21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0BRVTYvNA
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.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6YDcgz4Cha
“Teacher ‘yun, ‘di ba?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjZRDmh7RG
“Tangina. Siya pala ang totoong malandi.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpQrddDyfVO
“Si Ruthie nag-leak, sure ako. Inggit ‘yun eh.”
The Video:21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7gnRq56KfQ
Poor resolution. Dim lighting. But clear enough to show Joy Asuncion crying in a faculty room.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6rapPM9NOq
The male teacher’s voice was sharp, commanding.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl0tamZ6mt9
Joy's shirt was slightly disheveled.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCMvfHcN29j
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?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3DUFyUAe2Q
“Ang bilis niya magkalat. Palagi na lang siyang may alam.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡh8SEzrcrjJ
“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.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJTnhBVOau3
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 Ago21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCn7l4D101X
Joy cornered Ruthie in the locker room.
“Wala kang alam sa buhay ko, okay? Stop acting like you’re better than everyone.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4BKcWoW2gQ
“Did I say I was?” Ruthie replied, still tying her hair.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4SrN89wJRg
“Ang arte mo. Perfect ka nga, pero ang sama ng ugali mo.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgs6ZKDIZd
“That’s rich. Coming from someone who cries on cue.”
Joy slapped her.
Ruthie didn’t even flinch.
Present Day – Guidance Office21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJPfGStN4u
“Ruthie, do you want to talk about the video?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡllPfNfEUrY
“Why me?” she asked the principal. “Did someone file a report?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtnLBDEp8mb
“No. But a lot of fingers are pointing your way.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzzgz98qciD
“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 Night21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU3e8HkPbTV
Ruthie sat on her bedroom floor, staring at the dark.
She could expose Joy.
She could tell them what she really saw that day:21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeTmwAU7O4t
Joy sneaking out of the same teacher’s car.21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVLI9GAI29
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?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡngN9seZlIg
Ruthie: “No.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4wIfSGRMkr
Unknown: “Then why not say something?”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡALzsMiHzU8
Ruthie: “Because no one would believe me.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHT6R5fgaMn
Unknown: “I would.”21Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdIPRDn3DzS
–J.A.
Jay Armada.
ns216.73.216.251da2
