Untying the Knot

chapter 1 part 3 of 5

As soon as the teacher dismissed them, Ruby left the one room school and went outside to her usual spot, under the willow tree. There, she sat to eat her lunch. As she expected, Charlie showed up after a minute. "Overslept again?"

"Um...Yeah," Ruby lied. She nibbled on her stale cracker, her daily lunch. Charlie looked at her and asked, "Not hungry either?"

Ruby blushed and shook her head. She hated lying to her best friend, yet she had no other choice. She rejected his offer for half his sandwich, and tried to change the subject. "Algebra is really easy actually."

"Yeah it is. I don't think math can get easier than this," he replied.

"Well I couldn't have understood it if you didn't help me," Ruby thanked him.

"What are you talking about? You barely needed my help, "he said modestly, blushing. "Besides, if you didn't oversleep every day, I wouldn't need to explain it to you. And eating a good meal will help you think better."

Ruby knew he was going to steer the topic back to her. Before she could say anything, Dave came up to them along with his sister Amatuallah and he asked, "Hey Ruby. Can you do me a favor? We are having a race and I want you to be judge because I know you are going to crown me winner."

Josh, who came up after him, cried, "We didn't even have the race!"

"Yeah but everyone knows I'm going to win," Dave boasted.

"No, Ruby is a fair judge. She will happily crown me as the winner. And you know what the prize is Ruby? That person who wins gets to walk you home!" Henry said.

"Okay guys I will judge for you," Ruby said with a smile. "Let's go have some fun!" she jumped up and gathered her already short skirts, and took off running full speed towards the finishing line, where she could quickly spot the winner. The rest of the boys took their positions and began to run upon her command.

Charlie, still under the tree, rewrapped his sandwich. He didn't feel hungry anymore. He sadly watched the race, hoping they will finish quickly, so they can finish their lunch peacefully. Then, he knew that wasn't going to happen. Darcy was walking towards him, a big smile plastered on her face.

Meanwhile, Ruby was watching them race, clearly happy for the attention. Though the boys where all younger than her, ranging from 5 to 11, she couldn't help but appreciate their attention. Though there was only one other girl in their school, Ruby preferred to be with any of the boys. They all were madly in love with her, and she loved to play along with their silly games. These immature boys where the only ones who loved her. She wanted to feel loved, and she couldn't get any of that at home. Home, she thought. She couldn't even call it that. That was her father's mansion, and yet it was occupied by his widowed wife and her husband. They were anything but parents to her. Ever since her third birthday, she was their slave. Everything she did for her stepparents she couldn't do for herself. She washed their clothes, and she only owned to dirty, small outfits, which couldn't ever be washed or changed. She fed them, yet she wasn't allowed to eat properly. She worked late while they were out or slept, never having enough time to sleep, nor rest.