Sunday, December 16, 2018

Ruby Hood 2.0



Part I
Chapter 1
Ready for this week’s classes to end, Ruby Hood let the list on her latest mix tape play through her head aimlessly. Doodling in her notebook, she thought about the dance tomorrow night. The perfect black dress hung in her closet, waiting to be worn. And her Grandmother had lent her beautiful diamond teardrop earrings... Lost in thought, she didn’t hear her name, the first time or the second, but she did feel the pencil tip in her back, “What the…” She whispered, craning her neck to look at her best friend, Lily Fair.
“Pssst … Rue … question time.” Lily whispered. “You’re up.”
“Ruby, as I just asked, twice, what’s your take on the motivations of the main character Scarlett?” The literature teacher, asked through clenched teeth.
 “Well, Mrs. Armstrong, I think she’s motivated by anger and resentment at being left alone to fend for herself, but it has made her a stronger and better person, even if she has yet to realize it,” Ruby rattled off, sitting a taller and giving her teacher an award-winning smile which reached all the way up to her dark almond shaped eyes. Ruby had a slight obsession, some called it an unnatural love of books, but she loved finding solace in other fictional worlds. Worlds where she often felt more comfortable than in her own. Even in the honors class, kids were struggling with the assigned pages every night, but not Ruby. She read for fun, often time for many hours night. As a result, she knew the answers to every possible Gone with the Wind question before they were asked.
“That’s a great analysis, Ruby.” Mrs. Armstrong said before she turned to write all of Ruby’s points on the board.
“Book nerd,” Lily added in a low whisper that only Ruby could hear.  
 “And who would you cheat off if I weren’t?” Ruby twisted around and gave her friend a wink.
“Too true,” Lily said, sticking out her tongue at her friend and stifling her giggles.
The bell rang, before Mrs. Armstrong could finish the notes on the board. Neither the bell or the weekend’s Homecoming festivities deterred her from trying to power through her lecture. She shouted over the frenzied hustle and bustle of restless honors students, gathering their things and headed toward the door. Finally, she gave up, as Ruby walked passed, “Miss Hood, a moment, please?”
“Of course,” Ruby said, stepping out of the way as she pushed back a stray blonde hair, escaped from her ponytail, behind her ear. “Meet you at the car,” She said to Lily as she passed, then turned back to her teacher, “Yes, ma’am?”
“That was an impressive insight into the main character that you just gave, especially only 600 pages in. How do you like Gone with the Wind so far?”
“Well, I’ve actually read it three times. The first time I was intrigued. I definitely enjoyed it more the second time, but it wasn’t until the third time, I actually picked up some subtle foreshadowing. It’s well-written. A classic. I love it, especially the overall plot and character development. Plus, the author wrapped it up nicely at the end.” Ruby said, her dark eyes met Mrs. Armstrong’s gaze.
“You’ve read Gone with the Wind three times?” Mrs. Armstrong asked, flabbergasted. You’ve read a 960-page book three times already? The rest of the class is on page 600 but you’ve read it three times?”
“Yes,” Ruby said, nodding, then shrugged. “I liked it, so I kept reading and rereading. The third time, I was mostly bored…and needed something to read.”
“Well, I’m sorry you’re bored.” Mrs. Armstrong’s shoulders slumped in defeat, pushing a stray lock of her mousey brown hair out of her eyes. “I’ll make sure you always have something else to read and maybe some enrichment assignments for you. Now, enjoy Homecoming and have a nice weekend, Miss Hood,” Mrs. Armstrong replied, turning her attention back to the paperwork on her desk.
“Perfect, thanks. Have a nice weekend, Mrs. Armstrong,” Ruby said, giving her teacher a quick wave over her shoulder as she left the room. She wove her way through the seas of students in the halls and finally out the doors of the Main building and into the pit.
