Jay's POV:
We waved goodbye to Elara, watched her disappear inside, and the moment the car doors shut, Rory already had his phone out.
Rory: "Calling Keifer. Now."
He put it on video call, propped it between the seats.
Keifer's face appeared, tired but sharp, London lights behind him.
Keifer: "Report."
Chaos instantly exploded. Everyone tried speaking at once-
Felix: "Grandma was nice-"
Eman: "Vegetarian food-"
David: "Mall funny-"
JJ: "Her house normal-"
Yuri: "Calix acting weird-"
CN: "I ate too many samosas-"
Keifer blinked once. Twice.
Keifer: "One at a time."
But nobody listened, voices overlapping like a broken radio.
Then, in the middle of all that noise-Calix leaned forward. Quiet. Serious
.
He didn't shout. Just whispered, but it sliced through the chaos like a blade.
Calix: "Lamborghini Veneno."
Everything stopped.
Like someone pressed pause on reality.
Even Keifer leaned closer to the screen.
Keifer: "...What?"
Calix swallowed
.
Calix: "Near her house. Parked behind her neighbour's place. I saw it when we were leaving. It... it was definitely a Veneno."
Silence again. The kind where your heartbeat is suddenly too loud.
Rory turned to him, eyes wide.
Rory: "Are you sure? That car-"
Yuri rubbed his face, muttering like he just aged ten years.
Yuri: "There are five in the world. Five. That car is basically... impossible."
Everyone started throwing assumptions like grenades:
Felix: "Maybe someone super rich moved there?"
Josh: "Maybe a politician? Mafia?"
Eman: "Some secret royal?"
David: "Or maybe it's just visiting-like a guest?"
CN: "What if someone in that neighborhood is actually insanely rich but hiding?"
My mind was racing-
Her house looked normal. Her life looked normal. Nothing fit.
Back on screen, Keifer exhaled slowly, eyes narrowing like he was connecting invisible dots.
Keifer: "Don't assume anything. A car near her house doesn't mean it's hers. Or that she's connected to it."
He paused. Voice low. Firm.
Keifer: "Ask her tomorrow. Directly."
Everyone went still.
Rory: "Directly?"
Keifer: "Yes. Ask like it's casual. Friendly. Notice her expression. Her reaction. Her words."
His gaze sharpened.
Keifer: "And don't let her feel cornered. If she's hiding something, she'll close off. If she's innocent, she'll answer normally."
Another pause.
Keifer: "...Just be observant. Listen more than you talk."
Yuri nodded.
Yuri: "Copy."
Keifer leaned back, voice steady but colder than before.
Keifer: "I'll handle things here. You all handle school. Tomorrow... we see what that Veneno really means."
The call ended.
No one spoke for a full minute.
The car felt different now-like air got heavier.
Me (JJ), internally:
I thought today was just a normal visit. Grandma's jokes. Vegetarian lunch. Mall snacks.
But now... a Veneno? Five in the world?
What are we stepping into?
I pulled my seatbelt tighter.
Tomorrow isn't normal anymore.
Not even close.
Next day______
The next day hit like Monday -violent and unasked for.
Section E walked into school together, still buzzing from yesterday's trip to Elara's place.
No call from Keifer.
No updates.
Nothing.
My phone stayed silent, like it was mocking me.
We entered the classroom. Our teacher, Mrs. Fortuna-the human version of expired coffee-walked in like she had vengeance in her blood.
"Class," she announced, adjusting her glasses like they weighed her entire future,
"your exams will begin next week."
A collective gasp. Someone in the back theatrically fainted. Rory cursed under his breath. Calix dropped his pen like his dreams just shattered.
Rory leaned in toward us.
"This is it. We're dead. I'll leave flowers at all your funerals."
Denzel snorted. "Leave pizza. I want pizza in the afterlife."
Edrix looked like he was already crying internally.
Exams weren't for everyone. Especially not for Section E except some bright ones, the unofficial chaos department.
During break, we circled our benches like a war council.
Section E Meeting 101:
No leader (officially)
Rory acts like leader
I am accidental leader
Yuri is silent beach
Kit is braincell (on rent)
Edrix is... present (barely)
"No call from Keifer?" Felix asked, looking at me.
