It was 8:30 in the evening and the sun had already disappeared behind the mountains. The street lights had been flickered on an hour ago and innumerable houses and buildings were lit up by different sorts of lights —allowing the citizens to continue with their busy lives.

Jay, a girl of 18 years tried to do the same when suddenly her cell starts ringing. She was hunched down on her small study table — in the process of completing her school work.

Without looking up from her notebook, Jay felt along the table through the pile of books and papers and rescued her cell with her free hand. "et ipse mortuus est." She murmured as she wrote it down on the paper.

When the phone continued to ring, she sighed and then looked up at the caller ID to see an unfamiliar number. Rolling her eyes, she pressed the declined button and then threw her cell back onto the pile.

She ignored it when it rung again and again, but when it rung the sixth time, she rubbed her forehead with her free hand, annoyed. She could no longer concertante. Tossing away her pen in a random direction, she angrily answered the call. "Yes?!"

A guy answered from the other side. "E-Evening miss." He stuttered at first, as if he wasn't expecting Jay to pick up his call but then a second later he continued to talk confidently. "This is Louis from the Pizza Hut. Is this Mrs. Hernandez?"

"No! This isn't Mrs. Hernandez! This an old lady who's cat just died!" Jay half yelled. "So let me mourn in peace!" And with that she hung up the call.

After tossing away her cell to the side, Jay pulled her Latin language book and a notebook towards her while pushing away the other books that were scattered on the table. Everything was ready for her to go back to her work except for the part where she couldn't find her pen.

"Ugh!" She smacked her forehead, remembering that she had threw it away in anger. Getting up from her chair, she looked around for her pen when on a reflex, she whipped her head was towards the table when she heard her cell ringing again.

Frowning, Jay shook her head and decided to ignore it, again. She bent down and pulled up the bed sheets only to find her pen laying not too far away.

Sighing, she reached her hand and grabbed hold of the pen when suddenly her cell started ringing again.

Without thinking straight, Jay angrily threw her pen towards the table with so much force that when it hit the plastic lamp that sat on the side — the lamp wobbled over and crashed into the stacked pile of books which now came crashing down on the floor with Jay's cell between them.

Her cell continued to ring as it now laid a feet away from where Jay was sitting. Squeezing the bridge of her nose, Jay tried to calm herself down.

After taking a few deep breaths, she answered the call. "Cut it out, will ya?"

"I apologize for disturbing you but I am just doing my duty here." It was the same guy. "So can you--!"

"Don't you think that your prank call has gone too far?" Jay asked, frowning. She remembered hearing distant shushing voices from the other side, the moment she had first answered the call.

"Eh? Sorry but I don't--!"

Before the guy could complete his sentence, Jay hung up the call and then took out the battery from her cell. "Good riddance."

/Meanwhile on the other side/

"Dude! She hung up again!" Laughed the guy, with the cell phone as he looked over his shoulder, towards the others at the back. He was sitting in front of three other guys, his back facing them.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Call her again." Said the guy with the short brown hair and dull blue eyes.

"Do you even think that she is going to pick our call after all this?" Asked the one who laid down on the cold floor, beside the brown haired guy.

"Well, let's hope so cause if she doesn't then Leo will have to pay the price." Smirked the other, who sat on a chair.

The guy with the cell phone, Leo, frowned, "Not fair! Why do I get to be punished when it was all your idea?"

"You're the one who took up the bet." Yawned Mark as he got up into a sitting position. "Right, Henry?"

"That's right." Mumbled Henry as he fetched for his vibrating phone from his pocket. After sparing it a bored glance, he tossed it back inside.

Leo sighed, regretting taking the role as the guy sitting on the chair got up to his feet and walked towards him. "Don't worry, we'll have mercy on you." He smiled, patting Leo on the shoulder.

Leo rolled his eyes and then typed down the number again. "How could you guys be so cruel? Especially you Ryan! I thought that you were on my side but I guess I was wrong."

"Stop complaining like a little girl and suck it up like a man!" They all shouted at the same time.

Rolling his eyes again, he moved the phone to his ear. "Hey." Mark nudged Leo with his feet. "Put it on speaker."

Leo looked over his shoulder and mouthed him. 'Wait.'

But not a minute later did Leo bolt up to his feet and toss the phone towards Mark who caught it on a reflex. He then ran towards the opened window before turning towards the other three and saluting with two fingers. "I hate to leave but adios!" And like that he jumped out of the window, leaving the boys speechless for about a few seconds before a dark grin appeared on their faces.

