Alright guys, it's my first fanfic. I appreciate that you have taken your time to click on my little story, and I also accept any type of criticism. Happy Reading!

Sapphire sighed gain for the third time that morning.

It hadn't really occurred to her until a few months ago about how life would be boring if Ruby were gone. Having moved away to another city, she was left alone, as she didn't really have any other friends she could turn to.

She sighed again.

Ruby and her had tried to stay in touch but it never really worked out. School and growing up wasn't as kind to them as they would have liked, and in their later letters, it was only brief chatter about the amount of homework that their teachers had piled on them, giving them little time to write back to each other. In then end, they had written to each other less and less, and now Sapphire was too shy to try and write one after so long, not wanting to seem desperate to Ruby.

It was also painful to have him fade from her memory. Having been childhood friends, it tore her insides apart as she could only watch everything about him disappear from her mind.

It didn't take long but his facial features had faded along with almost everything else. The next thing that she forgot about him was his hair, then his clothes, then his physique, the feeling of his palms when they held hands. One by one, everything about him had eventually disappeared. The only thing that she could do back then was to hold on to the little memories that they had shared together.

It didn't take long but his facial features had eventually faded from her memory as well. Followed by his hair, then his clothes, then his physique, the feeling of his palms when they held hands, even his melodic voice. One by one, everything about him had eventually disappeared. All she could do was try to hold on the little wisps of memories she had of him.

Sapphire smiled sadly, how could she not feel guilty. Who wouldn't? Forgetting someone that precious, anyone would feel guilty and she was no exception. It only made matters worse that she didn't have the courage to write back to check on Ruby anymore.

She couldn't help but sigh again, the guilt weighing her mind down clouding her mind with visions of Ruby disappointed in her. She quickly pushed the thought aside, her heart throbbing and her mind drifted to one of the few memories she had left of Ruby.

"Hey Sapphire! Come on! You're falling behind!" her other classmates shouted ahead of her.

She was in the second night of a camping trip in the forest that her primary school had organized. After a tiresome day of playing in the autumn sun and running around, the teachers had gathered the other students and told them that they'd be taking a short walk in the forest.

The temperature had dropped drastically in the night, and Sapphire quickly took her mittens, not really bothering with a jacket, given that it would only be short walk. She breathed out and giggled as the chilly autumn air, frosted her breath over forming a small cloud.

"It's okay Miss, I'll walk with Sapphire to make sure she won't be lost," Sapphire heard a familiar voice sound out in the front.

She looked up curiously as Ruby nodded to the teacher.

His face looked obscured and his voice oddly out place as most of what she remembered of him had fallen into the tiny crevices her of her memory, probably never to be recovered.

Despite his out of place appearance, he approached her and held out his hand out to her, "Hey Sapphire, if we don't hurry, we'll be left behind, and the trail up ahead isn't really clear."

"Oh right, yeah coming," Sapphire cheeks dusted a light pink and she took his hand as he led her forward.

The time passed excruciatingly slow, each moment that she held his arm felt like forever, each passing second she was close to him, her insides turned to jelly. Everything that seemed to do with Ruby made her feel weird.

Sapphire frowned at looked at Ruby's back. He seemed perfectly healthy, nothing about him really had indicated that he was sick. Did he pass her some sickness? Maybe the symptoms only show under his shirt.

"Hey Ruby, take off your shirt, I think you passed me some kind of sickness," Sapphire demanded, jerking back Ruby's hand to make sure that he heard her.

Ruby's face blushed a dark crimson and he pushed her away before saying, "Sapphire? You're perfectly healthy, why should I take my shirt off anyway? You're the one who's sick!"

Sapphire pouted, unhappy that someone who she believed was sick would accuse her like that.

"Maybe you're sick in the head too! I'm going to have to split your head open too and check you! It's okay, my papa's a professor so I know what I'm doing," Sapphire huffed, her eyes shining determinedly to cure Ruby of whatever disease he had passed to her.

Ruby laughed and quickly took off in another direction, "You'll have to catch me first then!"

Sapphire gasped and huffed angrily, furious that her friend and supposed patient had bailed out of his check up when it was supposed to be good for him. She quickly ran in his direction, weaving in between branches leaves, only having his laughter as a guide to his location.

Finally in a last burst of speed she managed to jump and tackled him to the ground, straddling him. Sapphire pinned him down, trapping his hands and legs, before grabbing on to his shirt.

It was so weird. Sapphire never imagined that the annoying idiot that she had met up a few months ago would have become such a god friend. Believing that her life would have been perfect had she had a normal school life, normal friends, a normal job, and a normal death.

Alas, life was not so kind, it had to throw something to mess her perfectly normal life.

That was when Ruby, who was not so normal had waltzed into her life.

