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The gym lights were off.
The campus was supposed to be empty.
But Jay found her there—behind the back wall, between shadows and silence.
Ruthie was crying.
Not loud.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdWpmPh30sB
Not messy.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3R8Aexepj
Not the kind of sobbing you’d expect from a girl cracking under pressure.
Just… tears.
Slipping down her cheeks like they had a mind of their own.
Like she didn’t even realize they were there.
Jay didn’t speak right away.
He just stood at a distance.
Watched her wipe at her face furiously, like she could erase the emotion before anyone noticed.
But she already had.
“You followed me,” Ruthie said, voice low, sharp.
“I saw you run off,” he answered. “Didn’t want you to be alone.”
“You think I’m fragile?”
“No,” Jay replied. “I think you’re bleeding and pretending you’re not.”
She laughed—short, bitter.
“You sound like a therapist.”
“You sound like you haven’t had one.”
“Who needs one?” she snapped. “I’m fine. I don’t care if they hate me.”
Jay tilted his head.
“Then why are you crying?”
Ruthie’s jaw clenched.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRsZed6BdN
She looked away.
“You don’t know what it’s like,” she said. “To be the villain in everyone’s story. Even when you didn’t ask to be in their plot at all.”
“Then tell me,” he offered. “I’ll listen.”
For a moment, she didn’t answer.
Then she sank down to the ground, her back against the cold concrete wall.
Jay followed, sitting beside her without touching her.
Just silence.
The kind that asks for trust.
“They were all fake friends,” she began. “Joy. Marian. Everyone. People only like you when you give them something.”
“And what did you give?”
“Protection. A shield. A reputation. I knew things. I heard things. I kept their secrets safe.”
“Until?”
“Until they decided I wasn’t useful anymore.”
She smiled again.
This time, no humor at all.
“Then suddenly, I’m the one leaking videos. Starting fights. Planting cigarettes.”
“You didn’t?”
“Of course not,” she spat. “But does it matter?”
Jay watched her. Carefully.
Then, slowly, he reached for her hand.
Not to hold it.
Just to rest his fingers near hers—offering, not insisting.
She flinched.
But didn’t pull away.
Instead, her voice dropped to a whisper.
“When I was younger, my mom used to say ‘pag umiyak ka, mas lalo kang walang kakampi.’ So I learned to stop.”
Her fingers twitched.
“But it hurts, Jay. It hurts na kahit isang beses, walang nagtangkang maniwala sa’kin.”
Jay didn’t interrupt.
Didn’t pity her.
He just let her speak.
Because maybe that was what she really needed.
“Gusto ko lang sana… kahit minsan… may magtanong kung totoo ba yung sinasabi nila. Kahit isa lang. Kahit ikaw lang.”
Jay gently brushed his knuckle against the back of her hand.
“I’m asking now.”
Her breath caught.
For the first time, she looked him in the eyes.
“I didn’t hurt Marian. I didn’t leak anything. I didn’t smoke anything. I’ve never even held a cigarette.”
Jay nodded.
“Okay.”
“That’s it? ‘Okay’?”
“You’re not lying to me.”
“You’re that sure?”
Jay leaned in slightly.
“I’ve watched you lie, Ruthie. You’re better at it than this.”
She laughed again—this time softer.
Real.
A beat of silence passed.
Then Ruthie whispered:
“I hate that I feel this way.”
“Feel what?”
“Scared. Just because someone was kind to me.”
Jay’s voice was gentle now.
“You think kindness is a trick.”
“Isn’t it?”
“No. Sometimes, it’s just… someone trying to be what you needed all along.”
And then—finally—Ruthie let her hand slip into his.
Her fingers were cold.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfPC0bDpPPf
Her shoulders tense.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfLBWaqTV3
But she didn’t pull away this time.
Not when his thumb brushed softly against her knuckle.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqKAa77y4jf
Not when he said,
“You’re not alone anymore.”
For the first time in years, Ruthie believed it.
Even just a little.
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