            Woodsville Senior High lay sprawled out below her. The Main building, the first building, was built before central air was thing. The sweltering hotbox housed the English, PE, band, science departments, as well as a few electives. As Woodsville grew in the 70s, the Annex building, was added to house the history, math and foreign language departments. The in the early 80s, a need arose for trade and art classes, so a local wealthy donor built the Olin Building. In between all the buildings sat the parking lot, or The Pit, as it was referred to by every student, teacher and resident of Woodville.
            Keyed up about the weekend Homecoming festivities, restlessness had plagued the 3,500 students and all of the faculty on the campus of Woodville High all week. Tonight’s big game pitted the Woodsville High Cougars against its No. 1 rival, Hickory Grove Beavers. Personally, Ruby just wanted to watch the game, but Lily had conned her into going stag to the dance the following night and she had to admit, she was a tiny bit excited about getting dressed up.
            A sudden breeze picked up, Ruby’s eyes were drawn to the Wood off on the distance on the other side of the school. Goose flesh erupted over her bare arms, but she sighed and shook it off. Cool breezes were in the air, fall was coming.
Shielding her eyes with her hand, she scanned The Pit for Lily. At WHS, books were kept in the trunks of cars once you could drive. It was way better than a locker. Much more centrally located, plus you got to see your friends and cute boys between classes. Ruby nodded and waved to a few folks as she made her way to Lily’s drove a small beat up red thing that back fired every time she came to a stop. It really was a riot. Plus, it got them from point A to point B, most of the time. And it was better than sharing your mother’s station wagon with fake wood paneling.
 “How’d it go, Rue?” Lily’s brown eyes danced as she watched her friend approach.
“Promised me a revised reading list and an accelerated list of assignments,” Ruby said softly, shrugging.
“Oh Rue, you are my favorite dorky, book girl,” Lily laughed as she pulled out a small mirror to check her reflection. Today her red hair was tucked in a messy bun on top of her head to hide her unruly curls. Always worrying about her appearance, Lily brushed some powder on her face in an attempt to hide her freckles, then dabbed some concealer on a barely noticeable pimple on her chin. Finally, she glanced down and straightened her white T-shirt and gray flannel, which happened to match her gray Vans. “I’m just glad someone’s here to keep the teachers in check,”
“I just want my ed…gi…mi…cation, man,” Ruby said, with a laugh, “these teachers owe me that. And you look gorgeous darling,” shaking her head at Lilly’s beautification.  
“Wouldn’t want you to be without a book. Sheesh!” Lilly huffed dramatically, glancing once more in the mirror.
“I know, right? Now you see my point,” Ruby said, checking her ponytail over Lily’s shoulder, and tucking loose hairs behind her ears. She glanced down, bent over to retie her black Converse sneakers, then smoothed her t-shirt as she stood.
“Hey, did you hear about that homeless man they found near the train tracks on the edge of the Wood? I heard he was all mangled. They think he might have been attacked by a bear,” Lily said, raising her eyebrows. “A bear, Rue…a bear…in the Wood. I know you and Grams are nature lovers but promise me you’ll be careful. I couldn’t handle it if my bestie got mangled by a bear.”
“Now, just stop that. You know there haven’t been any bears anywhere near Woodville or the Wood in over a hundred years. Plus, you know the Hood family cabin is out there. Grams keeps an eye on everything that happens and believe me she’d notice if a bear was hanging around. Besides, she’s such a busy body, everyone would know if bears were running amuck. Any sort of woodland creature could have mangled his body after he died of perfectly natural causes, like a raccoon or a vulture…some sort of scavenger.” Ruby’s argument seemed logical. “The Wood is perfectly safe. I’m sure of it.”
“You’re going this weekend, aren’t you? Even with the dead man?”
“It’s the Fall Equinox on Sunday. Grams and I are hiking every year…it’s a thing.” Ruby said with a shrug, “It’ll…we’ll be fine.”
“Promise me you’ll be careful,” Lilly insisted.
“Always, plus I’ll be with Grams,” Ruby said.
“If you say so,” Lilly said, softening slightly before she slammed the trunk closed and linked her arm through Ruby’s. “Now, come on, let’s get this last class over with.”
