Twisted: This Instant

CHAPTER 2

[5:01pm, Salvador College stairs to rooftop]

[Number of times Ren has landed a hit on Julia : 0]

[Number of times Julia has landed a hit on Ren: 4, punch on the right cheek, punch on the upper left shoulder, kick on right leg and kick on his left neck]

Just when Julia was about to complete her 5-hit sure-kill knock-out combo, Ren suddenly blowed the whistle keychain on his school id.

He smirked...

"Ahhhhh..... HAHHAHAHAHAHAAHAH, now you will be labeled as a bully-HAHHAAHAHA", Ren said while laughing freakishly.

The frightened Julia suddenly flinched but then she smirked, "I got all of this recorded tho? DO you think you can easily frame me?", she said showing him her cellphone.

Ren's eyebrow's furrowed. The school guard arrived and he was surprised to see Ren who was struggling to keep himself standing. Meanwhile, Julia showed all the acting skills she learned from her attendant Noah.

"Sir! Please help him! He fell from the stairs!", Julia said.

Ren was about to say something when his knees gave out, he was about to faint. Luckily, the school guard immediately caught him.

"Seriously, what happened here? Another lover's quarrel, Ren?", the guard said while shaking his head.

Julia was surprised.

'Why does the guard looks used to this? Don't tell me...'

Julia looked at Ren... He was smirking at her.

'He did this on purpose! But what can he gain by making the guard think we are a couple?!'

-------

The guard 100% believed that Ren and Julia are a couple. Julia learned that Ren always gets wounded or hurt whenever he is breaking up with his girlfriend. The guard even warned her that Ren is a player who is not serious with his relationships. Thanks also to the school guard, the two of them were separated and Julia was able to go home peacefully.

[8pm, Josephine Perez's residence (Julia's "aunt")]

'That was crazy... How did he know my name? Should I ask Josephine for help...'

Julia stood up from her bed but when she was about to approach Josephine,

"What?! Please approve my advance! What will my niece and I eat for this week??--Hello? HELLO?! Damn it!", Josephine said then she threw her wig.

Josephine Perez, a gay man, preferred to be called as 'she' as well as 'aunt' was one of person who contributed to Julia's freedom. She is a close friend of Noah, Julia's mysterious attendant. They faked Julia's identity as Josephine's niece. She currently works in a BPO company two streets away from their current residence. However, because of her cold, she was not able to work for 2 days.

"Dearie... sorry about that...are you startled?", Josephine sweetly said to Julia.

"Oh! Not at all.... But... if we have money problems... I can give you my savings--", Josephine cut off whatever Julia was going to say.

"Nuh-uh, no, no! I don't need your crumbs! That's all for your future dearie! Besides, I can always ask Noah for extra cash... It's just that.. It's hard to contact him now..", Josephine said to Julia.

"What?! Is he fine?? Should I just return to the estate--",

"Dearie... let us take care of it... We're just being careful... Ever since we helped you to get out of your house.. Your brother started to become very strict... Noah is also struggling to find a timing...But we can manage it, you know what we are capable of, right??", Josephine assured Julia.

"Okay..", Julia said then she told Josephine that she will pack her bag for tomorrow's class and she will sleep shortly.

'I can't bother Josephine with this... I'll take care of this myself'

-------

[Following day, 7:30 AM, Room 404, West Building, Salvador College]

"Wah! What happened to you Juls!?", Kisses asked Julia upon seeing her foot.

"I just twisted my foot during my cheerleading tryout..", Julia answered.

"Are you alright now? Looks like you didn't even sleep well...", Raya also asked.

'Maybe... I can ask them about other things about Ren Garcia...I mean I researched all night about him--'

'--No, I can't bother them with this'

"J-julia?! What?! O-okay??!!---JULIA!! SOMEONE'S HERE FOR YOU! UHM....REN GARCIA IS LOOKING FOR YOU!", a noisy classmate shouted.

Both Raya and Kisses become frozen

"Ren..."-Kisses

"...Garcia?!"-Raya

"YOU KNOW HIM?!", both of them glared at Julia.

'Why are they looking like that?'

"Well... a lot of things happened yesterday-", once again, Julia was cut-off.

"Good morning, Julia", Ren has entered the room and greeted Julia.

Both Kisses and Raya are dumbfounded and it looks like they've frozen up. Julia just sighed and she looked at Ren's face.

"Oh... and good morning to your friends as well.", Ren flashed his sparkling face and smile to the cousins. They both looked like they can pass out any moment so Julia shake their shoulders.

