Runaway

3 //

(3 weeks later)

“Brandon, I’m nervous.” I say after eating a bite of my cereal. I look at him. He was wearing a Joy Division Unknown Pleasures shirt.

“You’ll be fine, Ruby. It’s only high school. Plus you have me to show you around.” He said not making eye contact. I got up and walked over to the sink and put my bowl and spoon in the dishwasher. I looked at the time. It was 7:30.

“Brandon we should start walking to the bus stop.” I say as I slip on my sneakers.

“Ok, fine.” He says as he throws his backpack over his shoulder. After saying bye to his Aunt, we walked out the door into the heat of Vegas. We made it to the bus stop. As the ugly blue and gold bus we stood up and began walking towards the door. We sat in the back and didn’t say a word. I pulled my knees up to my chest.

“Brandon, will you be my buddy for the day?” I ask like a little girl.

“Of course Ruby, why wouldn’t I help you around?” He answered as he looked out the window. I looked the out the window too. I saw the school. It was like a zoo there. There were people everywhere. I suddenly got this horrible feeling in my stomach.

“Ruby are you ready?” He said with a concerned look on his face. He was standing up waiting for me. I noticed I had spaced out.

“Yeah sorry. I’m just a little scared.” I stated honestly. I stood up and we got off the bus. I took a look around, then checked my outfit. My black skirt was perfect, my Smiths shirt was tucked in perfectly, and my converse were tied. I felt very out of place here. All the other girls were wearing booty shorts and crop tops. I was the only girl with self-respect around here.

“You’ll be fine darlin’. You’ll fit in just fine.” Brandon says while looking at me up and down with a grin on his face. I started to giggle nervously. We then started walking towards the office to get my schedule. He grabbed mine and looked over it. I looked into his light brown eyes. He did not notice that I was staring. “We have three classes together, and lunch at the same time.” He said smiling.

“How am I supposed to know where to go without you?” I laugh.

“Oh poor baby.” He says laughing while wiping a fake tear from his eye. “But seriously, you’ll make friends soon, you’re skinny and pretty and blonde. The boys will be all about showing you around.” He says with disappointment in his face.

“Oh please. I won’t let them. You are the only guy I’ll be able to talk to around here.” I say as I fix my skirt.

“Was that an insult?” Brandon said laughing.

“No. I just don’t want to talk to anyone else.” I stated as I looked around. “I’m going to go find some new friends.” As I walk off giggling. I look back at Brandon. He was still staring at me. I started to walk back to him. “Just kidding. Walk me to my first class, nerd.” I said just as the bell rang. We walked through the crowded hallways, pushing through a lump of teenagers moving every which way to get to class in time. I walked behind Brandon as he weaved his way through everyone making no eye contact. We arrived at a door. I take my backpack off my shoulder, unzip the smallest pocket, reach my bare fingers around my camera and pull it out.I put my arm up in the crowd and snapped a picture, being careful not to drop my camera. I started walking into the classroom as the print was coming out of the slot. I shook it a little to let it dry, then looked at it. There were heads everywhere rushing to class. I pulled a sharpie out of my backpack. Holding the picture with one hand and the sharpie with the other- I pulled the cap off with my teeth. I began writing with my bare hands and nude fingernails.

"There." I showed Brandon the picture.

"Why do you take pictures of everything?" he says chuckling. "And why does it say hell below it?"

"Well, I take pictures of important moments and write a fitting caption with it so I can remember it with a few simple memorable words." I say proudly.

"Ok then miss fancy Nancy." he says as he sits down in a desk.  His legs are too long for the small height of the table. I sit next to him and look around the room for some potential friends. Finally the teacher arrives after five minutes of girls showing their cleavage off to guys while leaning over the desks. Class was quite boring. Brandon stayed focused the whole time whilst I was trying to get his attention.

The bell rang after what seemed like a lifetime of basic math that I already knew. For my next class I had science- without Brandon. Which to be honest I was excited about. It had been a month since I moved in with his aunt and I haven't spent a minute without him since then. He walked me to the door and then left awkwardly. I opened the heavy door and walked in. I found a friendly girl and sat on the stool next to her. She had long brown curls and was shorter than me by a few inches. She was wearing jeans and a flow-y top. She looked me up and down as I moved my leg up and down out of pure boredom.

"Hi I'm Ruby." I decided to say so she stopped looking at me.

"I'm Adrie." she said as she smiled and showed off brilliant white teeth. The teacher came in. She was old. And absolutely crazy. Adrie and I decided to make class a little bit more entertaining and made fun of her. Brandon would not approve. But honestly I didn't give a shit. He doesn't own me.

The bell finally rang and it was time for our first break. Adrie introduced me to some of her other friends. They were all going to the lake after school and they invited me. I decided to go because I haven't gone anywhere in the previous weeks I had spent with Brandon.