Jayjay POV
Ciel tightened the bandage around my ankle carefully. Too carefully. Like she was afraid I'd break if she pulled even a little harder.
"There," she said quietly. "Try not to walk on it."
I nodded, staring at the white floor tiles.
My ankle hurt.
But my chest felt worse.
"I should go to the hospital," I said suddenly.
Yuri frowned. "You can barely stand."
"Sienna's there," I replied. "Kiefer's there."
That ended the argument.
At the Hospital
The room smelled like antiseptic and tension.
Sienna was awake.
She looked fragile, pale, her arm slightly bandaged. Kiefer stood right beside her, his hand resting protectively on the side of the bed.
"And it wasn't Jayjay's fault," Sienna said softly. "She didn't intentionally do anything."
My stomach twisted.
That sentence sounded kind.
But it wasn't clean.
I stepped forward, trying to hide my limp.
"I—" I started.
"It's okay," Sienna added quickly. "You don't have to explain."
That was when I knew.
She wasn't protecting me.
She was controlling the story.
Kiefer didn't look at me. Not once.
Ci-n crossed his arms. "She didn't push her."
Calix nodded. "We all saw it wasn't that simple."
Felix added, "Jayjay wouldn't do that."
The room fell into a strange silence.
Then again
"She wouldn't do that," Eman said firmly.
"Jayjay's not violent okay maybe sometimes," Calix added.
David nodded. "If anything, she'd trip herself before pushing someone."
Rude but accurate.
I tried to explain—really tried—but every word felt useless, floating in the air and dying before it landed.
No one interrupted.
No one argued.
Then Sienna looked at me.
And she winked.
A small, quick wink.
So fast you'd miss it if you weren't already breaking.
My heart dropped straight through the floor.
I turned my head slowly toward Yuri and Ciel.
They saw it too.
I tilted my head toward the door.
Outside. Now.
Hallway
The moment we stepped out, my control snapped.
"You saw that, right?" I hissed. "You both saw that."
Ciel's jaw tightened. "Yeah."
Yuri's eyes darkened. "She winked."
"She made it look like I pushed her," I said, my voice shaking. "Then she plays the saint in front of everyone."
"And Kiefer believed her," I added bitterly. "Like he's known her his whole life."
I stomped my foot without thinking.
Instant regret.
Pain shot up my ankle and I let out a sharp sound that was half hiss, half scream.
Yuri was instantly beside me. "Okay. Nope. This little warrior needs rest."
Before I could argue, voices came from behind us.
Ci-n.
Chantelle.
Andrew.
Andrew frowned. "Jayjay, you okay?"
"Oh, absolutely," I snapped. "Fantastic. Living the dream."
Chantelle's eyes narrowed. "How do you expect her to be calm when her boyfriend is carrying another ugly bitch while she's injured and not even checking on her?"
The air froze.
Then—
Ci-n said, "What did you say?"
Chantelle shot back, "Are you deaf?"
Ci-n replied slowly, "No… the one after 'while she was also—'"
Ci-n turned to me suddenly.
"Jayjay, you got injured?"
I blinked.
"…How do you know?"
Chantelle froze. "Wait—you're injured?"
Then she panicked.
"Umm… ummmmm… Andrew showed me."
I turned slowly to Andrew.
"How do you know?"
Andrew swallowed.
"I… I… sa… saw you limping."
I exhaled sharply. "Okay."
That was it.
No more explanations. No more energy.
We all sat down along the hallway wall.
My ankle throbbed.
My heart ached.
And the one person who should've been beside me—
Wasn't.
I leaned my head back, staring at the ceiling.
She winked because she knows she's winning.
And for the first time, that scared me more than the fall.