Cold Hearted, You

06

NOTE: Please be aware of the chapters point of view.

06

“Rise and shine, my dear brother!”

I groaned in frustration as I heard that familiar voice of the person who used to ruin my mornings every single day back in Los Angeles. This person is so busy now with company work but he still has plans to disturb my precious sleep! It might be his plan now to ruin a single morning of my week.

I throw the pillow to the direction where I heard his voice as the sunlight enters my room upon his opening up of the curtain. “What are you doing here?!” I complained in annoyance.

“I’m here to wake you up, sleepy head! Why are you still in bed anyway? It’s already late.” He scolded, sitting on the bed next to me.

Without giving him any attention, I reached for my phone over the night stand to check the time. It’s already nine in the morning. It may be late for him but I think this is normal for others. I mean, I haven’t been able to sleep properly the past few days because I have to keep up with my class lessons! It was hard for me to catch up because they have a certain focus on topics which are different in Los Angeles.

“Why are you here anyway? Shouldn’t you be at the company?” I argued, giving him a glare when I raised my head to look at him. “I would report you to dad for being a lousy CEO.”

He scoffed and gave me a disbelief look. “Are you so busy that you can’t even check the calendar yourself anymore? Bro, it’s Sunday! And Sunday is family day! Mom would literally kill me if I didn't come today.” He explained.

Right… Sunday.

I think I was really so occupied that I can’t even tell what time it is already or what day it is as well. Time feels like clicking so fast these days that I barely manage it by myself anymore. It was like all of my time was allotted to my studies as of the moment because of the sudden change in environment. Added the fact that I am a late enrollee who happens to join the class full of outstanding students.

“If I were you, I’m gonna get myself busy now. You don’t want mom to come up here and wash you up herself.” He reminded me, making me panic.

If he didn’t say that, I would have stayed in bed for a couple more minutes. Staying there will end up with mom getting here in my room to drag me to my bathroom and wash me up. She just happens to be still stuck in that little Kai I was back then. I don’t really have any complaints being the youngest between me and kuya Joshua but it just sucks sometimes because I get treated like a baby sometimes.

Leaving my brother to do whatever he wants in my room, which I think he would end up watching, I went to my bathroom to wash up and prepare myself for the day. It’s a weekly routine for us every Sunday to get together. With kuya Joshua living in a separate home now, he is required by mom to come in the house every Sunday so we can attend mass all together then spend the rest of the day like a normal family does.

Wearing the patterned short shirt sleeve that I got before leaving Los Angeles, I tucked the side of my black jeans with a pair of timberland branded shoes. I styled my hair and put on perfume before coming out of my walk-in closet to see my brother laying down on my bed with a remote control in his hand. This guy really is treating my room as his.

“How was school by the way? Have you adjusted already?” He asked, keeping his eyes on the television.

I sat behind my study table to check on my iPad since there’s still half an hour left in our time. “Not that much yet. I’m still trying to catch up with them.”

“I heard you were put in the same class as Krystal? What was that class called again?”

“Private class.” I answered before sighing. I checked out the school's dashboard just in case the professors posted things to do. “Do you know that they have been implementing that kind of class for about two years now? The head teacher even says that it was Krystal who proposed to have that class created.”

It wasn’t that long for him to finally tear his eyes away from the television. He gave me a confused look with brows furrowed. Yeah. He doesn’t know.

“She must have had good intentions behind it. Besides, it’s only normal for her to get involved with their family business. Though it’s just unexpected for her to pass such a proposal that gets approved at the age of 15.” He says with a little uncertainty in his tone.

That was one of the things that was on my mind as well when I first heard about it. It’s given that Krystal would get special treatment as the one who is designated to take care of that school in the future. But knowing the old Krystal, she would never dare to use her own privilege just to get ahead of everyone which is a different case now with that private class and Pearl Bar inside an international high school.

Between the elders and a fifteen year old high school girl, how can a young girl end up getting what she wants setting aside those privileges?

“Being in the same class as Krystal, that means you already talked to her?” He questioned.

It was enough for me to think about her once again. Two days in that school, I never even get a chance to talk to her alone. The only time we manage to have time being alone was when she unwillingly toured me around the school in silence which is a whole torture. We didn’t even talk properly that time because she was being hard to handle. It was like I was talking to a rock who would never give me a reply.

“Kuya, were you not really able to reach Krystal since you were back?” I asked him instead of giving him any answer. He gave me a nod despite his confusion.

“I already told you that I tried coming back and forth at EIHS but I didn’t even see a glimpse of her hair. If I overthink it all, I will think that she is hiding from me but that would be impossible. Knowing Krystal, she would even be more than happy to see me back. After all, she was really close to me.” He explains.

“Well, yeah! Apparently, that Krystal is all gone.”

“What do you mean gone?”

Maybe it’s because in our family, the two of us don't have a female sibling that makes us really close to the Vargas siblings. Even though kuya had an unexplained past with ate Jessica, all of us treated each other like siblings way back when we were still kids. It’s given that Krystal would be close to my brother but… I’m not really sure about it now.

