JAY JAY POV
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
Ugh. Seriously? I blindly reached for my phone and killed the alarm before burying my face back into the pillow. Five more minutes. Or ten. Or forever.
"JAY-JAY! HONEY, COME ON! GET UP OR YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE FOR SCHOOL!" Mama's voice boomed from downstairs, loud enough to shake the walls.
I did what I do best: I ignored her and hugged my blanket tighter.
"JAY-JAY, SWEETHEART! HURRY UP ALREADY!" she hollered again.
"I'm up!" I muttered into my mattress. I'm pretty sure she didn't hear me since she was all the way in the kitchen, but hey, at least I said it, right? Intentions matter!
Eventually, I dragged my lazy self to the bathroom. One of the best things about living here in London is that we don't have to wear those stiff, boring school uniforms. I honestly feel bad for the students who have to deal with those every day. Kawawa naman sila. Luckily, that's just not my life.
I picked out a cute outfit, fixed myself up, and headed downstairs.
The smell of breakfast hit me immediately. Papa was already at the table, and so was Mama Reycee. I walked over to Papa and gave him a big morning hug.
"Morning, Princess," Papa said, smiling as he leaned in to kiss my forehead.
"You're late," Mama Reycee teased, sliding a plate of food toward me. "If you spend any more time staring at your reflection, the school might actually grow wings and fly away without you."
I stuck my tongue out at her. "I'm not that late! Besides, a grand entrance requires perfect timing."
"Eat your breakfast, Jay-Jay," Mama said, wiping her hands on her apron as she joined us. "You need the energy. I heard your new schedule is going to be hectic."
I was about to complain about how much I hate early mornings when the "circus" finally arrived.
My brothers entered the kitchen—and by brothers, I mean the two biggest headaches of my life. First up was Jare, my twin. We shared a womb, but we definitely don't share a brain cell
And then there was Percy.
Percy is twenty years old, but if you didn't look at his ID, you'd swear he was five. We only recently found out about him, and honestly? The adjustment period has been... loud. He's the most self-obsessed person I've ever met. If there's a mirror in the room, Percy is in front of it.
"Move over, peasants," Percy announced, practically glowing as he strutted toward the table. He didn't even sit down before he started stroking his own jawline. "Ugh, look at this. Do you see this skin? Not a single pore in sight. I woke up looking like a literal masterpiece. Honestly, it's a burden being this beautiful. It's exhausting for everyone else to even look at me."
I rolled my eyes so hard I almost saw my own brain. "Percy, it's 7:00 AM. Can you please be pretty in silence?"
"Jealousy is a green-eyed monster, Jay-Jay," he huffed, checking his reflection in the back of a shiny spoon. "Don't hate me because the universe spent a little extra time on my face."
Jare just sighed, grabbing a piece of toast. "Can we just eat? Some of us actually have to go to school and not just admire ourselves in shop windows all day."
"I don't just admire myself," Percy gasped, looking offended. "I appreciate art! And I am the Louvre of this family!"
I looked at Papa, hoping for some backup, but he just chuckled behind his coffee. This was my life now. Living in London, no uniforms, and a house full of boys who either wanted to ignore me or make sure I knew how great their hair looked.
Lord, give me strength, I thought. It's going to be a long day.
We finally finished breakfast, which was basically me trying to eat while Percy gave a lecture on the proper way to moisturize. Jare and I started grabbing our bags. We're seniors now—the home stretch! It's the start of the second semester, and I can practically taste graduation. Percy, on the other hand? That idiot is lucky. He's already done with college, which just means he has more free time to be a nuisance.
"Come on, siblings! Your favorite brother will drop you off at school," Percy offered, jingling his car keys with a blindingly bright smile.
"Oh, NO," Jare and I said in perfect unison.
Percy pouted, looking like a kicked puppy—if the puppy was wearing expensive designer cologne. "Why? Why the rejection?"
"Because you dropped us off yesterday and—" I started.
"—it was a complete and utter nightmare," Jare finished.
"It wasn't even that bad! You guys are so dramatic," Percy huffed, checking his hair in the reflection of the microwave door.
I glared at him, hitching my bag higher on my shoulder. "Say that one more time and I will genuinely hurt you. My patience is thin, Percy. Don't test me."
"Not bad?" Jare let out a sarcastic dry laugh. "You got us to school late, and we both ended up with mayo on our shirts!"
