"That's Ruby, my new classmate," Eden replied, rubbing the back of her head in clear discomfort, "Ruby, that's my mom."
"I've told you multiple times that's not a proper introduction, Eden," her mom laughed, then turning to me, "I have a name, it's Lucy, but this little one tends to forget it. Nice to meet you, Ruby.."
"Ruby Gold," I said, smiling at her.
"Gold?" her mom went from her quirky self to a more silent one, "I see."
I got this reaction quite a lot. My surname was a statement itself, tending to leave an effect on people. Soon Lucy switched back to her old self, smiling as she absorved the both of us.
"Has Eden been nice so far?" Lucy asked, winking at me.
This earned an eye roll from Eden, "mom, quit it. She has a boyfriend."
Yet I seemed to have forgotten it for the past few hours. Not that I would ever say it out loud, especially since I couldn't figure out why. The relationship might of not been perfect, but he still took up a major part of my life.
"Oh, that's such a waste," Lucy chuckled as if she knew what we didn't.
"By the way, thanks for the lasagna and cookies, it was delightful," I chimed in, smiling at Lucy, which she seemed quite amused by.
"Eden? You want to tell me about a secret talent I never knew about?" Lucy smiled at Eden.
I connected the dots myself.
"Eden!" I laughed, "why would you hide that you made it?"
"We all know nobody normally believes that a tattooed teenager has cooking as her free time activity," Eden groaned, "it's easier to say my mom made it. Besides, it saves up some time, knowing how many people would want to be my friends just because of my skills in the kitchen."
"Yeah, because kitchen skills are not the ones you want to be known by," Lucy chuckled, munching on a cookie herself.
I furrowed my brows in confusion, meanwhile, Eden groaned letting out silent curse words.
"Mom, that's in the past, we're not in New York anymore, don't bring it up," Eden shook her head.
"Well excuse me if it's hard for me to forget about the girls screaming your name all night long. Anyways, I'll be back in a few hours, don't wait up," her mom laughed, leaving the room, along with me, with my mouth hanging open.
So that's what she meant by Eden not wanting to be known by the skills in the kitchen...
I laughed, trying to be as quiet as possible, Eden had turned around, seeming pretty upset about it so I went to her, patting her shoulder.
"Hey, that's alright, I won't tell anyone," I comforted her as I patted her on her shoulder, trying to find the right words.
She turned around, once again us standing way too close to each other. I took a step backward, but she placed a hand around my waist pulling me back. I didn't protest. This was nothing special, right? I was this close to my fellow cheerleaders all the time.
A part of me wanted to pull away, as I knew what everyone would say and think if this was misunderstood, yet the other part of me tried to find any possible excuse to remain close to her.
"I just didn't want you to know," she said, once again being quite blunt, "really don't care about the rest."
She probably didn't want to lose me as a friend as she had slept with quite a few girls, it was understandable. Friends should be worried about what the other thinks of them. Because that's all we are - just friends. Right?
"Hey, it's the past, we all have done things we aren't proud of," I smiled, comforting her.
"Have you?" she pulled me even closer, her eyes traveling to my lips, as mine did to hers.
Once again I could feel my heart beating quickly, my mouth going dry. I could feel my skin getting hotter as I leaned progressively closer to her pink plump lips as if I was under a magic spell.
"Not yet," I whispered, our lips brushing together.
My body got hotter over the physical contact. I asked her for entrance which she granted, parting her lips. Our hands were all over each other. I just had to touch every bit of her body. I had to. It felt as if the physical touch was a requirement for survival.
She turned me around, taking me by thights as she placed me on the counter. Her hands never left my thighs, as well as her mouth never left mine, the whole thing only became faster and more intense.
Until my phone started buzzing from the pocket of my hoodie. I was quickly pulled out of the trance, taking my phone and replying to the phone call.
