Keifer’s pov: The campus was almost empty by the time we gathered behind the gym.
The evening sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows across the cracked pavement.
The usual noise of students had faded into the distance, leaving behind an odd kind of silence.
It should’ve felt peaceful.
Instead…
It was suffocating.
Felix sat on top of the concrete table, lazily bouncing a basketball against the ground.
Rory leaned against a tree with his headphones hanging around his neck, though he wasn’t listening to anything.
Blaster and Drew stood nearby, talking in voices much quieter than usual.
Denzel scrolled through his phone, stopping every few seconds to glance in my direction before pretending he hadn’t.
Edrix rested against the brick wall with his arms folded.
No one seemed to know what to say.
Neither did I.
I dropped my bag beside the bench and sat down, elbows resting on my knees.
The image replayed again.
Jay stumbling.
Her eyes widening.
The shove.
The look she’d given me afterward.
I shut my eyes.
What’s worse worse was that her lips lingered.
It was soft.
Pink.
Tempting.
The urge to kiss her felt even worse.
“You crossed a line today.” Yuri.
His voice wasn’t loud.
It didn’t need to be.
Every conversation stopped.
I looked at him without changing my expression.
“So?” “So?” He stared at me as if he couldn’t believe I’d answered like that.
“That’s all you’ve got?” I shrugged.
“What do you want me to say?” “The truth.” “I already told the truth.” “It was an accident.” Yuri took a slow breath.
“The kiss was.” He paused.
“Drop the plan keifer.
We don’t need this revenge.” His eyes darkened.
I laughed.
“Don’t you want revenge?” He sighed.
“I do!
But not in this way.” “Did you see how Aries pulled her away?” I smirked.
“He cares for her.
If I break her heart!
He will definitely care!” Yuri’s face flashed with disappointment.
“You don’t know who your messing with keifer.” He said quietly, almost sounding tired.
Before I could ask.
He turned and walked away.
********************************************* Jay’s POV By the time I pulled out of the school parking lot, my head was pounding.
The radio was off.
The windows were rolled up.
The only sound inside the BMW was the steady hum of the engine and my own uneven breathing.
I should’ve been thinking about homework.
About Marcus.
About Kate.
Instead, my mind kept dragging me back to the gym.
Again.
And again.
And again.
I tightened my grip on the steering wheel until my fingers ached.
“Damn it…” The words slipped out through gritted teeth.
I hated that it kept replaying.
Not because I missed it.
Not because it meant anything.
But because it shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
If Keifer had just let me walk away…
If he’d kept his hands to himself…
None of it would’ve happened.
I let out a frustrated breath, my foot pressing a little harder against the accelerator before I forced myself to ease off.
Getting into a car accident because of him would only make today worse.
The image flashed through my mind without warning.
His hand wrapping around my wrist.
The sudden jerk that threw me off balance.
The collision.
The stunned look on both our faces.
I immediately shoved the memory away.
“No.” I smacked the steering wheel once with the palm of my hand.
“I’m not thinking about it.” But my mind refused to listen.
What truly infuriated me wasn’t the accident itself.
Accidents happened.
People tripped.
People bumped into each other.
That wasn’t the problem.
The problem was that he had decided—without a second thought—that he could stop me by grabbing me.
As if he had that right.
As if my choice to walk away didn’t matter.
That thought alone made my stomach twist.
By tomorrow morning, the story would spread through the entire school.
Nobody would talk about how he lost his temper.
Nobody would remember that I’d been trying to leave.
They’d remember one thing.
One stupid, humiliating moment.
Rumors had a way of swallowing the truth whole.
I already knew how this would go.
Some people would insist it had been intentional.
Others would swear they saw something that wasn’t there.
By lunchtime, the story would probably have changed five different times.
The thought exhausted me.
I pulled into the driveway a little harder than I meant to, the tires crunching over the gravel before the security gates slid closed behind me.
The mansion stood exactly as it always had.
Elegant.
Quiet.
Safe.
Usually, the moment I came home, the weight on my shoulders felt lighter.
Today…
It followed me through the front door.
One of the maids greeted me with her usual warm smile.
“Welcome home, Miss Jay.” I barely looked up.
“Thanks.” My voice sounded flat.
Even to me.
I didn’t give her the chance.
I slipped off my shoes and walked straight toward the living room, tossing my car keys onto the coffee table a little harder than necessary.
The sharp clatter echoed through the room.
Sakura looked up from the couch almost immediately.
Her laptop rested on her lap, forgotten the second she saw my face.
She studied me quietly for a few seconds.
“…What happened?” I didn’t answer.
Instead, I began pacing across the room.
One end.
Then the other.
My hands disappeared into my hair before falling back to my sides.
I couldn’t stay still.
Every nerve in my body felt on edge.
Sakura closed her laptop and set it aside.
“Jay.” Still nothing.
She stood and walked over, stopping only a few feet away.
“You’ve been home for less than a minute.” She smiled gently.
“And you’ve already worn a path into the floor.” A humorless laugh escaped me.
“I might actually kill him.” That wiped the smile from her face.
“…Keifer?” I nodded once.
“What happened this time?” I let out a slow breath, but it did nothing to calm me.
“He tripped me during warm-ups.” “You tripped him back.” I glanced at her.
“You already know me too well.” She gave the smallest shrug.
“It seemed like something you’d do.” “It was.” I crossed my arms tightly over my chest.
“He got pissed.” “And?” I closed my eyes for a brief moment.
“When I walked away…” My voice caught.
“…he grabbed my wrist.” The room fell silent.
When I looked back at Sakura, every trace of amusement had disappeared from her expression.
“He what?” “He grabbed me.” I swallowed hard.
“I lost my balance.” “I stumbled.” “And we collided.” I left it there for a second, as though saying less would somehow make the memory smaller.
Sakura understood anyway.
“…The whole school saw?” I nodded.
A bitter laugh escaped me.
“Yeah.” “I can already hear tomorrow’s gossip.” “They won’t care how it happened.” “They’ll only care that it happened.” I turned away from her, resting both hands on the back of the couch.
“You know what makes me so angry?” I didn’t wait for an answer.
“It wasn’t my choice.” My voice had grown quieter.
Steadier.
“I chose to walk away.” “I chose not to keep arguing.” “And he took that choice away from me the second he grabbed my wrist.” I stared out the window.
“I don’t get angry because someone bumps into me.” “I get angry when someone decides my boundaries don’t matter.” The words hung heavily in the room.
“I’ve spent years protecting Marcus and Kate.” “I’ve spent years making sure they know nobody has the right to make them feel powerless.” A small, bitter smile crossed my face.
“And today…” “I hated that feeling myself.” For the first time since I’d walked through the front door…
My voice cracked.
Just a little.
Sakura closed the distance between us without saying a word.
She rested a gentle hand on my shoulder.
“You didn’t do anything wrong.” I let out a long, exhausted breath.
“I know.” “But it still feels like I’m the one who’s going to pay for it.” She squeezed my shoulder reassuringly.
“People will talk.” “They always do.” “But gossip fades.” She waited until I looked at her.
“You don’t have to carry their version of what happened.” “You know the truth.” I held her gaze for a long moment before nodding.
“…I’m still furious.” “I know.” “And if he thinks I’m just going to pretend today never happened…” A cold smile slowly spread across my face.
“…he’s about to have the worst week of his life.” Sakura sighed, already recognizing that look.
“I was hoping you’d say you’d ignore him.” I raised an eyebrow.
“You’ve known me for how many years?” She couldn’t help but laugh.
“…Fair point.” – – – – Words: 1477 17+ comments