Jay-Jay's POV
The next day, the girls and the Section E boys showed up all at once, and I knew the second I saw them that I was in trouble. đ
I was still trying to recover from the whole engagement announcement disaster when the door opened and chaos walked right in.
First came the girls, loud and animated, already talking over each other before they were even fully inside. Then the Section E boys followed behind them, smug as always, like they had personally been invited to witness my downfall. I stood there in the middle of the room and just stared.
"Oh no," I muttered. "This is a setup."
"Good morning to you too," one of the girls said, grinning like she already knew something I didn't.
I crossed my arms. "Why are all of you here at the same time?"
That was when I noticed the looks being exchanged.
Not casual looks.
Not friendly looks.
The kind of looks people give when they know a secret and are just waiting for it to explode.
My stomach dropped.
"Okay," I said slowly, narrowing my eyes. "What's going on?"
Nobody answered immediately.
Which, honestly, made me more suspicious.
Then one of the Section E boys leaned back against the wall and said, "So⊠it's true?"
I froze.
The girls all turned toward me at once.
My face went hot. "What is true?"
"Don't act clueless," one of them said, her grin widening. "We just heard you're engaged."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
My soul left my body for a full second.
Then the room erupted.
"Excuse me?"
"No way!"
"Since when?"
"Why did nobody tell us?"
I looked toward the boys, then the girls, then back again, completely horrified. "Who told you that?"
The boys started laughing.
"Apparently," one of them said, "the announcement is already making its way around."
I groaned and covered my face. "I hate this. I actually hate this."
That only made them more excited.
The girls rushed closer immediately, all speaking at once.
"You have to give details."
"Is it real?"
"Are you actually okay?"
"Wait, who is it with?"
I dropped my hands and stared at them. "You really want me to say it out loud?"
They all nodded.
I swallowed hard.
"Fine," I said. "Kiefer Watson."
The room exploded again.
The girls screamed.
One of the Section E boys literally choked on his drink.
Someone slapped a hand over their mouth like they were trying not to laugh, and another one looked like they were mentally putting all the gossip pieces together.
"No way," one of the girls said, eyes wide. "Kiefer Watson?"
"The one and only," I muttered.
The boys immediately started teasing.
"Okay, that's insane."
"Wait, you and Kiefer?"
"How did that even happen?"
I pointed at them. "That is exactly what I would like to know."
One of the girls came closer, lowering her voice with dramatic seriousness. "So this is why you've been acting weird."
"I have not been acting weird."
Everyone in the room gave me the same look.
I glared at them. "Fine. A little weird."
"More than a little," someone muttered.
I wanted to disappear into the floor.
Instead, I let out a long breath and said, "Look, I didn't exactly get a normal explanation. I found out the same way all of you did, except with more yelling and less snacks."
That finally made a few of them laugh.
But the laughter didn't last long, because the mood shifted the second one of the girls noticed my face.
Her smile faded a little. "Jay⊠are you serious?"
I looked away.
That was answer enough.
The room went quieter after that.
Even the boys stopped joking.
One of them pushed off the wall and asked carefully, "Is this because of the family stuff?"
I didn't answer right away.
Because that was the part that hurt the most.
Finally, I gave a small nod.
The girls exchanged a look, and suddenly the teasing was gone completely.
Instead, they came around me like a wall, protective and serious.
"Okay," one of them said softly. "Then this is bigger than gossip."
"Obviously," I muttered, though my voice came out weaker than I wanted.
Another girl touched my arm. "Are you okay?"
I hesitated.
Then I gave the smallest shrug in the world.
Which, apparently, was enough.
The boys looked at each other again, and the energy in the room changed. Less joking now. Less curious. More concerned.
One of them finally said, "So the announcement is real."
"Yes," I said, a little too quickly. "Very real. Horrifyingly real."
That got a few sad smiles, but nobody laughed this time.
Instead, they started asking the kinds of questions that mattered.
Was I okay?
Had I talked to him?
Did I know what came next?
Was I being forced into this?
Every question hit harder than the last.
And slowly, I realized they weren't just here for drama.
They had come because they cared.
That made my chest feel weird in a way I didn't know how to explain.
So I took a breath and told them the truth, as much of it as I could.
About the announcement.
About the photos.
About the pressure.
About the fact that everyone seemed to think I'd eventually fall in line.
By the time I finished, the room was completely quiet.
Then one of the boys said, "That's messed up."
"Yeah," I muttered. "Welcome to my life."
One of the girls gave me a look that was half sympathetic, half determined. "Then we're not letting you get through this alone."
I blinked at her.
Then another girl nodded. "Exactly. You're stuck with us now."
The Section E boys immediately reacted.
"Wait, us too?"
"Obviously," one of the girls said. "You're part of this mess now."
I almost laughed.
Almost.
Instead, I looked around at all of them, still shocked that they'd gone from gossiping to standing beside me in about two minutes flat.
"Thanks," I said quietly.
The room softened after that.
Someone nudged me lightly. "So, when do we get to meet the fiancé?"
I groaned so hard it was basically a tragedy.
And that, somehow, sent everyone right back into chaos.
A moment ago they'd found out.
Now they were all fully invested.
And I had a terrible feeling this was only the beginning.