"Hunting time, boys." Ryan announced, cracking his knuckles. "Get to your bikes!"

After jumping off the window, from the forth floor, Leo had easily managed to land on his feet but didn't didn't stop to celebrate nor to catch his breath as he knew well that this little action might lead him to his misfortune. He didn't dare to look back and continued to sprint towards the parking lot, towards his bike.

Relief washed over him as soon as he caught a glance of his love. Grabbing hold of the handles, Leo swung his leg over the bike, before bringing the motor to life with a swift move. Upon feeling the satisfied hum of the roaring engine, the blackhead's lips curled into a grin and he wasted no time to zoom into the dark and cold night.

/While on the other side/

"Jay." A women's voice called. "Dinner is ready."

"Hai!" Said Jay, while looking over her shoulder. Closing her books, she sighed while leaning back in her chair. Her shoulders had gone stiff from all that writing. Stretching her arms, she got up to her feet and then walked towards the kitchen, mentally reminding herself to do an overview of her work once before bed.

Jay was welcomed by a gentle smile just as she stepped in and she returned one back to the old lady with cute mittens.

Despite being a forty year old, the woman with short curly grey hair and brown eyes along, still no doubt looked as beautiful and elegant as ever, especially with her newly emerged winkles beside her eyes. But Jay wasn't planning to admit all that in front of woman who raised her.

Walking over to her, Jay then placed a kiss on her cheek, loving how the older lightened up at a common gesture. "Smells great, as usual." She compliment, turning towards the small table, in the middle of the kitchen that held two types of different dishes; Chicken curry and French rice.

"I thought of making your favorite dishes since you've been working too hard nowadays." Said the older as Jay grabbed the plates from the cabinet before placing them down on the table.

She then turned to grab the water jug from the fridge when a thought occurred to her. "Hey, old hag, where's Jimmy? Is he still at his friends place?"

Upon not receiving a response, Jay glanced over only to give out a little chuckle when a blank expression came her way and knew right away that she had forgotten to pick him up... again. 

"Ya Ajumma, don't worry, I'll go pick him up right now." Jay claimed, placing down the jug. She walked out to head towards her small room while the older followed. "Sorry Jay. I keep forgetting about picking him up."

"Don't worry." The younger assured, collecting her phone along with it's battery before connecting them together. "Oh! Does that mean that you admit that you're going old?" She smirked, earning a flying shoe aimed at her but she dodged it easily. "You've improved a lot compared to the first time I threw my shoe towards you." She mocked.

Jay threw out her tongue playfully before switching on her phone and grabbing the ear plugs along with a scarf. She walked towards the main entrance to slip into her sneakers before ordering gently. "Don't wait for us, start eating."

Locking the door behind her, Jay headed towards stairs and then towards the street. She shivered when cold wind danced around her as soon as she stepped outside causing her to pull the scarf tighter around her neck.

I bet it's gonna snow soon.

She thought, jogging over to the salon that was only a few blocks away. Wasting no time to push open the door and step inside, Jay immediately was greeted by a rough voice. "Welcome."

There stood a man with shaving cream spread all around his lips, his dark hair covering his grey eyes — making Jay realize that she had interrupted Mr. Albert in the middle of him saving off his beard.

"Oh, it's just you Jay. I thought that you were another customer." He sighed in relief making her wondering how on earth could he see her through his long stands of hair.

"Forgot to shave?" She asked, chuckling as she walked further into the room. The man no doubt looked like a hobo which was really a rare sight for her and she wouldn't have recognized him if he didn't speak up.

"Yeah. Tom accidentally forgot to put the phone on charge after playing on it for hours." He slightly shook his head, before turning towards one of the mirrors pasted on the walls and grabbing the shave from the shelf underneath the mirror.

"He's still upset about yesterday?"

"Was but no longer is. After spending time with Jimmy, he's been as happy as a kid getting his favorite toy on Christmas." He smiled to himself, "Anyway don't let my babbling keep ya. The kids are upstairs, hopefully not destroying my house."

"As always, you ask for the impossible."

Earning a chuckle in response, Jay then walked towards the staircase and past Mr. Albert. As she climbed, she made sure to count the number of the stairs in Latin, hoping to improve it as she was as worst as a 3 year old who was learning how to speak.

