Secrets

Prologue

Ruth loves the rain. She finds it soothing in a strange way. She finds peace in it. She prefers a cold, rainy day, than a hot, sunny one. Especially at night, there's nothing better than falling asleep to the sound of heavy rain hitting her roof and windows.

But today, it only brings her disappointment. It can't rain tonight. It's a special night for her. Jade told her that she invited Owen to come along too and she has been nervous all day long, just waiting impatiently to see him again.

It's the break for Christmas so she hasn't gone to college for a week. Despite missing him so much, she's too nervous to call. What would she say? Ask him to spend some time together, as friends? No... how can she do it in a way that won't seem like she's asking him out?

Most of her friends know she has had a crush on him since the first time they met, but Jade's the only one that doesn't get tired of listening to her pointless rants. She's always there to offer her help even when she's being anxious over something as simple as texting him.

And now she has arranged to hang out as a group so that Ruth can talk with him without feeling pressured, and she loves her for it.

But now it's raining and everyone will probably cancel the plan and stay at home. She sighs as she goes over to her couch and lies down with her phone in hand.

'It's raining:(' she texts Jade and closes her eyes waiting for a reply.

'Ikr why today? ugh sorry R, I'll make sure u get another chance don't feel bad.' Jade texts her back immediately.

She's right, she assures herself. I'll get another chance.

She picks up the remote and flips through channels to distract herself, and then finally settles on a rom-com and starts to watch it when she suddenly hears a creak.

What was that?

She mutes the sound of the movie and tries to listen again. Nothing. It must be the wind pushing the door open, but she did shut all the windows when it started raining.

She goes to check anyway. The windows are shut, so she checks the kitchen and bathroom. Yep, she did close it all. So what made the noise?

Her cat- who she named Oreo because of his black and white fur- purrs from behind her and she looks back in surprise. Oh it's just Ori.

"Hey big boy, you scared me!" She laughs, stroking his fur. "Want some food?" she asks, heading to the kitchen. Realising she's out of cat food, she curses under her breath and turns towards Ori again. "Sorry buddy, I'm gonna have to feed you cookies tonight. It's probably not good for you but I promise I'll buy more food for you tomorrow." She opens the cabinet and grabs the leftover cookies.

Her phone chimes at that moment and she quickly picks it up. It's a text from...Owen! Her heart thumps in her chest with a combination of excitement and shock. Why is he texting her? She places the box on top of the cabinet before reading the text.

'U still up to chill with us tonight?'

Wait...didn't they cancel the plan to go out? She looks out the window. When did it stop raining?

She smiles typing her reply.
'Of course, I'll be out in a minute:)'

'K meet u there;)'

She squeals in delight as she dials Jade's number, running to her room to take a look at her appearance in the mirror.

"Hey girly, I know I know it stopped raining calm down..." Jade laughs at her without even letting her speak.

"So you coming or what?"

"Of course I am. You kidding me? I'm not leaving you alone tonight."

"Ok meet you there!" she says excitedly before hanging up.

She stares at her reflection in the mirror. She had put on a thin layer of mascara to make her green eyes pop out, and a dark pink lipstick on her thin lips. She even straightened her curly black hair which made it seem a little longer, reaching past her shoulders for the first time. The dark blue dress she wore stopped just above her knees. She put on all the extra effort to look good today just to catch his eye, and she hopes it'll work.

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Ruth shuts her apartment door behind her as she takes her jacket and shoes off. Her smile remained on her face the whole night. It's one of the best nights this year. She got to spend some time with Owen because Jade made sure they get the chance to talk by keeping the others busy. She would be lost without that girl in her life.

"Ori, here Oriii..." she calls loudly, shaking the bowl as usual. But he doesn't come running like he always does. Hmm...that's strange, maybe he fell asleep in her bedroom.

She looks on the bed, under it, even in the closet to make sure she didn't lock him in there when she left in a hurry. She looks everywhere in the house but can't find him anywhere.

She sighs going back to the kitchen to get the bowl. Maybe he'll come back on his own, she tells herself.

Just as she picks the bowl up from the floor, a short yelp of shock escapes her mouth and she drops it back to the ground. Her hand reaches up to clasp her throat which seems like her heart is going to burst out from. Her legs shake uncontrollably while she takes a step back, her chest heaving with every shaky breath she takes.

There it is, inside the same bowl that had cookies in it, laying in a pool of his own blood, Oreo's decapitated head.