"What's the meaning of this, Winter?"

 

"D-Dad, it's not what you think—" Winter stuttered as she covered Karina’s body with her blanket.

 

"Is she okay?"

 

"H-Huh?"

 

"She looks like she's about to pass out. What happened at the party, Winter?"

 

"She told me someone spiked her drink, Dad. I don't know where she lives so I took her home."

 

"Is she your friend?"

 

"Yes, Dad. Just recently,"

 

"We need to bring her to the hospital, Winter,"

 

"She doesn't want to, she said her dad would be furious if he finds out,"

 

"How about her other friends? Do you have their number?"

 

"I'll ask for it later, Dad,"

 

"Tell them she's safe here. Send me the location where this party happened. This can't happen again,"

 

"Y-Yes, Dad."

 

“And don’t let her sleep it off. I’ll call your aunt,” Her father said before shutting the door.

 

She looked at Karina and checked if her breathing came back to normal. Her dad was probably furious about the situation but didn’t say anything bad in front of her.

 

“Karina, stay awake for me, please…” She said caressing her right cheek and the latter only responded with a hum.

 

"Karina, I'm getting worried, will you really be okay here?" Tanong ni Winter kahit na alam niyang hindi siya masasagot ni Karina.

 

Winter’s aunt came after fifteen minutes. Her aunt is one of the best doctors in the country and on top of that, she owns a private hospital. She checked Karina’s condition and gave her proper medicine.

 

“Is she okay? She’ll be fine right? Can we just bring her to your hospital?” Winter asked in her still panicked voice.

 

“She’ll be fine, Winter. She’s just sleeping right now. Let her rest, ikaw din magpahinga kana dahil malalim na ang gabi,"

 

“Call me when she woke up again, Winter.” Her aunt told her and gave her a hug.

 

 

_

 

 

“Hey, you’re awake. How are you feeling?” Winter asked. Nagising siya nang may marinig na ingay mula sa kama. Sa couch kasi siya natulog at hinayaang makapagpahinga si Karina sa kama niya. Para ngang hindi siya natulog dahil gising na gising ang diwa niya, nakapikit lang ang mga mata kaya siguro mabilis siyang nagising. Tila hinihintay niyang gumising si Karina.

 

“Where am I?”

 

Agad na lumapit si Winter sa kanya. “You’re at my house. You told me someone may have drugged your drink. Sino gumawa non sayo? Natatandaan mo ba?”

 

“Give me some time,” Karina said, massaging her temple.

 

“Can you give me my phone?”

 

“Here, I charged it.”

 

“Thank you, Winter. For everything that you did for me last night.”

 

"Wala yun," Winter looked at her worriedly, "Do you feel okay na ba?"

 

"Yeah, a bit." She smiled.

 

"Mabuti naman, hindi ko alam ang gagawin ko kagabi mabuti nalang at dumating si tita para i-check ka. I'm glad you're okay now,"

 

 

 

Karina checked her phone to see messages from her Dad and Giselle last night. She immediately opened her cousin's message and what she saw gave her a headache. She felt disgusted and disappointed.

 

Giselle confirmed that the guy who spiked her drink was Jeno. She wasn't sure if she’ll tell Winter about it because she knows how the girl liked him. But it’s Winter. As far as she knows, the girl would understand the situation and take her side, right?

 

“It was Jeno,” Karina suddenly said, looking directly at Winter.

 

“Huh?”

 

“It was him. He drugged me last night, Winter.” Karina doesn’t know why but her heart starts beating fast.

 

"Si J-Jeno?" Hindi makapaniwala na tanong ni Winter.

 

“A-Are you sure? Baka naman nagkakamali ka lang. He got a pretty good reputation, Karina. He wouldn't do that to anyone," And that broke Karina.

 

Winter wanted to take back what she said when those words came out of . Karina's eyes glistened with tears, and her hands were shaky, but Winter noticed it too late.

 

“Here I am hoping I’d get a different reaction from you.” Karina laughs bitterly. “I was wrong about him, I really thought he was nice and all… but I never expected I was wrong about you too.” Dahan dahang tumayo si Karina, sinubukan pang hawakan ni Winter ang braso niya ngunit agad niya itong iniwasan.

 

“Our deal is over and you can now pursue him. Tell Jeno how much you like him but brace yourself because you’ll be confessing to him at the prison.”

 

“And thanks for last night, you saved me from getting assaulted. That, at least, I am thankful I met you, Kim Minjeong. Although Giselle was there in case something really bad happened,” Karina said before leaving her room.

 

“Karina… I’m sorry… that’s not what I meant—” Winter got a hold of Karina's hand.

 

Hindi napansin ni Karina na umiiyak na pala siya. She felt betrayed. Mas bumigat pa ang nararamdaman niya. Hindi niya inaasahan na marinig 'yon mula kay Winter nang sabihin niya ang totoong nangyari. Normal na reaksyon lang ba 'yon dahil wala siyang ebidensya na ipinakita?

 

"Karina, please… Dito ka muna hanggang mawala yung epekto ng gamot." Pag mamaka-awa nito.

 

“Giselle’s waiting for me outside. I can handle myself. It’s not the first time it happened anyway,”

 

Hindi na pinakinggan pa ni Karina ang sinasabi ni Winter at nagmamadaling lumabas ng bahay ng dalaga. Malaki ang bahay nito at may mga bumati pa sa kanyang maid nang makita siya. She thanked them for letting her stay.

