"my mom came to see me! she's in the front row, can ya see her?" one of the girls squealed excitedly to the rest of the ballerinas. each of them took turns peeking out from behind the curtain, saying who came to see them and who didn't.
ruby waited quietly to get the curtain, eager to see which of her family had come to see her. 8 years old and she was already one of the prima ballerinas in the class, dancing with the older girls.
small, pale hands pulled the velvety curtain to the left slightly so that green eyes could scan the crowd as people made their way to her seats.
"ruby, do ya think your dad's coming tonight?" rina, one of the older girls whispered quietly, knowing how much it meant to the younger girl.
"i don't know.. hopefully he got the invite. he's technically still on tour..." ruby looked around even more and shrugged, finally catching her mom sitting down in the second row with a big grin.
"my mom's here though!" she grinned widely to the other girls, desperately trying not to wave out to her. "she's right there, the pretty blonde lady in yellow!"
"oh, please, that can't be your mom." one of the newer girls, ashley, scoffed. "and it'd be a miracle if your dad really was THE tyler joseph, ruby. you're probably not even his niece."
the small crowd of girls grew quiet as ruby looked down at her feet, tears building up in her eyes. she'd heard things like since the beginning of 2nd grade, when a young substitute teacher had laughed and mocked the girl's "my dad is my hero" project.
"you probably don't even have a dad!" the girl laughed as a few more girls started to laugh with her. a few of the older girls started to shush them but the damage had already been done. definitely half the size of the girl who'd made fun of her, tears spilling from her eyes, ruby walked up to her and threw the hardest punch she could gather in her tiny body.
it didn't land very far, barely getting to her neck but it clearly had hurt. all of her friends quickly shut up, afraid the smallest one of them all would come for them next. quiet sobs came from the girl she had hit as mademoimademoiselleelle walked in, completely oblivious to the sniveling girl in the corner.
"places, girls! 40 seconds to showtime!" she whispered to the group as she made her way to ruby, a gentle smile on her face. "you're going to do amazing, my darling. just do as we practiced and you'll do wonderful." she gave the girl a small hug before rushing off of the stage.
as the curtain lifted, all the girls gave small grins as their parents got up from the seats to film their daughters. jenna caught ruby in her starting position, gently waving at her before jenna blew her a kiss.
the music started gently and the girls went through the rountines. as ruby spun her way to the front, she saw one of the doors open, two men sneaking in to stand in the back of the room.
she began the routine she'd spent hours at home practicing, the solo that she was chosen to have over the top ballerina in the class.
once she finished, she felt hands grab hers and suddenly all the ballerinas in the troupe were bowing together. ruby peeked up and saw her mom sitting with another blonde girl and a younger brunette in her lap.
"i love her more, nova! you're just her sister!"
"shut up, britt, you're just her favorite cousin and I'm her favorite sibling. i love her more by default!"
"woo, go ruby!" she heard another voice scream out from the back of the room. right before the curtain closed, she looked up towards the back of the room and saw a mustard haired man grinning up at her. but she could have sworn she'd seen two people enter, not just josh.
soon, all the other girls started to walk up to her and congratulate her, hugging and patting her head. but she hadn't really meant all the "thank you" and smiles she gave out. she honestly wouldn't have cared if nobody else came to the show, but the one person she wanted more than anything hadn't made an appearance at all.
"ruby, can you come here for a little bit?" mademoiselle peeked her head from behind the door, a small smile on her face. ruby gave a little nod and sniffed, wiping tears she hadn't realized had even fallen.
"darling, you did wonderful.. but you look like you feel horrible.. what's the matter? did none of your family come?"
"i saw my mom and my cousin and my little sister.. and i think i saw josh.. but he wasn't there." ruby said quietly, another small round of tears spilling from her eyes. "a-and he promised he would come.."
suddenly, a pair of tan hands grabbed the small girl and turned her around. after realizing who it was exactly, a dimpled grin made it's way on the eight year old's face.
"you came, you came, you came!" she giggled happily, throwing herself in his arms. "you scared me for a second, papa." she mumbled quietly, hiding her face in his neck.
"of course i came! i would be an idiot to miss my flower's first big performance." tyler laughed quietly. "you did so good, babes. i even brought your two biggest fans... and josh too."
"I know I saw them." ruby grinned. "but some of the older girls said you weren't gonna come... one of em even said you weren't my dad."
tyler raised a brow slightly, his honey eyes clashing against her emerald ones. "now would this be the same girl you hit earlier?"
ruby went a bright pink and nodded shyly. "she just... she made me mad! m'sorry.."
"come on, little flower. it's cool. let's go get some ice cream to celebrate."
"celebrate my recital or celebrate me hitting the girl?"
"a bit of both... don't tell your mom about hitting her though.."
//; bloop you're welcome. I've owed you one of these since forever ago
