a breath, my phone started to explode.
Ding! Ding! Ding!
It was vibrating so hard on my desk it sounded like a jackhammer. I looked down, and my eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw the screen.
From: 2580*** (GagonBaliw)**
My life I didn't know you could dance
Leche. My heart did a weird, panicky somersault. Who is this guy?! And did he just call me "My Life"?
Then, another message popped up, the contact name flashing like a warning sign.
From GagonBaliw:
My life
Ignore him Jay, he is trying to get under your skin
The air in the classroom suddenly felt ten degrees hotter. My face was definitely turning a bright shade of tomato red, and it wasn't from the "sexy" comment—it was pure, unfiltered rage.
"Oh, that's it!" I hissed, my fingers trembling as I gripped my phone like I wanted to crush it into dust.
Sexy?! In front of my phone?! Who does this Gagong Baliw think he is?
That's it. My patience didn't just walk out the door; it took a plane to another planet. I gripped my phone so hard I thought the screen might actually crack under the pressure of my fury.
Sexy? My life?
I've had enough of these mystery riddles! My thumbs flew across the keyboard, typing with the kind of aggression that usually leads to a broken phone.
To GagonBaliw:
Asshole who the hell do you think you are?
I hit 'send' with a satisfying thwack of my finger. I sat there, vibrating with annoyance, my legs bouncing under the desk.
just stared at those little bubbles on the screen, waiting for this Gagong Baliw to show his face—or at least his name.
One second. Five seconds. Ten seconds.
Ding!
From GagonBaliw:
Your future
I froze. My breath hitched in my throat, and for a split second
My shock quickly curdled into pure, concentrated annoyance. My face was still burning, but I channeled all that heat into my thumbs as I typed back. I wasn't going to let some mysterious texter get the last word. Not in this lifetime.
To: GagonBaliw
Gago who the hell are you? Tell me your name and show me your face!
I stared at the screen, my heart beating against my ribs like a trapped bird. I was half-ready to throw the phone across the room if he replied with another cheesy "hugot" line.
"Show yourself, you coward," I muttered under my breath, my grip on the phone tightening.
I looked up for a second, scanning the classroom. Was he here? Was someone in this room watching me right now, laughing behind their hand while they typed? I looked at the Section E boys, but they were all busy in their own worlds—or at least, they were acting like it.
A minute passed. No reply.
My phone buzzed again, and I almost snatched it out of the air.
From GagonBaliw:
I'm not a gago maybe an Ulupong
What the fuck.
My eyes nearly bulged out of my head. Ulupong? A snake? The moment I saw that word, my brain clicked into gear. Leche. It's one of them. It has to be one of these assholes! Only someone from this crazy circle would use a word like that to describe themselves.
My blood was boiling. I was so annoyed by this idiot now
To GagonBaliw:
Where are you right now?
I waited, my foot tapping a frantic rhythm on the floor. I was ready to hunt him down and turn him into a real-life pancake. Then, the screen lit up again.
From GagonBaliw:
In school but I'm imagining how it would be to wake up next to you naked
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
It took exactly that long for my brain to process the words, and when it did, I felt like someone had tossed a gallon of gasoline onto my face and lit a match. My face wasn't just red; it was a glowing, pulsating shade of neon crimson.
"WHAT THE FUCKKKKK?!" I screamed at the top of my lungs.
The entire classroom didn't just go quiet—everyone literally flinched as my voice echoed off the walls like an explosion.
"Man, what the hell happened to her?"
"I think she's possessed"
"Barakuda 2.0 is officially in the building."
I didn't care. My chest was heaving, my hands were shaking, and I looked like I was about to breathe fire. I wanted to find this Ulupong and rip his tongue out through his phone screen!
David, ever the "gentleman" of the group, walked over to me with a worried expression, his hands raised like he was approaching a wild animal. "Jay... are you okay?"
I turned my glare toward him, my eyes narrowed into tiny slits of pure rage. "Do I look okay to you?!" I barked.
David took a strategic step back, his eyes widening. "Okay, okay! Message received! You definitely don't look okay! You look like you're about to start World War III!"
My head snapped toward the back of the room. I turned to look at the snakes—the literal headaches of my life.
They all just sat there, looking at me with those annoying, effortless smiles that made me want to punch a wall. They looked too innocent. And in Section E, "innocent" is just another word for "guilty as hell."
"Which one of you assholes is it?!" I demanded, slamming my palm against my desk for emphasis.
