A Dirty Game - Chapter 8

Ruby was in a very happy mood as she stepped out the car.
She swung her bag as she thought back to the way Romeo had laughed at one of her jokes. He was so gonna be worth it when she finally caught him. She saw his perfect butt in her vision and laughed out loud, oh yeah. She was still laughing when she turned her key in the door, as she opened it. But it died in her throat and her first thought was ; "Oh god we've been burgled".

This was because the hall was in a dreadful mess. Everything was thrown all over the floor. She hurried through to the lounge. It was in the same condition. Glass everywhere and furniture upturned. The dining room and the kitchen were all in a state. She ran upstairs, hoping to god her room was still intact...it was. She sighed and then hurried to her mother's room. What she saw shocked her to a stand still.

Her mother was sitting on the floor, in the middle of a sea of mess. Her hair was astray, her make-up dripping down her face. She was sobbing silently, a photo clutched to her chest. Ruby shrieked and she looked up sharply. Seeing her daughter, she started sobbing even harder and louder. Ruby fought through the mess and pulled her mother into a hug.
"What's wrong?" she asked frantically. Lacey hiccuped and tried to control her crying. It took her a while before she could speak through her tears.
"He's...He...left....us!" she wailed and buried her face in Ruby's hair. Ruby was confused.
"What?Who?" she asked.
"You're...father"
Ruby stopped patting Lacey's back and pulled back.
"What?" she asked quieter. Lacey nodded.
"But...but why?!"

Lacey's breath caught as she tried to explain and then she broke into violent coughs. Her petite body was shaking so hard, Ruby was scared to touch her.

"He's been...he's been cheating on me" she gasped and her head lolled forward into her hands. Ruby sat still. What? Her father wouldn't do that! She said so.
"He has been! For a year! With...W-W-With that woman who used to look a-a-after the house...when we went on h-h-h-oliday"

Ruby couldn't think. She couldn't even breathe. She stumbled downstairs, gripping the banister. She filled a glass with water and gulped it down. She tried to get the images of her father with Stephanie, which was the bitch's name, out of her head. It wasn't working. She kept seeing her lying in bed with her dad, smiling like a cat that got the cream. Ruby wondered if she was happy that she had just ruined her and her mother's life. Tears fell onto her clenched and shaking fist. Angrily she swept the glass unto the floor. It shattered into a hundred little pieces.

How could he do this to her? To the family? How could he leave them!? Ruby was breathing quite hard. It was like her day was destined to be heart breaking. She stubbornly wiped under her eyes. She was not going to shed any tears over this. Her father was a bastard. Simple as ABC. It happened to everyone sooner or later. She took a few deep breaths then looked around her. The house was a mess. It was going to takes absolute ages to clean, but coincidentally, Ruby loved cleaning. Cleaning took her mind off of things. About four or five hours later she eased her mother into a bath and slowly washed her hair while Lacey sobbed into a flannel. It was weird to comfort her mother.

Ruby was a daddy's girl, always had been and always would be, whether the daddy in question was there or not. She loved her mother but they weren't close. Pouring water over the long golden locks made her suddenly want to cry. What if Lacey just decided to stop functioning? She heard that could happen. When certain women go through a certain amount of stress or misery or whatever their brain just turns to...mush. What if Ruby had an estranged father and a physically and mentally challenged mother? God, she groaned and started chewing on her lip. Why was her life so fucked up? And just how was she supposed to get to school tomorrow if her dad had taken the car?

~*~*~*~*
Ruby shook her head as she got off the bus. She was surrounded by people in the school uniform but the smell was unbelievable. A boy grinned at her as passed and she didn't even bother to re arrange her facial expressions or flirt. She was not in the mood.

She was late for registration and her form tutor gave her an hours detention for the next day after school. She groaned and dipped her head so that it lay on the desk. She could tell her day was gonna be miserable. As to confirm it; when everyone was leaving someone stumbled against her and stabbed her in the arm with a pen.

"Fan - fucking - tastic" she hissed and turned to scream at them. It was Braiden. She narrowed her eyes despite the sudden urge to smile.
"What's your problem?" she demanded. He blinked and then made an apologetic expression.
"Sorry Rube, I tripped"
"Sorry's not enough" she turned and stalked off, leaving him bewildered. The first two periods passed like a bad dream. She slipped with the clay in art and it went splattering all over the teacher who tore a strip off her, and in maths she got every sum but one completely wrong.

Then at break, it seemed like everyone suddenly wanted to conversate. She growled and shouted at people who wanted to know if she was coming ice - skating or going Thorpe park with them, people who wanted to sit next to her and people who wanted to know what she was eating. Like...What the FUCK?! They all stared at her as if she were an alien and then finally got the message and left her alone. She pushed her tray away and stomped outside and sat under the tree. It was funny how this was now her 'haven'. She sighed and sunk her head between her knees. Why was god doing this to her? Not that she believed in god. She was a proud Atheist. She sniffed and gripped her lip between her teeth until she drew blood. Then she scolded herself and wiped it away.

She heard footsteps and then Braiden knelt down in front of her.
"Hey" he grinned. She scowled.
"Braiden,"
"Yeah?"
"Fuck off!" she snapped.

Braiden's face was like watching a TV. There was so many emotions going through it but in the end he settled on anger and abruptly leaped up and walked away. Ruby couldn't help but wonder if maybe she should've been nice to him, he was after all the only person she could count on as a friend. But when he had knelt down next to her she had felt a massive urge to spill everything. To rest her head on his shoulder and tell him all her troubles. Which would have been unacceptable. That would be making herself vulnerable.

~*~*~*
Braiden couldn't believe he was doing this. She was gonna eat him alive. But he shouldered the bag that contained his guitar and slowly made his way back to the tree, all the while wondering why he was doing this. When she'd screamed at him he'd been angry at himself for not noticing the bad mood she was in earlier. It was weird. He'd always been able to deter peoples' moods before, but yet he hadn't been able to see how upset she was. He liked to think of himself as sensitive though he'd never admit that to the guys he hung around with. Behind Ruby, he unzipped the guitar and cleared his throat.

Ruby scowled up at him and opened her mouth but he didn't give her a chance. He immediately launched into a slow, sweet song. He didn't sing, just strummed the strings, and held her gaze.

Ruby tried to keep her stern, angry look but it was impossible. She sat back and just watched his long fingers and then, she smiled. When he stopped he slumped next to her.
"Thanks" she said quietly.
" It's fine. What's wrong?" he asked.
Ruby shook her head.
"It's a long story"
"I've got all break" he countered.

She looked at him. Could she tell him? There wasn't really any doubt, she trusted him. But then she had trusted Brody, and he turned out to be a complete arse. She shuddered. Was it really worth it? Making herself miserable, hiding things just to keep herself 'superior'? Braiden picked up her hand. And then she made up her mind.

"I can't" she whispered. He looked disappointed but shrugged.
"Hey, it's your life" he smiled and hugged her. Ruby nodded.
"Have you -" she was about to ask him if he'd seen Romeo, but stopped. She didn't want to think about him. For a few hours she had no obligation to go and stalk him. She had some time off. She smiled to herself. What a tragedy. Ironically, just like Shakespeare.