Player || gxb

Chapter one: The Gun In Her Closet

"This is Gospel, for the fallen ones, locked away in permanent slumber"
~This Is Gospel by Panic! At The Disco

To many people, school is like a jail. You wake up, get ready, eat, and go to do your daily chores. But that's not how I see it.
I see it as a place to get ready for life, make friends, and make yourself more socially active and smart to be able to get a good job for a lifetime.
My name is Ruby, I am a sixteen-year-old girl who lives in the town of Easthaven. I go to Easthaven High, and I live across the street from my friend Magnus.
Speaking of Magnus, we were friends since grade three. We've never been separated, not even when we got into big arguments.

I woke to the sound of my alarm clock, and I smacked it off. Like people do in movies. I set my alarm for seven, and it went off then. So, I quickly got up and started to get ready for school.

I headed downstairs and had my breakfast, a bowl of cereal.
I got my coat, my bag, and all my stuff for school, and I headed out.

I walked down the street to a corner, and there I saw Magnus standing there.
"Hey, Magnus!" I called to him. He turned around, and saw me.
"Hey," he said as I jogged up to him. I noticed that his tan-brown hair was done up in a way he never puts it. "What did you do to your hair?" I asked him with a slight laugh.
He raised his eyebrows at me, "why?" He asked, and I looked into his brown eyes.
"It doesn't matter. Ready to go?" I asked him. He nodded.
We turned and headed down Leafbridge Avenue, our street.
While walking, we talked about school and what we think was going to happen this year.
Because it was the first day of 2018. First day of grade eleven. And I was kinda excited.
"Do you think any new kids are going to come?" I asked him.
Magnus turned to look at me, "are you kidding? Of course there will be. Last year Lexia and Maya came, of course new kids will come."
I grunted, those two girls are the people who came for grade ten. They are really cool and nice, but they don't really like hanging around with me while Magnus is around. It's like he has rabies or something.

When we got to the school, I noticed the others standing beside a pole near the side entrance. Magnus caught me looking at them. "Want to go over to them?" He asked me.
I looked at him, "yeah, are you coming?"
Magnus raises his eyebrow, "you really think I'd be accepted into that group? Nah. I'm a lone wolf. You can go." At that, he walked away.
I grunted, he always said he was a lone wolf. And he really was, he never went up to people and talked to them unless I really forced him.

I walked up to the others and I saw that everyone except for Lexia was here.
"Where's Lexia?" I asked them.
"I have no idea. She was supposed to walk to school with me today, she didn't show up. So I thought she went with Rayna," Maya explained.
Rayna, who was standing beside her, shook her head. "She never walks with me, unless Maya is sick. And that rarely happens."
"Want me to text her?" I asked them.
"I already did, she didn't answer," Maya said.
"Hmm," I said and looked over to where I saw Magnus standing, alone.
I didn't seem to notice I was looking at him for a while, and I saw Maya try to figure out where I was looking.
"What're you looking at?" She asked. I looked her, and frowned.
"What?" She said, then she looked back over there, and saw Magnus.
"Why're you staring at Magnus? Ew," Maya said.
I snapped my eyes straight at her. "Because he's my friend, maybe?" I snapped at her.
Maya looked taken aback, "okay then, yikes," she said and took a step back.
I turned around again and saw that Rayna' disappeared, but then I looked around the area outside the school and saw she wandered off to the rest of the group. I grunted, and walked away from Maya.

Magnus and I walked into the school together after the bell rang at eight-thirty.
And we headed off to math, our first subject of the day.
When we walked into Ms. Starkly's classroom, I saw she was already at the board and planning our lesson.
"Hello, Ruby, hello, Magnus," Ms. Starkly said without looking away from the board.
"Hello, Ms. Starkly," I greeted, and I sat down at a seat at the back of the classroom, Magnus sat beside me.

Soon after, the rook piled up and I ended up sitting behind a girl named Ciara Sierra. She turned to look behind her and said, "hello, Ruby," and smiled. "How was your summer?"
I smiled back, only because I am not the one who calls her names and stuff, "it was good. You?"
"It was great, thank you," Ciara said happily, then she turned back to the front.
I looked to my right, where Magnus was sitting, and I saw him nod to two people in front of him. It was Autumn Easley.

Autumn used to be part of my friend group, until one day near the end of grade 8... she changed. Everything about her changed.
She used to be such an innocent bean. I miss those times.
Now, Autumn Easley hangs out with her group of popular girls. She preys on the unpopular people, and she just won't leave me alone.
She is always questioning me and Magnus about our relationship. Even though she knows perfectly well that we are only friends.
I looked up at her, and saw she was checking her Instagram.
I know we haven't been friends for years, but I thought I might say hi.
"Psst, Autumn," I said quietly.
She put her phone down on her table and turned to look at me.
"What?" She asked.
"I just wanted to say hi," I said, "how was your summer?"
She rolled her eyes, and went back to her phone.
I felt offended, but I knew it just would not do back to the way it used to be.

After school, I started walking towards Starbucks.
Me and the rest of my friend group decided to meet up at Starbucks on the first day of school this year, last year before summer.
My friend group lost a couple people over the years. It started with around eleven people, and now it's down to nine. And it added a couple people too.
Now it has me, Ruth, Leah, Maya, Alexia, Bronwyn, Holly, Angelina, and Rayna.
The people who left are: Emily and Autumn. Emily left us because she found another group of people, she slowly drifted away just like a friend we had a while ago, Victoria, and she joined another group. We still talk to her from time to time.
And Autumn left to join the popular girls.

When I reached the Starbucks, I saw Bronwyn and Angelina standing outside the building.
"Hey!" Bronwyn said to me and started waving. "How was your first day?" She asked.
"It was good. For half the day I was in the same class as Autumn. You?" I said.
I noticed Angelina cringe a bit, "really? I feel bad. Was she being an ass just like usual?"
I grunted, "yes. I wish she would just go back to how she used to be."
"Same," Bronwyn and Angelina said together.

Soon after, the others came. Everyone except for Rayna and Alexia were here already.
"Where's Rayna and Alexia?" Holly asked me.
"I have no idea. I saw Rayna earlier, but I'm not sure Alexia even came today," I answered her. Holly frowned, and looked deep in thought.
"I did see an ambulance around her house earlier today. You don't think something happened to her, do you?" She asked me.
I felt a spark shiver down my spine, "I hope not. Let's keep an eye out, just in case there is one in the area."
The Starbucks we are at is close to Maya and Alexia's houses.

We stayed at the Starbucks for a while, until we decided it was time to go home.
I also live close to Bronwyn, so, we decided to walk to our area together. On the way home, we heard my phone buzz.
"Wait, I'm getting a phone call," I said to her, she nodded.
I pulled my phone out and saw it was my Mom. I answered.
"Hello?" I said.
"Hello, Ruby. Come to the house now, we need to talk," Is all she said, and hung up.
I put my phone back in my pocket.
"What happened?" Bronwyn asked.

When I got to my house, I saw the police were parked in my driveway.
"Wait, what's going on?" I asked.
I walked up to them all. My Mom was in tears.
"Ms. Valdes, we found a gun in your closet. Would you please explain?" A female police officer asked me.
I felt a shudder of shock, "What?" I exclaimed, "a gun? In my closet?"
"Yes," the police officer said. "And we think it was connected to the murder of Alexia Rodriguez."