Yuri tilted his head, looking at me with a perfectly crafted expression of bewilderment. "Jay, what are you talking about? Did the TikTok fame finally go to your head? You're acting weirder than usual."
"Don't 'Jay' me!" I hissed, pointing my finger at them like a loaded gun. "Let me repeat my question: which one of you is it? Who is the Ulupong hiding behind a burner phone?!"
Ci-N leaned forward, his face etched with fake concern. "Jay, are you okay? Maybe you need to go to the clinic. Your face is turning a very interesting shade of purple."
"She is literally turning into Freya, man," one of them whispered from the back, loud enough for me to hear.
That was the final straw. My brain did a literal backflip of rage.
I glared at the entire group, my eyes narrowing until they were just sharp blades of fury. "Don't put me and Freya in one sentence! I will definitely kill whoever said that!" I barked, making the guy who spoke actually duck behind his classmate.
Leche. Being compared to Freya was the ultimate insult. I'm a disaster, sure, but I'm a unique disaster!
"I'm serious!" I yelled, looking at each of them. Keifer, Yuri, Felix, Ci-n... one of them was the GagonBaliw who wanted to 'wake up next to me.' The thought made my skin crawl and my heart do that stupid pak-pak thing again.
"If the owner of that phone doesn't speak up in three seconds, I'm going to start throwing chairs! And I'll start with the person who has the most punchable face!"
They all just stared at me.
Silence stretched across the room, but it wasn't the respectful kind. It was the kind of silence that said, "Jay-Jay is finally losing the last two marbles she had left." They looked at me like I was a straight-up crazy person who had just escaped from a mental ward.
I was just about to grab my heavy textbook and see how it looked flying toward Keifer's head when the classroom door swung open with a sharp creak.
"Miss Mariano," Sir Alvin's voice boomed, cutting through my rage like an ice-cold bucket of water. "Is there something happening here I should be aware of? Your voice was loud enough to be heard in the faculty lounge. Are we having a debate, or are you just auditioning for a horror movie?"
I froze, my hand still gripping the edge of my desk so hard my knuckles were white. I could feel the eyes of every guy in Section E burning into my back.
I looked at Sir Alvin, then shot one last, murderous "I-will-end-you" glare at the boys.
Keifer was just leaning back, looking way too smug for my liking.
I slowly shook my head, my jaw tight. "None, Sir," I muttered, my voice sounding like it was being squeezed out of a tube.
"Then sit down and try to keep your... energy... for PE class," Sir said, adjusting his glasses and heading toward the chalkboard.
I slumped back into my chair, feeling the heat of a thousand suns still radiating from my cheeks. I stared straight at the board, but I wasn't seeing any equations. I was seeing the words Wake up next to you naked dancing in front of my eyes.
Gah! My brain wanted to explode.
I reached into my pocket and felt my phone vibrate again. Ding.
I didn't even have to look at it to know it was him. The Ulupong. The GagonBaliw. Whatever his name was, he was winning this round. But as I sat there
I'm going to find out who you are. And when I do, I'm going to make sure your "future" involves a very long stay in a hospital bed.
Just you wait, Asshole. I was already imagining the different ways I could tie a Section E boy into a pretzel when Sir Alvin cleared his throat, snapping me back to reality.
"Okay, Section E. Today we will have a special guest," he announced, tapping his chalk against the table. "He will stay in our section for a little bit. I expect you all to be on your best behavior—though I know that's asking for a miracle."
Ci-N, who can never stay quiet for more than five seconds, raised his hand. "Sir, when will he come?"
"He should come today," Sir explained, checking his watch with a frown. "Maybe he is late."
I didn't really care. Special guest? Psh. Unless it was a professional hitman I could hire to find my mystery texter, I wasn't interested. I stared down at my desk, still fuming, still feeling that "Ulupong" text burning a hole in my pocket.
Just then, the door creaked open.
"Sorry I'm late, Sir," a voice said.
That voice.
It wasn't a voice I expected to hear in this classroom. It was a voice that sent a cold shiver down my spine and made my heart stop, restart, and then try to exit through my throat.
I slowly, slowly lifted my head, my eyes widening until they felt like they were going to pop out and roll across the floor.
Oh shit. For fuck's sake. God.
My jaw didn't just drop; it hit the basement. My brain officially went into blue-screen-of-death mode. Of all the people in the world it had to be him
Leche.
I wanted to disappear. I wanted the floor to open up and swallow me whole. I wanted to turn into a literal barakuda and swim away