Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken (Male Ruby x OC!)

Chapter 11

"Okay, Reuben, you got this. You just need to make it to school and have a completely, totally ordinary day," he says as he packs his bag, puts on his baggiest jacket and puts on his headphones. 

"Huh?" Reuben says as he looks back at Nessie.

She starts to pant and Reuben smells his breath, realising it smells like salt water. He takes out some breath freshener and sprays it in his mouth.

Downstairs, Agatha was going through some old photos of her and Reuben as she sighs sadly.

"Honey, you've gotta stop beating yourself up," Arthur says as he gives her a cup of coffee.

"Oh, Arthur. I can't believe I didn't tell him any of this sooner. I mean, what was I thinking?" she says.

"You were thinking about protecting him, like you always have," he reassures.

"What if he drops out of school? I mean, what if he doesn't get a job and runs away like I did? What if he hates me like I hate my mom? It's a slippery slope, Arthur," Agatha worries as Reuben tries to sneak out the house.

"Hate's a strong word. And he loves you. He'll never run away," Arthur says as the door suddenly creaks open and the two look to see Reuben trying to sneak out. 

"Huh. This doesn't help my case," Arthur states.

"Reuben, hey. How are you feeling? Did you sleep okay? Everything back to normal?" Agatha asks as Reuben leans on the door frame a bit and crosses his arms.

"Mm-hmm. Totally fine. Right as rain," he casually says.

"Are you sure?" she asks as she takes off his shades and removes his headphones, "Oh, you look a little flushed."

"Mom, I'm fine. Really," he says moving away from her a bit.

Agatha pauses and then starts to smell Reuben's breath as he moves back, trying to avoid getting caught.

"Reuben, is that salt water on your breath?" she asks, suspicious.

"Salt water? What? No. I really gotta go," he says trying to leave, but Agatha stops him.

Good. Okay. Well, if you do want to talk, I'll be right here. I just... I just really want you to know that you never have to hide things from me," Agatha reassures.

"Like you?" Reuben mumbles, annoyed.

"What did you say, honey?" Agatha asks making Reuben force a smile and look at her.

"Nothing. Bye, Mom," Reuben says, leaving.

"Love you. Make good choices," she says as the door closes, making her sigh sadly.

When Reuben rounds the corner, he sighs angrily and puts his headphones on and walks towards school. As he walks past the destroyed library, he puts up his hood and places his hands in his pockets, giving a glance at the library and looking down in guilt.

"It destroyed the YA Zombie Romance section. The YA Zombie Romance section!" the librarian complains.

As Reuben tries his best to not be noticed, he hears his schoolmates talking about the library.

"Mom, I changed my mind. I want to be homeschooled again."

"I never liked that library anyway."

"We have a library?"

"Godzilla could not beat that thing in a fight."

"A tentacled freak from the deep shows up, and I'm supposed to learn math?"

"So gross."

"There you are!" Margot yells as Reuben screams a bit, "Why'd you stop answering our texts last night? I was worried that monster got to you."

"I carved us each a whistle out of juniper wood. Blowing it could give you precious seconds to abscond with your lives," Bliss says handing everyone a whistle.

"Sick. Juniper wood has been known to have kraken-defeating powers," Trevin says.

"What? A kraken? Come on guys, seriously? Everyone knows that krakens aren't real," Reuben says, trying to remain calm.

"Behold, a plot twist," Margot says as she shows Reuben a video on her phone.

"15 years ago, you all laughed at me. Sorry. Not you, Davey. You're right, you always believed me. But now I finally have proof that krakens exist," Gordon says on the video as Davey turns on the machine, showing Reuben in his kraken form appearing from the library. 

"A lot of you have been asking about my beard regimen. Kraken! Kraken ahoy! She's back! Oh, she's coming for me. Davey, get the picture phone."

Reuben's mouth drops a bit as he watches the video in disbelief.

"With your help, we will drag this abomination into the light and finally reveal what it truly is," Gordon says as the video ends with him cackling.

"Can't help but root for that guy," Trevin chuckles.

"A great darkness has risen from the depths to claim us all," Bliss says.

"And this time, she is not catastrophizing," Margot adds.

"I mean, this is wacky Gordon. You can't take him seriously. He only has, like, ten subscribers," Reuben explains with a sort of nonchalant expression.

"For now," Trevin says.

"Wait, what?" Reuben says, looking at Trevin.

"Trevin is sharing it across all of his socials," Bliss says.

"He's what?" Reuben asks.

"What? You've never heard of my channel? A lot of people watch my gaming live streams," Trevin explains.

"How many is a lot?" Reuben asks.

"About a hundred and forty...," Reuben sighs in relief, "Thousand."

Reuben gasps.

 "And... video posted. There, it's out there forever now," Trevin says.

Everyone in the school starts to get the notification about the video as Reuben starts to freak out. Reuben looks in front of him and sees a girl talking to Arista, talking about the kraken.

"That old boat guy was right. That thing is legit a monster. A real-life monster," the girl says as Arista looks guiltily at Reuben before nodding lightly at the girl.

"Reuben?" Margot says as Reuben starts to hyperventilate a bit, "Cue Reuben. Bliss, get the smelling salts." 

Reuben looks at his friends before running inside the school.

"Where are you going? You forgot your whistle!" Margot yells after him.

Reuben runs through the school, the only thing being shared is the kraken video. He eventually runs into the bathroom and sits on the toilet and tries to calm down.