Manage My Heart (Book 1)

Chapter 1

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Ruby! Happy birthday to you!" Everyone cheers as Ruby blows out the candles. It was her 19th birthday. She was celebrating it with her friends and family. It felt surreal. "Alright! Who wants a slice?!" Mel gently sets the cake on the table before she grabs the big plastic knife. And of course, her manager. Well, her and Kylie's manager. And Morgan's since she just started her music career. Mel owns a management company that works with record labels, they had just started branching out to sign actors, which is where she came in.

Ruby loves to sing and dance, don't get her wrong, but a music career just wasn't in the cards for her, no pun intended. They had just finished filming their movie Rise of Red. She had to learn to shuffle cards for one scene in particular. She practiced every day with a professional card handler on set. After they left, however, Ruby was still very nervous and determined about getting this shuffle scene right, even if most of it was going to be CGI. She remembered Mel mentioning something about cards and asked for her help. Of course, Mel wasn't going to turn her down. It was odd, having someone who's ten years older than you be considered a friend. But there they were. "Rube?" "Huh?" Mel holds up a plate with a slice of cake on it. "Oh, thanks." Ruby smiles and takes it. "Is this-" "It's sugar free, yes. Much to everyone's dismay." Mel glances at everyone else barely touching their slices. Ruby giggles slightly. "Sorry guys!" She apologizes.

"Oh no, it's fine. Don't ever apologize for that, Rube. It's your birthday, whatever you say goes!" Kylie hugs her tight. "My baby! I can't believe you're 19!" "Thanks Ky!" Ruby laughs. "So, did you get to knock off alot more stuff off your bucket list now that we're big named celebrities?" Malia jokes. Ruby sighs. "A couple things, not all of them though." "What's missing?" Kylie looks at her. "Well, first LGBTQ kiss, like you Ky, and fall in love." Kylie looks at her. "Wait, you've never been in love before?!" She asks. Ruby shakes her head. "Nope. I don't know why you look so surprised." She laughs. Kylie shrugs. "I just thought you have, I don't know." "Well, I haven't. I'm honestly not sure if i ever will be, to be honest." Kylie rubs her arm. "Well, i can't help you there. But you know, my first LGBTQ kiss was with Mel. Remember? For High School Musical the Musical the Series?" Ruby nods. "Oh yeah, that's still the longest and stupidest title I've ever heard!" They laugh.

"But seriously, if you wanna knock it off your bucket list, you should ask Mel, I'm sure she'd be more than happy to. She doesn't care about that stuff, as long as it helps you." Kylie eats another piece of cake. "I don't know, wouldn't it be weird?" Kylie shrugs. "You're kissing her, you're not marrying her." Ruby sighs. "I guess you're right." Kylie smirks. "Ooh, Ruby's about to have her first kiss with a girl!" Ruby smacks her hand on Kylie's mouth. "Shh!" Mel and Malia, who were in conversation, look over at them. "Ky, I'm gonna kill you!" Ruby whispered in her ear. Kylie rolls her eyes. "Oh come on, you act as if i just outed you or something." Ruby blushes. "Just, go talk to Malia so i can talk to Mel, please?" Kylie winks as she walks away. Ruby sighs. "That girl." She mumbles.

She watches as Kylie walks over to them. As Kylie starts talking, Mel glances over at her. Ruby suddenly feels her palms get sweaty. Mel shrugs and nods before she walks over to her. "Damn you, Ky." She mumbles. "Hey!" "Hey!" "Happy birthday!" Mel hugs her. Ruby laughs and hugs her back. "Thanks!" "So, Ky said you wanted to talk to me about something?" Ruby nods. "Uh, yeah." Why was she getting nervous? This is Mel, she's known her for as long as she's known Kylie. "About what?" Ruby looks at her. "She didn't tell you?" She asks. Mel shakes her head. "No, she just said that you wanted to talk." Ruby glances over at Kylie, who looks like she's in deep conversation with Malia. "Damn you, Ky." She whispered. "What?" "Nothing! Um, come with me?" She grabs Mel's hand and brings her into the restroom. She closes the door and locks it. "Ok, if you wanted a quickie, you could have chosen a better spot than the bathroom." Mel jokes. Ruby slaps her arm. "Shut up, this is serious!"