Finding Indigo

Four

Ruby had been right. Sloane's house was extravagant, with its manicured lawn, glimmering fountain near the front garden and the freshly swept front porch. The Greene home was located in a part of Spencer that Ruby was not familiar with. The whole neighborhood was glamorous - shiny black cars, white sidewalks, expensive looking foliage.

Small, decorative wind chimes glinted sunlight, tinkling soft, random melodies.

Ruby took a tentative step towards the tall, wooden door. She stretched a finger out and pressed the doorbell, a satisfying, muffled ring floating throughout the interior of the house. Two glistening, black shoes appeared at the top stair. Two long, tawny legs stretched down to the third stair, a full body beginning to emerge. White lacy socks, pleated navy blue skirt, white braided sweater, long and sleek black hair, full lips, long eyelashes.

The girl gracefully strode towards the glass door in front of Ruby and turned the lock, taking the few seconds to give Ruby a once-over.

A fake smile plastered itself onto Ruby's lips as the girl shoved the extravagant wooden door open.

"Hi, I'm guessing you're Ruby, right?" A wide set of white teeth shone in the sun as the girl smiled.

"Yeah..." Ruby muttered, pressing her lips together.

"I'm Sloane, as you may have guessed already." She swung one large, flat chunk of hair over her broad shoulders. "Sorry I'm so dressed up, we just got back from church."

"Oh, yeah. It's fine." Ruby shook her head, keeping that fake smile still pinned to her face.

"You want to come in? We can go up to my room. I need to get changed anyway." Sloane headed up the winding, wooden staircase.

Ruby glanced around the interior. So... they're rich.

"Your... room?" It came out quietly, hesitantly; a perfect reflection of how Ruby felt in this intimidating house. Expensive-looking vases, trinkets and lamps decorated the large living room. A close-to-withering bouquet of flowers was perched on a skinny, metal end table.

"Yeah. I mean, it's practically the nicest room in the house anyway." A gloriously beautiful laugh erupted from Sloane's lips, startling Ruby.

"Okay, uh... sure." With a shrug of her shoulders, Ruby began following Sloane up the stairs to the second floor, down a long corridor filled with professional photos of the Greene family.

At the end of the hall was a large white door. Simple. A small blue 'S' carved into the middle of it.

"Here, you can come in here, this is my room." Sloane said, opening the door.

Entering, Ruby was struck with sudden awe. She knew Sloane lived a glamorous life, but her room was ten times better. A white fluffy carpet covered the whole floor, not a stain or spot to be seen. A large, white canopied bed. Two blue nightstands. Nice white dresser. An organized walk-in closet towards the back of the room. Another room off to Ruby's left led to a small bathroom.

"Wow..." Ruby breathed, taking it all in.

"I know right." Sloane grinned, pouncing on her plush bed. She kicked off her glossy flats and stretched her arms up before quickly standing again.

"Well, I'm gonna change in the closet, sit anywhere you like." She flashed Ruby another smile and strode to her closet, quietly sliding the heavy door shut

Ruby felt like a lost puppy in an empty alleyway. She wasn't sure where to sit, what to do. Sloane had said to sit anywhere, but Ruby had a feeling that she didn't really mean it.

Wandering around the room with her hands tucked behind her back, Ruby took a look at Sloane's things lining a white bookshelf near the bed.

Polaroids lay in collections, little notes attached to them. Ruby raised an eyebrow at a framed picture of a boy with a wide smile and wire-frame glasses. Could be a boyfriend... A brother... She could still hear the rustling of clothing from inside Sloane's enormous closet. While she waited, Ruby sat on the bed, and inspected the picture.

She lifted the photo from its position on the shelf, the boy's expression making her smile. Ruby ran a finger along the picture, tracing his glasses, dragging it down to his nose and swooping her touch to round the angle of his jaw.

"What the hell are you doing?" Ruby's gaze shot up to a shocked and fuming Sloane. Sloane stormed over and snatched the photo from Ruby's grasp, throwing it on her bed.

Ruby's face burned like the sun.

"Sloane, I didn't mean-"

"Yeah, I guess you just didn't mean to touch my stuff, and get in my business while I wasn't looking." Sloane scrunched her face up to further her angered sarcasm.

"What's your problem, it's just a picture." Ruby said quietly, backing towards the bookshelf.

Sloane marched over to Ruby and shook the photo in front of her face.

"And just because you think it's only a picture makes it okay that you put your dirty little hands all over him?" Sloane's voice still had a bite to it that genuinely confused Ruby.

Sloane's sharp features seemed to soften slightly, her shoulders drooping down a bit, jaw unclenching. Still, she was obviously irritated.

"I think you should leave."There goes the 'new school buddy'.

Ruby nodded too hard and too fast, making her way to the door and speeding through the hallway to the stairway and down to the extravagant living room, her panicked breath result of the overwhelming confusion she felt.

And then she was out. Out of the congested air and into the warm August atmosphere. Ruby let go of a heavy breath she didn't realize she was holding. Well, at least she didn't cry. Ruby had a tendency of crying when the situation became too uncomfortable. Which landed her in a lot of useless counseling sessions.

Outside, it was beautiful. Birds chirping, lawn mowers humming, kids passing by on their bikes. For some reason it made Ruby more upset. Why didn't the world adhere to the situation? Like in the movies. If a character was sad, it would rain. If they were happy it was sunny and bright and joyful. Ruby wished it would rain.

She shoved her hands deep into the pockets of her leather jacket and started her long trek home.

Why did she feel so ashamed, like she'd done something wrong? Sloane reacted like Ruby went through her diary or something

Ruby decided to just maneuver back home through her route to the market, an easy gateway path through town.

It took maybe thirty minutes before Ruby began to be completely familiar with a part of town. She wandered past the grocery store and casually poked her head in through the door, scanning the line of bored cashiers.

"Hey Ruby." a voice sounded, making Ruby jump and whirl around to face those familiar blue eyes.

"Hey Indigo." she mumbled, a heat creeping to her cheeks as she looked up at him.

"You know my name." he raised an eyebrow, a look of surprise passing over his features.

"I was at the grocery store. You had a name tag. Was I not supposed to look?" Ruby said. She immediately kicked herself after saying it for sounding too harsh.

Indigo chuckled lightly and shook his head, his pearly white grin gleaming in the sun. The light bounced off of his pale hair, shimmering slightly.

"So I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow, right?" Indigo said, expectant eyes searching hers.

"Yep." Ruby nodded, the blush reaching her neck. "So I'll see you around." With that, she began a brisk walk back home.

"Hey hold on." Ruby's stomach fluttered at his voice. "Uh... I mean, who do you have for English?" His voice sounded light, hopeful.

Ruby turned slightly.

"Um, Mercier I think."

A grin formed on Indigo's face, his perfect teeth back again.

"See you around, Ruby." he said, waving and turning the corner.