I shook my head. "Nothing."
Rory nodded, jaw tight. "Then we decide. We handle everything on our own."
That should've scared me.
It didn't.
Elara walked in then.
Quiet.
Cold.
That same sigma aura like she was carved from marble and sharp edges.
She sat in her seat like royalty who didn't need a throne.
Rory waved like an idiot.
She blinked once - acknowledgement.
That was progress.
We talked about random school things. Homework. Maths. Someone threw chalk. Someone got hit.
"Okay, we need to talk to her," Rory muttered, leaning over my desk.
Kit nodded aggressively. "Yes. Ask. ANYONE. Before I faint."
"You faint if someone breathes aggressively near you," I mumble.
Calix shrugs, eyes dark like he didn't sleep. "You ask."
"No, YOU," I shoot back.
Eman stretches his arms like he's preparing for a marathon. "We need a volunteer."
We all stare at each other.
One second.
Two.
Three.
Our gazes collectively land on Felix.
Felix - boy whose villain origin story is a butterfly landing on him once.
He stiffens. "No."
Rory grins. "Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
We all nod like psychos.
He looks like he's about to cry.
Elara sits down.
Window light hits her face like she was drawn, not born.
I don't know what she's thinking.
No one does.
That's the thing with her - she looks like she knows things we haven't learned to fear yet.
If I had to describe it:
She's the ocean at night.
Beautiful.
Still.
And maybe you drown if you get too close.
"Okay," mayo whispers. "On three, we push Felix."
Felix panics. "WAIT-"
"Three."
"THERE WAS NO ONE AND TWO-"
We push.
He stumbles forward like a regretful bowling ball.
THUD.
He crashes into the desk next to hers. The sound echoes like a gunshot in a church.
Elara slowly turns her head.
Her eyes land on Felix.
That's it.
That's enough to freeze him entirely.
Elara: "...what happened?"
Her voice is neutral.
Flat like water before a storm.
Felix's mouth opens.
Nothing comes out.
Behind him, we're all crouched:
Yuri gripping the edge of a desk, Rory biting his sleeve, Denzel whispering Hail Marys like a telenovela grandma.
I smack Rory. "MOUTH. WORDS. USE THEM."
"ASK ABOUT THE CAR," Yuri mouths.
"NO DON'T," Calix hisses. "TOO DIRECT-"
"We need to just TALK first," Eman insists.
Felix, somehow, finds breath.
"I- um- h... ho- how are you... ate?"
Silence.
The kind that rearranges bones.
Elara studies him.
Not in a cruel way.
Just... like she's measuring the question for honesty.
Then she looks forward, eyes back to the window.
"I'm fine."
But the way she says it-
like fine means surviving.
Like fine means don't worry about what you can't see.
Like fine means there are stories in me that would break you.
Felix backs away like she's radioactive, trips over his own shoes, and returns to us like a traumatized war survivor.
He hides behind me. "I did it. I almost died. Are you happy?"
"No," Yuri sighs. "Ask her about-"
Rory elbows him. Hard.
"Oi. Not yet."
We peek again.
Elara is looking out the window, headphones now in, focusing on something miles away.
But no one dared mention yesterday.
Or her neighbourhood.
Or the car.
We were... almost normal.
✦ Lunch Break ✦
Canteen smelled like boiled tragedy.
Edrix sat across from me, stabbing his food like it insulted his lineage.
Freya was on the other side of the cafeteria, hair perfect, flipping through a magazine.
She looked like she could start her own perfume brand by just breathing.
Then Rory slid next to me, panic all over his face.
"Jay."
"What?" "Edrix doesn't want to tell Freya." My fork paused.
"Tell her what?" Rory gave me a face. The face.
The he-loves-her-like-a-wounded-puppy face.
I groaned. "Seriously? Still?!"
Edrix mumbled, voice low, "If exams start and I fail, at least I'll fail quietly. Heartbreak-free."
We forgot she was there.
Elara.
Our heads were practically forming a wall behind her.
Then her voice cut through.
"I can hear everything, you know."
