JAY-JAY POV
Everything went by fast.
Too fast.
One minute I was eighteen, in a hospital bed, clutching a newborn with trembling hands and a heart full of fear—barely a sophomore in college.
Now I'm twenty-two.
A lawyer.
A mother.
Raising my son alone.
Keth.
My son.
My shadow.
My light.
I still remember the silence of that hospital room.
The ache in my body.
The weight of everything I'd lost.
And the moment I looked down at him and whispered, "It's just you and me."
I meant it.
Every word.
We've built a life since then in Massachusetts
Messy.
Chaotic.
Beautiful.
Keth is four now.
Loud. Curious. Stubborn just like me.
He looks like Keifer but his behavior is mine
He loves dinosaurs and mangoes, lollipops and of course chocolates and asks "why" five hundred times a day.
He sleeps with his fists curled like he did as a baby.
He calls me "Mama" like it's the most natural thing in the world.
Sometimes I catch him looking at me with Keifer's eyes.
And it stops me cold.
I wanted to tell Keifer about him.
So many times.
But I was scared.
Scared he wouldn't accept him.
Scared he'd look at Keth and see a mistake.
So I stayed quiet.
I thought about going back.
To Percy.
To Mama.
To Papa.
To Section E
To Kuya Aneglo
To Aries
To Tita Gemma
But I couldn't.
Not yet.
I didn't have the strength to face the silence.
The disappointment.
The questions I wasn't ready to answer.
So I stayed away.
Built a life from scratch.
I worked through law school with Keth asleep beside me, textbooks balanced on my lap, ramen in the microwave.
I missed them.
Every day.
But I chose this.
I chose Keth.
I chose myself.
Miss Delaney was there when I needed her.
She babysat Keth during my exams.
She made sure I ate.
She reminded me that kindness doesn't always come from blood.
We're still close.
She has a granddaughter, Lily.
Her parents died young, but Lily behaves like my own sister.
They're from the Philippines and speak Tagalog, sing lullabies to Keth, and teach him words
Miss.Delaney even invited me to live with them once.
But I didn't accept.
Not because I didn't want to.
Because I didn't want to be a burden to anyone.
And even if I never walk through that front door again—
Even if Mama never braids my hair again, Even if Percy never forgives me—
I know I did something brave.
I became a mother.
I became a lawyer.
I became someone who didn't disappear.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
KEIFER POV
I've been searching for her.
For Jay-Jay.
For the girl who left without a word and took something I didn't even know I'd lost.
I've checked every where
But she is good at hiding
Every college registry.
Every whisper of her name.
Section E still talks.
We still check in.
But it's quiet without Jay.
Ci-N cracks fewer jokes.
David's softer now, like he's holding something in.
Felix keeps touch with Percy he kept asking for her
Even Mayo's chaos feels muted.
Angelo and Aries knew she left the house but not the part where she is pregnant
Denzel named his daughter Grazel Jay.
Said it was the least he could do. Said Jay taught him how to be brave.
Sometimes I think about the kid.
Ours.
The one she never told me about, not directly.
Was it a boy?
A girl?
Did they have her eyes?
My laugh?
I imagine them sometimes.
Tiny hands.
Curious eyes.
Calling her "Mama" like it's the only word that matters.
I wonder if they know about me.
If she told them.
If she whispered my name in the dark when they couldn't sleep.
I want to know.
I want to see them.
But I'm scared.
What if she never forgives me?
What if I'm too late?
Still— I keep searching.
Because Jay-Jay was never just a girl I loved.
She was home.
And somewhere out there, she's raising a piece of me.
Section e and my brothers we're going to Massachusetts tomorrow for a trip
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
KEIFER POV
*IN MASSUCHETS*
The Mariano house felt like a museum.
Every corner carried her ghost—
the lavender in her room, the stack of books left untouched, the way her stepmother kept the door closed like it was sacred ground.
I stood outside it more than once.
Never went in.
Couldn't.