“For real. History class, then onto Homecoming shenanigans,” Ruby agreed as the pair made their way up the steps into the air-conditioned Annex building. Weaving and winding, the they made their way down the crowded corridor.
HEEEEEYYYYY, COUGARS! ARE YOU READY FOR A FIGHT TONIGHT?” A cheerleader’s voice echoed through the halls.
Locker pounding, and whistles filled the hallways in response, followed by shouts and cheers of excitement. Lilly and Ruby glanced at each other. Sometimes friends only needed a look. They knew who the screeched belonged to, and if they faked left now, they might get out unscathed…
“GIRLS!” The cheerleader shouted as they turned away. The pair stopped in their tracks, plastered fake smiles on their faces and turned around.
“Hi, Kayla,” Ruby said to the “it” girl of Woodsville High. Most girls went through an awkward stage in high school, but not Kayla Wolf. She exuded the confidence of a woman, not a gawky teenager. Most girls looked up to her and wanted to just be noticed by her; while most of the boys just wanted her. As if that wasn’t enough, her family was the wealthiest in town and her father was the mayor. “Girls,” Kayla purred, leaning in to give them super fake air kisses with her perfect pouty lips. Her cheerleading uniform hugged her body better than it should have. “Are you excited about this weekend?”
“Of course,” Ruby said, “who isn’t?”
“True and good,” Kayla said. With a saccharine smirk firmly in place, she smoothed her perfectly layered long black hair. “I assume you’re still planning to stay after school and help with the signs for the game tonight?”
“Yep,” Ruby answered. “Mrs. White’s room after school, right?”
“Yes. And then you’ll also be responsible for bringing the signs to the stadium tonight by 6:00 p.m., okay?”
“Yep,” Ruby said as the girls nodded in unison.
“You guys are the best,” Kayla said, patting them both on the head like obedient puppies before she headed off to shout at some other poor unlucky souls at the end of the hallway. “Heeeeeeey Cougars!”
“UGH! She makes my head hurt,” Lily said as they trudged off in the direction of their last class.
“For real, but that smug ego is new…a pat of the freakin’ head, is she for real?” Ruby said, cringing.
“So demeaning…and she doesn’t discriminate.” Lily added as they continued toward history class. “Dad is mayor. Mom is a well-known interior designer. Twin brother is incredibly handsome. Anything and everything you could possibly dream of at your fingertips. Must be nice to be a Wolf.”
 “I guess, although, I’ll be honest, I’m glad I’m in no way related to Kellan. I have way too many inappropriate thoughts about him.” Ruby said, with a mischievous smile.
“Aaahhh…Kellan,” Lily sighed, and they walked in silence the rest of the way, lost in their own fantasies.
Kellan Wolf made friends easily. The few that had an ill word were fueled by petty inferiority complexes. As the star quarterback, he’d lead the football team to a state championship last year, and everyone hoped he could pull it off again, starting with a win tonight against the first ranked Hickory Grove Beavers. But it wasn’t just his football skills, that had everyone swoon in his company, it was the way he treated people. He made time to skate with the younger kids. He donated his time and money to community projects. He was the type to help a little old lady across the street. He was an all-around congenial guy. Plus, it didn’t hurt he was uber handsome with a killer smile. The girls stopped short, arriving at class. With a sobering look, Ruby waved one of her folders in front of her flushed face to help calm herself down as they both cracked up.
“Come on, let’s get this over with,” Lily said, grabbing Ruby’s elbow and leading her into the classroom. All lecture halls at WHS were large rooms with tiled floors and fluorescent lights. The standard chair and desk combos filled the room for the students. The teacher, Mr. Brown, sat at the rickety desk in the front of the room.
“Afternoon, ladies,” Kellan said with a genuine smile that touched the corners of his steel blue eyes, as the girls walked passed him. All of the football players dressed up on game day to show unity as a team and pride for their school, but Kellan looked especially sexy in his dark blazer and indigo silk tie.