It had all been fine until that point in time, until he came. She still remembered, the first thing he did after introducing himself in front of the class, he had loudly asked her if he wanted to be her friend after taking his seat next to her. That was when her life went downhill.

From then on, he was impossible to get rid of. He stuck to her like glue and was practically impossible to get rid of him. Not even the prospect of following her into the female toilet had managed to shake him off, or calling the teacher on him. Of course, she had gotten used to it, and it took another few months to realize how precious of a friend that he really was.

Being a social outcast, it wasn't rare to see bullies trail behind her, and it just so happened that Ruby had been there when her seniors had come to pick on her. Despite it being out in the open, where there were other students, no one had come to help when they publically humiliated and insulted her.

Only Ruby had stepped up and asked them to back off, and even had a scuffle with them for picking on her. Even then, after getting her trying to protect her still didn't deter him from trying to become her friend.

Sapphire smiled, she guessed that he really was a blessing. She unbuttoned the first few buttons of his jacket, eager to help Ruby just like how he had done for her.

"Sapphire! I'm not sick! I went to the doctor last week remember? And my head is fine too!" Ruby yelled, his face blushing a furious red, as he used one hand to push her off, the other trying to protect the rest of his buttons.

"No! I'm sure you're sick and I'm going to help you!" Sapphire screeched, pushing his hands aside.

"Am not!"

"Am too!"

"Am not!"

"Hmph, whatever! I got your jacket off already, no escape now Ruby!" Sapphire laughed triumphantly, managing to peel off his jacket.

Ruby's blush darkened considerably and started bucking his hips to try and shake her off, while Sapphire couldn't help but laugh seeing Ruby so helpless for once.

"What are you doing!" they heard someone screech.

Both of them quickly turned around to see their teacher with their class trailing behind her, with Ruby still bucking his hips, while Sapphire straddled him, pinning him down.

"Hey Miss, can we try that?" a boy behind their teacher tugged at her sleeve and kindly asked.

"No!" their teacher screamed, her eyes flashing a crazy and confused look, unsure of what to tell their parents of what the two of them had done.

She took a deep breath and gestured for Sapphire and Ruby to rejoin the group, "This never happened alright kids? If you agree to never tell anyone what happened here, I'll buy all of you ice cream when we get back to school."

A loud cheer erupted from the small group of students and they were led inside again. Sapphire trailed behind again with Ruby at her side and they couldn't help but smile, they had a nice adventure together and they also managed to get free ice cream from their teacher.

Sapphire couldn't help but laugh.

Sapphire couldn't help but sigh.

They had seemed so innocent back then, it was funny how they never realized what they were really doing. She let out a sad smile, and flopped onto her bed, trying to keep her mind off of Ruby.

She lay back down, and grabbed her phone, absentmindedly swiping the unlock button at the bottom of her screen, her mind still heavy with Ruby.

"Wish Ruby was here," she stared forlornly out of her window.

Ring.

"I wonder what he's doing now," she continued.

Ring.

"Oh for Pete's sake, who could be calling now," Sapphire muttered angrily, somewhat upset that the caller had destroyed her concentration.

"Hello?" she gruffly replied.

"Oh Sapph? I'm sorry, is this a bad time," she heard a concerned voice come form the other end of the line.

Sapphire quickly lightened up and apologized before continuing, "Oh nothing Blue, just that it's summer vacation, and I was kinda sleeping in ya know? Anyway, why'd ya call?"

"Oh sorry for disturbing, but a few friends, Crystal, and I are going to meet up this Saturday to finish off our summer homework early, do you want to join?" Blue cheerfully replied.

"Hm? Oh yeah, who are the other people coming?"

"Just a few guys and girls from our class, no big deal."

"So where are we going to meet up and study?"

"Yeah about that honey."

Sapphire raised an eyebrow, readying herself for whatever was to come. Despite her cheerful and innocent Blue was the most devious, cunning, foxy, and sly person that anyone could meet, and the fact that she was using the word 'honey' when talking to her meant that something was going on.

"Go on," Sapphire said.

"Well yeah, see? Since no one is willing to have friends over at their houses, we're going to have our study session at your house. This Saturday, oh is that my mom calling, well bye!" Blue rushed before quickly hanging up the phone.

Sapphire froze. She couldn't believe that she had fallen for such a thing. She furiously redialed her number only to met with the dial tone saying that she wasn't available, the same also went for Crystal when she tried calling her for answers.

"Damn it, they were in on this together," Sapphire cursed.

Sighing again, she put her phone back on her table and rushed downstairs to see if her mother wanted to go shopping with her.

"Hey mom, are you free to go shopping with me?" Sapphire asked her mother, who was slouched over the couch, her eyes glued to the new season of Desperate Housewives.

"Sorry sweetie, we have guests coming over later for dinner remember? The new neighbours that are moving in didn't I tell you last week that I had invited them for dinner when they came over to check out the house. So I'm going to start cooking after this episode, sorry but I'm sure you'll need time to prepare yourself too anyway," her mother replied.

