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Winter has always been Karina’s favourite season. Ever since Winter moved into her neighbourhood, Karina had always felt a special attraction towards her. As the two grew up, they quickly became friends but they also had their own closer friend groups. Very little people knew of their friendship as it mainly existed through phone calls made when one person was bored. This is how Karina came to know of Winter’s new relationship with Fallon, a boy who also went under the name of Fall.
“You're telling me this guy that u have liked for two weeks asked you out and you only started talking to this guy what like three months ago?” Karina whisper-shouted into her phone, careful not to wake her parents up.
“I think he’s such a caring guy and he’s cute too!” Winter responded.
“I’m caring and cute too! You should date me instead!”
“Stop being such a flirt Karina… I’m being serious here.”
“Shouldn’t you get to know this guy more though? You know, before dating?”
“Relax, he’s a cool guy and plus you can study him when we get to school tomorrow. Tell me how he acts and stuff like that.”
“Alright fine but I still think you shouldn’t run into things like these too fast. Do your parents know?”
“We agreed to take things slow and also to keep this whole thing a secret. Also why would my parents know? I’m 16 – I don’t need to tell them everything!”
“Winter, as someone who is older than you and has known you for more than half your life, I think you’re still moving way too fast.”
“Yea yea I get it. I’ll be careful. I’ll talk to you tomorrow tho. I promised to meet Fallon at the cafe before school and I can’t show up all sleep deprived.”
“Alright you go sleep, love you good night!”
“Night.”
Karina couldn’t help but feel worried for her friend. It was her first time in a relationship and they were already moving too fast. After thinking about it for half an hour she also decided to get some rest. After all, her friend was already 16 and could take care of herself. She was no longer the lost puppy who always looked to her for advice. Part of Karina wanted Winter to be the same puppy but she knew that it wouldn’t last forever.
The next day at school, Karina couldn’t help but find Fallon acting a bit weird. She didn’t know what Winter saw in this guy but it might be because the two seasons attract? It was a stupid idea but it was the only valid reason Karina could think of. What would happen if she changed her name to Summer? Would Winter like her then?
“Hey girl, what's got you thinking this hard at 8:30 in the morning?” Giselle, her best friend, approached, snapping her out of her trance.
“Oh nothing, just worried for a friend that’s all.” Karina was quick to reply.
“What you should be more worried about is the world history test we have later. I swear the teacher wants to kill us.”
“Aeri, the course wouldn’t be that hard if you just paid attention” Karina said strictly as she referred to her friend by her Japanese name.
“The class is too hard. All that material... be grateful that you were born smart.”
“I-“ Karina was cut off by the bell.
As they headed to their class, Karina saw Winter and Fallon walking to class together and she would be lying if she said she wasn’t jealous. See, Karina has had a crush on Winter ever since they were 14. Instead of risking their friendship, she decided to keep it all hidden away and just wait for her feelings to disappear. She had become so good at masking her feelings that she didn’t even know which ones were real anymore. Seeing Winter all happy with Fallon only hurt her heart even more, but she had to act strong because Giselle was there.
A couple weeks had gone by before Karina randomly got a call from Winter. They hadn’t called since Winter had found herself a boyfriend, so Karina debated about whether or not she should pick up. In the end her kindness won and she picked up the phone – to a crying Winter.
“K-Karina.. you were right. W-we were moving too fast an- and he he-“ Winter broke down.
“It’s alright Winter calm down, what did he do?” Karina asked worriedly.
“I- Can you come over? It’s easier to explain.”
“I’ll be there in five.”
Karina doesn’t know how she ends up in this situation but she finds herself sitting on Winter's bed while Winter is lying on her lap, ranting about the horrible things Fall has done. Turns out this boy randomly broke up with Winter right after a good date, claiming that he “wasn’t ready” for a relationship yet.
“What an asshole!” Karina shouts. “Who is he to play with your feelings!”
“He just needs space I guess...”
“Stop defending him. You know he’s in the wrong. I told you to not move too fast and look where this has gotten you!”