As she reached the tenth stair, her train of thoughts suddenly came to a halt when she hear Mr. Albert shout out something in Latin. Frowning, she tried to understand what he was trying to say until she realised that she had pronounced the ten number in Latin, wrongly.

"Gratias ago!" Jay shouted back, trying to show-off one of the three words that she had managed to learn within a few days.

Her attention was diverted again from the opposite direction when she heard the sound of running footsteps getting louder and turned she around to see Jimmy running towards her. "Move or Run!" He shouted as he got closer, already descending the number of stairs she had climbed.

Jay didn't have time to ask what he meant but she understood immediately when she caught Tom with a water gun and water ballon standing on top of the stairs.

Without wasting another second, she whipped around and started following the previous boy's actions.

Upon leaping off the last few stairs, Jay turned towards the attacker's father, laughing. "Run, Mr. Albert! Run!" Jay cried out, successfully attracting Mr. Albert's attention as he averted his gaze from the mirror, now freshly shaved, to read the situation. His gaze automatically fell upon his son as Jay came to hide behind him and felt his eyes widen when he noticed his index finger moving towards the trigger.

\~\~\~\~Leo's POV\~\~\~\~

The door of the well known salon creaked upon my push, allowing me to step inside and catch a hold of the scene before me. Four figures were running around, all in different directions, presumably playing tag as my presence hadn't snapped them out of it.

Mr. Albert and his son were the first ones to get recognised by me whilst the auburn haired girl and the brown haired kid were foreign.

I presume that they didn't hear us coming in cause they still seemed to be busy in playing catch which no doubt seemed fun. But before I could join in, Ryan, being the party-pooper, decided to clear his throat loud enough to catch the older two's attention.

\~\~ Jay's POV \~\~

I immediately stopped on my tracks when I heard someone clearing their throat and turned to see four guys, about the same age, standing in the door way, looking straight at us.

How comforting.

Just as I rushed to fix myself up, I caught Mr. Albert do the same, from the corner of my eye while the kids continued to run around.

Wanting glance up at the guys again to see if they are still staring, i lifted my face just as Jim came crashing into me, making me stumble a bit. "Wa!" I yelped, moving my hands frantically to help myself regain balance on one left and just as I succeeded, something cold and wet suddenly splashed all over me, after a soft pop sound leaving me baffled just as a few gasping sounds echoed around me.

\~\~ No one's POV\~\~

"Tom!" Shouted Mr. Albert angrily, making the boy jump at the sudden harshness. "S-Sorry." He stuttered as tears began to brim his eyes. Soon a waterfall had begun. "I-I am.... s-sorry. I-I..."

"N-No, don't cry! Don't cry Tom." Jay rushed towards the sobbing boy who couldn't choke out the words. "It's okay. It's okay."

"Are you okay, Jay?" Mr. Albert asked, wanting to make sure the girl was okay before he could comfort his son. She looked over her shoulder towards him as he walked over and then nodded, smiling. "I'm alright."

"I'll go get you a towel." Mr. Albert, turned to leave but he stopped when Jay grabbed his wrist. 'Customers' she mounted him.

Mr. Albert stood there thinking for a few seconds and then he finally realized that he had customers. Whipping his head towards the four boys, he apologized and then called them in.

Jay got up to her feet with Tom in her arms, bouncing him as his cries slowly died down. Her gaze unconsciously followed all four guys as they slowly made their way towards Mr. Albert.

She noticed them glancing towards her from time to time but she paid no extra thought to it.  She then turned her gaze towards Mr. Albert, when he cleared his throat. "There is an extra blue T-Shirt behind that door. Why don't you go and change into it before you catch a cold." Said Mr. Albert, motioning towards the door, in the corner as he slowly lifted Tom, into his arms.

Jay opened her mouth to refuse him kindly but she stopped when she saw him tapping a finger towards his chest. It took her five seconds to realize what he was talking about.

Immediately turning her gaze down to her chest, Jay saw that her shirt was all soaked up and that her bra was clearly seen though her shirt.

Gasping, she whipped her hands towards her chest, covering it as much as possible. Her gaze whipped towards the guys to see if they were looking which they were rather shamelessly. But upon realising they were caught red handed on the spot, two of them had immediately looked away while the remaining two stood their ground for a few more seconds before acting like they were simply checking out the salon — one giving her a bored look while the other shooting her a grin.

Humiliation wasn't the only word that could describe what Jay felt at this exact moment.

