A Dirty Game - Chapter 6

Sam, Ren, Ciriat and Floppy Disc
Lol I keep repeating myself...dedicated to you xxx

~*~*~*
Ruby was pissed off. She had gotten so far! So far. Now she was basically back to the beginning. Romeo rarely spoke to her, and now she was the one who had to start the conversation. And it was all Braiden's fault. She growled and kicked the tree. It was her favorite place in the whole school. No one but her and Romeo sat under it. It was peaceful and far from that damn building. She sat down and started plucking at the grass. There had to be another and much faster way of getting close to Romeo.

She sighed and leaned back against the tree.
Another thing that was bothering her was that she couldn't get Braiden out of her mind.
And it was driving her nuts. She just kept hearing what he's said yesterday.

"...You're too beautiful...you're gonna end up with nothing...I don't like watching people suffer..."

He cared. She hadn't ever met someone who cared like that. Who even bothered. And he had only just met her. It was unreal. And stupid of him. Things like that...allow people to take advantage. And Ruby didn't let anyone take advantage of her, not since -. No. She wasn't gonna go there. She wasn't gonna dredge up deeply buried memories.
She took a gulp of strawberry water, hoping it would wash away unwanted thoughts. It didn't.
She started humming. The little flashbacks kept popping up. Finally, more out of exhaustion then anything, she closed her eyes, clenched her teeth and let them wash over her.

~*~*~*~*~*
*2 Years Earlier*

"You know I love you right?" He asked, wrapping his arms around her. She smiled and leaned into his embrace.
"Yeah"
"Good. I mean it. I will never hurt you" he whispered.
"I love you too,and that means a lot to me"
"You're worth it babe" he kissed her.

Her heart was thumping so loud she could just about hear what he was saying. Every time he said he loved her she got goosebumps. He was the one she wanted to be with forever. He made her smile, he made her laugh, he made her happy. Ruby had been going out with Brody for a year. They had met at her cousin's birthday party and clicked straight away. And the more she got to know him, the more she fell heavily in love with him. He said that he loved her sweet little face which really made her wonder. She wasn't exactly hot stuff compared to him. A brown bob, slightly pourus skin and an average figure, nothing to celebrate about. Brody was tall, with tanned clear skin, an emo haircut, humorous twinkly grey eyes and a laugh to die for. Ruby's friends all said he was with her for her personality more and that looks didn't matter. But she still wondered, though not for long because he was always kissing her and she always lost her train of thought.

*A week Later*

"Hey babe" he grinned and pulled her into the house. She looked around, it was lit up like a Christmas tree. People were gyrating and snogging, boozing and smoking. It was foggy, stank like a pub and the loud and heavy music instantly gave her a headache. But she was with Brody so she didn't mind. She smiled and let him take her coat off. He wolf whistled and she blushed. She was wearing a tight black dress that sparkled every time she walked which was kind of hard due to the tall high heels she was wearing. Brody dragged her onto the 'dance floor' and they danced. Then the song ended and he pulled her upstairs "For Some privacy" he muttered into her ear. Upstairs he kissed her harder than he ever had and before she knew it Ruby was waking up in a strange bed, by herself with a terrible feeling of regret.

She got up, pulled her clothes on and shamefully stuck her head out the window to get some air into her lungs. Down below she heard someone talking, being the nosy person she was she listened.

"Yeah. It was alright. But I won. You and the rest of them owe me ten quid each"
With a jolt Ruby realized it was Brody.
"Man, I kind of felt guilty. She even tried to get all dressed up like I even cared" he snorted.

Ruby's jaw dropped and her eyes prickled.

"Of course I used protection. She might have Gonorrhea".

Ruby didn't want to hear anymore. The tears were pouring down her face and she was finding it hard to breath. Her heart was breaking. All she was to him was a bet. She felt used, and cheap and dirty. She smothered a sob and tried to clean herself up in the smeared mirror. She still looked a mess but it would have to do.

She stumbled down the stairs, stepping over vomit and people and slipped out the back door, hoping to avoid him. She was still crying when she bumped into Brody.
"Hey" he leered. And without a warning, she threw up all over him. He swore and jumped out the way and instead of trying to help her, he stared and swore at her.
"You better not be fucking pregnant. If you are it aint fucking mine" then he turned and walked away in to the house. Ruby felt as if her heart had been truly ripped out, chewed up, spat out, stamped into the dirt and then cremated. Sobbing hard now, she wiped her mouth and tried to call Taylor. He wasn't answering. So she walked home. Her parents weren't in so she ran a bath and cleaned herself up as best as she could, sat down in the comforting darkness of her closet and cried herself raw.

The next day she went to school and tried to pull herself together. And it worked. For about an hour because the instant she saw Brody the tears came again, and what nearly killed her was that her best friend Tammy was giggling and kissing him.

From then on Ruby made a vow to herself to never let anything like that happen to herself. She made herself the best she could be. She dumped all her friends, all they did was drag you down and stab you in the back. And she started to let the boys chase her before she turned around and broke their hearts. It gave her a grim satisfaction. She was unreachable, unbreakable, impenetrable. She was a beauty outside, rock inside. She shut off all her feelings and locked them away. Because only people with feelings were weak and weak people were broken.

~*~*~*~*~*
Ruby opened her eyes when a drop of water landed on her chest. It was a shock to her when she realized it was her tears. She was crying. For the first time in years. She didn't want to cry but it was hard to stop once you started.

"Are you alright?" she heard and recognized Braiden's voice before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and Braiden was looking at her, concern and worry etched into his eyes. Somehow she knew he was one of the few people she could trust right now. Instead of nodding she shook her head. He dropped his guitar and then gently took her into his arms. She buried her face into his chest and sobbed.

He stroked her hair and made comforting noises.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked.
"Kind of"
"Go on then. I'm all ears"

Ruby took a deep breath and wondered if it was breaking all her rules to do this. Yes. Yes it was. But being held like this, she didn't care. No one had ever held her like this, with so much genuine care and warmth since...Brody. She sobbed again.

"I just feel so alone" she whispered.
"Don't. You're not alone. People care about you Ruby, you just have to be caring back and then obviously, you'll feel loved"
"You don't understand" she sniffed.
"Ahh, the Ruby Rules" he smiled.
"What?"
"The Ruby Rules. Basically you think you're better than everyone else so you have your own rules, including what's wrong and what's right"
"Do I?"
"Yes"
"Oh"

"Is that it? Is that why you're crying your heart out?" he joked.
"What? No"
"Care to spill?"
"Um...No not really. But I'll say that I had my heart broken"
"By who?"
"Somebody, nobody. He didn't care about me, nobody does"
"Well I care about you" Braiden smiled.

And the shutters slid closed again. Ruby pushed herself away from him and glared.
"That's exactly what he said. And he used to hold me like that too. And in the end my heart got broken and I died inside" she snapped, though her voice broke half way. She snatched her bag up and stalked away.

"Ruby wait!" he called and jumped up, grabbed his guitar and ran after her. She didn't wait for him. She carried on walking away, wiping her cheeks and hoping to god her make up was still intact. If it wasn't she was so suing the company that made it. She paid hundreds for everlasting non withstanding eyeliner. If it was smudged, they were fucked.

Suddenly she stopped and spun on her heel. Braiden skidded to a halt in front of her a smile on his face.

"You tell anyone about that and you're dead" she hissed and then walked off.

The smile dropped off his face.
"Oh jeez" he whispered.