HER UNWANTED HOUSEMATE | WinRina

Chapter 21

Karina's view

Summer break officially ended yesterday and now I'm heading out of school. My first day of second semester felt so empty. We didn't do much today but I feel really tired.

"Rina!"  I hear the familiar voice that I refuse to talk with more than half a month now.

I don't bother to look at her and walk faster. My heart starts beating so fast. I'm not yet ready to talk with her so I need to get out of here right now.

"Rina wait!"

I'm a few steps away on my car when she halts me from walking. I shut my eyes hardly. No matter how I try to understand her it's still futile. I can't help but to feel disappointment.

"Please talk to me"  she pleads. I try my best to face her and that's when I meet her glossy eyes. Her tears are threatening to fall down.

"Giselle I..."  I pause and think of a right word to say.

"Not now Giselle. I'm still disappointed to you so please"  I continue.

She doesn't answer so I take that as a cue to continue.

"You're my best friend so I want you to learn from your mistake. Maybe I'll just talk to you again once Winter knows all about this so please let me go now"  I state and base on her reaction she's hurting but there's no way that I'll tolerate her so I'll do my best to stay on my stand.

"O-okay. Sorry"  she says then let go of my wrist. I immediately get in inside my car without saying anything.

Soon I pull out on the hospital's parking area. I feel a twitch inside my chest as I enter the hospital.

When I open the door I see Ningning sitting on the couch, she doesn't notice my presence yet.

"Ningning?"  I call out so she turns her head to look at me.

"Oh hi Karina"  she greets shyly then give me a small smile. I don't know why she still feel shy around us even we already knew each other for months, I find that cute though.

"How long have you been here?"  I ask as I sit besides her.

"I think more than 15 minutes now?"  she answers. It follows by a comfortable silence until Ningning decides to go home.

"Uh Karina I need to go now"  she says.

"Okay but can I uh drive you home? I also need to talk to you"  I answer then she gives me a surprise expression.

"Yeah sure why not?"

We gather our things then say our good byes to Winter despite her being unconscious.

We hope in inside my car then I start the engine as I pretend to ask her address, yeah I already knew her address when I tried to talk to Winter once but I don't want Ningning to know about that. I type it on the GPS before I drive away.

We're so quiet at the start of our ride but since I told her that I needed to talk to her I break our silence first.

"Ningning I know we never talked on our own since you know... So I really don't know how to approach you"  I start.

"Don't worry about that. We've been so busy watching and worrying to Winter so I understand and please don't hesitate to talk with me. You're Winter's friend so I see you as my friend too"  she says that makes me smile. Now I understand why her and Winter became friends.

"I just want to say thank you for helping Winter a lot. If it weren't for you then she would probably be in worst after I kicked her, of course besides that accident it was no one's fault"  I say.

"No it's fine Karina really"

"You know what? The first time I met her I already sensed that we won't be in good terms by the reason of she didn't like her actual room so she stole mine instead"

"Really??"  she asks in disbelieve.

"Yep"  I answer then we chuckle in unison.

I continue telling her some of my unforgettable memories with Winter, whether it was good or not and Ningning just keep on listening like it's some sort of a fairytale.

"And when she met you everything changed"  I say that makes Ningning laugh fades away.

"Oh sorry"  she apologizes that makes me confuse. Then I realized that she took it wrongly.

"No no that's not what I meant. I mean Winter changed for good. She became jolly and sweet that I never seen before so thank you so much Ningning. You help her gain her happiness again"  I can't help myself but to smile because I never imagined that I'll have a conversation to Ningning like this. It just feels so good to share this to her.

"Actually it wasn't me who helped her Karina. It was you"  she blurts out that catch me off guard.

"Me?"

"Yes"

"I don't think so?"  I say unsure. That's true though, I can't see any reason that it was me because me and Winter are the best example of cat and dog.

"Yes Karina. After I met her, there were no days that she didn't mention you to me"  she says that surprises me once more.

"Wait she always mention me to you?"

"Yeah that was why I found you interesting because the way Winter told everything about you was like she was describing an actual princess. And I just proved it the first time I met you"  suddenly I feel a heat rushes on my cheek. I still remember that day. I was so surprised that Winter brought a friend of her for the first time so I ended up thinking about Ningning for the whole day.

"Well uh... I don't know how to react to that"  I confess.

"You don't have to say anything Karina. I just want you to know that you're important to Winter. Maybe the both of you had misunderstandings before but that doesn't mean Winter hates you. Probably she just doesn't know how to show that so she ended up annoying you sometimes"  she says and suddenly I feel so bad. Bad for thinking that Winter didn't change at all and she'd been so selfish. I even kicked her off my apartment.

Without realizing we already stop in her house.

"Thank you for the ride"  she says.

"No problem. I can do that for you everyday though"  then I see her blushes but she hides it quickly.

"Do you want to go inside and have some drinks?"  she asks but I don't think that's a good idea for now since my back is finding my bed now.

"That's so kind of you Ningning but sorry if I can't join you right now. Maybe next time, thank you anyway"  I reply

"Oh it's fine. So bye for now"

"Bye. See you tomorrow I guess?" and she just nods an an answer. She get off my car and by that I drive my way going to my apartment.

I certainly need to have a long rest this night. This day has been so long for me even though I didn't do anything hard. Maybe this exhaustion I'm feeling is because of the past month.

I'll make sure to fix the damage that I've made to Winter before she go back to Australia. I don't want to feel this heaviness in my chest for the incoming months or years so I'll fix this as soon as possible.