Winter leans back against the wall, finally letting it all spill out.

"I woke up in the same loop, just like you. At eight a.m., back in school, same routine every time. It all started the day after the festival, and every time I fall asleep around eight p.m., it all resets. No one else has noticed anything strange, except us."

She listened mutely, crossing her arms over her chest as the words sank in. Now they sat cross-legged on the roof; the weight of it all settled upon her.

Karina's eyebrows shot up with irritation at Winter's words end.

"So if you also knew I was stuck in this loop, why didn't you come to me sooner? Why did you let me go running around like a chicken with its head cut off?"

Winter laughed once more. That tease-inducing smile.

"It was so fun watching the calm and composed president run all around here, flustered," she said with glittering mischievous eyes.

Karina did not waste a single millisecond. She flicked Winter forehead hard enough to make Winter wince. Winter yelped and rubbed her forehead with a pout.

"Ow! That's so mean!" she whined, her face even more pitiful.

"Serves you right," Karina muttered, though her gruffness relaxed. Winter's theatrics were not a novelty, but, after everything, it was only a little less easy to pretend that all of this was playing at something other than real.

Winter narrowed her eyes for another half-second before continuing, "Also... you're always angry at me. How was I supposed to approach you without getting yelled at?"

"Well, maybe I wouldn't be angry all the time if you didn't pull stunts like this." A small smile touched Karina's lips, easing the tension that had been clinging to her shoulders as she gave Winter another pointed look.

This time, she did squish back into the space she'd occupied when she arrived but spoke in a voice still clearly abraded by teasing.

Winter looked at her, her mouth twisting into a gentle smile.

"Okay, okay, I get it. No more games. We're in this together now."

The bell rang, announcing the return to classes, but neither Karina nor Winter budged. They looked at each other and seemed to collectively decide that they could stay in denial for just a little while longer, settling into silence.

The rooftop- which once was an oasis from sneaking away or stealing a few moments of peace-is now their unofficial meeting place-an escape from the chaos below.

It took Karina a minute to break the silence.

"So what do you think is causing the loop?" Her voice was full of incredulity and frustration, but she tried to keep it steady.

Winter did not hesitate for a nanosecond before answering.

"I don't know."

Karina's lips grow tighter into a thin line, clearly unsatisfied with the answer.

"That's it? Nothing?"

Winter shrugged a casual shrug that made Karina want to scream. But she kept silent, knowing that down deep, Winter probably knew just about as much as she did.

What was the use of being mad at her anyway?

She sat in silence for a little while longer, listening to the faint sounds of the students moving about in the lower levels filter into her room.

Karina crossed her arms over her chest, her mind racing.

"Fine, so breaking the rules did nothing for me. I attempted to leave the grounds of the school and... well, I still made it to class the next morning."

Winter nodded blankly, turning her face away and started doodling some pattern on the concrete rooftop.

"Yeah, I tried that too. Doesn't seem to matter what we do, how far we go, how many rules we break. It's like were stuck within a certain. range or something."

Karina furrowed her brow. "So even going out of the school's range didn't work for you either."

"Nope," Winter said flatly.

"And trying to act completely different doesn't break the loop either."

Karina exhaled, rubbing the back of her neck. "Great. So we're back to square one."

Winter leaned back on her hands and stared up at the sky.

"Guess so. But hey, at least now we know it's not just about breaking rules or leaving the school. Maybe we're missing something else."

Karina nodded but the uncertainty only seemed to chafe at her.

"Maybe." The frustration had been festering, but Winter sitting beside her kind of gave it an outlet, made it a bit less suffocating.

Karina sat there, thinking those thoughts back to that weird moment when Winter had intervened on the situation with Ningning. She chanced a glance over at Winter, slumped against the railing of the rooftop, still with an expression so detached.

"Hey," Karina started hesitantly, "yesterday... when you stopped me from seeing Ningning near the garden... did you see her?

Winter turned to her, shaking her head and shrugging with little thought. "Nah. Haven't seen her."

Karina couldn't help the frustration welling up inside her. She furrowed her brow, her voice becoming sharper.

"Why do you not care about anything? About the loop or anything? It's like you're not even putting any effort into trying to understand."

Winter turned slowly, her cold, remote eyes settling on Karina. "Maybe I like it this way."

Karina blinked unbelieving.

"Like what? Why would anybody want to live the same day over and over again?"

Winter pushed herself off the wall as her eyes dropped down to the campus and exhaled as her voice was quiet but laced with emotions.

"My life. It is boring. I am not like you, President. You're popular and everybody loves you. And me? A nobody, a nobody's kid, whom nobody cares for."

Karina rose, a knot forming in her chest.

"That's not true!" she exclaimed,

"People-" She hadn't gotten the words out when Winter just kept going.

"For some reason, I can't stop myself from telling you this," Winter said, her voice hardening into a coldness Karina hadn't heard before.

"I live with my dad. He's a drunk, a waste of space who barely holds a job."

The simple fact was that she had to sustain herself on part-time jobs while waiting for her degree, and her father easily wasted it while they were almost broke making her feel angry arose inside.

She stopped and looked back at Karina with a near-empty look in her eyes.

"This. This loop? Is an escape for me. I could stay there if it meant never having to go home and have anything to do with him."

Karina stood still, with her mouth half open and unable to think at Winter's words. She had never seen anything like that in Winter's life; she almost never had imagined that those long hours spent sitting staring at the ceiling could carry such a heavy burden. Everything made sense in a split second: Winter's lack of interest, her tendency to stay in this cycle, her coldness.

Winter's cold eyes softened only a little as she said, "So no, President. I don't even mind finding a way out. This... this is my escape. And right now, I'm fine with living like this."

Karina clenched her fists, frustration churning in her chest.

"You know what? That's selfish, Winter. You can't just sit here and be all right with this loop just because it's convenient for you! What about everyone else? People have lives, dreams, futures-and you're just okay with them being stuck because it gives you an escape? Not how it works!'

Winter didn't speak a word, her frost-glazed eyes boring into Karina with some sort of disinterested apathy.

"I know life's hard, okay? Trust me. Everyone is going through something-as am I, as are you, as is everyone in this school. But that doesn't mean we give up! There must be something to keep us moving. Here, in this cycle of ours, it isn't living. It's just avoiding."

Winter's face went dark, her eyes narrowing into a cold, sharp glare that made Karina's spine chill.

"Good luck with that, President," she said, her voice dripping in sarcasm.

"You think you can fix everything with your perfect, put-together life? Well, let me tell you something. You have no idea what it's like for me. And you never will."

Without another word, Winter turned her back to Karina and walked off; the stiff, distracted stride took her toward the door that led outside to the rooftop.

Karina watched her go, a knot in her chest; anger, helplessness, and other things that were too complicated at this moment swirled inside.

As the door closed behind Winter, Karina stood there with a weight heavy upon her heart. Her fists were bunched at her sides as she mumbled under her breath,

"Fine. I don't need you. I'll figure this out without you."

Only then did the words slip her lips as doubt settled within her chest: Could she? Can break the loop alone?