Jay-jay's POV
"Thanks, Jay! I'll pay you back right away! Promise!" Drew said to me.
"Just pay me back when you can," I replied.
I'd already given him the money he asked to borrow. As expected, I'm totally broke now. All I have left is my allowance for this week. It'd be nice if Kuya could give me next month's allowance early.
Drew left after saying goodbye. I don't know where he's headed, but I let it go. Maybe he's off to use the money for whatever he needs it for.
I went to the classroom and headed to my seat. I immediately noticed something weird—my chair was gone. It had been replaced with a different one.
I knew my chair. The piece of my skirt that was still stuck to it as a mark.
"Where's my chair?" I asked David.
He didn't say anything but pointed to Keifer's spot at the back. I walked over and checked. Sure enough, my chair was now where the King's chair used to be.
"Why's it here?" I asked Yuri, who was reading his notes.
"I don't know.. it was there when I arrived." He answered me.
I just scratched my head. I couldn't understand the trip of these snakes messing with my throne like this.
Suddenly, someone bumped into me from behind. I almost fell over. I immediately glared at the animal that did that.
Who else? The damn The King of Ulupong.
"Ouch!"
"You're a big obstacle in the way." He replied to me.
I thought he'd sit in his usual spot, but he sat next to it instead. Just like how we were seated yesterday.
"From now on, you'll sit here." Keifer said and Yuri and I looked at him together. "What?!"
"What kind of demon possessed you to come up with that?!" I asked him annoyed.
"No one! Sit down now." He ordered.
I just winced at what this wierdo's nonsense. I just put my bag down and didn't want to argue.
I looked at Ci-N who were busy playing with Eren. I looked at Mayo----our ninja classmate.
It was like the sky had fallen on me. He was so angry and looked at Kit and Josh with a bad look. Maybe they had a fight.
Sir Alvin has arrived so I have returned to my place----my new place. Sir has started teaching.
There were moments when I'd glance at Keifer. I thought he might fall asleep again. But of course, the idiot seemed to have learned his lesson. He was wide awake, glaring at me.
As if I'm doing anything to him…
Back in my old spot, Ci-N and I would sneakily mess around and tease David. But here? I'm either being murdered by Keifer's death glares or ignored by Yuri, who's too busy studying.
He's the diligent one!
I had no choice but to listen to Sir Alvin.
"Where's Drew?" Sir suddenly asked.
I scanned the room—no sign of him. I thought he'd have returned before class started.
"Is he not here?" Sir asked again. "…When he comes in, tell him I need to talk to him."
The snakes nodded in response. Our class with Sir ended, and since our next teacher was absent, chaos broke out as usual.
I was just staring into space when I overheard something intriguing and attention-grabbing.
"That Drew's probably at the gambling den! Just watch!" someone said.
Gambling den?!
Did that guy skip class to gamble? That jerk borrowed money from me. Don't tell me he used it for gambling.
I'll strangle him if that's the case. Oh, no! No way!
"Do you have a problem with someone?" Yuri asked me.
He must've noticed I was getting pissed. It's all because of what I overheard.
"Nothing… I'm just thinking about something."
"Is it about Percy?" Yuri asked directly.
Truth is, I've been trying hard to distract myself from thinking about Percy. I feel like it'll be a while before he contacts me again.
I shook my head and looked at our classmates.
Oh, Percy… What do you really need from me?
Suddenly, my phone rang, and since Percy was on my mind, I grabbed it quickly, hoping it was him calling.
"Hello?" I said as I answered.
["Uhmmm… Jay."] came the reply from the other end.
It was someone else's voice. It sounded familiar, but I couldn't place who it was.
"Who's this?"
["Don't say anything yet, okay? It's Drew, and I need help."]
Well, well! That jerk had the nerve to call me. So he really isn't coming to class today.
"Why?"
["C-can I… Ugh… Can I borrow money again? The money you gave me earlier wasn't enough."]
One of my eyebrows shot up. What's he doing with the money? Maybe they're right—maybe this idiot is gambling.
"Tell me first what you're using it for."
["It's an emergency…"]
"What kind of emergency?"
I heard him take a deep breath, like he wasn't sure whether to tell me or not.
["It's just… I'm at KingsGround right now. Yuri and Keifer know the place, but please don't tell them yet."]
KingsGround?
"Hey... I can't lend you money anymore because I don't have any more money... I'll just find someone to lend you money to." I said and the call suddenly died.
That wasn't rude of you, was it? I was still staring at my phone when I approached Yuri. Drew said he knows where KingsGround is.
"Yuri..." I called out to him. "Where's KingsGround?"
He looked at me seriously, as if I'd just mentioned a bad word.
"Where did you hear about KingsGround?"