 

Nakita niyang naka-park ang sasakyan ni Giselle sa gilid ng bahay ni Winter. Hindi niya na napigilan ang pagbagsak ng luha niya at niyakap agad ang pinsan.

 

They stayed quiet for a while before Karina told Giselle to start driving.

 

“It happened again, Gi…” Karina said her cousin gave her bottled water.

 

“I know. Men and their—”

 

“It’s not that. I think I lost a friend again.” Karina told her.

 

It wasn’t the first time that someone tried to spike her drink. It happened to her a few times when they were in the states. The first time was her best friend’s fault. She drugged her drink because she was secretly insecure about how Karina is getting fame and how the boys lined up for her. The second one is when she rejected a senior student. At that time she was so afraid to sue those people who did her wrong, but now, she didn’t want anyone to be the next victim of these kinds of people.

 

Giselle was the first one to notice that there was something fishy with Jeno. Like how the guy always knows where to find her. It was last night that Karina wanted to end things with Jeno completely. She saw an opportunity to talk to him properly but then she was drugged after that confrontation with him.

 

“Do we have enough evidence to send him to jail?” Karina asked.

 

Giselle looked out for her last night just in case something bad happened to her and Winter couldn’t handle the situation well.

 

“We don’t. Chaehyun is not cooperating and told me all the CCTV cameras are turned off that night.” Giselle told her. She sighed, feeling defeated.

 

_

 

Lumipas ang ilang araw nang hindi nagpapansinan ang dalawa. The news about their break up spread faster than the news about them being together did.

 

“Ano, Winter? Shot puno na ba?” Tanong ni Ryujin at umupo sa tapat ni Winter. Inirapan lang siya nito at nagsimula na kumain.

 

Hindi kay Winter nanggaling ang impormasyon na naghiwalay na sila. Kay Karina ito nanggaling nang may nagtanong sa kanya kung bakit hindi na sila magkasama palagi ni Winter na mas lalo namang naging tahimik kapag magkakasama sila ng mga kaibigan niya.

 

Hindi naman nila nakita si Jeno ulit, may mga rumors na lumipat na daw ito ng school.

 

“Kailan pa naging close si Karina at Chaehyun?” Ningning asked, looking at Karina a few tables away from them. Napatingin naman agad si Winter.

 

"I don't know," Winter tried acting normal like she wasn't affected by what she saw or everything that has happened in the past few days. But she can't control her body language.

 

She's still bothered—more than she expected. And she couldn't understand why she suddenly felt empty these past few days. Like something is missing. It's heavy, and she couldn't tell anyone about it because she was "okay" and because everything they had was only an act.

 

"Are you sure you're okay? Ang tamlay mo." Ningning asked, looking at her with worried eyes.

 

"You know you can tell us, right? Kanina ka pa nakatingin kay Karina. I think it's making her uncomfortable, Win," Ryujin said.

 

"H-huh? A-am I?" Wala sa sarili na tanong ni Winter at tumingin sa kaibigan niya at kay Karina na ngayon at naglalakad na palayo dala ang tray. She noticed how the latter's food wasn't touched. At si Chaehyun naman ay nakasunod lang sa dalaga.

 

"Why not talk to her?" Ningning suggests. Of course, they know what happened at the party and everything about what Winter said.

 

Ryujin and Ningning knew Winter only meant well. It's just, she didn't deliver her word the way she wanted to. She got fooled by Jeno's good reputation and his being known for being a gentleman. Winter is someone who gives people a benefit of the doubt before taking proper action; even to those who clearly don't deserve it. Like those people who did her wrong. You can say that she's kind, too kind, but she does not tolerate any of it. She did everything to get those people punished.

 

But Winter and her friends couldn't blame Karina for acting that way because it's totally valid.

 

"Hey, let's go, our break time is over," Ningning said.

 

They went to their classes together and they heard some of the students talk badly about Karina. How she's such a flirt for dumping Winter and then dating Chaehyun right after their "breakup"

 

Winter couldn't take it and she snapped at her classmates.

 

"Don't you think you have better things to do than talk bad about someone you barely know? Stop spreading rumors about Karina or else I see you in the student council's office,"

 

"What? Kakaiba ka rin eh, no? Ikaw na nga 'yung pinagtatanggol at kinakampihan namin, ikaw pa yung may ganang magalit?"

 

"Hindi ko kailangan na kampihan ako. She's free to do whatever she wants after our breakup. If Chaehyun is treating her right then that's all that matters." That's what she said to her classmates who care so much about other people's shenanigans.

 

As if their lives are too boring for them, that's why they talk about those who seem to have a more interesting life.

 

With those weeks that Winter spent with Karina, she knew that the girl wasn't a flirt. Sure, Karina says something unexpectedly to her that makes her heart pound faster, she knows the latter only says it to .

 

Winter sighed, thankfully, tapos na ang klase nila. Unlike the other days, there's no Karina waiting for her outside her classroom. There's no Karina smiling while waving her hands at her.

 

"Mauna na kayo na umuwi, I'll be at the student council office." Winter told her friends.

 

"Hatid ka na namin," Ryujin said at sinundan si Winter sa paglalakad. Medyo malapit lang naman ito kaya nakarating sila agad.

 

"Huy, wag ka mag pagabi ah,"

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