"Yes?" I asked, not aware of who was calling, due to the rush in which I had taken my phone out. Eden was still placing kisses on my neck and rubbing circles on my inner thighs.
"Rubyyy, it's me, Kevinn," Kevin said, making me look at Eden, who had stopped placing the wonderful kisses on my neck as soon as she heard his voice.
"Are you drunk?" I asked, concerned. Maybe he wasn't the best boyfriend I could have chosen, but he was still someone I had known for ages, even if we had fallen further apart.
Instead of getting a proper reply, I only heard a cuss, loud noise and then the call ended.
I sighed, putting the phone back in the pocket.
"Everything alright?" Eden asked.
"Perfect," I said, pulling her back to me, ignoring the fact that it certainly wasn't, yet this moment here, with her, seemed too perfect to be missed out on.
THREE
the feels, the trust, the shame, the game
all these things lost yet everything's the same
couldn't you see, I'd give it my all
if you'd only believe for a second I'd been real all along
✽✽✽
The frisky air made goosebumps appear on my arms as I stood, waiting for Kevin's car to pull up to my house. He always picked me up for school, or so he was supposed to, however, considering he was 15 minutes late, he probably was still in bed, trying to sleep off the leftover alcohol from last night.
"Love you too!" I heard Edens voice from her house.
Turning around, I saw her exiting the house, laughing to herself, before she laid her eyes on me, the smile nearly fading, yet still apparent.
"Morning, neighbor!" I shouted, the corners of my lips betraying me as I smiled.
She nodded with a little smile, disappearing in the garage, little after riding out on her matte black motorcycle. Was this real or was I still dreaming?
"Need a ride, Gold?" she asked, already handing me the spare helmet, as she stopped next to me. The fact that she didn't ask questions as to why I was just standing out here was appreciated.
"Gold? Since when are we on a surname basis?" I chuckled, putting the helmet on.
"Since you sneaked out while I was asleep last night," I couldn't see her lips, because of the helmet, but I was pretty sure she was smirking.
No, nothing happened last night. We just hung out, ate cookies and watched OITNB new episode. Somewhere near the end, she fell asleep on my lap and I knew it would be weird if I stayed here while she was asleep. So, naturally, I left.
"Didn't want your mom to get any ideas," I said, sitting on the motorcycle, putting my arms around her, ready to go.
"Normally, you don't spend hours making out with a person and then leave them alone the minute their eyes close," you could tell she wasn't that pleased with my actions, yet she still managed to keep her positive attitude.
"Making out" was not what I preferred to call it. We were just two friends hanging out - nothing more or less. Besides, it was the wine playing the main role in this scenario, let' s be real.
I guess she realized she wouldn't be getting an answer from me as she started speeding down the street. The school wasn't far at all, pretty much a 10-minute drive, but with the speed, we had been driving, we reached it 4 minutes early.
I hopped off the bike, handing the helmet back to Eden, as I struggled to fix my hair that seemed to turn into a ball of electricity.
"Thanks, Harper," I smiled at her as she got off as well.
Should I wait for her? Or was I supposed to leave alone? I stood there uncomfortably. I was never like th
is.
"Want me to walk you to the locker?" she asked, laughing at my sudden awkwardness.
"Sure," I gave her another smile, trying hard to ignore the awkwardness.
We headed to the lockers, it turned out that ours were next to one another. How ironic.
"I suppose you had nothing to do with this?" I laughed, as we stopped.
"So.." she shook her head, laughing nervously, "Want me to drive you back after school?"
Considering I was quite mad and disappointed in Kevin at the minute, the offer sounded very inviting, besides we did live right next to each as well... But I had practice.
"I appreciate the offer, but I have cheer practice after school."
"I could wait so you don't have to walk home alone," she offered.
Even if she knew I would say yes, she still offered me a choice, which was something no one had done for me before. This was most likely the first of many things that drew me in at the beginning.
"That would be great," I nodded as we headed to the classes. Right before we could enter the class, she suddenly turned around, a step too close, leaning in.
