Part of the Past
Jay-jay's POV
"Hey! Hurry up!" The King shouted at me. "Here it is! Here it is! You were waiting..." I answered him and got into his car. This King of snakes is so impressive! After dancing and singing in front of me, I was suddenly scolded. Saltik! We're going to Eman's Resto now. We're planning for the Festival. Why did Keifer pick me up?-----I don't know. Yuri texted me but he came. "Where is Yuri? When did he pick me up?" I asked him. "I don't know! Am I looking like Lost and Found to ï¬nd the missing!" His scolding. Oh, the scolding! The woman with the visitor was even more overwhelmed. "I said a lot!" I stuttered. "Tss." Oh! That's that magical 'Tss' again. It's really driving me crazy. I didn't speak the entire trip. Maybe this impulsive Keifer will scold me again . Maybe he has PMS. Arriving at Resto de' Superhero---that's the name of Eman's restaurant--- as usual, they were eating again. I immediately went to Ci-N and got fries. "That's mine..." He said and pushed the fries away. "How greedy!" Keifer approached Yuri who was at the front table. I looked around to see if we were complete. Denzel was also there and it looked like he was working here. He was wearing the same clothes as the crew. I still don't know what he and Grace were talking about. All we know is that he's working for Baby. I just hope he and Grace make up. Yuri stood in front so we fell silent to listen to what he had to say. "We're going to talk about the Festival! First, the contestants ! Second, the task we're given!" Yuri explained and pushed a fairly large white board behind her. She took the marker from the side and started writing. "Monday..." Yuri started again and stopped writing. "...The parade is Monday, marking the beginning of the Festival! This is also the day when all the guests from the various schools will arrive. The participating players in the program will also be introduced. Which means there will be no contest." Under the word Monday, Yuri wrote 'No Contest!', but underneath that was 'Task!'. Yuri faced us again. "...about the task! Because next day there will be a contest or the Dance troops. Even if the participants don't join the task. They'll just make it up for the night." Keifer suddenly stood up and approached Yuri. "Unlike before, we will divide the duties into three groups. This is also better so the others can rest." He motioned for Yuri. Yuri started writing on the white board the time and name under the word 'Task!'. "Patrol Duty will start by 7 pm and end by 7 am. First group, Calix, Rory, Eman, Kit, and Felix----7 pm to 11 pm. Second group, Ci-N, David, Yuri, me, Eren, and Jay-jay----11 pm to 3 am. The third group will be the rest of the class that I didn't mention. Garbage collecting will start when the program ends." Keifer explains. Information overload! Of all the things he said, I only understood one thing. They're on Duty!----I don't think so. "The next day's set up is the same, except if you're participating in the contest for the following day! No need to attend the duty!" Yuri added before he stopped writing. I didn't understand anything. My head hurts! I'm crying. Keifer sat down again with his arms crossed. Yuri explained everything again. "Tuesday... Dance troops will be the contest! Do we have a representative yet?!" Yuri asked. Ci-N raised her hand. "We... Me, Eren, Calix, David and Kit." Yuri wrote down the names they mentioned. We were already in the Dance troops. I raised my hand. "Is it okay if Ci-N is still in the Dance troops and Mr. Ganda?" She had two contests. Maybe later, what Freya would say. "It's not stated in the rules. That's probably okay." Ci- N replied . I nodded. Yuri continued writing. She wrote Wednesday. "Battle of the band..." Yuri said and looked at Keifer. "...Are we the only ones here?" Everyone fell silent for a moment. Keifer seemed to be thinking too. Honestly, I wanted them to ï¬ght too. I wanted to see them play. "We don't have any other representatives... Just choose a proper song." Keifer replied. Nice! Yuri wrote down their names. Can I request a song from them? I heard a song on the radio a while ago. Yuri continued writing. Today is Thursday. "Singing Contest... The hidden talent has come out." Yuri said. We looked at each other. We didn't hear anyone singing with us. Except for Ci-N who felt like she was giving a