006. 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐲
chapter six
all about ruby
🖤
IT'S OUTFITS LIKE THESE THAT RUBY feels unstoppable in — wearing her leather jacket, the kind NASCAR drivers wear, with jeans and old boots. She threw her hair up after she used the school pool, and she uses her jacket to cover her slightly-too-small t-shirt. Maybe she's had it since she was eight. It's a black top with a teddy, it's cute. It makes her feel like the coolest.
She's pretty much moved on from the thing with the history teacher, or even the fact that Harrington dove into the pool to save her from supposed drowning. What weird encounters? she thinks, to prove her point. She's so moved on, she's forgotten all about them. Like, how do you expect her to remember, when she walked back into school at lunch, and was immediately greeted by the voices of many teenager-sized angels, all singing hello to her. If this was heaven, her cherubs wore varsity jackets, and complimented her sick Halloween party.
She's the coolest, duh!
So. She walks into the gym feeling high on life. She's done it, she's back! She's got her popularity back, and even more! She won't just be Snowflake Queen of sophomore year, she'll be Snowflake Queen and Spring Fling Queen senior year! No ones done that since the fifties! Fuck Jackie, it's all about Ruby! Everything's back to normal! To sweet, sweet normal!
She realises the boys started playing a little earlier, because the game is in full swing when she sits down. But the second Billy sees her, she feels the air stiffen. Something feels off, and she can't put her finger on it. It annoys her, really. Her lunch has been so beautiful and Billy's the one trying to fuck it up.
She's just... confused! Something is wrong, she knows it. She tries to think what it might be. Harrington is still alive, so she guesses no one knows about their kiss. Everyone else still acts like she's the most popular, so nothing terrible has happened to her image... But something about Billy... The energy feels off. Ruby doesn't say that in a hippie way, she says that in a Subject X way. She can tell when energies are off. And Billy's is wrong.
Billy tries to take the ball off Harrington, who's hair is still wet from the pool. Ruby watches them, and she knows Billy's saying something to antagonise him. He tries to push Harrington to get the basketball, her eyes narrow. Harrington tries to move, to push him away, but Billy won't budge — until Harrington does it again, and Ruby feels her palms getting hot, and Billy is sent slamming to the floor.
Ruby puts a hand to her mouth. That was her — she knows that was her, amplifying Harrington's movement, because she can see Harrington's shock. He didn't do it. He would never use that sort of force, anyway, unless completely provoked.
But Billy doesn't know that. Billy, who's lying on the ground, his face red with anger, glaring up at Harrington.
"You really that brave, Harrington?" says Billy, as he stands up. "Maybe you should pick on someone your own size — I think Hawkins Elementary's got recess—"
"Oh, real funny," says Harrington, grimacing.
Ruby sits forward. She wants to intervene, but she knows if she panics, she could trigger her powers even more. Instead she watches closely, quietly worrying for Harrington.
"Are you really that jealous of me, Harrington? Because the way your best friend gave out so quickly to me — it makes me think... How shitty must you be, to have never gotten that far?"
Ruby feels like the world is closing in on her. She stands up, slowly, but she feels like the room is spinning, like her knees might give at any second. She knows Tommy is looking at her, that everyone is looking at her, but she can't process that — all she sees is Billy and Harrington, and all of this awful stuff Billy's saying.
"What did you say?" says Harrington.
"You know exactly what I'm saying," says Billy. "I'm saying that it really didn't take that much convincing to get into her—"
It happens it slow motion: Harrington slams his fist into Billy's face, and Billy, unprepared, stumbles backwards. There's a moment of silence, where no one moves; Harrington looks almost in shock, realising what he's done, whereas Billy looks like he's preparing himself to fight.
So Ruby runs in front of Harrington.
"Rot in hell, Hargrove," says Ruby, and she means it. If her powers let her do such a thing, he'd be there already. Burning for eternity. "We're over."
It takes her by surprise, that she actually had the courage to say it. Worry about her popularity swarms around in her head, but she dismisses it completely — this is so unfair! Why is she made out to be terrible, when he did the same thing? Maybe she didn't wait that long to sleep with him, but who cares? Maybe — and God forbid a girl says this — she enjoys having sex! Guys can say that, why can't she? Why is promiscuity only bad when it's women? Why is there no male equivalent of the word slut?
"You think I'm easy? Weren't you there, too?" says Ruby. "Doesn't that make you just as much of a slut as me? Is that true, Billy? Are you a little slut?"
Billy steps forwards. Ruby pictures her monster. She isn't scared of a teenage boy. The whole world protects Ruby Brenner. He can try his worst, and it'd leave less than a scratch.
A sinister look takes over her ex-boyfriend's face.
"You don't think you're a slut? So... why did both you and Harrington show up with wet hair?" he says to her. "Quick go in the showers, Brenner?"
Oh, no.
Is that what it looks like?
"Hey, hey, hey — what's going on here?"
The coach has finally reappeared, shaking his tuna sandwich as he runs into the court.
"What are you doing here, Brenner? You are disrupting—"
"Sorry, Coach," says Ruby, and she turns away, giving Billy one final look. She didn't think this was how today would pan out; she had that guy sleeping next to her the other morning, and since then, the thought of him's made her puke, she's become the most popular girl at school, and she's risked that just to save Harrington's ass. And now, she's broken up with Billy. No, not broken up — dumped.