Karina knew this wasn’t her place. Being all mad when her friend's now ex-boyfriend broke up with her. Heck, she was even more frustrated than Winter! It was her feelings taking over but seriously, who wouldn’t fall for such a sweet person like Winter! Not to mention her amazing voice and visuals! She knew that listening would be her best way out of it.
“WE HAVE GOT A PROBLEM” Karina shouted the moment Winter picked up the phone.
“Woah geez... you don’t need to shout, I can hear you just fine,” Winter grumbled, still half asleep.
“Your so-called angel of an ex boyfriend just texted me. Since you didn’t pick up any of your phone calls I responded and from what I can see... he’s hitting on me. I TOLD YOU THIS MAN WAS GOOD FOR NOTHING!”
“Wait WHAT. Let me add Yizhuo, she’s the only other person who knew about us dating”
“Winter? Why did you call me this early? Also why is Karina in this call?” Ningning picked up the phone, confused.
“You and Karina are the only ones I told about this relationship....and turns out he texted Karina.” Winter replied.
“Ok and? He wants to talk to people from his school? What’s wrong with that?"
“He tried to hit on her.”
“HE WHAT. THAT PLAYBOY– I WILL PUNCH HIM WHEN WE GET TO SCHOOL ON MONDAY!”
“Don’t do that. I don’t want you getting suspended, but we need a plan for revenge. Karina, what exactly did he say to you?”
Karina, who has been silent to this point, disclosed all the details of her conversation with Fallon.
“SEE NOW HE'S GOING TO ASK KARINA OUT AND THEY ARE GOING TO DATE AND HAVE FUN,” Winter screams, a few hours into the call.
“Winter, calm down, Karina doesn’t even like him in that way.”
“Yea I don’t and I never will. Especially since he’s your ex boyfriend.”
“BUT HE WILL TRY TO MAKE YOU FALL FOR HIM.”
“WINTER, KARINA IS NOT YOU. JUST BECAUSE YOU FELL FOR HIM DOESN’T MEAN SHE WILL TOO.”
The call lasted for around four hours before Karina made her excuses and left the call. She wondered what she did to get herself in this situation. Her friend's ex boyfriend messaged her and now her friend is convinced that she likes him. Either way, it’s a lose-lose situation. At the rate this is going, she’s going to lose one of her closest friends who she happens to have a crush on and the guy is going to move on like nothing happened. Great, just great. If only she wasn’t a coward and could just confess her feelings. That would clear up the whole misunderstanding. It would also mean getting rejected. It was clear that Winter was not fully over Fallon and asking her out meant clear rejection.
The next few weeks were miserable for Karina. Winter had been ignoring her despite her countless attempts to contact her. Even Ningning tried to help her but nothing worked. In the end Karina gave up and tried to focus on her studies. She couldn’t even tell Winter that she had decided to ghost Fallon. This whole situation was a mess, and Karina's heart was trying its best to not fall apart. Giselle hadn’t even noticed that something was wrong with her friend, and that had made Karina even sadder. She had never been as close to Giselle as Giselle was to other people. She was a social butterfly and had tons of friends wherever she went. Karina was just stuck at home with no one to talk too. She eventually turned to only doing her work and focused on nothing else. Her mental health started to take a turn for the worse and she started to go to the gym more and more, as well as going on routinely jogs in the mornings. She would do anything to keep her mind off of Winter and to help her move on. Unfortunately, it wasn’t working.
Eventually summer break rolled in and Karina found herself with so much spare time. Her parents were away most of the time and she was left alone. She had already gotten used to this as it was a regular occurrence but she couldn’t help but feel lonely. Giselle was out attending parties and she wasn’t close to anyone else. At this point, Karina had already gone to the gym enough times to the point where she had a toned six pack and a defined muscle build. The rain also didn’t help. She couldn’t even go outside and run a few laps. The universe seemed to hate her.
As she was sitting around scrolling through things to do, her phone suddenly buzzed.
