Yellow - Winrina

- eighteen -

Karina crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited by baggage claim. Her plane had just landed. She was exhausted. No, she was more than exhausted. She hadn't been able to get a wink of sleep, though. Her mind was too preoccupied with thoughts of Winter.

Second degree murder.

At first, Karina had thought the idea was utterly ridiculous. But she knew she needed to do this. There were too many unanswered questions and maybe by taking a trip back into Winter's past she could figure out what was going on.

Eventually she caught sight of her bag, throwing it over her shoulder and jogging out of the large glass doors. It was then that she realized she had no clue where the hell she was going.

Still, Karina was ignoring her feelings about the whole situation. She had a one track mind. She needed to find out what happened to Winter. She needed answers to these questions.

She hailed a cab, sliding into the backseat and giving the driver the address to her old house. If she remembered correctly, Winter had only lived a few streets over from her.

Her head rested against the window as they drove, giving her time to replay the entire events prior in her head. The sound of Winter screaming out her name wouldn't leave her mind, and Karina hadn't realized how painful it would feel.

Those officers... they didn't know how to treat Winter. She was Winter. Truthfully, only Karina truly knew how Winter thought, how her brain worked. She winced at the thought of Winter being alone with all those strangers.

Suddenly a house caught her eye. She knew the owner. Ryujin. One of Winter's former cheerleader friends. A rush decision pushed Karina to stop the cab, thanking the man and handing him a wad of bills, not bothering to count. She waited for him to drive away before turning and facing the house.

Moments later, she found herself on the porch, knocking gently on the door. She bit her lip when she heard footsteps approaching, and the door opened slowly to reveal an older version of the girl she had once known in high school. In pajamas.

Shit. Karina quickly checked the time, only to realize it was barely past 8 in the morning on a Saturday.

"Karina?" The girl sounded confused.

"Uh, hi," Karina took a deep breath. Why was she still intimidated? They were out of high school, popularity didn't exist.

"Karina the lesbian?"

Oh god. Karina clenched her fists and chose to ignore the comment. "Can we... talk? It's about Winter."

She saw the girl's face drop and grew concerned. Ryujin placed the small dog in her arms on the ground and stepped aside, opening the door and allowing Karina to come inside.

"M'sorry about the whole lesbian comment," Ryujin laughed nervously. Karina shrugged it off, standing awkwardly in the foyer of the large house and looking around. Ryujin's parents had always been filthy rich.

"We can go sit in the living room," the blonde motioned for Karina to follow her down the hall, leading her into a large room lined with windows. It was so clean that Karina was afraid to touch anything. She sat down on the edge of a black leather couch, running a hand through her hair nervously.

"Do you want water or something? We have lemonade, too, and tea, if you l-," Ryujin started, but Karina quickly interrupted.

"I'm fine, I just..." Karina shook her head. Ryujin sat down, nodding for her to go on. "What do you know about Winter?"

Karina watched as Ryujin's face underwent a series of different emotions before her lips curled into a slight frown.

"She was my friend," the blonde shrugged. Karina knew she was trying to play dumb and immediately put an end to it.