Chapter 1

Rina’s POV

It’s my first time in Cebu, and I hope the people here are better than those in my province. I hate having to deal with too much. It’s still early, so I decided to go to the canteen to buy something. This mask I’m wearing makes it hard to breathe, but I’d rather struggle to breathe than let people criticize the way I look.

When I arrived at the classroom, I saw four girls staring at me, but I ignored them, thinking it was normal. I sat beside a girl who was playing with her phone. She looked cool and kind—maybe sitting beside her would make my school day feel less lonely.

Our first subject teacher walked into the classroom, and since I was sitting in front, she asked me to introduce myself.

“Um… Good evening, I’m Rina Apolo. I’m from Mi—” my words were cut off by the teacher. Rude.

“Remove your mask. COVID doesn’t exist anymore." I paused for a moment, then continued my introduction. How rude of her to interrupt me while I was talking.

I didn’t take off my face mask and continued introducing myself, even though all I got were judgmental looks from my classmates—and even my teacher.

The class went on, and not much happened. I breathed a sigh of relief when the teacher finally dismissed us. I was about to stand up to go to the restroom, but I ended up sitting back down when I felt hands on my shoulders.

It was one of the four girls who had been staring at me when I first walked in. The four of them surrounded me—one sat on my desk, another slung an arm over my shoulder, one stood directly in front of me, and the last one pulled up a chair, sat down, and placed her feet on my lap.

“Where were you going?” the girl sitting at the desk asked.

“C-comfort room,” I answered, almost out of breath.

“Can you buy food for us?” another one asked.

“W-why?”

“What do you mean ‘why’? Girls like you—” she paused, then continued, “We want to be your friends. It’s our way of letting someone into our circle. Right, girls?” she said, wearing that weird-looking smile of hers.

I stared at the girl sitting beside me. She was looking at me too, but her expression was blank—it didn’t look normal at all. I kept my eyes on her for a moment before finally standing up to buy those girls the food they wanted.

I forgot to ask them for money, but maybe I shouldn’t have. They looked like they were about to beat the shit out of me if I said the wrong thing.

The girl beside me is utterly weird. Her pretty face and cool aura are kind of scary.

“Is someone like her even normal?” I muttered to myself as I removed my mask.

I paused by the glass window and caught myself smirking.

She’s interesting.

It was already 9 in the evening when we finally finished class. The girl who had been sitting beside me—Kresta—I only found out her name when the teacher called on her. During the introductions earlier, I wasn’t paying attention because I was too tense.

Kresta left the classroom, and I followed her. I didn’t know why, but even though I was sure she knew I was tailing her, my feet just kept moving on their own. She walked straight to the parking lot, and in the blink of an eye—she vanished. She disappeared from my sight, and what happened next almost killed me.

Someone choked me from behind, and I could barely breathe.

“Why are you following me? What do you want?” she asked.

“I—I ca...n’t breathe...” I struggled to get the words out.

She let go of me, and only then was I able to catch my breath.

“Why are you following me?”

“I-I’m sorry,” I muttered, still catching my breath.

“I was just curious about you, that’s why I followed you… but I didn’t mean anything bad.”

Kresta didn’t respond. Her face remained blank, and her aura suddenly shifted—being around her felt heavy.

She got on her bike and drove off.

Her grip was insanely strong.

It didn’t feel like it was her first time choking someone.

As soon as I got home, I went straight to my room and checked myself in the mirror. Kresta’s grasp had left a bruise on my neck. I was a bit worried, but I had other things to do that night.

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The Day After

The moment I stepped into the classroom, the girls were all trying to avoid me. I noticed a few bruises on their faces, and they couldn’t walk properly. They’d been avoiding my gaze ever since I got here. I had no idea what happened. I didn’t do anything wrong—well, not exactly. I just did a few things here and there. But those bruises weren’t from me.

As far as I remember, they were the ones who offered me a spot in their circle.

And now… they can’t even look me in the eye.

We waited a few minutes for our teacher.

Suddenly, two girls entered the room, laughing.

I felt a chill run down my spine when my eyes met one of theirs. Her eyes weren’t blank, but they were unreadable. She was laughing, yet there was nothing in her gaze you could hold on to. No joy, no malice—just… nothing you could understand.

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