*new text from Winter*
|can we call?|
Sent at 5:43
They hadn’t even texted for months and suddenly Winter wants to call her? Karina knows that accepting would make it harder for her heart to move on, but she hadn’t made any progress so it wouldn’t make a big difference.
|sure. What time?|
Sent at 5:47
|does 6 work for you?|
Sent at 5:47
The reply was almost instant
|yeah sure just call me|
Seen at 5:48
For Karina, 6 o’clock couldn’t roll by fast enough. Winter ended up also being in the same position as she ended up calling at 5:57.
“Hi?”
“Hi Karina... I’m sorry for not talking to you..”
“It’s ok I guess?”
“It’s not ok is it?
“Not really...”
“Anyways I called to ask about your relationship with Fallon?
“We aren’t-“
“No need to deny it. Just the way you texted him before, I can tell you like him and he obviously likes you.”
“Winter we aren’t-“
“If your not going to tell me I’m just going to hang up”
“WINTER, CAN YOU LISTEN TO ME FOR ONCE IN YOUR LIFE. I DON'T LIKE HIM AND I NEVER WILL. I GHOSTED HIM MONTHS AGO AND WE HAVEN'T TALKED EVER SINCE. I LIKE YOU NOT HIM, BUT APPARENTLY YOU’RE TOO BLIND TO NOTICE.” Karina finally screamed.
She has reached her breaking point, as it has grown too much for her to handle. She quickly hung up the phone and sat on her bed thinking about what just happened. Winter only called her because she thought Karina and Fallon were dating, and Karina had lost it and accidentally confessed her feelings to Winter. There were many calls coming into her phone but she ignored all of them. As expected, they were all from Winter. She even received a call from Ningning and Giselle. She had recently learned that the two were dating, and she couldn’t be happier for them.
After around fifteen minutes, Karina heard a knock on her front door and when she looked out her window, she saw none other than Winter standing on her front porch, getting drenched in the pouring rain. She was split. Part of her wanted to watch Winter get drenched after all of the pain she had caused in her, but her heart took over and she quickly let the younger into her house.
“What are you doing here? You could have caught a cold, you know?” Karina fussed as she handed Winter a towel to dry herself off.
As Winter opened her mouth to reply, there was another ring at her door as Ningning and Giselle came walking in with their umbrellas
“So Winter have you told her yet?” Ningning asked while looking at her expectantly.
“Told me what? Is there something I need to know?”
“I- uh... Karina, first of all I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said all of those things to you,” Winter started.
“No Winter I-“ Karina interrupted “Let me finish please.” Winter begged.
As soon as she saw Karina nod she continued. “I was too caught up in my feelings and having a boyfriend to think about how you would have felt. I realized that I was being unreasonable. I shouldn’t have said all those mean things to you. I shouldn’t have assumed that you would date Fallon, even when you told me you wouldn’t. I shouldn’t have ignored you for 6 months. Those 6 months were probably the worst months of my life. I didn’t feel complete and I always felt like I needed something else.. like I craved something more. Ning came over one day and knocked some sense into me. As she was talking about her feelings for Aeri I realized that I felt all of the same things, but to you. I just was too caught up in Fallon to realize that I was losing one of the most important people in my life. When I called you today, I actually meant to confess, but I chickened out last minute and I said everything I didn’t want to say. I’m so sorry that I made you feel this way and I understand if you don’t like me anymore. I just had to tell you today before it is too la-“
Winter was cut off when she felt a soft pair of lips meet her own.
“Rambling was always a bad habit of yours. Now that you're done let me respond to the thousands of things you just said. First of all it’s ok. I understand why you did the things you did, and I understand why this all happened. Also on a more serious note, I have liked you since I was 14. I wouldn’t stop now even if I wanted to. I physically can’t. My heart doesn’t let me.”
“Even after all the things I did you still like me??”
“As long as you like me back eventually it’s all worth it in my eyes”
“Kiss kiss kiss kiss!” Giselle and Ningning started chanting in the back.
And so the two shared a sweet kiss mixed with rain water and tears from their previous conversation.
As Winter broke the kiss, she asked, “When did you become so fit? I can feel your six pack through your shirt!!”
“Oh honey, why did you feel there then huh?” Karina replied while smirking, her flirty side emerging once more.