"What happened between you two? Is she another girl I have to watch out for?"

"N—No, Kristen is a good girl…." Cerise replied. There was no hesitation in her voice. At least Cerise was surprisingly calm when she said that.

As if she really thought that Kristen was a good girl.

My brows raised in bewilderment. I couldn't believe that she said Kristen was a good person. As much as I wanted to believe she was forced to join Jessica's gang because Jessica held her secret, I also knew Kristen enjoyed bullying me back then.

I remembered she was the one who shoved my face to the school toilet because I was 'irritating' to see for no reason.

"Really? She is a good girl?"

"Yes! When I was bullied back then, she was the only one who befriended me. She even defended me sometimes!"

Cerise sounded so happy when talking about Kristen, and it only gave me even more suspicion.

Something definitely didn't add up here. Cerise told me in the previous life that her weird antics were the ones who caused their separation.

I thought so as well because Cerise could be weird sometimes.

But if Kristen stood up against students who bullied Cerise, that meant their relationship was deeper than I expected.

I doubted 'weird antics' could be the reason for the separation between them. In fact, when I never found any of Cerise's weird antics distasteful.

It was cute, really.

I suspected that Cerise was hiding something even in the previous life, so it turned out we weren't as close as I expected.

My gaze leered at Kristen's name in the school caste list, and I continued prying on Cerise, "Really? You sound so happy when talking about her, but you said that she is your ex-friend."

"A-Ah… that—"

"I mean, you two seem to be good friends. She even stood up against the bullies for you," I attacked Cerise with facts that she couldn't deny. I had to admit that I felt a bit petty here.

Because I believed Cerise when she said that she would never lie to me in the previous timeline, I thought she would fulfill that promise.

Maybe it was me who was hoping too much.

"W—Well, that's because Kristen found me disgusting, haha…." Cerise laughed dry. "I usually do weird stuff, while she is quite popular. So it's natural for her to separate herself from me. It's like… you know, we don't fit each other. She is better with someone at her level."

"And you find nothing wrong with that?" I asked.

"Wrong? What's wrong?"

"…"

"No one would call their best friend weird and then distance themselves because of that," I said.

"Uhm… I believe Kristen has her reason. I mean, she has spared me with some pity by befriending me in middle school," Cerise replied. "She is such a good girl, but I don't deserve to be her friend, just like what she said."

Strangely, I couldn't sense any sadness in Cerise's tone. She was completely fine to degrade herself and allowed Kristen to call her that.

My blood went cold, I had a gut feeling that Kristen was a lot more vicious than I expected.

I refused to believe that Cerise could value herself this low if she didn't have someone who pushed her into this. Someone who could act as a savior for Cerise and then pushed her deeper into the pit of low self-esteem.

"Cerise, do you think that Kristen is a good person?"

"Definitely!" Cerise replied enthusiastically. "Didn't I tell you just now? She is a good girl! She deserves everything, her popularity, her friends, and her reputation. It's just me who is a bit too trashy for her circle."

"…"

Cerise defended that bitch so obliviously, making Kristen the good one and her the ugly and trashy one.

That bitch Kristen's secret must've been something extremely heinous.

I still couldn't grasp what Kristen's darkest secret was. But if she could say something like that to Cerise as a best friend, at least I've confirmed something.

Kristen was manipulative as heck.

I found myself tangled in a problem deeper than I expected.

Cerise protected Kristen obliviously. She might've lied to me in the previous life to protect Kristen too.

Basically, Kristen turned this poor girl into her lapdog that would protect her like a devout follower even if she had to lie.

After discovering this problem, I knew that I need a better way to pry the information.

In fact, I needed to find what Kristen did to Cerise. My poor friend was so oblivious, she didn't even realize that she had been manipulated by her own savior.

"Wow, she seems to be a wonderful person! I will try to meet her tomorrow! Maybe we can be friends!" I intentionally cheered to check what Cerise would say.

"OOh, sure, Emmy, but are you sure?" Cerise asked. "I mean, Kristen can be a bit mean when you're not at her level. I don't want you to get hurt…."

…

Cerise, sometimes I wonder if you were at my side or not, that was such a backhanded warning!

"Let's just see, it's good to make friends, right?"

"Y—Yes, true…."

"Alright then, thank you for talking with me, Cerise. I still have to sort out my schedule. Talk to you later."

"Thank you for calling me, Emmy. It made my day, really…." Cerise said weakly before she hung up the call.

I put down my phone and continued staring at Kristen's name in my list, as she was my first target.

I scoffed, "I guess we're playing a long game. But it's okay. I like a slow burn."