𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐮𝐛𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬

NINE.

"I hate this."

Ruby had her arms crossed over her chest, a glare firmly plastered on her face and directed at her four supposed friends. Said friends all let out sighs at hearing another one of Ruby's complaints. They were well aware of her hatred towards their plan, but they really didn't have any other options.

"Ruby, you know this is the only way. We have to do this." Mal rolled her eyes. In her opinion, their red-haired friend was being a bit overly difficult.

"No, this is not the only way. You or Evie could do this as well. Hell, with the love spell, I'm sure Carlos and Jay can pull it off too. Yet, you're making me do this, so let me reword my previous statement: I hate you lot for making me do this."

"We voted on this, Rubes. You'll have to suck it up and deal with it." Mal huffed. Ruby huffed and sat down on a chair across from Mal and Evie.

"You know what? Fine. But don't expect any help from me on this. You can figure out the love spell all on your own because I have to do the worst part anyway." Ruby got out a bottle of blood-red nail polish and started painting her nails to emphasize that they really could just sod off and figure it out themselves.

Mal and Evie shared a look and started making the batter for the love potion, while Carlos and Jay just snickered quietly, amused by Ruby's defiance.

By the time Ruby had finally painted her nails to perfection, the other VKs had nearly finished the batter. The only thing they still needed was a tear of human sadness. Ruby snorted at hearing it but didn't comment. Instead, she blew on her nails to dry them. Her friends were being difficult about the tear, which Ruby didn't mind at all. The more they argued, the bigger her chances of not having to act like Ben's girlfriend became.

Ruby only paid attention when Evie began explaining the difference between an emotional and a reflect tear, showing off her brains instead of beauty for once. Ruby smiled a little. She never liked it when Evie acted dumb, she was much better when she acted to her intelligence.

The door behind Ruby opened, stopping her from blowing her nails and making her turn around. A girl with long brunette locks and pink PJs had entered the kitchen, her eyes lighting up when she saw Mal.

"There you are Mal. I've been looking for you everywhere. You know, all the girls want you to do their hair." She paused and looked at the cookie batter. "Midnight snack?" She guessed. She dipped her finger in the batter and tasted it despite the numerous calls for her not to. Ruby hadn't attempted to stop the girl, instead she stood up with a smirk and waited for something to happen. "What? I'm not gonna double dip."

"Feel anything?"

"Yeah, like it might be missing something?" Mal quickly added to Evie's question. The girl, who Ruby only now remembered to be called Lonnie, looked confused. Jay saw this as his chance and stepped forwards. He tried flirting with her, hoping that the love spell would give him an edge, but alas, it hadn't worked. The others sighed in relief, while both Jay and Ruby were disappointed, both for different reasons though.

"It could use some chips," Lonnie answered Mal's question.

"And those are...?" Mal asked, less than interested in the answer.

"Chocolate chips. Just the most important food group." Ruby watched as Lonnie grabbed something from the fridge. She showed them a bowl of dark brown drops, which didn't look familiar to Ruby. She stole one from the bowl, mindful of her still wet nail polish, and tastes it. The sweet thing melted on her tongue and Ruby found herself liking the taste a lot more than she had expected. Lonnie put a handful of the chips in the batter, getting strange looks from Mal and Evie.