She grabs her bag and leaves the gym, planning to find the nearest toilets and take a time-out. She's still running in adrenaline, and she doesn't know what to do. She doesn't know if her saying that has fucked everything up. What if no amount of parties can save this? What if she's lost it for good? What if she's even more unpopular than Jonathan?
(She means that with love.)
She splashes water in her face in the toilets, but everything still feels terrible. She doesn't know what to do. She wants to leave school, right now, and call her dad and cry. Billy calling her that is starting to catch up to her, and yeah, she doesn't like him, but she's still hurt by that. She knows there's nothing wrong with what she does, but the way he spoke about her — she's still allowed to be upset. She's still upset... But she's got to get through the afternoon, and the idea of that makes her want to cry even more. She wants to give up, to leave right now, but she knows she can't.
She wipes the tears from her face.
She knows what this school's like, what people will think when they find out what happened (because they will, Steve Harrington punched Billy Hargrove for calling Ruby Brenner a slut) and she knows this is enough to leave her disgraced.
So. She dries her face. She tightens her ponytail. She reapplies her chapstick, and she looks at herself in the mirror. She's Ruby fucking Brenner. She can do this.
Ruby picks up her school bag, and walks out of the bathroom. She sees Carol talking to Tommy, and Harrington and Billy being escorted to the principal's office, so she walks the other direction. She can already hear people start to talk about it, but she thinks past it. It doesn't matter. It'll only affect her if she lets it — they'll only know she's upset if she shows it. No. No. This will not change her popularity if she lets the image slip...
... If I've still got it, she thinks.
"Hey, Ruby—!"
Carol's voice calls out after her, but as Ruby turns to reply, the principal steps into her view.
"Miss Brenner," says Mr Johnson. "You need to come with me."
What now? she thinks, as she follows him. Has she been mentioned, along with Harrington and Billy? She swears, if she gets into trouble for breaking up with someone—
She's taken into the school reception, where Harrington is standing, too. Billy's waiting to go into the principal office, and stands up when Ruby appears. He looks across at Ruby and Harrington, pissed off.
"You two, wait there," says Mr Johnson. "Hawkins Lab need to speak to you..."
Ruby freezes on the spot. She feels as if the entire room has gone cold, an icy chill running down her spine. Why do they need to speak to her? Is this, like, code, to lock them away? What if that's it? What if they're taking Harrington, to divert suspicion, and once they get there, they'll lock Ruby into a cage? She cannot be apart of those experiments, she'd rather die right now than—
The reception doors open again, with Nancy and Jonathan.
Ruby's confused now.
This isn't just about her, then, surely? But what—what if they want to kill the others, because of what they know, and then they'll keep her there to rot? She can't be Subject X, she will not—
"Do you guys know what's going on?" says Nancy.
Ruby looks over, to where Mr Johnson was, and realises that he's since left with Billy. She can see Billy through the glass of the principal's office door. He's frowning at her, confused by the four of them being called out.
"The lab, uh, want to talk to us," says Harrington. "What has the lab—?"
Jonathan begins, "They made—"
But Ruby interrupts him, glaring: "They can hear us!"
She crosses her arms. She thinks she might vomit. Or accidentally burn something down. Maybe both.
"Uh..." says Harrington, and he looks over to the other two for some explanation.
"They're good now," says Jonathan, to Ruby.
"Good my ass," she grumbles.
Nancy doesn't say anything, but she nods in agreement.
The wait for the lab feels like centuries; by the time the man in the shit-brown trenchcoat appears, Ruby has mapped out five escape routes in her head. She did it when she was three, she can do it now, right?
They're escorted outside, into a shiny black car. Ruby narrows her eyes at the man, being led into the car first. She sees Harrington jump in front of Nancy to catch up, which confuses Ruby. Surely he wants to be next to Nancy, to make them close again? Bond via trauma? Weird.
As the man gets into the car, Ruby notices his associate in the passenger seat. She turns around to look at Ruby, and gives her a smile.
"Can you put this on, around your neck?"
It's a big black choker, made out of metal. Ruby raises an eyebrow. What is this, a weird porno?
The woman continues.
"You'll hear a little click. It's to stop you from causing any... problems."
Ruby looks down at the choker, and narrows her eyes; suddenly, smoke begins to trail from it, into the air. She looks up at the woman, as blood trickles down from her nose.
"Don't give me a reason to," says Ruby.
She looks across at Harrington, just as the car begins to drive off. His knee is bouncing up and down, and she knows that he's stressing about this. Her brows furrow. They're not friends anymore, are they? He hates her. And yet earlier he thought she was drowning and tried to save her, and he punched Billy for calling her a slut. Maybe... Just because they're not friends, doesn't mean he no longer cares about her...
And... maybe the same goes for herself.
Reluctantly — especially since his ex-girlfriend is right behind them — Ruby reaches over, and puts her hand over his. His knee stops bouncing, and she knows he's looking over at her, but she doesn't glance back. She looks straight ahead, just as she feels him hold onto her hand, and squeeze it lightly.
Well. At least he feels comforted now. At least he's going into this, a little less scared. At least, now, he's walking into this with a certain level of comfort, of reassurance.
... And maybe the same goes for Ruby, too.
(Billy who?)
i heart ruby xx
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