Chapter 4

Jeyah's POV

I went inside my room after having our dinner. And as usual, my brother was asking me why I came home late. He told me not to spend the night on the road since I am a girl and it's not safe for me to be alone at night. He's right anyway. It's for my own good; that's why he is so protective of me.

I was sitting on the bed with my back leaning on the headboard while reviewing my lessons. And most of the time, when I'm studying, I used to turn off my phone to avoid any disturbance or interruption. After studying my lessons, I went to my music room to prepare myself for my live stream. Yes, I'm a streamer on three platforms. And if you want to ask what kind of streamer I am,? Well, I am a singer. But no! I'm not a professional singer. I just want to sing because this is my passion. I'm not streaming to earn money, but just for some sort of relaxation. Starting from 8:30 in the evening until 9:30, I stream on the first platform, then from 9:30 to 10:30 on the second platform, and 11:00-1:00 a.m. m. on the third. I streamed for two hours on the third platform because it's here where I have a lot of followers.

This is the reason why during these hours, I'm not active on any of my social media accounts in order for me to focus while having my live stream. Well, I don't show my face when going live. Actually, it's just an audio live. Sounds weird, but it's true. I did not even put a picture on my profile, but anything like a precious stone, a flower, nature, or an anime. Most of my followers were coming from other countries, and all of them asked me to show my face, but I just told them I don't want to. I thought they would no longer come to my stream, but they still visit me and give me virtual gifts.

While I was in the midst of streaming, someone suddenly joined under the username "Denver." I don't know if it's his real name or what because it's my first time seeing him. He interacted with me in the chat box and complimented my voice. It made me flattered. Anyway, it's a normal feeling when someone admires you or appreciates something in you, right?

After some time, another came in. And I guessed it's his friend because they were interacting with each other in the comment section. Until I asked them if they had song requests. The woman under the username "Claui" requested me some songs. Then, after singing those songs, "Denver" asked me if I could sing any of the songs of Michael Jackson. And the first thing that came to my mind was, of course, the song "One Day in Your Life," because this is a piece of my soul. And honestly, whenever I sing this, I cannot help myself but get emotional. They were asking me why I was being emotional while singing the song, but I told them it was just nothing.

I did not expect that was the beginning of our friendship. We chatted online most of the time and he asked me about some of my personal information. I told Denver about my age but I did not mention to him when my birthday is. I also told him that I am a student studying at a certain university. However, I did not ask anything about him, except that he would send me a clear picture of his face. Hahaha. I don't know why but I just wanted to know him. After a while, he privately sent me a picture. And I can say he is really handsome. But wait, I had this feeling that it's not his real face. I am not sure though. Whatever! Maybe he's thinking that it would be unfair if I got to know him when I wasn't showing his face to him. Anyway, it's his choice so I need to respect it. And for him not to know that I doubted his picture, I gave my compliments and told him that he is handsome.

*************

Another day at school in the afternoon time.

I heard groups of girls who were screaming and giggling as they made quick, long steps going to the school gym. I furrowed my brows in confusion on what's the event and why plenty of girls were heading to the gym. I was about to get inside the classroom for my last subject when I met Clarisse at the door.

"Hi, Clarisse, where are you going?" I asked her.

She rolled her eyes and held my arms.

"Our professor will not meet today, Jeyah, so I need to go to the gym with the group to show our support to Darren. You know he is a senior varsity player in this institution, and there will be a basketball game tournament between the College of Business Administration and the College of Engineering," she spoke hastily.

"Oh, okay," I responded as I went my way to the library, since we don't have a class, so I would spend my time reading books. Besides, I never thought that Darren is a varsity player in UP. That's why he has a great physique that made him the heartthrob of the school campus.

I continued my way to the library but suddenly, Clarisse called me, so I stopped and turned to her.

"Are you free, Jeyah? Please come with me. Please!" she pleaded while showing me her cute smile. I smiled back at her because I feel like we're closed already, so I nodded in approval, and together we went to the gym.

"Oh, there they are!" she exclaimed as she pointed her finger towards the direction of her friends. They were all seated in the bleachers and as soon as they saw us, they waved their hands. Clarisse then held my arms as we walked towards them.

"Hi Jeyah," Darren's friends greeted me as they offered me a seat. Sitting beside me was Clarisse, followed by Angela, Andrew, and Eduard. On my right side were Nicole, Rose, Karen, Sam, and Lance.

I looked around at the basketball court and I saw Darren. He was wearing a combination of white and blue jerseys that feature his number and his last name on the back, as well as shorts and athletic shoes. He is really handsome! A real heartthrob of UP Diliman. I averted my gaze when I felt that he was looking at me.

My heart kept pounding in my chest and I don't know why.

After a while, the game had started. I could hear a group of girls from the other side of the bleachers screaming out loud and shouting his name.

"Go, Darren! We love you!"

His friends were also cheering him.

"Go, bro! We are here!" Lance shouted while showing a thumbs up.

I remained silent as I watched him dribbling the ball as he moved around, driving to the hoop and oh! What a nice jump shot!

"Nice, bro!" Lance and Andrew exclaimed as they clapped their hands. Clarisse and Angela were not able to hold back their excitement and stood up, putting their fingers around their mouths as they shouted.

"Go, go go, bubs!"

The referee signaled for a timeout. Darren looked at us, and as soon as our eyes met, I felt another butterfly in my stomach. I lowered my head because I felt like I'm going to melt away by his intent gaze.

"Are you okay, Jeyah?" Clarisse asked me curiously.

I nodded and smiled at her.

Until the game reached its second half and still Darren's team was leading on the scoreboard. All of them were great players and even the other team was also doing well. Sometimes, the scores were tied, but when Darren was in possession of the ball, his team would again be in the lead.

The game was over and Darren's team won the tournament. His friends approached him in the court and gave him a big hug. While I remained sitting on the bleachers and just smiled while looking at them.

Suddenly, a group of girls drew nearer to him and gave him flirty hugs. I saw one girl who kissed him on the lips. The other girls giggled as they also wanted to kiss him. I was shocked when I saw it. And for no reason, I felt disgusted. I averted my gaze because I don't want to see anymore those girls who were flirting around him.

After some time, Darren and his friends went up to the bleachers and approached me.

"Hi Jeyah, thank you for watching the game," he said and sat beside me. His friends were also sitting but distant from us.

"Hi, congratulations, Darren," I responded in a soft voice.

I looked at him and my eyes were locked into his.

Unexpectedly, someone approached us. That girl who kissed him a while ago inside the basketball court.

"Darren, who is she?" the lady asked, giving me a scornful smile. She is pretty but I think she is liberated because the way she dressed was totally different. She was wearing fitted jeans and a plunging neckline blouse with a wedge sandal.

"Uhm, she is my friend, Bridgette," Darren responded in a casual tone.

"Jeyah, this is Bridgette Castillon."

I smiled at her, but she just rolled her eyes and smirked at me. Well, I can sense she was insecure. And why would she feel like that? Does it mean I am more pretty than her?