Although many emotions rushed through her mind, among them there was one that she was certain of. And that was;

'furorem'

Despite having to dealt with such guys personally, Jay couldn't help but clench her jaw as she felt anger rush through her veins. Despite having to meet them just a minute ago, Jay wouldn't like anything more than wiping the cockiness off the boys but Mr. Albert refrained her from doing so.

"Are you okay?" He asked, worriedly, leaning into her view. Blinking, Jay was quick to change her pissed expression into a gentle one before assuring the man, "I'm alright. I'll go change." Ruffling Tom's head, Jay shot him a smile before proceeding to walk towards the door with Jimmy follow close behind.

\~\~ Jay's POV \~\~

After letting Jimmy in, I closed the door behind me before I felt my face heat up.

How embarrassing!

Groaning, I covered my face with my hands, wanting to bury myself right here right now. I didn't know how long I had stayed in the position until I felt someone tugging the edge of my shirt lightly. I removing my hands, I looked down to see Jimmy looking at me, worriedly.

"I am alright." I smiled, messing up his hair. "Stay here while I go change, okay?"

I praised him when he nodded obediently before waking over to the door on the left and opening it. Entering the small washroom, I closed the door behind me just to notice a sky blue simple shirt hanging on the hanger, behind the door.

/Meanwhile on the other side/

\~\~ Leo's POV \~\~

After the girl rushed inside the room with the brown haired kid following behind her like a baby chick, Mr. Albert let Tom down from his arms and then patted him on the head before walking in front of us, blocking our view. "W-We weren't looking." Mark stuttered, holding his hands up as if he was surrender in ng.

It was like he blurted out his own crime.

"Seriously?" I asked, rolling my eyes while Ryan laughed.

"Of course you didn't..." Mr. Albert said, raising an eyebrow. "So? What brings you four good-for-nothing delinquents here?"

"Oh, Mr. Albert, is that some way to talk to the kids who've grown up in front of you?" Ryan faked his hurt, placing his hand to his heart to add more effect.

"Delinquents! Not kids!" Corrected Mr. Albert, crossing his arms making us let out a chuckle.

"So? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you all be at home playing video games or something?"

"Nope! We're here cause Leo needs a hair cut." Smirked Ryan as he turned his gaze towards me making me roll my eyes. It was an established fact that he and the others were enjoying this.

"More like forced than needed!" I corrected him, narrowing my eyes.

After my darling decided to run out of fuel, half way during my escape, these three traitors surrounded me in the middle of the street earning non-stop honking and insults from the angry drivers.

"I lost a bet, so these three traitors are forcing me to get a haircut." I mumbled, knowing that it was partly my fault for letting my guard down around these three. Shaking away my thoughts, I looking up to Mr. Albert and then begged him with the biggest puppy dog eyes, "please convince them to change their minds! Please Mr. Albert, I am begging you! You know how much I love my hair!"

Despite having to pour my heart out, Mr. Albert remained unaffected and simply gave me an apologetic smile. "Sorry kid, You've lost fair and square there." He spoke, ruffling my soon-to-be-gone hair.

/While on the other side/

\~\~Jay's POV\~\~

After changing into the blue simple shirt which almost reached my knees, i put my wet shirt in an empty shopper before heading out. Jimmy, being the curious kid he is, had been standing by the main desk, looking at a picture that sat in the corner, unaware of my arrival.

I moved over to stop behind him in a way that I could see only half of the picture. "Ready?" I asked placing a hand on his shoulder. He glanced up before giving a curt nod making me smile and pat his little head. "Alright then. Let's go home."

I caught my eyes lingering on the picture for a few more seconds, clearly curious about the lady that stood beside the two people I've come to love but yet again, my questions were left unanswered as i never got the courage to question her existence.

"Oh! You're done?" Mr. Albert asked shooting me a glance from where he was trimming one of the boy's hair before going right back at it.

"Yes. I will bring back the shirt tomorrow after washing it." I smiled apologetically despite having to face the man's back. "I apologize before hand for the inconvenience."

"Now now, there is no need for any of that. And you're most welcomed to stay or come over at anytime."

"Ditto." I promised, before learning down towards Jimmy and instructing him to bid the two goodbye while I headed back towards the room to find the scarf I had left back there.

Pulling it off the hanger from behind the door, I then quickened my pace as I was well aware how worried Ajumma can be upon our one minute delay.

I jogged over to Jimmy who was now surrounded buy the red head and his two friends. The red head had crouched down to meet Jimmy's eye level as they exchanged a few words until I came over.