"D-Drew called me. He said he's at KingsGround and needs money."
Yuri suddenly clutched his temple, like what I said and this KingsGround place instantly gave him a headache.
He quickly went to his seat and was about to grab his bag, but I stopped him.
"Hey! What are you doing?!"
"I'm going to pick up Drew… The place he went to is dangerous."
I grabbed my bag right away. "I'm coming with you…"
"No… Stay here. It's too dangerous."
"I'm coming!" I insisted.
Yuri had no choice. He whispered something to Edrix before pulling me along to leave.
I thought we were headed to the parking lot where their cars were, but we went straight to the gate instead.
He hailed a taxi. Once we got in, he mentioned a place that wasn't familiar to me.
"Listen… No matter what happens, don't let go of me," he ordered.
I nodded. I had a sinking feeling that the place we were going to was really dangerous. Suddenly, I felt nervous.
We'd been in the taxi for a few minutes. We were already far from the residential area. Now, I could see large, old buildings.
If I'm not mistaken, this is the area with a lot of bars and beer houses. I'd heard about this place from Rory before.
The taxi stopped in front of what looked like the largest and oldest building of them all. We got out, and I instinctively clung to Yuri.
I'm not judging, but the people here seemed… off. There was a woman whose chest was practically spilling out. There was a huge guy smoking a cigarette.
Yuri and I walked. We went to the side of the building. We stopped in front of a closed metal door.
Yuri banged on it loudly. The door opened, and we were greeted by—Chitae? The guy in front of us looked a lot like Chitae.
"Yuri boy! You dropped by!" the guy said.
He knows Yuri?
"Is Tiger there?" Yuri asked him.
Tiger? What kind of name is that?
"He's in there, of course! Come on in!" the guy said, letting us through.
We walked down a narrow hallway. The only light came from the Exit sign. It was a long walk until we reached another door.
Is this a disco?
The music was blaring. People were dancing, and the smell of alcohol was overwhelming. There were women on stage, dancing, some without tops.
What the heck?
Yuri tightened his grip on my hand. We kept walking until we reached a metal staircase. We hadn't even climbed three steps when we were suddenly blocked by some huge guys.
"No high schoolers allowed here!" one of them said.
"Let us through! Don't you know who I am?!" Yuri said angrily.
The guys chuckled slightly. "You, yeah! But the one with you, no!"
"Let us pass unless you want trouble here!" Yuri threatened, making the guys' brows furrow.
"You don't get to give orders—"
"Yuri!" someone shouted from the top of the stairs.
He was wearing a tiger-print jacket and shades, with corn-colored hair. He looked like the guy who sang Pen-Pineapple-Apple-Pen.
He signaled to the guys blocking us, and they immediately stepped aside to let us through.
"Yuri! Yuri! Yuri!" the guy said to Yuri, looking like he was about to hug him.
"Where's Drew?" Yuri asked directly.
The guy grinned at us and motioned for us to follow him inside. Though I felt hesitant, we went in.
It was like an office, with glass walls that let you see the people dancing outside.
We saw Drew on the sofa. He was quiet, clearly a bit scared.
"Drew…" I called out to him.
He looked up and was shocked to see me and Yuri. But before he could say anything, the corn-haired guy put a hand on his shoulder.
"You have a girl friend? I thought Section E was all guys," he said, looking at me.
I instinctively hid behind Yuri. The guy's vibe was so creepy.
"Don't be scared… I'm Tiger, the owner of this place. And you are?" he said, circling us.
"J-jay-jay…" I answered.
"Nice to meet you…" he said to me before sitting next to Drew.
Drew looked a bit startled, but that wasn't what worried me about him. It was obvious from his expression that he wanted to get out of here and was practically begging us to help.
"So, what do you need?" Tiger asked us.
"Drew… How much does he owe you? I'll pay for it," Yuri said.
"Pay is my favorite word. Thing is, I'm not asking for money anymore. You know that? You used to hang around here," Tiger replied.
I glanced at Yuri. Yuri used to hang out in this place? With the way this place looks, how did he stand it?
"Drew can't handle that," Yuri responded to Tiger.
"Who said anything about Drew? You said you'd pay…"
Tiger stood up and quickly opened the door near his office table. "…You know what to do… Otherwise, that girl you brought with you will pay for what this guy did," he said, pointing at Drew.
He went into the room, leaving the three of us behind. Honestly, I wasn't scared of him. I just couldn't help but think about what he said.
"Yuri… What did he mean when he said you used to hang out here?" I started.
"Jay… Let's not talk about that right now," he replied.
He seemed flustered, clearly frustrated with the situation.
"Why don't you just say it's because of Ella that you ended up hanging out here?" Drew said.
Yuri and I both froze, exchanging looks.
What did Drew mean by that?