𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐲 & 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 ✩ 𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐝𝗼𝐧

🅵🅾︎🆄🆁

𝐬𝗼𝐧𝐠: 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞, 𝐚𝐥𝐭-𝐣

✩✩✩

Ruby was glad she had a distraction from Kaleb's constant sad staring.

It had been a month since the party and she had been getting on really well with Gabe.

He was really cool, and liked music she had never even heard of.

She knew Kaleb was getting jealous, but she ignored it.

Gabe was a good friend, and she did everything she could to make sure he was alright.

There had been very few incidents where her Walkman had switched off and the noisy classroom had become too much for him, and it was easily solved by taking him to the base.

Gabe kept mentioning how his mum was still not sure if he should be in a public school, but Ruby reassured him that he fit in fine, and she was just being apprehensive.

The two sat next to each other in science, Gabe listening to the beetles whilst doing some equations, Ruby attempting to do the same.

Gabe noticed her unsolved sums, and smiled.

He tapped his pencil against parts of the question, and scribbled down an explanation.

Ruby nodded in understanding, and began to figure out the answer.

"So your boyfriends helping you get better grades now, too?" Kaleb asked mockingly, leaning over the table into Ruby's face.

"Don't be a shithead, he's not my boyfriend." Ruby hissed.

"Aw, is he not hot enough?" Kaleb snapped. "Maybe I can help him?"

"Don't even bother, fuck off,"

Kaleb rolled his eyes. He had been gradually moving away from the group, due to his increasing hostility.

Ruby was fairly sure he was losing it.

Gabe pushed a note over to her.

What was he saying about me?

Ruby bit her lip and scribbled on the back, her handwriting messy compared to his.

he was just being a jerk. don't worry about him

Gabe smiled and continued with his work.

She sighed and stared at the numbers and letters on her page, seeing no use in them.

✩✩✩

Ruby and her friends sat around a table in the schools cantina.

"That maths test was so bad, if my parents find out what I scored I'll be sent to an early grave!" Rachel, a pretty blond girl with blue eyes exclaimed.

"It was so hard, I only got like five out of the seventy questions right." Ruby laughed.

"Yeah, but at least your dad won't care," Rachel said.

She wasn't always nice.

"I guess not..." Ruby sighed.

Rachel flicked her hair from her face, gazing into her pocket mirror as she fixed her makeup. Ruby cleared her throat and turned her attention to Ella, who was a little nicer than Rachel.

"Did you go to the game on Sunday?" she asked, painting a polite smile on her face.

Ella nodded. "Of course, Liam was amazing,"

Ruby shook her head, her smile turning to a wistful grin. "You've fallen so bad, El, sooo bad."

The brunette giggled and twiddled a lock of hair with her finger.

"Oh shit, maybe I have?" she said.

Ruby was about to tease her, when Ben, a freshman and the newest addition to their group. He looked distressed.

"What's up, dude?" Ruby asked, raising an eyebrow in concern.

"It's Kaleb, he's at the principal's office..." Ben said, running a hand through his hair nervously.

"What? Why?" she began to stand up, fearing the worst.

"He properly fucked up your friend Gabe." He said, grabbing her arm as she stood up. "Don't try find him, Ruby, they had to call an ambulance."

Ruby stopped dead, a hand flying to cover her mouth in shock. "Oh shit!"

✩✩✩

"We're moving Gabe to a different school." Gabe's mother stood outside his room, wringing her hands anxiously as she spoke to Ruby.

"What? Please, no, he's so awesome you can't move him?" Ruby protested.

"That Kaleb kid has only been suspended. It's just not safe for Gabe and it's not fair on everyone else constantly worrying about him."

Ruby fought the aching in her heart. Gabe was the only friend she'd ever felt actually cared about her, and now he was being taken away from her.

"O-ok. Right, well, do I get to say goodbye?" She asked. 

Gabe's mum shook her head slowly. "He's asleep. I'll tell him you said goodbye, though."

Ruby's voice caught in her throat and she could only nod.

Kaleb was going to pay.

✩✩✩