Not So Bad After All

# 12

(I promised this chapter for my sister since she had been updating so much for me I decided to update this today and I will have another chapter up tomorrow... By the way, I cannot find any good pictures for Liam, Xander, or Noah, so you guys can imagine them however you would like until I manage to come across a picture of how I want them to look)

Ruby sighed as she entered school grounds. It was Friday which means she had the weekend to look forward to. But today, she had to talk to Ryder. She sighed once more, knowing that today was indeed going to be a very long day.

She had gotten to school a bit early so she could look for him, but no such luck has come up yet. As she turned the corner, she stopped dead in her tracks, mouth open wide in disbelief. Leo was with Peyton, the two kissing and laughing. 'Ryder really was right...' Ruby thought with a glare before turning on her heel and beginning to leave. "Ruby?" Her ex-best friend called, causing Ruby to stop and glare. "What do you want? I'm looking for someone right now and I need to find them before classes start." She said as she gritted her teeth. Peyton shook her head, laughing a bit. "Let me guess, Ryder?" Her tone suddenly took a bitter one. "You know, I figured you would start chasing after him. You can never see a good thing even when it's right in front of you. Leo and I have been there for you a lot more than Ryder has, I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from a fool like you." Ruby was silent for a moment, Peyton smirking as she had thought she won, Leo wrapping his arm around her waist. Ruby scoffed, then started chuckling before it turned into full blown laughter. Peyton and Leo looked at her in shock. "A good thing? You two went behind my back and betrayed me, I hardly count you guys as a good thing. But I do know something, Ryder was right about all of us. You two were doing that long before he came along and I was an idiot for not noticing. Honestly, I couldn't care less about you two anymore. I am not going to waste my life wallowing in self-pity because you two were the ones who betrayed my trust. Thank you and have a freaking fantastic day." Ruby said with a smirk before turning on her heel and leaving the two slack-jawed.

"That was quite a show." A voice said from behind Ruby, causing her to stop. "Hi Noah, hi Xander." The two nodded in acknowledgement. "Who are you looking for?" Noah asked, cocking his head to the side a bit. "You two heard the whole conversation, didn't you?" Ruby sighed, the two nodding sheepishly. "I'm looking for Ryder, have you seen him anywhere?" Ruby asked, turning to face the two. "I haven't but knowing him, he's probably at the back of the school." Xander said, shrugging his shoulders while Noah nodded. "Alright, thank you." She said before heading outside. "Hey lady!" Noah called, making Ruby stop and turn once more. "Nice job sticking up for yourself." Noah said, winking as Xander smirked. Ruby felt her cheeks heat up before she nodded and continued on her way.

"Where are you?" Ruby groaned. It was fifteen minutes til school started and Ruby hasn't seen Ryder at all. "Where is who?" A voice asked, making Ruby start giggling a bit. "I'm looking for Ryder, have you seen him?" She asked, watching as Liam walked up to her. "Yep, he is just around that corner. Good luck." He said, winking before ruffling her hair and jogging off. She huffed, straightening her hair before mustering up the courage to turn the corner. "Shouldn't you be getting ready for class?" Ryder's voice asked as she turned the corner. "I should, but I had something more important that I had to do before." She said, walking over to him. He nodded before uttering a small 'good for you' as he tried to walk off. Ruby grabbed the end of his jacket, causing him to stop and glance down at her. "We need to talk, please, at least hear me out." He watched her for a minute before sighing and grabbing a cigarette out of his pocket and lighting it. "Make it quick." Ruby inhaled before starting. "You were right, I was an idiot... I just wanted to believe that everything was real and my life was perfect, but that wasn't the case. I was being delusional and I should have known that neither of those two were good for me. I'm truly sorry, Ryder, you didn't ruin my life, you fixed it. You snapped me out of my daze and managed to get me to see what was really going on. So rather than blaming you, I should be thanking you. I know that-" She was cut off as Ryder snuffed out his cigarette and pulled her into a hug. "You talk way to much for someone so tiny." He grunted, causing Ruby to laugh a bit. She returned the hug, the two remaining like that for a few minutes before the bell rang. "You should get to class." Ryder said, smirking as he released her from the hug. Ruby nodded hastily, beginning to sprint back into the school but not before shouting a quick 'thank you' over her shoulder. Ryder blinked a bit in shock before grinning. "What have you done to me?"

(A/N: Oh my word I am so proud of myself! Over 900 words for this chapter! I had so much fun writing this and I hope you all had just as much fun reading it. I hope you enjoyed and have a wonderful day/afternoon/evening! Oh, and by the way if you didn't read the short message at the top, I will still be posting another chapter tomorrow. Once more, thank you for reading! Sayonara!)