Chapter Four

Ruby

“Okay, fingers on lips, guys.” Our school teacher, Miss Wilson, silenced the class with a shush.

I liked Miss Wilson. She was nice. She wasn’t old like my last teacher, who always smelled like toilet freshener. Miss Wilson was young and had a pretty smile. She had blonde curly hair that reminded me of spaghetti.

I sat at the table with three other children, picking the PVA glue and glitter from my fingers like a sparkly layer of skin.

“Does anyone need to take a bathroom break?” Miss Wilson asked, her eyes scanning the classroom for a show of raised hands.

“Okay, kids, put on your coats, then go line up at the door.” Miss Wilson instructed, wincing at the sound of scraping chairs.

We all hurried with enthusiasm towards the named coat pegs. I stuffed my arms through the sleeves of my red jacket, then dashed towards the exit. Once the entire class was ready and lined up, Miss Wilson opened the door for a twenty-minute recess. We all stepped through the door sensibly, but as soon as our feet touched the schoolyard, we all ran off, scattering in opposite directions. I watched how my classmates all formed their little groups.

There were three girls in my class who everybody liked best. They wore pretty clothes, and they always put their hair up into fancy ribbons. Their names were Sarah, Mia, and Tegan.

“I’m playing with the jump ropes,” Mia announced while untangling one that was heaped on the floor.

“Me too.” Tegan joined in, crouching down to help her.

The boys were running around like they ate an entire bag of sugar. The worst troublemakers were Tyler and Josh. They were mean and would hide your backpack or tip glue in your hair.

“Who wants to play Transformers?” Tyler yelled to the other boys.

“Me, I do. To the bikes!” Josh pointed to the play equipment, squealing happily.

I sighed, holding back whilst everyone else chose someone to play with. It was the same thing every day. No one wanted to play with me. I spotted a silver cross dolls pram that was abandoned in the middle of the schoolyard. Nobody was bothering with it, so I ran to grab it.

“Hey! You can’t play with that!” Sarah shouted at me. She had her hands on her hips with an angry look smeared across her face.

“Why not? Nobody else is using it,” I argued.

“We’re playing with it, actually.” She gestured to the other two girls, Mia and Tegan. Both looked back at her with a look of confusion, whilst holding either end of the jump rope.

I didn’t want to get into a fight. I wanted these girls to like me. “Well, can’t I play, too?” I asked, nicely.

Her eyes widened. “You’re the new kid, and new kids aren’t allowed to play with us unless you do something first,” Sarah said.

The three girls all exchanged smug looks, then they all turned towards me with the same strange smiles on their faces.

“What do I have to do?” I shrugged.

My heart leaped with hope. I was so desperate for them to like me. I hated having no friends, spending each day walking around the schoolyard by myself. Eating lunch by myself and having no one to talk to in class.

The three girls giggled and whispered to one another with a look of mischief on their faces. Sarah’s eyes sparkled with glee.

“You have to go and kiss Tyler on the cheek.” Her lips twitched up into a sly smirk.

“Um, okay,” I replied with unease.

I gulped, looking over my shoulder to where Tyler was pretending to be Optimus Prime.

“On the cheek?” I asked, double-checking.

My stomach churned with unease like I was getting ready to jump into the deep end of a swimming pool without wearing armbands.

“Just once on the cheek and then you can play with us,” she repeated, coaxing me.

I nodded, managing a strained smile.

I walked over to where the boys were playing. I was afraid that Tyler was going to laugh at me but I wanted to make friends with those girls, more than anything.

He was so preoccupied with pretending to be a robot that he even didn’t see me coming. I grabbed his head between both my hands, then planted a kiss on his cheek.

Tyler’s eyes widened with shock. He just stood there, completely stunned. All the other boys began to laugh, chanting. “Tyler and Ruby sitting in a tree . . .”

I looked over towards the other girls in triumph. Only to see that they were all clutching at their sides in laughter and pointing at me, joining in with the cruel chant.

It felt as if the world was spinning round and round. The playground scenery whizzed past my eyes, in fast circles, merging in a blur of mixed colors.

Just as I was about to run off and cry, I heard the school bell ring. A sign that recess was over. Everyone made their way back inside.

I’m so glad today is over. I hate school. I’m never going back—ever!

I marched towards the front gates to where my mom was parked up, along the edge of the curb.

“How was school today, honey?” she asked, cheerfully.

“I hate it!” I blurted out, angrily. “It was the worst day of my life!” I yelled.

“Mom, can I move to another school?” I asked, desperately. I really, really don’t want to go back there tomorrow.

She sighed, letting her shoulders slump. “Baby, you know we can’t move again. Just give it a chance. It’ll all work out, you’ll see,” Mom soothed.

“I don’t mean I wanna move house, I mean I wanna move school,” I corrected her.

“Ruby, Lakewood is the only school around for miles. Honey, we can’t move you to a different school. Did something happen? Do I need to swing this car around and go have a word with your teacher?” Mom replied, her brows bunched with concern.

She frowned a lot lately. She hardly ever smiled anymore. Especially when the mailman brought her hate mail.

That’s what she called bills.