“She… changed,” I started, shaking my head. He turned off the television and went towards me on my table, sitting on the couch placed just a few inches from my table. “She became a whole opposite of who she was back then. Mean, cold, rude. When we first met, if auntie didn’t tell me that she is Krystal, I would have mistaken her as someone who creates trouble at school.”

“Trouble at school?! Krystal Erin? Are you serious?!” My brother exclaimed, raising his voice a little due to my reveal.

“A student accidentally bumped into her in the hallway. She fell on the ground and the student kept apologizing to her which is what a normal person would do. But that student even kneeled in front of her like she did something so bad and worst case, Krsytal just passed by her like she didn’t see anything! Added the fact that she was so rude towards auntie as well!”

I explained more to him everything I have seen about Krystal for the past few days. How different she is now from the girl we know and how she suddenly became someone that the students don't want to face due to fear. My brother had the same reaction as me but I cannot blame him because it was really unexpected for us to see her act like that.

“It could be because of growth hormones but… I don’t think it’s only like that. She changed too much.” He pointed at me suddenly. “You always grew up but did not change that far. It’s mostly your physical appearance that changed, not personality.”

“That was what I was saying! It looks like mom and dad are not informed about it as well because they seem clueless to whatever is going on with the Vargas. I mean, mom would know everything right away because auntie and her usually hang out a lot.” I pointed out which he nodded. “I tried getting information from her friends but they haven’t provided me anything except the fact that they fear her sometimes too.”

“But that’s too weird to think about now. Major changes wouldn’t happen unless someone or something triggered it. Unless Krystal really chooses to do it herself but that is still not enough for her to change drastically.” He commented.

A change for someone is indeed normal especially if one is in the span of growing. Each day, there will always be a change but just a small one not a drastic one. Krystal’s changes are too much to handle even to her friends.

“Her friends told me that things started two years ago. It was the year when she changed into the kind of person she is now.” I revealed.

“Well, I can tell that everything started two years ago. Based on your story, she proposed that private class to the school board that year and even forced her mom to build the Pearl bar for her and her friends.” He pointed out. A sigh escapes my lips as he suddenly gasps, as if he just thought off something big. “It was the same year that she suddenly stopped attending parties with her parents! I told you that she didn’t even present herself when I was announced as the CEO, right?”

Everything is just connected but I can’t still come up with a proper reason on why all those things suddenly happened. The reason behind it seems like it was purposely hidden from everyone even to those who knew her for a long time. It was like everyone is forbidden even her friends are not even allowed to tell me about.

Five days of attending classes, things are still new to me. I haven’t been adjusting well because each day, so many news things keep happening inside the private room and the Pearl Bar. It was even worse because Krystal is still acting the same way. There is never a day when I am given a chance to talk to her because she is usually occupied by the company of Yvonne or any of her female friends.

She has been avoiding me as well and never dared to say a single word even though we are just seated next to each other during the whole class. It was like I don’t exist in her world as of now. Like I am not her childhood friend that she used to want to be with for the whole. The person whom she was even upset to, even if she won’t say it herself, when I first told her that I am leaving for the States.

My existence is suddenly nothing for her now.

In this cozy room that has the same vibe of a coffee shop, it is filled with noises with people doing their own things. Krystal is seated on what seemed to be her usual spot because it is where I have been seeing her sit in for the past few days. Nothing is that much of a shock in this Pearl bar except for his friends.

Behind their good looking, beautiful faces and outgoing personalities that I usually like from time to time, they somehow have this different personality that I didn’t expect. When I first entered this room for the first time, what welcomed me was a guy who was standing weakly and trembling in front of them while they surrounded him. When I asked them about it, they said that the guy disrespected one of the girls which is highly unacceptable.

It keeps happening every single day with different guys and sometimes girls. And today is not an exception… but just a different guy once again.

“Who is that guy? What did he do this time?” I asked Max who is currently sitting next to me on the high chair placed on the island.

“Jason Mendoza. He is a fellow 11th grader but from class two. As for what he did,” He glanced towards the direction of Krystal which made me do the same. With a low voice, he inches towards my ear and whispers. “He told everyone that Krystal is a b***h who only gets to keep her rank because she is the heir of the school.”

My eyes widened upon hearing what he said. I look at the Jason guy once again who has his head down while fidgeting his fingers in fear. He didn’t dare to look up anyway as if those who are surrounding him are much higher than him.

My attention then went to Krystal. She keeps a stoic face while looking directly at Jason. She is unreadable and even hard to figure out. No one can tell what she thinks with all this chaos that is happening inside this room.

“And she didn’t say anything about it? Not even a single word?” I asked him with arch brows.

He shook his head. “The last thing that Krystal does is care about what people call or see her as. Whenever someone says something about her, it is us who always do the action on her behalf without her order. She will just let us do whatever we want to whoever tried to call her out in a bad way. She doesn’t have any involvement in the things we do here.” He nodded towards Krystal’s direction. “There. That is what she only does. Stare and leave when she has enough of the noise.”

So… even in this room, they have some sort of a system? And whoever comes in, who is not a member of the private room, which means they did something to one of the students in it? What a mess this is.