concert when she sang. That's why her voice was so good. "You're the one..." Keifer said to Yuri. "...you're singing, right?" Yuri looked at me for a moment and then looked back at Keifer. I hadn't heard her sing yet. "S-okay.. me." Yuri said and wrote down her name. We were on the last day. Friday where Mr. Ganda and Ms. Pogi were. I felt like backing out! "Just like the ï¬rst conversation. Ci-N for Mr. Ganda and Jay- jay for Ms. Pogi." Yuri explained. "...In the morning, the competition for each Year Level or same year but different sections. In the evening, the competition for the year level representative will be held." That means they will compete twice. First, the fourth year will compete, then in the evening, the winners of the fourth year. The difficulty is, they will compete at the same year level, then if they win, they will compete again. Will I win? This is the difficulty. "Do you have a saying and talent prepared?" Eman asked us. "Is there something like that?" I asked. "Yes, I do." Ci-N raised her hand. "I already have one... Do you want to hear it?" She was bragging. We agreed. Ci-N stood up and prepared herself. "I'm Ci-N Peralta representative of Section E! I believe in the saying... 'When the future is big, many want to taste it!'." Wow! That's profound! The heads shouted with matching applause. You guys, can you tolerate it? "That's inspiring! Shit!" "My perspective on life has changed immediately!" "Your beliefs are making us cry!" I just slapped my own face. What they were saying was confusing. I glared at Ci-N. "Are you serious? Are you really going to tell everyone that?" Ci-N smiled. "Yes, nam-----aray!" I gave him a loud slap. This kid is really naughty . "You Jay, you need to think of a saying too." Yuri told me. I nodded even though I honestly couldn't think of anything. I'm sure I'll just ask Grandma, she's the one who knows a lot about that. We talked about a lot more. We also needed to bring sleeping bags. It was like camping. They said they would also bring laptops so we could watch movies. Some people just couldn't sleep. Some would also bring a handful of chutchirya. Some would also bring insect repellent. With all the talk we had, we were home by noon. Yuri would be the one to drop me off today. I stopped by the mini mart ï¬rst. I wanted ice cream. "I'll just wait a minute. Are you here?" I said to Yuri and he smiled. When I went inside, I immediately looked for the ice cream because I saw ready to eat pasta. That's what I went for. "Jay-jay?" Someone called me. I looked at the man who looked like he was in his 40s and was standing near me. He was the only one looking at me as if he was surprised and recognizing me. "I-it's you..." He said. Who are you? You have the wrong number. "How are you? The guy is big." He said. "I-it's okay. W-who are you?" I asked him. "You don't recognize me anymore? It's true." He said, which surprised me a lot. I just shook my head and moved away from him slightly. "W-don't be afraid. You know me, I was your mom's husband." He said. Became a husband? "I-I'm sorry... I really don't recognize you." I said and stepped away again. "It's okay... But let me apologize to you. For everything I did when I was your mother's husband. I was still vicious back then, so whenever I see you, you're the one I talk to. Believe me, now that I have a child, I regret all of that." He explained as he continued to approach me. I was still slowly walking away from him. I was starting to get scared. I wasn't sure if what he was saying was true . "If you still don't remember me, my name is Tony dela Cruz." He said as if he was waiting for me to recognize him. "I'm sorry... Not really. I'm leaving." I said and quickly ran outside. I heard someone call my name but I ignored it. I kept running. All I knew was that I had to get away from that man. I didn't know him but my fear of him wouldn't go away. I stopped when I felt so tired. Suddenly, a car stopped in front of me. Yuri! I forgot that he was waiting for me. He got out of the car. "Are you okay Jay? What happened to you? Why did you suddenly run?" He asked one after another. I just shook my head and tried to stand up straight. "Jay... You can tell me." I looked him in the eye. I could feel him wanting to help me. "A-someone came up to me, he said he was Mama's husband but.... But I don't remember him."