I pointed a finger at him accusingly. "Seriously, bro! Mayo?! Why? Just... WHY is there open mayo in your car? Why is it even a thing that exists in your vehicle?"
Percy had the audacity to look offended. "Excuse me, but a model needs to stay fed! I was eating a gourmet sandwich, and the structural integrity failed. It's not my fault the condiments couldn't handle my charisma!"
"The condiments couldn't handle the fact that you were trying to take a selfie while driving through a school zone!" Jare shouted.
"I had good lighting!" Percy yelled back as if that justified everything. "God, you guys don't understand the pressure of being a visual!"
I let out a long, dramatic sigh and slapped a hand over my forehead. This is why we can't have nice things. Honestly, my family is a literal circus, and I'm just the unwilling spectator.
"Enough! We have cars, we have driver's licenses, and we have functioning brains—well, most of us do," I said, shooting a look at Percy. "Let's just go, Jare. The principal sent a message. He wants to talk to us and the rest of our friends the moment we get there."
Jare froze, his hand halfway into his pocket. "What did we do now?" he asked, sounding genuinely tired of our own reputation. He grabbed his keys and tossed mine at me in one smooth motion.
I caught them mid-air, thinking back through the last week. "Honestly? Nothing I can think of. For once, I've been an angel."
"Are you sure?" Jare asked, raising an eyebrow as we headed toward the garage. "Did you break another window while playing soccer? Because the last time you 'accidentally' kicked the ball through the gym glass, Papa had to write a very long check."
I shook my head firmly. "Nope. Definitely wasn't me this time. I haven't even touched a soccer ball since Friday."
"Then it must be the boys," Jare muttered, referring to our chaotic group of friends. "If it's not you, it's definitely them. One of them probably tried to 'beautify' the school fountain or started a race in the hallways."
We hopped into our separate cars, engines roaring to life. Even though we were in London, some things never change—like the feeling that a storm was brewing. If the principal wanted to see the whole squad, it usually meant one of two things: either we were in deep trouble, or the school was about to fall apart.
As I pulled out of the driveway, I saw Percy waving at us from the front door, shouting something about "natural light." I stepped on the gas.
London High, here we come, I thought. Please let us survive until lunch.
We arrived at school and I immediately spotted the rest of our squad: Mia, Ben, Dave, and Sarah. Jare and I didn't waste any time and parked our cars, joining the group near the entrance.
"So, spill. Why does the Principal want to talk to us this early?" Dave asked, looking genuinely confused. Or maybe he was just scared—with this group, you never know.
Jare crossed his arms, giving everyone his signature suspicious look. "Did you guys do something over the weekend that we're gonna have to pay for? Honestly, just tell us now."
"Nothing!" Mia insisted, checking her watch. "Look, let's just get this over with. I think he wants to talk to us before the first bell officially rings. We don't want to add 'tardy' to whatever list he's making."
We all nodded and started the long trek toward the Principal's office.
This school is one of those fancy private institutions in London, which basically means it's crawling with rich, bratty kids who think the world revolves around their inheritance. Of course, I'm not like that. Sure, I'm spoiled—I'll admit that much—but I am definitely not a brat. There's a huge difference! One involves having nice things, and the other involves having a terrible personality. I like to think I only have the first one.
As we strutted through the hallways, I could feel the weight of everyone's stares. It's not that we're the quiet, mysterious type—actually, it's the opposite. We're that group. The popular ones. Most people either want to be us or are just waiting for us to cause the next big scene.
We finally reached the Principal's office and filed in, trying to look as innocent as possible.
"Oh, good! You guys are here. Please, take a seat," Ms. Smith said, gesturing toward the chairs. She didn't look like she was about to give us detention, which was a relief.
"Ms. Smith, did we do something wrong?" I asked, sliding into a chair and giving her my best 'golden child' smile.
"Oh no," she replied, peeked over her glasses. "Wait... did you guys do something?"
We all shook our heads in perfect synchronization. Denied.
"Good," Ms. Smith chuckled, sliding a stack of folders toward us. "I actually wanted to talk to you all about a student exchange program we're launching."
She handed each of us a paper. My eyes skimmed the bold letters at the top.
"This means you guys would be studying in a different country for the rest of the school year. It's completely optional, but you six are some of the school's best—despite the occasional chaos—so I'm inviting you to accept this opportunity," she explained.
Sarah frowned, looking at the fine print. "What if we don't want to go?"
