springtime | winrina

seven

For the very first time, all eyes were on Winter as soon as she strolled through the gates leading up to the main building. It was scary to say the least. The only time she ever received such attention was when she walked down the hallways with Karina or the first day she made the decision to get red hair. Otherwise, Winter was just some senior soccer player barely scraping by school.

She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her gray zip up hoodie uneasily, quickening her pace as she moved past groups of students murmuring among themselves, stealing glances her way.

With plenty of time to spare before class, Winter decided to head over to the school's snack shop to grab some food since she skipped breakfast. Moving over to the fridge, she reached for a can of iced Americano before grabbing a plain cheese bread in its cute yellow packaging. Afterwards, she stood in line behind the short queue of students, shifting her weight between her feet absentmindedly, softly humming along to the song playing through her earphones.

When it was her turn, she stepped forward and placed her items on the counter where the old woman in her sixties scanned the items and placed them into a small plastic bag. "That's $5," she stated with a scowl on her face, tapping her crusty nail against the surface impatiently.

Winter fished into the pockets of her skirts to find her wallet, cursing under her breath when she realized she might have dumped it somewhere in the depths of her messy bag. By then, the woman who is naturally grumpy, grew even more annoyed as she sighed loudly.

Haphazardly, she shrugged her bag off one shoulder, moving it to the front to unzip. As she busied herself with fishing through papers and books for her missing wallet, she felt a firm hand resting on her shoulder which startled her.

"Ajumma, $5 right?" a warm voice spoke up from her side.

Winter recognized her immediately, a wave of relief washing over her as she zipped her bag up, tossing it over her shoulders. She watched as the blonde flipped open her wallet, pulling out a note and handing it over to the woman who became a little less displeased now that she had her money.

"Ning, when did you appear?" Winter asked with a chuckle of disbelief.

Ningning grabbed the bag off the counter with one hand swiftly, thanking the woman nonetheless as the pair walked off to make way for the other students waiting in line. "Like magic," her friend joked, nudging her shoulder before extending the bag out to her.

"Pfft, thanks for that by the way. I swear I don't ever come by the snack shop because of that old hag, she's always so angry all the time," Winter complained as she glanced back at the woman and back at Ningning who could only laugh along with a shrug.

"Come on, don't be too harsh on her. She's just trying to make a living and everyone has bad days," Ningning says, her words crafted like a model citizen.

Winter would beg to differ but she decided to give in, huffing out softly, "Yeah yeah, you're right."

They walked out to the school's courtyard where there were plenty of benches to sit, surrounded by plenty of greenery as well as a large tree with a natural grass patch where some students would laze around under its shade. The pair opted for a bench, not interested in getting their uniforms dirty before school started.

Winter set the bag of food between them, dropping her bag onto the ground with a thud, a contrast to Ningning who opted to hug it against her chest.

"I couldn't recognize you for a moment, what's up with the new hair color?" Ningning chuckled, finally addressing the elephant in the room.

"My god, I literally forgot I even dyed my hair black," Winter groaned, rolling her eyes as the image of Mr. Kim flashed before her, glaring at her while demanding she got rid of her red hair. "It's that goddamn dirtbag. He forced me to dye it and well, I've put it off for a long time. If I don't follow the school rules, I'll definitely get in deep shit this time," she explained.