chapter 389

The classroom was louder than a mall food court on half-price milk tea day. I swear, if the walls of Section E had ears, they would’ve already begged for noise-canceling headphones.

And—yes, me but in my twin-version self—was standing on a chair, arms stretched like he was about to deliver a sermon to all of us poor sinners.

“Section E, attention! Today’s the day we finally crown the Uno King! Anyone who loses has to bark like a dog and roll on the floor.”

Groans, cheers, and one dramatic gasp filled the room.Ci-N was already pulling out his Uno deck like he’d been waiting for this day since birth. Felix clutched his bag to his chest, mumbling,

“I’m not rolling on the floor. My uniform is clean.”

“Don’t worry, Felix,” Drew smirked, shuffling the deck out of Ci-N’s hands like a magician. “You’re going to lose so badly, you’ll roll voluntarily.”

“Boooo, cheater energy!” Rory called out, tossing a crumpled piece of paper at Drew. It missed and landed perfectly on Edrix’s head, who didn’t even notice because he was too busy writing something in his laptop.

Poor always busy with that and can't pay attention to Freya.

Meanwhile, Josh had somehow found the class guitar and strummed a dramatic intro tune like this was a movie. “Let the games begin!”

I laughed so hard I nearly spilled my iced coffee, which—yes—I smuggled into school despite Kuya Angelo’s very clear “No caffeine, Jay Jay, or you’ll start rapping at 2 a.m.” rule.

It felt… good. Really good.

For the first time in days, I let myself forget about that list. The one that whispered Keifer’s name in red ink and haunted me like a nightmare I couldn’t wake up from. For now, I shoved it into the corner of my brain and drowned it out with my friends’ chaos.

Keifer plopped down beside me, brushing against my shoulder like it was casual. Too casual. His stupidly perfect grin was dangerous enough to send my heart into overtime lag.

Huhuhu!

“Bet you can’t win against me, Mrs watson.”

“Oh please,” I scoffed, throwing him a mock glare for being a ass and calling what??. “You cheat at Uno the same way you cheat at rock-paper-scissors.”

“Correction,” Keifer smirked. “I strategize.”

That’s when Felix suddenly shrieked. “Who put a +4 card under my notebook?!”

The whole class burst out laughing, except Keifer, who leaned in closer to whisper, his breath warm against my ear.“I don’t need a +4 to beat you.”

My brain? Fried. My soul? Gone. My body? Betrayed me with goosebumps.

And then, because fate apparently loved making me suffer, Keifer grabbed my wrist, pulled me a little closer, and—bam—

kissed me right there in the middle of the noisy classroom.

I froze for half a millisecond before my brain screamed, respond, Jay Jay, or look like a stunned goldfish. So yeah, I kissed him back, right as Rory and Ci-N both yelled,

“OOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” like background cheerleaders.

We broke apart, breathless, and Keifer looked like he’d just won a championship trophy.“One,” he whispered with a cocky smirk.

I narrowed my eyes. “Excuse me?”

“One out of four,” he repeated, tapping my nose. “I told you I’d get my four kisses today.”

I shoved him playfully. “You’re dreaming. That counted for half a kiss at best.”

“You can’t divide kisses, Jay Jay.”

“Oh yes, I can,” I said, laughing as I turned back to the chaos of the Uno table.

But of course, Keifer wasn’t done. Later, when I was leaning over to help Felix figure out why he kept getting skipped every round, Keifer tugged me back by the collar and kissed me again—quick, sharp, stolen.

“Two,” he whispered, triumphant.

I gasped, smacking his arm. “You absolute—ugh!”

My laughter bubbled out anyway, mixing with the sound of Drew screaming “REVERSE!” and ci-n yelling “NOOO!” like someone just killed his favorite anime character.

For a while, I was happy. Like genuinely happy.

But happiness in my life is like cafeteria siomai—you enjoy it fast before someone steals it.

Because later that afternoon, as the others were still bickering over the “real Uno champion,” Yuri cornered me by the window.

“Jay Jay.” His voice was low, too serious, like the silence before a storm.

I swallowed, hugging my books to my chest. “What?”

“whats up with you?” His eyes pierced mine, dark and knowing.

My chest tightened. “what?”

“The list.” His jaw clenched. “That’s why you’ve been avoiding me.”

I froze, caught. My tongue felt heavy, but I forced myself to look away, pretending to fuss with my locker. “You’re imagining things.”

“Don’t lie to me.” He stepped closer, his voice sharper now. “I know you, Jay Jay. I know when you’re scared. And you’ve been scared ever since you found it.”

The air between us was thick, suffocating. My nails dug into my books.“So what if I am?” My voice cracked. “So what if I am scared?”

His silence was deafening.

“You don’t understand,” I whispered, finally meeting his eyes. “I can’t—”

“You think I don’t understand?” Yuri snapped, then his tone broke, still desperate. “I said I won’t kill my best friend, Jay Jay. Do you hear me? I won’t.”

My breath hitched. Keifer’s name screamed in my head, but I bit my lip so hard it hurt.

“You can’t promise that,” I whispered, my voice trembling. “Not when everything says you will.”

His eyes burned with something I couldn’t name—anger, pain,all of it rolled together.“Then trust me instead of a stupid piece of paper,” he growled.

But trust? That was the one thing I couldn’t give freely anymore.

And just like that, the playful noise of Section E felt a million miles away.

And my heart heavy as a iron gavel.