We froze.
Turned.
She raised a brow.
"Better to tell me properly. Maybe I can help."
Silence.
Shock.
Rory dropped his straw.
We explained everything.
Our plan. Our fear. Our stupidity.
Elara listened like someone watching amateurs attempt brain surgery.
Then she nodded once - like a queen granting permission.
"Fine. I'll help. But you will listen carefully."
We did.
She leaned in, voice crisp and calm.
"Rory, take Edrix to the top floor. Lock the door from inside. Make him stand on the railing. Put earphones in his ears when I say. No questions."
Rory stiffened. "Okay, military operation, ma'am-"
"Jay, you come with me."
My stomach did a weird flip.
"Elara continued, "Tell Section E that Edrix is going to jump. Drama only. Not real. They will join him. Some on top floor, banging the door. Some on the ground. Signal him. Make noise."
I choked. "Wait-like... fake suicide?!"
She nodded.
Casual. Like she was ordering groceries.
"And send a few near Freya. Say he's doing this because the girl he loves doesn't love him back."
Rory blinked slowly.
"...That's evil. I like it."
I stared at her.
"You planned that in two minutes?"
She didn't look at me.
"I've seen people do worse."
My heart stung.
But I nodded.
"Let's go."
✦ Operation: MAKE FREYA REALISE ✦
Chaos.
Pure chaos.
Rory dragged Edrix upstairs.
Door slammed.
Locked.
From the hallway we could hear-
"WHY AM I ON THE RAILING-RORY I SWEAR TO GOD-"
Calix ran around the corridor like a man possessed.
"HE'S GONNA JUMP-!!"
David banged the door. Yeah he don't want to buy can't deny my puppy face .
Felix screamed in slow motion.
Denzel was fake crying so hard even I believed him.
I cornered Freya, panting.
"Freya! He-he's on the roof! Because of YOU!, the person whose love letters I was passing was him....."
She froze.
Magazine fell from her hands.
Face drained of colour.
"What?"
"He loves you," I blurted. "And he thinks you don't. And he-he's dramatic-just GO!"
Freya didn't hesitate.
She RAN.
Like her heels were sprinting for their lives.
We followed.
Top floor.
She pushed through us.
"Move!"
Rory saw her.
He unlocked the door.
Freya stormed in, eyes glassy.
"EDRIX!"
He turned.
Confused.
Earphones blasting sad music.
"Wha-Freya?"
She marched to him, yanked him off the railing, pulled him into her arms.
"You idiot. I like you. I liked you .
If you jump, I'll kill you myself!"
Section E exploded.
"CONFESS! CONFESS!" they chanted.
Edrix stared at her like she hung the moon.
"I-uh-I like you too."
"LOUDER!" Felix screamed.
Edrix tried again. "I LIKE YOU-"
Section e roared "kiss kiss kiss..."
He hesitated and then something unexpectedly happened,
Freya kissed him.
The hallway ERUPTED.
Screaming.
Crying.
Someone fainted.
Probably Felix.
✦ Back in Class ✦
We all march back to our class.
Teacher caught us.
"All of you. Outside. Hands up."
We stood outside. Got punishment.
Hands up.
Sweating.
Rory whispered, "Worth it."
Ci en nodded, smiling. "Best punishment of my life."
Edrix and Freya stood side by side.
Hands up.
Blushing.
Elara watched us all.
Expression unreadable.
Section E shoved me forward.
"ASK HER," Rory hissed.
I swallowed.
Walked to her.
"Elara... about yesterday.
"What?"
"The car. We saw a car , expensive car near yr house...."
Silence.
Her eyes flickered.
A storm under calm water.
Finally, she spoke.
"That was the owner of the locality."
David shocked " what owner of locality "
"Yeah"
He visits. Sometimes. For renovation. Or surveillance. I don't know."
We stared.
"The whole locality," she continued, "is owned by one individual. Private. Not government. "
My breath hitched.
Denzel whispered, "That rich...?"
Elara looked away.
My stomach dropped.
Rory stopped breathing.
Edrix and Freya exchanged a look.
Something cold slithered down my spine.
This wasn't over.
Not even close.