Blood

five

CHAPTER 5

Ruby

I didn't need car to drive around town, that's why I borrow Max's car. When I needed it he would let me use it. Which was almost every day, but now that he has a girlfriend I wasn't so sure if he would let me borrow the car. As I arrived to the bookstore, I found Lynn already on the cashier not looking so good. Her hand was on her forehead as she leaned over the counter, looking dead. I knew she had partied last night, a bit too hard. 

"Lynn, you look-"

"Terrible." She finishes the sentence.

"You okay?" I softly smiled at her as I grabbed her hand and caressed it. "Last night, you partied a bit too hard." I weakly chuckled as I began picking up books that were on the floor. I understood Lynn was just working here for me. Lauren didn't like the bookstore. She thought it was one hell of a lame job. 

"Yeah, I'm okay." She made a cheesy smile at me, "I saw you with Elliot last night, and I saw the whole thing." Lynn was twirling her index finger at me.

"I-I...n-nothing happened Lynn," 

What was I supposed to say? Yeah Lynn, what a tease he did! Oh don't tell him anything, but I have a tiny crush on him. To be honest, he didn't kiss me or anything but I wish he did. I wish he did kiss me, I wish he did like me back. I know I'm not girlfriend material but I could always try. 

I wouldn't be a bad girlfriend if someone had given me the chance. In fact, I would love my boyfriend unconditionally. I wouldn't cheat on him. I would bring his favorite food to him. I would hug him a lot. Okay, I read too many romance novels.  

"I can help you, if you want?" Lynn suggested behind me. Suddenly, her dead expression from what I saw a couple of seconds of go had vanished. 

"No, Lynn. You know guys don't really like me, especially Dark Wood's hottest guy." I giggled at the crazy thought. Elliot was too much for me. There were way prettier girls here in town. Some of them were more beautiful than I was. 

"A lot of guys liked you in high school. You just never noticed." Lynn informed me. Max always told me that I was too naive when it came to boys. Maybe that's why, he was always so protective of me. 

"Really?" I held a book close to my chest and turned to look at her. 

"Yeah." She nodded her head. "You're pretty, Ruby. Did you think you were ugly?" 

I blinked. "N-No." Of course, I did.

"I think you have a chance with Elliot." She smirked at me. 

"I don't know, Lynn." 

"Too bad, I'm doing it anyways!" I go to the back of the store and picked out books to place on the shelf. I heard the door open and Lynn began to laugh. I hear a husky deep voice which sounded so familiar to me. 

Elliot! 

That sneaky bitch worked too fast when it came to play as the Love Guru. Minding my own business, I grabbed the large stack of books and carried them outside. As I was walked to the shelves, I tripped on a wire and the books fell on the floor making a loud noise. My face was on the floor. Ouch.

"Whoa, Ruby are you okay?" Lynn worriedly asked. I get up and see Elliot with a serious face. Oh how cute he was.

His hair was messy but it looked good in him. He wore a black sweater with black jeans. He looked like a fallen angel that decided Heaven wasn't this thing anymore. Oh boy.

"Klutz," He mumbled underneath his breath.

Lynn hit his shoulder, "Don't be rude." She began to help me out while Elliot just looked at me with disgust. It pained me to see how Elliot looked at me. Lynn was insane if she thought I was going to have a chance with Elliot. 

"What are you looking at?" He snapped at me.

"N-Nothing," I shakily said.

Lynn finished stacking the books and stood up to look at him.

"Hey Lynn, see you later. I don't like being around your creepy friend." He hugged her but stared deep into my eyes. It was like if he was trying to make me jealous. He walked out of the door with confidence. I stood frozen, not even saying a word.

"Don't worry. He didn't really mean that." Lynn touched my shoulder and smiled at me with pity.

"Yeah," I sighed. I began doing my job with the books. The thought of Elliot remained in my mind throughout my entire shift.

It was my turn to closed the store today. Lynn and I were so tired with all of these books. I was surprised that she was helping me stack the books. I thought it was because she felt bad for how rude Elliot was to me today. Luckily, it was time to go home and forget about what happened.

"Ugh, I'm so tired." Lynn said while putting on her jacket.

"Same," I added.

Both of us walked out of the book store and I locked the door of the store. It was night time already. The streets of Dark Woods were silent enough to hear the crickets chirping.

"Hey, I can take you home?" Lynn took out her car keys.

"No, it's okay. I prefer to walk." I assured her.

"Well, okay. Be safe! Don't let Blood catch you!" Lynn crossed the street and entered her car. I began my walk home. At times like this, I wished I had borrowed Max's car. As I was walking, I felt someone walking behind me.

"Who's there?" I stopped to look behind me. There was no one, the streetlight was flickering. It was creepy. It reminded me of those scary movie scenes with the flickering lights.

I continued to walk back home.

As I was entering the neighborhood, I still felt someone walking behind me. I continued to walk faster until I was running. I bumped into someone and took a step back.

"Whoa, are you okay?" I heard Max's voice filled with concerned. His eyes scanned my face like if something was wrong.

"Yeah-"I looked back to find no one. "I wanted to go home fast. I don't like being in the darkness alone."

"It's okay. I'm here now." Max hugged  me. My eyes followed down to find him with holding a bat. I realized that we weren't even close to home.

"Max? Why are you carrying a bat?" I intrigued him.

"To protect you." He shrugged. "From now on, you're getting a ride from me. Okay?" He sternly said in a protective tone.

"OK." I responded back as I rubbed my arm with my hand. It was a chilly night.

We continued to walk back to the house and Max looked so eager and nervous. He had plans with someone, and they weren't with Bella.

"Why do you look so eager to get somewhere?" 

"Elliot is waiting for me." He responded. "But when I saw how scared you looked, I came to you."

"Elliot? He called me a klutz today!"

Max laughed, "He's like that. Remember he's Dark Woods' IT guy. Every girl wants to go out with him."

I scoffed, "I don't."

"Oh really?" He snickered like if he didn't believe me. "A little bird told me that you had a crush on him."

I gasped with my cheeks blushing already. Stupid cheeks of mine. That only confirmed to Max that the rumor was true. How embarrassing.

"It's okay, Lil Sis. At least, he doesn't know or maybe he does?" He wondered.

"Max! You can't tell him anything!" I pleaded.

"Calm doooown." He dragged. "You deserved better than Elliot. Just remember my words." He got so serious in a second.

We got to the house to find all of the lights on. I was happy that Lauren was there. I wanted company tonight. I entered the house to find Max already gone.