Once again my heart went wild, which it did every single time she got this close. I knew we couldn't kiss, we were in the middle of school, yet I still couldn't help but move a little closer. My lips were left alone, as she went for my ear instead.
"You know I'd do so many things to you if we weren't in the middle of school," she whispered, sending shivers down my spine, as I proceeded to blame the ventilation system.
As if it was a casual joke, she turned, walking into the class. In an attempt to pull myself together, I wrapped my arms around me and walked into the class, sitting next to her.
"Are you cold?" Eden smirked, shamelessly checking me out as I walked to her.
"Yeah, they overdo it sometimes with the ventilation," I said, feeling a tad bit grumpy for some reason.
"Right," she chuckled in response.
"What?" I asked, confused.
"Nothing," she said, averting her eyes to the front of the class where Mr. Lake was starting the class.
Once again I tried my best to listen to the teacher, but I failed miserably, feeling Edens arm on my thigh. Her fingers drawing calming circles on my leg.
The whole class went by without me knowing what it was about. I didn't worry too much as I had studied this subject in the summer on my own, just because I had too much alone time and a 24/7 access to the library.
As I looked outside, counting the clouds, I felt her stare. Inhaling silently, I put on the signature smile and turned around to face Eden.
"Ready to go?" I asked, my voice sounding faker than usual. Perhaps it was just me that could tell because everyone was too used to it.
Eden nodded, gesturing for me to go first. We walked back to the lockers just as I spotted Kevin there. There wasn't anything to stress about, right? So I decided to introduce them.
I went to Kevin, receiving a kiss on the cheek from him. Somehow even a peck didn't feel right anymore.
"Kevin, this is Eden," I introduced them, "and Eden.."
"Damn, you're the new lesbian girl, right?" Kevin cut me off, high fiving her.
Suddenly I seriously questioned my choice in a partner. Manners were never his thing I guess. Neither was intellect.
Eden smiled awkwardly, looking at me. I mouthed a silent "I'm sorry" to her, as she nodded.
"That would be me," she said.
"I heard you're flirting with my girl," Kevin said, smirking as he placed a hand around my shoulder. I tried to resist the urge to remove his hand.
"I was, actually," she said, smirking back.
You could tell Kevin was quite thrown off by the way his face nearly turned into a frown, yet he managed to change his mind quite quickly.
"Do your thing. She's straight as one could be dating a guy like me," he joked, turning his head to me, "right, babe?"
Now, this was something new. Kevin might be a person that barely cares about anything but himself, also not very gifted in the intellect department, but he had never before treated me as his property. Because I wasn't, I was a person, Ruby Gold. He knew if my dad ever found out about this he would be as good as dead. But above it all, he was challenging her to flirt with me.
I ignored the comment, focusing on the floor instead.
"So you're allowing me to flirt with her?" Eden said, in disbelief, "you know, this whole consent thing should be coming from her not you, right?"
This made my eyes avert to hers. She silently questioned whether I was alright, earning a small smile from me.
"I told you already. I know my girl and she is straight," Kevin replied, sounding as confident as one could be.
"Anyways," Kevin said, forcing a peck, "I need to go now."
Then he turned around and left, of course, not before bro-fisting Eden, earning a raised brow from her.
We took our stuff from the lockers, heading to the next class.
"So does he know you're not straight?" she said in a hushed tone, probably making sure no one would hear.
"What do you mean?" I furrowed my brows in confusion, "I am straight."
Edens smile faded, as her face went into a shocked expression. Why would this surprise her?
"Ruby, you're not straight," she said confidently.
I didn't see why we were even having this conversation.
"Last time I checked, it was my sexuality, not yours, Eden," I smiled to not make it sound rude, quickly walking in the class, to avoid a further conversation on the matter.
