I Had To Leave You

Chapter 4: Goodbye World

Why did we even need to know what the area of the classroom was? I don't think we would ever need to use this in our real lives. I hate maths. I still wasn't good at it.
"Alright, turn to the person next to you and compear your answers, " Mister Willow instructed us.

After twenty more minutes of this hell, the bell rang for lunch and while others were just starting to pack up I was already out of the class. I just wanted to get the hell out of there.
    My head pounded, for some reason, I had a random headache. I went over to my locker and stuffed all my books in there and got out my English and history books, and my drawing book and pencil case. I took them everywhere. I didn't have any lunch today because I didn't have any food in the house and the school cafeteria was too expensive, so I just went without food for now. Luckily, I would get paid extra on Friday because I worked overtime and the cafe, it was only two blocks away from home so it was a good place to work. I also worked at a small bar on Semaphore road, it was a little more crowded over there, especially on Friday and Saturday. But I was going to quit there soon anyway.
I dragged myself up to the school's rooftop and plopped down on the cement. I opened my sketchbook and continued to work on a starry night sky with a silver crescent moon and a reflective ocean below. I heard the door open but I didn't bother to look up. I already knew who it was, Justin and his friends, Damien and Jason. They were all jackasses but since Justin was the Alpha, I had to listen to him otherwise he would exile me from the state. They were all laughing and joking, but I heard a new laugh. Liam. I recognised his voice anywhere. I peered up from my book and wondered if he was going to challenge Justin for the role of Alpha. Liam caught my gaze and grinned at me, he kinda reminded me of a toddler. You know, how they're always happy, giggling and smiling without a care in the world. I couldn't do that, couldn't feel like that anymore. I shook my head and went back to drawing on my book. I heard footsteps coming closer and closer to me and looked up from my book again. The four boys now stood in front of me, Justin wearing his usual arrogant smirk.

"What?" I asked, short-tempered.

"We just wanted to know if you wanted to hang with us after school, " Justin said to me.

I raised a brow. "Really? You want to 'hang out' with me?" I clarified, to which he nodded.
I peered at Liam. He gave me an encouraging smile.
I shook my head. "Sorry, can't. I've got work tonight."

"Oh, right, " Justin said, mischief laced his voice. "Don't you work at that slutty bar down on Semaphore road?"

I glared at him coldly. "If it's so slutty then why do I see you and your friends there almost every day?" I smirked.

His face turned red. "His dare you talk to me that way, " he sputtered. "I am your Alpha and I won't be belittled by you!" He grabbed my jacket and yanked me to my feet.

"Hey, that's enough, "Liam said in his deep, commanding Alpha voice.

Even though he wasn't the Alpha anymore, it still worked like a charm. Justin pushed me away and gave me a disgusted glare before he turned away and strode to the other side of the roof, Damien and Jason on his heels. Liam hesitated a moment before walking over to me and giving me a tight hug.
"You shouldn't do that again, okay?"

"Fine," I grumbled, "but only if he stays away from me."

It seemed to satisfy him, so he flashed me one of his toddler grins and sat down next to where I was before.
"What're you doing?" I asked him.

"Well, since you're not gonna hang out with us after school, why don't we hang out now?"

I deadpanned. "You just don't get it, do you? We're not friends. We may have been once, but not anymore." 

His entire face fell and my heart ached, told me to reassure him and tell him that we were friends, more than that. But I couldn't, I couldn't let my walls crumble just because he wanted to be friends again. I wouldn't let myself go through that again. Liam sighed and climbed to his feet, then shoved his hands in the pockets of his jeans.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there to help you, Ruby, I am, but I had to leave you, "
As he walked past me, he kissed my cheek, then went and sat with Justin. I lingered there for a moment, torn between going and sitting with him and jumping off the roof right now. I took a special interest in jumping off the roof, it would solve a lot of other problems I had as well as the whole Liam situation.
But, it wouldn't look very good for me, and my mother would be put in jail for leaving a twelve-year-old child on her own for five years and as much as I hated her, and that was a lot, I didn't want that for her. I mean, she must have left for a good reason, right? Yeah, she had to leave, just like Liam did, and every other friend I've had since did. I knew it was a lie, the truth of it all was that no one wanted me. I was a broken toy, some others you could fix, but not me. They should've thrown me in the bin a long time ago but for some unknown reason, they didn't. They wanted me to suffer. I sighed and walked over the edge of the roof. It was fenced off, but it was pretty easy to climb. The bell for the class went and I heard the door squeak open and then shut. My fingers clasped the wired fence and I began my short climb to the top. When I did get there, I could see the entire schoolyard spanned out in front of me. I was glad that I could see all this before I ended it. Honestly, I didn't care that there were people down there, or that I wasn't really scared, more... Relieved. Relieved that I wouldn't have to deal with the world's crap anymore, with the human race, with my life. I swung my legs over the metal bar and I readied myself for the fall. For the sudden stop. For peace. I released the bar and was about to let myself fall. Bye Liam, bye mum, wherever you are, goodbye everyone.

"Ruby!"