“Hey Kel,” Ruby said nonchalantly, pushing away her pounding heart and some slightly romantic thoughts about him. She slid into the seat behind him with Lily taking the seat next to her. Ruby leaned in and whispered, ignoring her friend’s mortified, beet-red face. “Ready for tonight?”
“You bet,” Kellan responded, turning in his seat. His intense gaze found her eyes and the corners of his mouth turned up ever so slightly, a wicked smile underneath. “Hey, Rue, I need a favor…”
The intensity of his gaze, and the use of her nickname, sent chills all the way down her spine to the tips of her toes, but Ruby spoke steadily. “What’s that?”
“My ah…lit grade…and maybe my history grade… is dangerously close to getting me benched. I’m fine for tonight, but well there’s a big test next week. If you have time and could squeeze me in.”
“Sure,” Ruby said with an easy smile. She’d been tutoring Kellan off and on since freshman year. They certainly didn’t run in the same circles, but they viewed each other as friends, even flirted every now and again. Ruby was always happy to help him out. The last time she’d helped him, he’s gone to her Grams and chopped up all her wood. He was that kind of guy. “I’m free Monday or Wednesday,”
“I’d hoped you’d say that. A true life-savior, you are,” He said, never taking his eyes off her, “Monday night? My place?”
“Monday’s great, but not at the mansion. Let’s make it the library.” Ruby offered. Through the years, she’d never had a problem with Kellan, it was his family. Both his overbearing mom and super smug father gave her the creeps. Her Grams had told her stories of back when her father had been alive, before she was born, her parents had been friends with the Wolfs. Grams had never elaborated why they weren’t anymore, so Ruby didn’t know all the details and she really didn’t want to. It didn’t matter if they were old friends of the family, Mayor and Mrs. Wolf weren’t very nice and she didn’t like them.
“The library it is, away from the distractions of my family,”
Ruby felt herself blush, “It’s not that…it’s…”
“It’s okay, I try to get away from them as often as I can, too.”
“Sure you do,” Ruby said, taking in the Kellan Wolf seated before her. She had to admit, while he was the same, but yet different somehow. Older. Stronger. Hairier. He made her heart skip a beat now, more than before. “You ready for tonight?”
“Yep,” he leaned toward her, letting his eyes linger near a second too long. “And I intend to win.”
“That’s what I was hoping you’d say,” Ruby said, holding his gaze, totally composed on the outside.
“You’ll be there, I assume?”
“I never miss the opportunity to see you play,” Ruby teased. She folded her hands under her chin with her elbows planted firmly on the desk, batting her eyelashes.
“That’s what I thought,” Kellan chuckled, obviously enjoying flirting with Ruby. “I’ll give you a good show,”
“I would expect nothing less.”
“I do hate to disappoint,” Kellan said. “How about the dance. You going?”
“Yeah and don’t be jealous but I have the best date,” Ruby said as she gestured to her friend.
“What she’s not telling you is she has a super-hot dress,” Lily added.
 “Oh yeah?” He smiled at Ruby, but there was a something else in his eyes. “Save me a dance in your super-hot dress?”
“I could arrange that…” She teased, folding her hands under her chin with her elbows planted firmly on the desk, batting her eyelashes. “…if you win.”
“Heartbreaker,” Kellan joked and reached his hand to his heart, “Guess I’ll have to work extra hard tonight, now.”
“Alright, I’ll dance with you anyway,” she said.
“I would hope so, but I’ll still win…for you…” He smiled one last time before turning to face the teacher attention back to Mr. Brown, the history teacher. 

“I said, ‘MORE spirit!’” Kayla’s voice reverberated from the back of the room as she ridiculed some poor sophomore.
Lily and Ruby communicated their distaste silently through eye rolls as the spirit dictator moved from group to group critiquing the student-made Homecoming signs. The she stopped right next to Ruby and Lily.
“Well now, that’s more like it.” said Kayla as her lined dark lips curled into a satisfied smile. Bending down, she ripped Lily’s sign right out from under here and stood back up. “ATTENTION PEOPLE, OVER HERE! This is what a sign should look like! Lily will be around to help you in minute. Make yours like hers.”