"Jay!" He exclaimed, excitedly running over while I repeated the red head's actions. "It's cold outside so wear this." I instructed while wrapping the scarf around his neck and tying a small knot at the end of the scarf to which the boy giggled to before snuggling into it.

Watching him in 'awe' I noticed someone approach us, from the corner of my eye and looked up to see the red head guy standing a few feet away from me. He gave me a smile before holding out his hand.

I glanced at his hand before looking back up at him. "You'll dirty your clothes if you stay in that position." He said, his hand still reached out. I stared at him for a few seconds before finally saying, "Oh."

Just as I got to my feet without his help, I dusted myself off and then turned my gaze back to him only to notice that his smile had widened.

"Allow me to introduce myself and my boys." He said bowing down as I turned to leave. "No thanks." I said, forcing a smile as I tired to hold myself back from rolling my eyes. To think that this guy actually thinks that I would love to meet them after what they did not long ago. "It's not like we're gonna meet again."

"Oh, we never know." He said, giving me a genuine smile as he stood back up straight. "Our meeting can be fate."

Pfft.... As if!

Wanting to say it out loud, I parted my lips when the guy suddenly clapped his hands,

"Alright then! Let's start! My name's Ryan Cooper. And it's a pleasure to meet you." He grinned, while holding out his hand yet again.

Raising my eyebrow, I glanced at his hand and then up to him with a 'really' expression but he either decided to ignore it or was too stupid to understand the clearly message I was giving him. "Don't worry, it's just a handshake." He said, winking.

It's definitely the second one.

When I still didn't take his hand, he moved it back, like nothing happened and then casually turned towards the short brown haired guy with the dull blue eyes who was busy listening to what the white head was saying. "That there is Henry. He can be a bit serious but he's really great to talk to."

The guy, Henry, simply spared me another bored glance before turned back and nodding slightly to let the other party know that he had his attention.

Yeah, not nice meeting you too.

I rolled my eyes just as the guy beside me continued, "The one next to Henry is Mark." He pointed out the white head with purple eyes who immediately looked over at the mention of his name. A huge smile was shot my way before the said man whispered something to Henry and before I knew it, they were decreasing the distance of ten feet to four feet in no time.

"Hello." Mark greeted, reaching out his hand, clearly not aware that I wasn't interested in meeting them. "My name is Mark Hawkins while my friend here is Henry Jayson."

"She doesn't do handshakes, Mark." Ryan informed him, smiling. "Trust me. I held out my hand twice and she didn't--!"

"What are you guys talking about?" The fourth party who was previously getting a hair cut, popped out from between Henry and Mark, almost giving me a heart attack. The 'layered long fringes' hairstyle now outlined his features — especially his eyes unlike his friend Mark here who had one of his eyes hidden behind his long hair.

Upon informing the boy what exactly we were doing here, he then proceeded to continue from where they had left off — much to my dismay. "Well then, my name's Leo. Leo Smith." He said, moving a little to let his hand pass through the little space between two of his friend boys and held it out towards me.

"I see..." I said, with a raised eyebrow, not even trying to hide the lack of interest in my tone. Looking over my shoulder and towards Mr. Albert, I then bit the man farewell with much enthusiasm — earning a chuckle from the other.

"Alright."

\~\~ Ryan's POV \~\~

With my hands shoved in my pockets, I let my eyes rest upon the door the two individuals exited from until I caught my boys waiting for me to say something. "Don't tell me that you've also got the feeling that she would be a hard one to break?" Leo murmured, careful not to let Mr. Albert hear him.

"Who knows? Maybe she's just putting on an act or maybe it's he 'all mighty' ego."

"The prior, definitely." Henry mumbled.

"I'll have to disagree with you on that." Mark followed. "She could be the fifth girl to not fall for our acting for all we know."

"Eh? The fifth person?" Asked Mr. Albert catching the last sentence. Me and my boys turned out gaze towards him as he packed his stuff.

"The first one was your sister, Mr. Albert." Chuckled Mark. "Even though she was younger than us, she always ignored us even though we tried our best to flatter her."

"Well, she is Mr. Albert's sister." I grinned as Mr. Albert rolled his eyes. "But then.... who is she?"

"That, I can't tell you." Said Mr. Albert stated, waking over to the next table to clean up. "Go get some other poor soul as she won't fall for your... whatever that is."