[What Julia learned from spending an all night researching about Ren:

Name: Ren Garcia

-not active in social media

-has a f*******: and i********: account just to contact his classmates or family

-running as Valedictorian in Salvador College, academic rival is Aki Salvador

Important facts:

-his late father is one of the owners of GR Auditing Firm (used to be the number 1 firm in the country but due to his father's death, their company took a blow)

-EXTREMELY POPULAR (the academic/clean looking/glasses wearing type of guy that girls like and mothers prefer as son-in-law!)

-MAJOR PLAYBOY

VERY IMPORTANT FACTS RECENTLY LEARNED:

-Is actually super evil

-Possibly in love with his best friend, Damian Rodriguez??]

'So if he is really in love with his best friend, why is he in my classroom, greeting me a good morning with a BOUQUET OF FLOWERS?!'

"Good morning... Uhm... why are you here?", Julia said not even looking Ren's eyes.

"Take the flowers...I'm thanking you.. for helping me cope up with the sadness of breaking up with my ex-girlfriend..", Ren said while pushing the bouquet Julia.

'WT*?! WHAT BULLSH*T ARE YOU SPOUTING?!'

"Ohhh...Good morning as well, Ren... WE will take this flowers that you gave Julia...", the recovered Kisses said while taking the flowers from Ren's hand.

"...She doesn't get what you're saying here soooo... I don't think whatever you want to happen to your relationship with her will not happen....????", Raya said.

Then the cousins proceed to cover Julia from Ren.

'I knew it... These girls.. they're really my friends! However...he knows my secret and I don't want you to be entangled with this mess..'

"Ah,... It's alright girls... Didn't you said that you want to talk to me? Let's talk outside while waiting for our subject professor.", Julia said then she acted as if she is struggling to stand up because of her twisted ankle. Ren immediately offered his hand to assist her.

Julia accepted his help and they talked outside the room. Most of her classmates look very curious and they started to look at them through the classroom window.

Ren flashed all of them a smile and they immediately decided to pull down the curtains.

"You can win an oscar with your acting skills, Priscilla Divinagracia.", Ren called Julia by her real name.

"How did you know?", Julia nervously ask.

"I noticed similarities... But wait, your disguise is almost perfect, okay? Different physique and skin color, different posture, different tastes in clothes, almost different personality, however... you cannot change your voice.", Ren said.

"I've never spoken in public...and no one has my recorded voice...my attendant made sure.. that my voice sound displeasing to my family...that I was not allowed to talk--", suddenly Julia is having a hard time breathing.

"Oh crap...Breath in, breath out... can i hold both your hands?", upon seeing that Julia was not in a state to agree, he hold both her hands and continued saying breath in and breath out.

After a minute, Julia is back to normal.

"How did you know?", Julia asked Ren. Because of panic, Julia hasn't noticed that Ren is still holding her hands.

"Your 10th birthday... I was able to attend it... Your first and last birthday celebration... I heard you there... and once I heard a voice... I can never forget it. Same with faces....", Ren explained.

"That doesn't explain everything...", Julia said.

"I will tell you soon...however... you need to agree on my conditions...First, we will become lovers..", Ren proposed.

"I can't agree to that, I have many things to lose. Is your problem really only about your feelings with your best friend? That does not equate to my problem.", Julia said.

"Yes, it does. Are you telling me that you think it is not a big problem because it is just a relationship problem?", Ren asked.

"Are you worried about how the society will view you as? I never took you for a person that is worried about that. And I don't really care whatever your sexuality and that is one of the reasons why I feel like our terms and circumstance is not equal.", Julia followed up.

"Well thanks that my "possible" sexuality is not a problem for you. But I feel like this is still a problem because other than being a friend, Damian is also like a family for me. And I need to know myself more so you also need to help me. In exchange, I'll help you with your secret.", Ren said. His voice changed and he sound serious.

"I still can't trust you... what if you had something against my family and you want to get back at them through me.", Julia asked her main question.

"Yes, I hate your pretentious family. I hate your family's crimes, and how they can always get away with what they've done. But you... you look like you're a runaway... So I guess, you discovered some of their bad business and decided that it's better to runaway than be associated with them..", Ren said.

'He's almost right... I hate how sharp he is..'

I still can't trust him. However, if he said that he can help me with my secret... then sure...

"Okay... I accept your offer.", Julia said then she just noticed he is still holding her hands.

Ren smiled widely and he proceeded to hug Julia. One of Julia's classmates peeked in the window and when he saw them hugging he immediately opened the door.

"CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!", he shouted and all of her classmates clapped their hands. The cousins almost fainted because they did not expect their friend to be caught by the notorious playboy.

Their professor arrived and they were all scolded. Ren even escorted Julia to her seat.

"Byeee, Babe~", Ren said.

"Bye.", Julia plainly said.

'Well, if he does betray me, I will just do what Noah told me---"If they betray you, just end them."'