17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzNohOJfWEF
The video circulated at exactly 7:03 AM.
By 8:00, it was already shared in six group chats and two anonymous confession pages.
By 9:00, everyone was staring at Ruthie Villanueva again.
Of course.
“Grabe, ang landi niya.”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXH2S8M25Mf
“Teacher ‘yun, ‘di ba?”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH89hW5srSd
“Tangina. Siya pala ang totoong malandi.”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuN0rqcGSHq
“Si Ruthie nag-leak, sure ako. Inggit ‘yun eh.”
The Video:17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjn8O0elWx2
Poor resolution. Dim lighting. But clear enough to show Joy Asuncion crying in a faculty room.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCIX4H7gutM
The male teacher’s voice was sharp, commanding.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCgvJI4xPt5
Joy's shirt was slightly disheveled.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlK6j1mvqFR
She was begging—“Wag po, please lang po…”
Context? Absent.
But implication? Explosive.
By lunchtime, Marian Soler was already broadcasting a narrative loud enough to catch fire.
“Si Ruthie may kopya ng CCTV, ‘di ba?”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkt6xeLE9La
“Ang bilis niya magkalat. Palagi na lang siyang may alam.”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7KpehyY9UC
“She hates Joy. You think she’s innocent?”
No one questioned it.
Because pretty girls don’t lie… unless they’re not crying.
And Ruthie Villanueva never cried.
In the library, Ruthie read the comments.
Cold. Blank-faced.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVqsKYvPA0T
But under the table, her hand gripped her pen so tight it cracked.
Jay, seated two tables away, glanced at her. He didn’t approach. But she felt the weight of his stare.
Not judgment. Not pity.
Just curiosity. Like he was watching a queen in her final move—or her slow destruction.
Flashback – A Week Ago17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3ZznbNs2l
Joy cornered Ruthie in the locker room.
“Wala kang alam sa buhay ko, okay? Stop acting like you’re better than everyone.”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtF0C4ax6WV
“Did I say I was?” Ruthie replied, still tying her hair.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbFnrW3WBp6
“Ang arte mo. Perfect ka nga, pero ang sama ng ugali mo.”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGNx7A37AGi
“That’s rich. Coming from someone who cries on cue.”
Joy slapped her.
Ruthie didn’t even flinch.
Present Day – Guidance Office17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaLHVCCvRSm
“Ruthie, do you want to talk about the video?”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnrcCXibr2
“Why me?” she asked the principal. “Did someone file a report?”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWtKM552xM2
“No. But a lot of fingers are pointing your way.”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV6pRv99MS0
“Then tell them to point harder. Maybe they’ll finally touch the truth.”
When Ruthie left the office, the hallway was quiet. Still.
Like the calm before the lynching.
Outside the gates, reporters had started appearing.
Not for Ruthie—but for the scandal.
But like gravity, her name kept being pulled into it.
Because when things burn, people look for the one holding the match—even if their hands are clean.
Later That Night17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSLidSqYeZr
Ruthie sat on her bedroom floor, staring at the dark.
She could expose Joy.
She could tell them what she really saw that day:17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ59kl0BSRlQ
Joy sneaking out of the same teacher’s car.17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ79KS9FJmoC
Joy bragging to Marian that he “does what she says.”
But she didn’t.
Because she knew how the world worked.
People love pretty girls who cry.
But they hate pretty girls who fight back.
Her phone buzzed. A message from an unknown number.
Unknown: “You didn’t do it, did you?”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxCL6MhGrbd
Ruthie: “No.”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkS1azV8KcC
Unknown: “Then why not say something?”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJZILPmtEVS
Ruthie: “Because no one would believe me.”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxehHvQmWQ
Unknown: “I would.”17Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaKP9vcBDnP
–J.A.
Jay Armada.
ns216.73.216.254da2