"Keif," Rory said, poking his head into the living room, "we're going to the café down the street. You coming?"
I nodded.
I needed air.
Needed distraction.
Needed something that didn't feel like regret.
Section E was here too.
And Aries.
Not just the boys— their partners had come along, weaving themselves into our chaos.
Edrix and Freya.
Don't ask. It was a whole thing.
They fought like hackers and poets, but somehow it worked.
Calix brought Mica.
She was quiet, but her eyes missed nothing.
The way she looked at Calix—like she saw the boy under the athlete, the one who carried everyone else's weight.
Denzel was with Grace.
They had Grazel Jay, their daughter.
Named after the girl we all missed.
She had Denzel's stubbornness, Grace's laugh.
And every time I heard her name, it felt like a knife and a prayer at once.
Ci-N showed up with Rakki.
The kid's planning to propose when he turns 22.
He's got a whole plan.
Ci-N pretends not to know, but he's already saving screenshots of their texts like they're sacred.
Aries was with Ella, as always they are engaged now
Angelo and Ion yeah he is here to because Ion forced him to come
It's funny because everyday he is with us he looks like he regretted his life decisions
Percy and Honey—another miracle. Married now.
Honey's pregnant 2 months
Percy's on cloud nine, grinning like he's finally found the piece of himself he thought he'd lost.
We're older now.
Still chaotic.
Still loud.
But there's a gap in the middle of us.
A Jay-shaped silence.
We came to Massachusetts for a break.
That's what we told ourselves.
But we all knew the truth.
We came to find her.
To feel close to her.
To maybe, just maybe, hear her name again.
And as we walked toward the café, I couldn't shake the feeling—
that the silence was about to break.
We all put in our orders.
Sat down.
Laughed like we always did, though it felt thinner without her.
We were waiting—just another café stop on another trip.
Then I heard it.
"Japsher Jean," the barista called.
The name cut through the hum of espresso machines and chatter. We all froze.
Ci-N's cup halfway to his lips.
Calix's hand tightening around Mica's.
Denzel looked up so fast he nearly knocked over Grazel's juice.
Even Percy went still, his smile fading.
Blaster, Drew and Josh and Yuri
All of them looking around to find her
Japsher Jean. Jay-Jay.
My chest tightened.
It couldn't be coincidence.
It couldn't be anyone else.
I looked around the café, scanning faces, searching for her.
For the girl who left without a word.
For the shadow I'd been chasing for years.
And for the first time in forever— her name wasn't just a memory.
It was here.
Alive.
Close enough to touch.
And then I saw her.
She moved through the crowd, quiet, steady, like she'd been doing this her whole life—
slipping past people without being noticed.
She picked up her order, head down, hair falling across her face.
Jay-Jay.
My chest tightened.
Four years of searching, of dead ends, of silence—
and there she was.
Alive.
Here.
Close enough to touch.
She didn't look at us.
Didn't hesitate.
She just headed for the door, her cup in hand, like she couldn't risk being seen.
"Jay…" I whispered, too soft for anyone but me to hear.
Ci-N's eyes widened.
Calix half-rose from his seat.
Denzel grabbed Grace's hand.
Aries and Angelo and Percy went still, their smiles fading like the air had been sucked out of the room.
I stood.
We all did.
By the time we pushed through the café doors, she was already outside.
Already moving.
Already slipping away.
Jay-Jay.
She was getting into her car, head down, shoulders tense, she only does that when she is stressed out about something
Like she'd felt the weight of our silence pressing against her back.
Too late.
Not really.
Because I saw it.
Her car number.
Clear.
Sharp.
Burned into my memory.
That was enough.
Enough to trace her.
Enough to follow the trail she thought she'd erased.
Enough to find her.
To find my Jay.
I stood there on the sidewalk, heart pounding, the others frozen behind me.
For four years she'd been a ghost.
A rumor.
A name whispered in group chats.
And now— I had proof.
I had something real.
I wasn't letting go this time.
Not again.
Not ever.