Ruby’s brow furrowed as she sat back on her legs, her eyes wide in astonishment.
Kayla bent back down, with a look to Lily, “Go. Go now. I need to talk to your friend.”
“You sure, Rue?” Lily threw Ruby a sideways look.
“Sure,” Ruby nodded agreement, glaring at Kayla, who smiled sweetly at Lily then shooed her away. Lily got up and walked across to the group of freshmen with raised hands.
“Excuse me, but who in the…”
“I heard that you were talking to my brother in history class earlier.” Kayla interrupted.
“Wait. What? I talk to him every day in class,” Ruby said. Confusion clouded her mind as she shifted herself out of the space Kayla had so rudely invaded.
“Stay away from him.” Kayla’s steely gaze only added to Ruby’s confusion.
“Whoa…look here…I don’t know what you’re talking about. We sit next to each other in class. I tutor him…we make casual conversation … it’s not like we go on dates,” Ruby said, cocking her head as she raised an eyebrow.  “And if that were the case, it wouldn’t be any business of yours.”
“I said NO and that’s all you need to know,” Kayla said, getting up. She smoothed her cheerleading uniform skirt, wearing her best phony smile.
“Now just you wait a minute there, sister!” Ruby said. She stood up to her full height of five feet, six inches, squared her shoulders, looking up into Kayla’s mean eyes. Her voice steady when she spoke, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Again, we’re friendly. We sit next to each other. I tutor him. I say hello and I’m not going to stop, so get over it.”
“Look, little Hood, things change. People change and believe me when I tell you it’s no longer in his best interest to hang out with you. And he’s way too kind to say anything, so I will. That’s what sisters do.”
“Take your self-important inflated ego and shove it. Some of these kids may be afraid of you, but I’m not. I have no idea where this little snit is coming from, but I can be the bigger person and chalk it up to senior Homecoming jitters. Maybe you’re nervous about Kellan playing tonight, but that’s no reason to treat others like crap, and I’m not even talking about me. I’m talking about all these people here making signs. Jeez, how about a freakin’ ‘thank you’ or ‘nice job’, but no, you have to ridicule them! They’re here on their own time to help you out. As for me and Kellan, like I said, we’re friends … sort of. We chatted and joked for three and half minutes today, not that it’s any of your business! Nor would it be your business if I was putting the moves on him. He’s a big boy and can handle himself!” Ruby fumed, causing people to look up from their signs with curiosity. For a moment, the girls just glared at each other.
Kayla’s shoulders subtly relaxed and she smiled a stiff smile, like it was painful. “Oh my gosh, Ruby. I’m so sorry. I’m not sure what came over me. You’re right, I must be overly anxious about tonight. I just want everything to be perfect for my school and my brother,” Kayla said, attempting to place a comforting hand on Ruby’s shoulder.
“Whatever.” Ruby said, folding her arms across her chest, and taking a step back. “And don’t touch me.”
“Awww…can’t we be friends?” Kayla asked, somewhat insincerely, extending her hand in a peaceful gesture.
“Hardly. We’re nowhere near friendship, but I will be ‘friendly’ to you for the time being. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a sign to finish.” Ruby’s almond eyes narrowed as she took a seat back on the floor and finished her sign without looking up.
Kayla stalked off to the middle of room. “Okay everyone! It’s almost 4:00 o’clock. We need to wrap this up, so the signs can dry. Now get home to get ready to root our team on to VICTORY!” Kayla finished with her best cheerleader holler, and he room erupted in cheers. Everyone finished quickly, placed their signs on the desks, grabbed their belongings and hurried out the door, excitedly discussing the upcoming evening.
“What was that all about, Rue?” Lilly whispered. They were the last two left besides Kayla and a small group of cheerleaders. “I’ll explain later,” Ruby whispered. “Let’s get out of here,”
“Be back in an hour for the signs, Ruby,” Kayla said with a phony smile.
“Aye Aye, Captain,” Ruby called with a salute and stalked out of the room.

1 comment: