It had been weeks of jealous Keifer.
Weeks of glares at anyone who looked at Jay too long. Weeks of dropped temperatures and cracked coffee cups and first-years running away in fear. Weeks of friends documenting every single incident like it was a nature documentary.
Jay loved him. She really did.
But she was also tired of people being scared to talk to her.
"You know," she told Mila one morning, "a girl in my Magical Theory class actually apologized for asking to borrow a quill. She thought Keifer would get mad."
Mila nodded. "Someone brought me a message for you yesterday. They handed it over like it was a death note. Shaking hands. Sweating."
"That's ridiculous."
"That's your boyfriend."
Jay looked across the cafeteria at Keifer. He was sitting with Adrian, discussing something serious. But his eyes kept flicking toward her. Every few seconds. Checking. Making sure.
He caught her looking. Smiled slightly.
Jay smiled back.
Then she had an idea.
She stood up.
"Where are you going?" Mila asked.
Jay didn't answer. She walked to the center of the cafeteria. Looked around at the crowded tables. Crimson Oaths. Nightthorns. First-years. Teachers. Everyone.
Then she climbed onto a table.
The room went silent.
Lyra choked on her tea. Adrian dropped his notebook. Bella's pencil froze mid-sketch. Daniel just stared.
Keifer looked up. Confused.
Jay pointed at him.
"Everyone listen," she announced.
The silence got louder.
Keifer's eyes widened. Just slightly. The most emotion he'd shown in public in weeks.
Jay pointed at him with both hands now.
"This," she said loudly, "is Keifer Watson. He is my boyfriend."
Whispers erupted. Lyra grabbed Adrian's arm so hard he yelped.
Jay continued. "He gets jealous when anyone looks at me. It's annoying. But also kind of cute."
Keifer's ears turned pink.
"He's glared at so many people this month that the temperature in this room has dropped an average of three degrees. Adrian has graphs."
Adrian held up his notebook proudly.
"He's broken four coffee cups. He's fogged up six windows. He made a first-year cry just by standing near her."
Keifer opened his mouth. Closed it. He had no defense.
"So," Jay said, "if you want to avoid being glared at, just... don't look at me."
She pointed at Keifer's face.
"Look at him. He's pretty."
The room exploded.
"OH MY GOD—" "SHE JUST—" "DID THAT HAPPEN—" "THE PRESIDENT IS BLUSHING—" "HE'S ACTUALLY BLUSHING—" "THIS IS THE GREATEST DAY—"
Keifer's face was red. His ears were red. Even his neck was red. The most controlled person in Black Hollow was sitting at a table, completely frozen, while his girlfriend stood on a table and called him pretty in front of everyone.
Lyra was losing her mind.
"SHE CLAIMED HIM. IN PUBLIC. TO THE WHOLE SCHOOL. THIS IS THE GREATEST DAY. THIS IS THE BEST DAY. I'M CRYING. I'M ACTUALLY CRYING."
She was crying. Real tears.
Adrian was writing so fast his hand was blurring. "Direct public declaration. Verbal confirmation of relationship. Complimentary adjective applied. Subject Keifer's physiological response: extreme blush, pupil dilation, possible cardiac event."
Bella was sketching furiously. "The way he's looking at her. Like she hung the moon. Like she's the only person in the world. I need to capture this. I need to FRAME this."
Mila was just smiling. Shaking her head. "She really did that."
Daniel stared at the ceiling. "I can't believe this is my life. I can't believe I'm witnessing this. I can't believe I'm going to hear about this for the rest of my existence."
A first-year stood up. "Does this mean we can look at him now?"
Jay pointed at the first-year. "Yes. Look at him. He's very lookable. That's the point."
The first-year looked at Keifer. Keifer looked at the first-year. The first-year immediately sat back down, overwhelmed.
"Too much eye contact," she whispered to her friend. "He's too pretty. I can't handle it."
Her friend nodded solemnly. "Same."
Jay jumped down from the table. Walked through the crowd. Everyone parted for her like she was royalty.
She stopped in front of Keifer.
He was still red. Still frozen. Still staring at her like she'd just performed a miracle.
"Hi," she said.
"Hi," he managed.
"Did you hear what I said?"
"Everyone heard what you said."
"Good." She sat down across from him. "Now maybe people will stop being scared to talk to me."
"You called me pretty."
"You ARE pretty."
"In front of everyone."
"Everyone needed to know."
"You said I'm annoying."
"You ARE annoying. Also pretty. Both things are true."
He stared at her for a long moment. Then slowly, so slowly, a smile spread across his face. Not his small smirk. Not his private smile. A real, wide, public smile.
"I love you," he said.
"I know."
"I really love you."
"I know that too."
"I love you so much it's ridiculous."
Jay grinned. "Good. Because I love you too. Even though you're jealous and scary and you broke four coffee cups."
"They were old."
"They were new."
"They were defective."
"YOU'RE defective."
"I am." He reached across the table, took her hand. "But you love me anyway."
"Yeah." She squeezed his fingers. "I do."
The cafeteria slowly returned to normal. Sort of.
People kept glancing at them. Whispering. Smiling.
Lyra appeared at their table, still wiping tears. "I need to process what just happened. I need to document it. I need to make a plaque."
"A plaque?" Jay asked.
"A historical marker. 'On this spot, Jay Mariano claimed Keifer Watson in front of everyone and called him pretty.' Future generations need to know."
"That's excessive."
