Blood is Ruby Red Chapter 4

 It was school the next day. I stared boredly at the sports lesson going on out the window. A few year eights were kicking a tatty football about while the teacher was exasperatedly explaining something to the rest of the class. My gaze shifted over to another classroom in the precarious portacabins just across the path. I caught sight of Ruby in the class. We’re in the same form but since we’re doing GCSEs now some of our lessons are different.

Ruby didn’t seem to have noticed me. I sensed something was wrong immediately though- call it best friend intuition. She was almost hiding under her long, protective layers of waved hair as if she didn’t want anyone to see her face. Ruby had also appeared to shrink back in her seat at the back as if trying to avoid any possible attention. But when your best friend is in this state, you give her attention.

My focus switched back to the interactive whiteboard at the front of the overused classroom. Our teacher was lecturing us on Hindu beliefs. As usual, no one was paying the slightest bit of attention and our teacher didn’t seem to care.

“Hinduism is the oldest religion that still exists today,” she was saying, “although there is no exact date when it began.”

Right. I learnt a lot just then.

Our teacher turned to the PowerPoint on the board and started to explain reincarnation, or ‘samsara’. I reached my hand cautiously into my bag and subtly pulled out my phone. After checking our teacher hadn’t noticed, I started texting under the desk.

Ruby! Whassup?

I tapped my fingers on the edge of the old graffitied wooden desk whilst waiting for a reply.

Well... I found out why Jude wasn’t there yesterday...

What happened? I texted back.

There was a long pause before Ruby responded. I spotted Ruby shooting a scrupulous glance across the pathway at me, before turning her attention back to her phone.

Meet me at break.

When the bell rang I sprinted out of the classroom, along the corridor leading outside then over to Ruby’s classroom. She was just leaving it, shuffling along staring only at her black ballet pumps.

When I reached her, she was already on the paved brick path outside. Ruby glanced up as I stood in front of her. She pushed her swirling hair out of her face revealing smudged mascara around her slightly puffy eyes.

“Omg, Ruby, are you okay? What’s wrong?”

A tear tickled slowly down her cheek. I pulled her into a comforting hug.

“Jude,” she drew in a shaky breath. “He wasn’t at the restaurant last night coz he... he... he was hooking up with Alesia.”

Ruby burst into tears again and hugged me tighter.

“Omg,” I whispered. “I can’t believe he would do that to you. He is such a jerk.”

Ruby slowly pulled out of my grasp and started wandering down the path, gesturing for me to come with her.

“And Alesia was so horrible about it,” she added.

Alesia. The girl was a complete slut. Her skirt was so short she might as well have not been wearing it. Since she only wore socks her legs were out everywhere. And she always undid two, if not three of her blouse buttons. I could say that she wasn’t pretty, but I would be lying. Although she wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous, many boys drooled over her. Too many.

“That’s how I found out about it,” Ruby continued, sobbing violently. “She just slinks up to me this morning and goes ‘Last night was fantastic. Jude was fantastic.’ Then she struts off, after laughing in my face.”

“I can’t believe her!” I exclaimed.

“I know, so I checked with one of Jude’s friends, and he confirmed that Jude was round at Alesia’s house last night.”

Ruby stopped, since we had reached the girl’s bathrooms, where she had been leading me to. She first grabbed a tissue and wiped away the tears still on her face then looked in the mirror and jumped back, horrified at the reflection.

“Oh god I look awful!” she gasped, dampening another tissue before drastically scrubbing away at the black smudges around her eyes.

“You really don’t look that bad,” I assured her.

“The mirror tells me otherwise,” she replied dryly. “No wonder Jude cheated.”

“Oh c’mon Ruby,” I protested. “He’s a total idiot. You know that.”

Ruby didn’t reply, but stared gravely at the black smears on her face. Ruby reached into her bag, pulled out her mini makeup bag and started fixing her face.

I glanced up and sighed at the huge amount of toilet paper balls that had been stuck to the ceiling. The sight revolted me so much. The floor too was so gross, covered in grime and squished chewing gum. I won’t even start on the actual toilets themselves. And this was the girls' toilets.

“You should plan to get revenge,” I commented, half-jokingly trying to cheer her up.

“Oh don’t you worry,” she replied solemnly, her eyes drawing up and meeting mine, scarily confidently, in the mirror. “I will.”