"Then you'll simply continue your classes here as usual," Ms. Smith said simply.
"So, where exactly are we going?" Ben asked, leaning forward with a curious glint in his eyes.
"HVIS in the Philippines," Ms. Smith revealed. "It's a prestigious academy. They have five specific sections: Section A, B, C, D, and finally, Section E."
A sudden chill went down my spine, though I didn't know why. The Philippines? That's where my roots are!
"Two of you will be placed in one section, while the others will be scattered across the others. And mind you," she added with a mysterious smile, "this is a completely random process. You won't know where you'll end up until you get there."
I looked at Jare, then at Mia, Dave, Ben, and Sarah. We all had the same 'uh-oh' look on our faces. Section E? Why did that sound like the place where dreams go to die—or where the real fun starts?
"So," I said, breaking the silence. "What do you guys think? London is great, but a tropical adventure sounds like exactly the kind of trouble we're good at."
Jare smirked. "As long as Percy isn't the one driving us to the airport, I'm in."
"I'm down," Dave added. "I've always wanted to see if the rumors about Filipino street food are true."
I looked back at Ms. Smith. My heart was racing—partly from excitement, partly from the sudden realization that my life was about to do a literal 180-degree turn.
"I guess we're going to the Philippines," I whispered to myself.
After a long day of staring at that exchange flyer instead of my textbooks, Jare and I finally pulled into the driveway. The house was quiet, which usually meant the calm before the storm.
"You're telling Papa," Jare said, nudging me as we hopped out of our cars.
I groaned, hitting him with my bag. "Why me? You're the son! Use your 'man-to-man' bond or whatever."
"Because you're the favorite," Jare deadpanned. "And you're better at the whole puppy-dog-eyes convincing thing. If I do it, he'll think I'm just trying to escape my chores."
I rolled my eyes, but I knew he was right. I am the master of persuasion. We headed inside, dashed to our rooms, and swapped our school gear for the holiest, most comfortable sweatpants we owned.
We found Papa and Mama in the living room, domestically chilling on the sofa watching TV. Now, don't get me wrong—my parents aren't the "strict, no-fun" type of Filipino parents you see in movies. They're actually pretty chill. But for some reason, they've always been weird about us going back to the Philippines, even though it's literally where we're from.
"Mama?" Jare started, his voice a little too high-pitched to be natural.
Mama didn't even look away from the screen. "What is it, Jare? If you're asking for more allowance, the answer is talk to your father."
"No, it's not that," I jumped in, sitting on the arm of the sofa and giving Papa a sweet smile. "The school is doing a student exchange program."
"Really? That's good! Great for the resume," Papa said, finally looking up with interest.
"The principal actually specifically asked the six of us to participate," I added, leaning in.
Papa's smile wavered for a split second. He exchanged a look with Mama—one of those silent "parent-language" looks that usually means trouble for us.
"And where exactly is this program taking place?" Mama asked, her eyes narrowing slightly.
I took a deep breath. This was the moment of truth.
"It's in the Philippines," I said quickly. "At HVIS. We'd be staying there for the rest of the semester."
The living room went dead silent. Even the TV seemed to get quieter. Papa cleared his throat and rubbed his temples, while Mama suddenly became very interested in the hem of her shirt.
"The Philippines, huh?" Papa muttered.
"Is there a problem with that?" Jare asked, sounding genuinely curious. "I mean, Percy is already done with school, so it's just us. It's a great opportunity!"
"It's not just an opportunity, Papa," I added, putting on my best 'mature student' face. "It's about culture! Heritage! And... you know, better tan lines."
Mama sighed, looking at both of us. "It's a big move, Jay-Jay. High schools in the Philippines are... different. Especially a place like HVIS. Are you sure you're ready for the chaos over there? It's not all beaches and mangoes."
I smirked. If only she knew that chaos is my middle name. "Mama, we survived London. We can survive anything. Please?"
Papa looked at Mama, then back at us. He stayed silent for a long time before finally letting out a heavy breath.
"If we say yes," Papa said sternly, "no complaining about the heat, no calling us at 3 AM because you saw a giant spider, and absolutely no getting kicked out of that school."
"Deal!" Jare and I shouted at the same time.
I skipped back to my room, already planning my outfits. But deep down, a little part of me wondered why they looked so worried. It's just a school, right? Section A, B, C, D... and E.
Section E. For some reason, that letter kept echoing in my head.