"That's LOVE."
Adrian appeared beside her. "I've updated the data. Public confession: confirmed. Complimentary adjective: 'pretty' (note: unexpected but effective). Subject Keifer's blush duration: ongoing. Currently at seven minutes and counting."
Keifer's ears were still pink. "I'm not still blushing."
"You absolutely are," Mila said, sitting down. "It's adorable."
"I'm the President. I don't do adorable."
"You do now," Bella said dreamily. "Jay made you adorable. That's her power."
Keifer looked at Jay. "Your power is embarrassing me?"
"My power is loving you in public." She shrugged. "Deal with it."
He squeezed her hand. "I will."
The news spread fast.
By afternoon, everyone knew.
Students nodded respectfully at Jay when she passed. First-years whispered "that's her" like she was a celebrity. Even Nightthorns seemed impressed.
Freya passed them in the hallway. Stopped. Looked at Jay.
"You stood on a table and called the President pretty," she said flatly.
"Yes."
"In front of everyone."
"Yes."
Freya was quiet for a moment. Then, slowly, she nodded.
"Respect," she said. And walked away.
Jay blinked. "Did Freya just... compliment me?"
"I think so," Keifer said.
"What just happened?"
"You broke her."
"I called you pretty and broke Freya in the same day?"
"Productive morning."
Jay laughed. "I love you."
"I love you too. Even though you're chaotic and unpredictable and you stand on furniture."
"YOU love ME?"
"Madly."
She kissed his cheek. Right there in the hallway. In front of everyone.
More whispers. More smiles.
Keifer's ears turned pink again.
At dinner, their friends had prepared a celebration.
Lyra had made a banner. Actual banner. It said:
JAY MARIANO: OFFICIALLY CLAIMED HER MAN
KEIFER WATSON: OFFICIALLY CLAIMED AS PRETTY
JAYFER: ETERNAL
There were snacks. There were decorations. There was a small cake that said "PRETTY PRESIDENT" on it.
Keifer stared at the cake. "This is too much."
"It's not enough," Lyra corrected. "This is the minimum. We should have had a parade."
"A parade?"
"With floats. And music. And a reenactment of the table moment."
"You want to reenact me standing on a table?"
"I want to REENACT everything. The jealousy. The tutoring incident. The fever. The love letters. All of it."
Jay looked at Keifer. "Your friends are insane."
"Our friends," he corrected. "And yes. They are."
"But you love them."
He looked at Lyra, who was now arguing with Adrian about banner placement. At Bella, who was sketching the cake. At Mila, who was calmly eating snacks. At Daniel, who was pretending not to enjoy himself but definitely was.
"Yeah," he said softly. "I do."
Jay leaned her head on his shoulder. "Good. Me too."
Later, back in his room, Jay lay in her usual spot.
"You know," she said, "I meant what I said. About you being pretty."
He snorted. "I'm not pretty."
"You ARE. You're very pretty. Your face is pretty. Your eyes are pretty. Your stupid perfect hair is pretty."
"That's a lot of pretty."
"You have a lot of pretty to cover."
He turned to look at her. The lamp light made shadows on his face. His eyes were soft.
"You're the pretty one," he said quietly.
"I'm okay."
"You're more than okay. You're beautiful. You're fierce. You stood on a table today and told everyone I was yours."
"Because you ARE mine."
"I know." He kissed her forehead. "I've known for a long time."
"Good."
"But today..." He paused. "Today you told everyone. You claimed me in front of the whole school. You made it official."
"It WAS official."
"Publicly official." His voice was rough. "You weren't hiding. You weren't embarrassed. You just... stood up and said it."
Jay looked at him. Really looked.
"Keifer. I'm never going to be embarrassed about loving you. Ever. Got it?"
He didn't answer. Just kissed her.
Soft. Deep. Full of everything he couldn't say.
When they broke apart, she was smiling.
"So," she said. "Pretty?"
"Beautiful."
"Annoying?"
"Also beautiful."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only answer I have."
She laughed. "I love you."
"I love you too. My pretty, annoying, table-standing girlfriend."
"Your WHAT girlfriend?"
"My girlfriend." He pulled her closer. "Mine."
"Yeah." She snuggled into his chest. "Yours."
The next morning, the banner was still hanging in the cafeteria.
Lyra had added to it overnight. New words:
DAY 2 OF THE PRETTY PRESIDENT ERA
JEALOUSY LEVELS: STABLE (FOR NOW)
JAYFER STATUS: ETERNAL (CONFIRMED)
Keifer looked at it. Shook his head.
"She's never going to stop."
"Nope," Jay agreed happily.
"And you're okay with that?"
"Lyra is annoying. But she's OUR annoying. And she loves us. In her own weird, documentary-making way."
He considered. Then nodded.
"Fair."
They sat down to breakfast. Normal. Perfect.
A first-year approached carefully. Looked at Keifer. Looked at Jay.
"Excuse me," she said. "I just wanted to say... you guys are really cute. And the table thing was amazing. And I hope I find someone who loves me like that someday."
Jay smiled. "You will."
The first-year beamed. Ran back to her friends.
Keifer looked at Jay. "You're good with people."
"I'm okay."
"You're better than okay." He squeezed her hand. "You're you. That's enough."
Jay felt her heart swell.
"Pretty AND sweet," she said. "Dangerous combination."
"I learned from the best."
"The best?"
"You." He kissed her knuckles. "Always you."