"Breathtaking beauty, Mr. Albert." Leo put forth, motioning all of himself, "all this is pure beauty that has been—!"

"What makes you so sure, Mr. Albert?" Ignoring the pout I received from Leo for cutting him off, I directed all my attention to the older.

"She already has a boyfriend who she loves way too much and vise versa." He continued, without sparing us a glance as he continued to switch off the corner lights of the salon, "and trust me when I say this, I've never seen any thing more adorable than the relationship between those two. It's unbreakable."

"Well, that explains a lot." Said Mark, moving his hands behind his head. "But why are you telling us this?"

"It's because he wanted wanted a valid reason to quit." Finally stepping in before us to meet our gaze, he motioned his chin towards me while crossing his arms over his chest. "But I guess all this was still isn't enough to convince you now is it?" Giving out a chuckle, I was surprised how the old man could read me as an open book. Even my own family can't do that.

"You know me too well, Mr. Albert." I stretched out my hands and then let out a relaxed sigh. "Well then, let's go and see what her boyfriend is like."

"Knock it off."

"Possessive much?" I smirked, receiving a warning look to which I held my hands up before my chest in surrender. Knowing that my smile was a dead giveaway, the man rolled his eyes upon noticing it before silently motioning his chin towards the main door, urging us to leave.

"Pass it!" Shouted the coach as a guy blocked Jay from tossing the ball. The guy matched every single one of Jay's moves but it didn't bother her one bit. What bothered her was her coach yelling at her from the top of his lungs. "Pass it! I said--!" The impact of the ball crashing into his face made the coach stop mid sentence before he fell back with a loud thud.

"Oops." Jay shrugged half heartedly when one of her teammates looked towards her, astonished. "What? He kept saying pass it so i passed it."

Twenty-Eight boring minutes of Jay getting scolded by the coach later....

\~\~\~\~Jay's POV\~\~\~\~

I sigh as I slump down on the stool beside the store room, both mentally and physically drained after finally putting my overconfidence— as the coach would have called it — some to use.

What have I leaned today?

My inner voice asked me.

To always respect our janitor and give him praises for doing such exhausting jobs everyday all by himself.

And?

To beat up everyone who dares to dirty the gym on purpose.

I smiled as my inner voice praised me for being so intelligent but it was soon wiped off when I felt my hands regaining their feeling. They still hadn't regained their original colour and remained a mid-red shade, thanks to the amount of pressure I was forced to put while using the broom.

After clenching and unclenching them for like a ten seconds, I dropped my head back against the wall and turned my gaze to the ceiling.Taking a deep breath, I slowly closed my eyes while marking another bad luck knowing well that coach would fail me in gym again.

Losing the sense of time, I stayed like that for what felt like eternity until I suddenly felt something cold press against my cheek making me jump and shoot my eyes wide open. My gaze immediately fell upon the tall figure that towered over me — to meet pine coloured eyes staring back. With an amused grin, the boy with honey blond hair stood before me with two soda cans held in his hands. I raised an eyebrow, pissed off as my peace was interrupted by none other than an idiot. "Tired?" He asks, grinning while holding up a soda can.

"You sound more happy than worried." I snatched the soda can from his hand and opened it. I stare at it for a few seconds before taking a sip from it. "Don't worry, i didn't put poison in it... yet." He says in a reassuring tone that sounded more like a sigh to me.

"I know, that's why I took a sip from it." I said as i held it between my two hands. The cold soda felt good between my inner palms. "So? Why are you here, Jackson?"

For me, Jackson is what you people call.... 'A rival'. A single day can't go by without us making each other's lives hell. It's been our duty to make sure that the other party doesn't live a peaceful life nor remain in their graves peacefully — since the day we became neighbours.

In 4th grade, I had shaved his hair off while he was sleeping and he had taken all my pocket money and gave it to a random dog for no reason whatsoever. In 5th grade, he had burned my books while I told his crush that he had diabetes and that he always dances around his house *****. In the 6th, 7th and 8th grade we both had become dangerously violent with one another to the point where we had to pay daily visits to the hospital and I would be lying if I said that we didn't try to mess with each other's medicines.

It's still a miracle how both of us had survived all that.

In the 9th grade, the threats had died down quite a bit due to some unwanted situations that had occurred.

"Just came here to thank you for ruining my life, again." Sighed Jackson as he slid down the wall, beside me. He rested his gaze at the cola can in his hands for about ten seconds before raising it to his mouth and then taking a gulp from it. "Because of you, I still can't get a girlfriend. For heaven's sake, I am turning nineteen this year."

