Ruby

10

"You want to go somewhere?" She whispered to me as we made our way toward the school library. We met there every Friday after the final bell releasing us to the weekend. The library never held any good books, but we always tried to search for one.

"And where is that?" I asked her in a playful tone as we walked towards the last row of books.

"You'll see." She murmured under breath, looking up at me, a smile turning up onto her lips. She took my hand into her small one and lead me out of the building. We weaved our way in and out of huddled high schoolers. We exited the building, the cold air instantly greeting our skin.

"Where to, Ruby?" I asked, gazing around the area and then to her waiting for her reply.

No answer came. I turned and stopped beside her. She was lost completely in her own thoughts, staring into nothingness. I gave her a small nudge. She would always do that, stare into space, enveloped in her busy mind. I waved my hand back and forth in front of her grey eyes, finally taking her out of her deep thought. She quickly swatted my hand away from in front of her face and pursed her lips, taking in her surroundings. We stood outside the doors and I stared at everyone around us. She nudged me just as I had done a few moments prior and gestures for me to follow her direction.

We walked a while, side by side, in a comfortable silence like always.

She looked up to the sky, as always. She took in the fresh breeze with a deep, calming breath.

She had took a hold of my hand again and swiftly guided me left. I was still completely clueless of our destination.

Something rose inside me the longer we walked and the longer her hand held mine in it. Her skin was soft, but cold. The cold didn't seem to bother me though because being embraced in her hand sent a warm tingling sensation throughout my body. I began to sense the warm, comforting feeling coursing through my arm making it feel numb, but she quickly dropped my hand, pushing hers into the pocket of ruby red jacket.

The sensation was great, it made my heart beat faster. Not so much like in the books I had read described it as. Not the electric, passionate spark all love stories describe to be felt between two characters. It was a warm, calming touch. It felt just as it did when we were laying in the grass underneath the bleachers for hours after school had ended talking about all of our favorite things. It was a sensation reaching across my entire body, touching all my senses. My shoulders relaxed, my breath even, not the sparking sensation everyone else seemed to imagine feeling. And I wondered, did she feel it too?

We walked side by side, for what had to be miles, passing corner shops and the same coffee shop I had first seen her in. She had stayed silent for the majority of our walk, but that was nothing out of our normal interaction. It was always like that.

We took one last turn, leaving behind the streets. She once again seemed to be lost in her thoughts and as I once again was about to take her out of them she looked up, biting her full bottom lip attempting to hide her best smile.

"This is it." Her arms gesture to the view in front of her.

I was instantly greeted by a cool, salty breeze. It was so beautiful. The sound of the distant waves rushed to my ears. The water had a gentle flow to it, calming just like everything with Ruby felt like. Clear blue skies with only a few fluffy clouds stretched above the salty land and on the far side of the beach a high cliff overlooked the flowing blue waves.

We walked a little while longer in silence, with only our feet dragging against the pebbles.

"So," She said, kicking at the numerous pebbles.

"So," I replied, never losing sight of her face.

She went silent again. Just the sound of the calming waves. Without thinking she reached her hand down taking mine into hers, before freezing and looking down at our interlocked hands to take in what she had just done. I attempt to look like I have everything together and was not completely overly happy by her holding my hand again.

I take in her face, her eyes shouting all of her thoughts to me. She wasn't sure if I wanted her to be holding my hand without the purpose of pulling me towards a destination this time. I playfully bump her shoulder slightly, still holding onto her fragile hand.

"Where to?" I asked, turning back to look her straight in her grey eyes and tilting my head in a questioning manner. She let out a breath, letting a small smile accidentally poke through.

She then began to lead the way again, picking up her pace only slightly faster, still holding my hand in hers.

Before long, we were standing in front of in a small, steep rocky hill. The hill was small and appeared not intimidating, besides the jagged rocks poking out all over. Without a second thought, she began to climb and just as things were going smoothly and she reached halfway her hand slipped and she caught her knee on the falling fragments of rock.

Blood began to slowly seep her jeans, but she didn't seem to mind at all.

"You coming?" She questioned, continuing her climb as if she never hurt her knee.

With no words, I followed her lead, being more careful than she had. It was not as simple as it looked though, then I knew why she hadn't been affected much about the cut on her knee, she figured it was going to happen. She'd been here before, it had happened to her before.

Minutes later we reached the top of the cliff. Beautiful, just like Ruby. A closer view of the abandoned waves. Quiet enough to hear the flow of the water and think freely. A spot right where the sun shined, sending warm rays hitting our skin.

"At night, when the tide comes in, the waves reach up here. It comes right up the cliff."

She had already sat down on the hard, cold ground, just toward the end of the cliff. Her eyes studied the view as I took a seat right beside her.

"I always come here when it's too crazy at home or when I couldn't think. It's a nice getaway, without actually getting away." She had looked at me, "I sometimes, almost always, spend all day here, until the sky transitions from blue, to orange, to black and the only light coming in is the one from the moon. When my mom would always be yelling, crying, emotional, just out of control, and when the house felt like it's walls were closing in on me, I would come here and just listen to all of the sounds of nature. But soon my thoughts got crowded, I needed to let it all out and so I started writing here. It became my writing place. I wrote every single thing in my mind onto my notebook," She gestures to the same old green notebook, "I had no one to share all of my thoughts with, but now I have you and I want to share this place with you." She takes a hold my hand and I give hers a reassuring squeeze.

I will treasure this place just as she does.

"How did you find it?"

She was quiet for a long time before answering, "Fate."

"Fate." I repeated. Fate; how me and her ended up in the same English class. Fate; how she decided to walk into the cafe that first day I saw her.

Fate.