It was the same when the bank took our house too, although I have no idea where they took it. The guy who took it must’ve been really, really strong. I caught Mom giving me a side glance. She switched on the stereo and flicked through the tracks until she found the song that she wanted.

“I know how to cheer my baby girl up.” She grinned.

As soon as the familiar music played—Ruby Tuesday by The Rolling Stones. She started singing along to the lyrics. She told me that this was the song that had been playing on the radio when my dad asked her to marry him. She said it was their special song, and that was how they had chosen my name. So, I guess it was our song now. I giggled the second I heard her out of tune singing.

“She would never say where she came from, yesterday don’t matter, if it’s gone. While the sun is bright, or in the darkest night. No one knows, she comes and goes—Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday. Who could hang a name on you? When you change, with every new day, still, I’m gonna miss you . . .”

It worked. It always cheered me up and helped me forget why I was feeling sad.

We listened to the rest of the song as we drove back home. I was practically bouncing in my seat the moment we pulled up outside our house. As soon as Mom switched off the engine, I rushed out through the door.

“Ruby, hey, aren’t you forgetting something?” Mom yelled, beckoning me to come back.

“What?” I shrugged in frustration.

“Um, your bag . . . honey, I’m not your slave,” Mom chastised in a firm parental tone. “And don’t forget to wash up before dinner.”

“Mom, I’m going to play in the barn. I don’t have enough time in my life to do everything else first,” I flapped my arms about, huffing in irritation.

“Well, the faster you take your stuff inside, the quicker you can go out to play. But you have to come back in when I call you for dinner and don’t go anywhere near the pond.” She pointed her finger at the last part.

“Okay, okay! I won’t,” I bounced on the balls of my feet as I waited for her to open the front door and growled impatiently when she dropped her keys.

“Mom!” I whined.

“Ah, here we go,” she muttered, turning the key and stepping back as I squeezed my way past her, taking to the stairs at a run.

I launched my bag through my bedroom door, not bothering to see where it landed, then sprinted down the stairs like a ‘herd of elephants’ as my mom sometimes liked to call it.

My leg muscles burned as I raced out through the back door and over the huge stretch of wet grass, towards the barn.

An exciting feeling fluttered around inside my stomach, just like waking up on Christmas morning.

My fingers gripped the cold metal latch of the barn door, pushing it open carefully, then peered inside.

“Hello?” I called out into the big empty space.

It smelled like the petting zoo I used to visit with my parents. It had that dry hay smell that the animals needed to sleep on.

My eyes searched the barn, but I couldn’t see any sign of my new friend. I wrinkled my nose, grumbling to myself.

Aww, no. It’s gone.

I was so disappointed. I’d been looking forward to seeing it again all day. I went inside anyway, intending to sit and sulk on the hay bales.

Just as I went to kick at the ground, I felt something nudge the back of my knee. I squealed in shock and spun around quickly. It was here! My big dog had come back to me.

“Did you miss me?” I asked, hugging it. “Aw, I missed you. Today was the worst.” I mumbled into its pelt.

It licked my face with its huge wet tongue, leaving a slimy trail across my cheek.

I wiped it off. “Eww,” I complained.

I sat on a hay bale and it slumped down in front of me, allowing me to stroke its fur. It was such an enormous dog. I wondered if its owners knew that it had wandered off. I couldn’t see a collar around its neck.

Maybe it was a stray dog?

“I’ve been thinking of a name for you. How about, Princess?” I suggested.

The dog huffed through its nose and its entire body shuddered.

“You don’t like that, huh? Oh, okay. Well, how about Misty? No. What about Luna? Jeez, what about Angel? Daisy? Aurora? Really? But she’s my favorite princess. You don’t prefer any of those names?” I asked.

The dog looked as if I’d hurt its feelings. It turned its head away from me, and rested it on its paws, making me think for a minute.

Then another idea popped into my head.

“Oh! You’re a boy dog!”

He sat up and gave a loud bark, looking happy with himself.

I tapped my chin as I thought. “Okay, let me see. I met you when it was raining. So, how about I call you Storm?” I suggested.

He barked again, turning in a full circle and wagging his tail.

I stroked his head, pleased that I had named him. “Do you want to hear what happened at school today, Storm?” I mumbled.

His head tilted to the side as if he was listening.

“A girl called Sarah said that I could be her friend as long as I kissed a gross boy called Tyler on the cheek. It was all a great big joke and now everyone at school is making fun of me.” My bottom lip trembled and my eyes filled with tears, making it hard for me to see anything.

Storm placed his head on my knees. As his huge brown eyes stared right back into mine, suddenly things didn’t seem to matter anymore.

“I don’t care about the kids at school, just as long as I’ve got you, Storm. You’re my best friend.” I kissed the top of his head.

I told Storm all about my old school and about my friend Emily who I used to play with. I talked a little about my daddy too. He listened to everything I said, which made me feel a lot better.

“I’m so happy that I met you, Storm,” I told him, feeling as if I loved him already.

“Ruby! Dinner’s Ready!” My mom called from the back door and across the stretch of land.

I jumped up from where I’d been sitting. “I have to go home now, Storm, but I’ll see you tomorrow, won’t I?” I asked, hopefully.

He answered my question by licking my cheek again.

I ruffled the fur on his head with my fingers, then ran back inside to wash up for dinner.