I had only met Eden yesterday yet it was already hard to imagine my daily life without her there. She was different than anyone in this town, like a fresh breath of air in a polluted ass city.
However, as good as she made me feel, I mean, in any way possible, she was still someone I barely knew. It seemed that everything anyone ever did in my life was label me, the last thing I needed was yet another person like that.
FOUR
shivers run up my spine
you make me feel alive
✽✽✽
I went into the gym, preparing for practice and fully expecting my co-captain to be there, yet she wasn't. She was late.
"Where's Tiff?" I furrowed my brows, looking around, seeing Eden walk in and take a seat on the bench.
Weird. She had never missed a cheer practice before.
The girls exchanged glances awkwardly. Clearly, they knew something I didn't.
"Let me rephrase that. Tell me right now where my co-captain is," I said, this time raising my voice.
This was my team, yes, I was as nice and all-smiles as a person could get. But I never allowed any of my girls to miss the practice, certainly if there was no good reasoning behind it, and so far none of them had tried to find out what it meant if they decided not to inform me and simply not show up. Tiff was the co-captain, so there was no way I would let it slip. I was the captain and she had to respect both me and the team.
I walked to my bag, feeling Edens eyes on me. Pulling out my phone, I quickly found Patricia's number. Patricia is Tiffs mom, and everyone knew that Patricia loved both me and the cheer team, she would be fuming if she found out Tiff had missed practice without a legitimate reason.
I was immediately greeted by Patricia's voice.
"Ruby, dear, what a pleasure to hear from you," she greeted, "Is everything alright?"
"Hey, Trish!" I greeted her, smiling, "do you by any chance know where Tiff is?"
Silence followed, she was probably trying to figure out what the best way to give Tiff a lecture for missing practice was.
"I thought she was at the practice," her voice was now lower, clearly full of anger.
"Oh, silly me, I forgot her uniform was in the car, she's back now," I lied, deciding to back Trish up in case there was proper reasoning for this, "thanks. Talk to you soon, Patricia!"
"Being the captain and the best student isn't easy, don't overdo yourself, dear," she said concerned, "talk to you s
oon!"
I put my phone down, this time seeing that everyone was staring at me. They knew I was covering up for Tiff. What they didn't know, was that this wouldn't go unnoticed. For the team's sake, I decided to drop it and turned around smiling, clapping my hands together.
"Okay, girls, let's do the usual!" I said loudly enough for everyone to hear.
We warmed up and then did our dance routine 3 times as well as teaching them half of the new dance we would be doing for the next game.
"Good job, girls!" I said loudly, "time to wrap it up!"
So we ended the practice, everyone except me and Eden leaving the gym.
I went to my bag, taking out a towel, wiping my face with it.
Eden walked towards me, getting dangerously close. I took a step back , her taking a step forward, as she put her arms on both sides of my thighs. As I felt goosebumps appearing on my skin, I couldn't help but bite my lip.
"Don't do that," she said, smirking, "it was hard enough to watch you jumping around looking like this. This is pure torture."
"Oh, is it?" I laughed. Everything in me wanted to pull her closer, feel her, yet I kept ignoring it, fighting it. For what? Apparently the guy that treated me more like a trophey than a person.
So at that moment, I thought, screw it. Screw the rules that I'd made myself. Screw what people thought I was or was supposed to be. So I chose to be me, I chose to just go with it for once in my life. I pulled her closer with the help of her shirt, my heart beating out of my chest as her presence almost became too much for me to handle.
All I could hear was my heartbeat, all I could feel was her breath on my lips, all I could see was her piercing eyes.
"Ruby," Eden groaned, gripping my thighs, "don't tease me. It's going to end badly."
"Is it?" I smiled at her playfully and pecked her lips.
Turning around, I grabbed my bag. "Time to go," I said, walking towards the exit, leaving her behind. It's almost as if I needed that distance to be able to think straight.
I went to her motorcycle, already putting on my helmet and getting on while waiting for her.
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