"So what do you want me to do about it? Burn your apartment down so that a girl could take pity on you and end up dating you, just because you're turning nineteen?" I asked, taking another sip. "And if you haven't noticed, I've got my own problems."

"Problems?" He took a few more impatient gulps as if he had ran a marathon and had been starved all his life. It took him about a minute to finish the cola and when did, he got up to his feet and then dropped the cola can but before it could reach the floor, Jackson kicked it will all its might sending it flying into the air before gravity took a hold of it.

He whistled when the cola can flew directly into the trash can, in the middle of the gym which was, I don't know maybe seventy or more feet away from us. "Still not surprised?" He sighed, looking at my expression that clearly said 'so cliché and I don't care'.

Doing something like that, was impossible for me but that doesn't mean that I should be surprised when someone else does it.

"So, by problems, are you referring to the time when Mrs. Hughes scolded you today, about your essay?" He continued, now walking towards the trash can.

"First of all, it wasn't my fault, it was Mrs. Hughes fault. She knows that I am weak in latin. I mean, how would i have known that Mrs. Hughes told me to write an essay with a  happy ending and not an essay with a sad one?" I sighed, "And now, thanks to her, I feel bad for killing the lady's cat in the essay."

"Well, you did end the essay with 'et ipse mortuus est'." Jackson chuckled as he came to a stop a few feet away from the trash can. He stared at it for a few seconds before looking over his shoulder, back towards me.

"If you're wondering why the trash can is in the middle of the gym. Then the answer to that is that I still have to clean that trash there." I said pointing towards him.

/The following day/

\~\~ Customer's POV \~\~

"Jay, can you take the empty dishes back to the kitchen?" The sound of Miss Mary ordering her staff around could be heard from a mile away, leaving a grin on my face at the casual routine.

The moment I entered the cafe, I was welcomed by all the workers with a smile, giving off a welcoming vibe, allowing me to return one back. Making sure to greet them genuinely, I then followed as one of the workers, Sky, guided me towards my usual seat.

She patiently waited beside the table as I got comfortable in my seat before asking if I wanted to order the usual. A nod from me was good enough for her to get back to her job after promising that my order would be served right away. "Three cups of black coffee and one dark chocolate cake." I heard her announced as I grabbed my laptop from my bag before placing it on the table and opening it. Without wasting another second, I tapped down the keys, continuing my work.

The current cafe was the only place where I could get my work done comfortably without any worries as they allow customers to say here as long as they want to. Three cups of black coffee and one dark chocolate cake was always good enough to help me to finish all of my piled up work within a day or two unlike working at home.

Despite six of my kids are already wedded, they still come home just to complain 24/7 which I wouldn't mind of course unless and until they make this a routine rather than sitting down and acting like adults. And if were to deal their problems before work then consider me fired.

My thoughts were spared a few more minutes before they got cut off when I heard someone call me. I looked up to see that it was one of the workers. "Ah, Jay. How are you today?" I inquired, stopping my work for a minute to see her place a tray of my desired dishes on the table while making sure to not touch my documents. "Good." She said, curtly, without making any eye contact. "Enjoy." Nodding as a thank you, I watch as she walked away with a smile tugging on the corner of my lips.

I was seriously grateful that her attitude towards me has changed as compared to our first meeting. The girl always put a hostile feeling when around me, which I was quick to noticed and before the end of the third week, I found myself asking her what I did wrong. Of course, the issue hasn't been settled within a day. In fact it took us a few months to come to how we are currently — still working on it.

Picking up the cup from the tray, I carefully moved it towards my mouth and then blew it a few times before taking a sip.

Delicious.

"Do call if you need anything else, Mr. President." Smiled Miss Mary as she came over to check if I needed anything. After putting the cup back down, I wiped my mouth with the handkerchief before returning her the smile. "Will do."

/Later that day/

"Hey, I'm telling you. That girl has fallen for me." Declared Jackson, as he used the towel, that hung around his neck, to wipe off the sweat from his face. He had just finished working out at the gym and was ready to return to his apartment with his best buddy, Rider.

"Yeah, right. Do call me when she rejects you afterwards." Scoffed Rider, as he noticed two girls checking him out. He amusedly watched as their eyes traveled from his face to his abs and then back to his face before their face turned bright red upon realising that they had been catch red handed by non other than the said man.

