The Girl Among The Boys

Chapter 15: No Secrets, No Lies, No Guys

Everything was normal.. to normal. At least for my life. Anyways I was sitting on the couch slaying Kyle in Terraria when there was a knock. I opened the door to Apollo “hi…” I said/asked it was very random showing up unannounced at three PM on a Sunday. I looked down and realized both me and Kyle were still in our (boy) PJs. I looked back up at Apollo “you wanted to know about Artemis, so I'm ready to tell you.” He said very straight forward looking me right in the eyes, he was clearly very serious
about this. I nodded and moved out of the way letting him in, Kyle waved and smiled “do you want to play Terraria with us?” He asked innocently, Apollo smiled a little “maybe after I need to talk to Ruby” he replied. Kyle nodded and turned back to the screen, I showed him to my room were I sat on my bed and he sat in my blue desktop rolly chair. I looked him in the eye and singled him to start, he took a deep breath in “Before you got here I was Patton's main target. He bullied me everyday sometimes physically
sometimes verbally and sometimes both. One day I had to walk home with Artemis and we ran into Patton. He started saying things to me and Artemis like “looky here a sissy walking her wittle sissy home!” And “well, well, well your sis looks like she got all the
bad genes not like you did much better!”. I got so angry I wanted to punch him for Artemis, but against Patton I was useless… Artemis walked up to him batting her eyes and twirling her hair, Patton talked down to her then… She kicked him right in no man land. He fell to the sidewalk as she screamed “Who's the sissy now lumbnut!” And “how
does it feel to have a twelve year old take you down!” knowing Patton, I grabbed Artemis as she was screaming and ran because once the pain was gone. No mercy.” He was swaying in his chair looking at the ground. That sounded terrible but not scar terrible. Then he kept talking “everything was great till we got tired and stopped for a rest, Patton came storming around the corner grabbing Artemis by her hair and forcing her up. She fought hard I'm sure he still has the scratches, but whenever I tried to help he simply pushed me down and said enjoy the show he cut her. Her hair, her clothes...her skin. He cut her clothes in some bad places once he left I shoved my sweatshirt over her head. I held her and her hand close as she cried. I'm gonna be honest was wiping some of my own tears. Everyday after school I took her to therapy, but nothing worked. Privately the therapist told me Coma Care would be the best option. Its where they put someone in a coma like state and wipe part of their memory. I agreed. After it was done Artemis started going to karate and self defense classes. She doesn't recall a thing.” He explained looking at the ground. Now that was scaring I don't know what I would do. My stomach was turning and my heart felt like slowing down. It felt like I just swallowed a bolder whole and it was sitting at the pit of my stomach. He looked up and tried to lighten the mood “hey everything's ok now, how about we go and play some Terraria with Kyle” he offered. I nodded as we walked out, we sat down on either sides of Kyle as I proceeded to crush both of them. After about an hour Apollo left,  and me and Kyle decided we needed to do something productive. We both changed and snuck out. The reason we “snuck” out was because I was dressed as Ruby, and a girl just walking around a all boys school is just a little suspicious. We decided to go grocery shopping! Dun, dun, duuuuuuuun! I know so exciting, I was thrilled too. It was fun for me though because Kyle was paying for everything and I’m broke! Hahaha i'm a failure. Anyways well Kyle got his veggies and protein bars I got Pizza Rolls and Pop Tarts. Otherwise known as the fun stuff. As we were waiting in line at the checkout Kyle looked at me, “I'm not trying to be mean Ruby, but you should get a job i’ve been paying for all are food and that's fine, but we’re going to college soon and your new roommate might be not as willing as me.” he explained. Ugh my mom has explained this to me as well but she doesn't understand i’ve tried every place in town but they’ve all rejected me. There's nothing I can do. As i explained that to Kyle a smile slowly crept up his face “can you sing?” He asked the question took me by surprise, I haven't sung in so long I genuinely don't know. So that's what I said “I don't know” I answered, he looked like a cross between confused and annoyed “how about after this I call up my sis and we go to a recording studio”. Wait hold up. He wants me to go to a recording studio with his sister, just to see if I can sing. I'm slow clapping in my head. “Um I would sound crazy if I said no” I replied “but what for?” “Well, she has a open spot as a backup singer where she sings, so if you can sing, there's a big chance you'll get the job!” He explained. That sounded amazing, so I obviously agreed. We drove to a studio where headphones were snapped to my ears and I was shoved in a room the size of a box. They gave me a line from a song to sing, they needed to make sure I had the right vocal range they're missing to give me the job. I started singing: