One by one, they all came with small gifts nicely wrapped and expensive looking. Crystal could finally understand how grand a rich’s party would look like. Everyone came as if they were the center of attraction in this party and a glance down her blue dress; she realized Suzy was nice to lend her the dress because now that Crystal is surrounded by those classy people, she blends in with the rest as well.

Craning her neck, Crystal tries to search for Mark and friends. They should be here soon; she thought while pressing her cherry pink lips together and managed a few nods to herself.

“Crystal-ah! Bali, we should celebrate our friendship too!”

The bubbly girl held up two small and transparent looking glasses, each filled with a transparent liquid. She pushes one towards Crystal and smiles sweetly at her.

“Gomawo!”

Crystal took it and upon meeting gazes with Suzy, she sees her urging gesture so Crystal took the cue and gulp down that one sip of liquid that’s in the glass. She cringe her face together and stuck her tongue out. Suzy giggled at her actions, leans back near the table and reached for another glass of it with her long fingers.

“One more! One more!”

Suzy squealed and handed her the glass of liquid. Crystal could feel the warmth spreading slowly from to . It felt good actually because it warmed her up except for the bitter taste that lingers in .

Crystal waved her hands to signal that as a no because she was aware that the liquid isn’t plain water although it looked like it was. Suzy pouted and sag her shoulders but continues to push the glass towards Crystal.

“Come on… This one is for our friendship! Cheers!”

I guess one more wouldn’t hurt…

Crystal pause and look at Suzy’s pleading glint in her eyes and took a second longer than the previous time to gulp it down because she was hesitant to taste that bitter aftertaste again. It lingers in longer than expected and the gulp she just swallowed forcefully burned her tummy. It was as if standing in front of a small fire that emitted comfortable warmth in the winter.

Wow… How strong is that thing?

At the corner of her eye, Crystal spots the three bullies from her class and took a step back to avoid any unwanted conflicts again. They were invited to the party of course. Each of them had on a plain yellow dress that looked stunning and their long hairs were brushed up into a neat bun. Crystal had a funny thought then that they looked like the yellow paprika or a yellow pumpkin and the thought was too funny for her to hold it in. Crystal did a few giggle and Suzy eyed her confusingly.

 “Suzy! We love your party and thanks for inviting us! Cheers.”

There were three glasses and Suzy started gulping down one from the glass and then another one from another glass. Crystal watched wide eyed and the funny thoughts were long gone as she found herself asking whether it was right for the host to drink according to the number of toasts the guests greeted.

But she’s sick…

Frowning to herself, Crystal held out a hand and it landed gently on Suzy’s wrist, just on time stopping the glass from making contact with her lips. She smiled at her and took the glass over, giving a silent sigh before gulping it down.

“It tastes weird… You sure your body can take that?”

Upon understanding the concern coming from Crystal, Suzy heave a sigh and relaxes her muscle while smiling.

“No, I can’t but it’ll be rude if I don’t…”

Crystal her lips slightly because the bitter taste was too much for her not to yuck and although she didn’t want to, she needed the sweet taste of her cherry lipstick to cover the disgusting taste that’s lingering in every corner of .

“Suzy! It’s good to see you after so long!”

They both turn to the one calling Suzy