“If she was still the old Krystal, there wouldn’t be like that. She would have stopped all of you for doing that to that guy and end up crying at the end.” I commented with a slight disappointment in my tone.

Without any bother, all eyes are suddenly on me. None of them even tried to tear it away from me. I caught Wesley shaking his head slightly and even some of the guys looked so pissed.

“If you don’t like how things go here,” I look at the direction of Krystal who just suddenly talked. Her brows are furrowed and almost looking at me in frustration. “Just leave and go back to Los Angeles. We don’t need someone who thinks he knows what is better and what is not. You are being too nosy.”

She stood up from her chair and left the room in silence. All of us are just speechless from her sudden outburst. She didn’t even raise her voice but the way she spoke each word clearly was enough to almost send shivers down to my spine. So this is what they meant.

“You!” Cameron says to that Jason guy suddenly, pointing at him. The latter flinch and look up at him with fear obvious in his eyes. “Leave, now!

With a single order, the Jason guy immediately ran out of the room like he would be chased by any of us here. I can feel Cameron’s change of aura suddenly as he sits on the couch near the glass wall. The silence filled the room for a moment until someone decided to break it already.

“Kai, we know that you are Krystal’s childhood friend and that you just arrived a few days ago so you probably haven’t adjusted well yet but,” Daphne releases a heavy sigh. “Please don’t push her. Even if she didn’t say anything, we know that it’s already too much for her to handle and that there are students who keep talking bad about her.”

“Sorry. I’m just…” I heave a sigh in frustration. “Just not used… to the kind of Krystal I am seeing right now. She is just so far different from the girl I grew up to.”

“Don’t you think that we are also having our struggles with accepting what she is like right now?  You don’t know how desperate we all are in wishing that she could be just the same person as we first met her back then but… we all know that it is not possible.” Gianna burst out which made me feel guilty. “You don’t know how much she has changed considering you have only been around her for five days.”

I was left in silence as they scolded me for my words. I never dare to say anything back because I know that I am partly at fault. They were right. I don’t know much yet about the new Krystal in front of me. The only right thing to do is keep my mouth shut if I can but… it’s hard when I keep getting curious about her.

“Considering you are also unaware of the events two years ago to say things like that and question her actions.” Lance spilled.

I didn’t miss the moment when I caught the shock in his face after saying what he wanted to say. His friends also glared at him the exact moment he spilled those words that made me grow even more curious.

“You should all just stop now.” Yvonne interrupted in a soft voice before I could question Lance. She glances at each of us with calmness in her eyes. “Nothing will change if you keep on talking about it. It’s already bad that we are all talking on Krystal’s back so stop making it worse now. It would be better to remain calm.”

Yvonne is just at the same level as Krystal in terms of power. She can manage to silence them with their words with the use of soft tone and proper words which is different from Krystal. She uses her stoic face to say words in the coldest tone possible that will only leave you shivering on your spot.

“Sorry dude. We didn’t mean to offend or say anything bad to you. It’s just… you are not the only one who is adjusting to how Krystal is like now. We might be on her side for a long time now but each day, she changes and we need to learn to adjust to it every single day as well. So I hope you’ll understand.” Caleb says with an apologetic smile.

I shake my head with my lips formed in a thin line. “You don’t need to be sorry, dude. Krystal was right. I was just being nosy. I understand.”

After clearing things up and agreeing that no one will bring up such a topic again, despite my curiosity still, everyone went back to their own things. Max left me and joined the guys as they played chess on the other table while some of the girls gathered and picked up their iPads that were placed on the center table.

“I know that you are bothered with how Krystal acts now but you don’t need to worry about it. She is fine with the way she is right now. As long as she accepts how she is, there shouldn’t be anything we should be worried about.” Gianna told me, patting my shoulder, before leaving the room with the girls following her.

I followed them through my eyes as Yvonne didn’t forget to give me a comforting smile before passing by me. My eyes went to the guys who are still busy just to know whether one of them has any thoughts of leaving the room like the girls. But much to my disappointment, none of them even moved an inch from the table and kept playing chess with Caleb and Neil leading the game.

Feeling like I don’t have anything much to do in that room, I decided to leave and let my foot bring me anywhere. I walked in the silent hallway of this big school with thoughts clouding my mind. There are just so many things that I am curious about the more I stay in this school but I can’t even ask anyone a single thing.

Piano.

I stopped hearing that familiar sound from the piano keys. I looked around until I ended up staring at the black door on my right. There is a small window on the middle top of it which allows anyone from the outside to look on the inside. The sounds are not that loud but enough for anyone who is a few inches close to that door to hear it.

“That must be the music room,”

Without any thoughts, I approached the room and peaked at the small window on the door. My eyes wander until it landed on a familiar feminine back who is seated on a bench in front of the couch. I noticed those familiar fingers as she touched the keys for me to hear that familiar piece.

Unconsciously, a smile forms into my lips as I stare at her back.

“You still know how to play it.”

It was her. It was Krystal Erin… playing the piano like we used to do together back then.