Just as Rider gave them a wink, Jackson rolled his eyes knowing who his friend's next targets were. "If you keep that up, you'll never get get married." He said as he dragged his friend by the elbow, into the changing room.

"The same goes for you. If you don't hurry up and get a plastic surgery along with a brain, then you will stay single for the rest of your life."

After washing up and changing into different clothes, Jackson and Rider grabbed their bags and then headed towards the exit when they noticed a figure leaning against the wall beside them as they passed by. They came to a stop when the guy suddenly called out making them turn around as the guy approached them. "I would like to have a word with Mr. Jackson." He spoke while shoving shoving his hands in his pockets.

The two friends exchanged looks before turning their gaze towards the guy who stood there, smiling patiently. "About?" Jackson asked, raising an eyebrow.

"About your girlfriend, Jay."

/A few hours later/

\~\~ Jay's POV \~\~

"Jay, you're back?" I hear the old hag shout from afar just as I stepped into our apartment. "Yeah." I answered back as I closed the door behind me but didn't lock it.

"How was your day?" She asked as I followed her voice, which lead me to my bedroom. I wasn't surprised at all when I saw her going through my closet..... again. "Good and I already did the laundry yesterday." I placed my bag down on the floor, as my eyes scanned around my neat room. Thankfully, everything was in the exact same place as I had left it in the morning.

"That's great." I noticed a little worry in her voice as she closed the closet. Without making any eye contact, Ajumma turned away and then hurried out of my room and into the store room, leaving me confused until it suddenly clicked me. 

Calmly turning around, I left the house and walked towards our neighbor's backyard, feeling my heart flutter at the sound of leaves rustling as a cool breeze dances around them. Feeling my stiff muscles relax, I stop to close my eyes and inhale the fresh air when suddenly, the sound of someone sneezing reached my ears, making me exhale not a second later. "You can come out now Jimmy." I said with my eyes still closed. "Ajumma is worried about you."

"She hates me." A low voice, almost above a whisper, spoke out from my left — just as I had expected. The place has always been Jimmy's hideout whenever he and Ajumma had a fight or when she would scold him, leaving him to retreat here and sob out his emotions.

Hearing the the sound of bushes rustling, I opened my eyes and over looked my shoulder just in town to see Jimmy walking towards me with his whole body covered in not only mud and leaves but also small cuts. A sigh escaped my lips when I noticed his red nose and bloodshot eyes as evidence of dry tears covered his cheeks. Jimmy hesitantly looked up at me, shivering in cold.

"If she hated you then would she be worried about you?" I asked, slowly crouching down to his eye level while taking off my school jacket before hovering it over him as he sniffed.

"No." He mumbled under his breath while slipping his hands through the jacket's sleeve before letting me button it up for him. "But, I ate the guest's cookies."

"What guest?" I asked frowning while searching through my memory, trying to remember if the old hag had ever mentioned that we expecting someone today. When I couldn't remember any, I asked Jimmy again.

"I don't know. She wouldn't tell me." He answered, sniffing again as I stood back up straight. Gently lifting him into my arms, I then turned on my heel and started to head back home.

"Ya Ajumma, were we expecting someone today?" I asked her as we bandaged Jimmy's tiny cuts.

"Yeah. In a few hours."

"Oh, who is it?"

"On it's just one of my old friends." She said, shrugging while pasting the bandage on Jimmy's last cut. "Where are you going?" The old hag asked when I got up to my feet.

"Going to return Mr. Albert's shirt that I borrowed yesterday."

/A few minutes later/

\~\~ Mr. Albert's POV \~\~

Here I am sitting on a chair with my arms crossed over my chest and my gaze fixed on both Jay and Ryan who were now standing face to face with about a distance of seven five feet in between while Mark, Leo and Henry stood in a corner, beside me, leaning against the wall. Their eyes sparked with anticipation.

Anyone could see that Jay was looking at him with a 'don't you have something better to do?' expression while Ryan had a 'this is fun' expression.

He is enjoying this huh? You Baka.

"I heard you have a boyfriend." Upon Ryan's words, I couldn't help but mentally punch myself for using such as an excuse to make Ryan and the boys leave the poor girl alone but I there was nothing else I could think of. "His name Jackson, isn't it?" He asked, carefully studying Jay's expression who now stood there with an expressionless face.

What I expected was a silence from Jay for at least a minute or for a few seconds but what I got was a simple raise of an eyebrow.

"So what if it is?"