Sapphire couldn't help but roll her eyes as she took a seat next to her mother, "Who are the new neighbours anyway? I haven't really seen them yet, since you talked, is there anything you know about them?"

"Oh yeah, they're a married couple. If I'm not wrong, they're called Norman and Carol," my mother began before looking at me to see that I understood.

She gestured for her to continue as her mother lowered the volume on the television, "They also told me that they had a son around your age, he's going to join your school after summer. If I remember clearly, his name was R- "

The clear sound of the microwave resonated in the living room and they both turned our heads to the kitchen.

"Oh looks like my popcorn's done! Sapphire, why not just go upstairs and play for a while, you have an hour and a half before they said they'd come. I'll call you when they're here," her mother laughed, while ruffling her hair.

Sapphire couldn't help but roll her eyes and muttered darkly, "One episode my ass."

She stared blankly at the television screen as her mother went to the kitchen to get her popcorn. Sapphire frowned, she didn't really see how someone could have so much drama in their life. Life could be simple, everything would so straightforward, no troubles, no problems.

Then again, if life had been so simple you'd never have met Ruby.

She sighed in agreement as a small part of her brain reminded her of her relationship with Ruby. Plastering a sad smile on her face, Sapphire trudged up the stairs, unwilling to meet the new neighbours, especially with her thoughts on Ruby still bugging her mind.

She climbed into her bed, trying to clear her mind. Her blank ceiling providing no comfort, thoughts of Ruby clogging her mind along with the soft ticking of her bedside clock, providing the only comfort in the whirlwind of thoughts.

The soft ticking eventually calmed her, drawing her closer to sleep, before she finally dozed off, catching a break from the loud and messy thoughts on her mind.

"Sapphire!"

Sapphire stirred, the voice sounded so familiar, and it made her heart ache. She clutched at her chest and wandered around an empty space.

"Sapphire!"

She whirled around to see a young boy standing in the distance, his face and body obscured by a light behind him. Sapphire quickly shielded her eyes, and craned her neck, his face almost showing, trying to find out the person's identity.

She titled her head, everything about him, his voice, his clothes, everything looked so familiar, the answer gnawing at her insides. She reached her hand out, straining to touch him.

"Sapphire!"

Sapphire jolted awake to see her mother standing above her, one hand on her hip while the other holding a ladle.

She lightly knocked Sapphire on the head with the ladle and grumbled, "Sapphire, quickly get dressed, they're coming in fifteen minutes. I've been calling you for the past ten minutes already, once you're done come down and wait for them."

Sapphire watched as her mother shuffled out of her door, silently closing it behind her before flopping back down on her bed again. She groaned loudly, disturbing the peaceful silence that had befallen her room. The dream hazy in her mind, skipping out her mind's reach every time she reached to try and grab it.

Grumbling to herself, she finally got out of bed and trudged to her closet. Fatigue wearing her mind down, she grabbed a pile of clothes and dumped them on her floor, too tired to select proper clothes. Grabbing the nearest thing that was closest to her, which turned out to be a pink blouse and a miniskirt, she quickly changed before heading downstairs.

It didn't take long for them to come, and in no time, she heard the chime of the doorbell, signaling the neighbours' arrival. Sapphire closed her eyes, wishing for the even to be over quickly, when her mind drifted to the conversation with her mother earlier.

"Oh yeah, they're a married couple. If I'm not wrong, they're called Norman and Carol."

She heard the door creak slightly and an unfamiliar voice greeted, "Hello, thank you for inviting us, I'm sure you still remember, I'm Norman and this is my wife Carol."

"They also told me that they had a son around your age, he's going to join your school after summer. If I remember clearly, his name was R- "

"Oh! The boy behind us is our son, his name is R-"

Sapphire scrunched her eyes, she focused on what her mother had said, remembering that she had mouthed his name.

R-Rufus? No. Ray? No, that's not it.

Ruby

"Ruby, come say hi to our neighbors," the voice finished.

Sapphire snapped her eyes open, her veins pumping with adrenaline. Jumping off her seat, climbing over the sofa and scrambling to her mother's side in an excited rush.

Stumbling beside her mother, she screeched to a halt, gaining the attention of everyone at the doorway. Huffing a hasty greeting, Sapphire quickly bowed to Norman and Carol and tried to discreetly look past them, itching to get a look at Ruby.

Never in the past few years had she ever considered that Ruby would ever appear before her again. Having absolutely no connection to her whatsoever after they had stopped writing to each other, she wondered if he even remembered her. What she looked like, what she used to sound like, her facial features.

Of course on her part, she had forgotten almost everything about him, and it didn't leave her feeling entirely fine about it, the guilt gnawing at her conscience every chance it had.

Shyly twiddling the edge of her skirt, Sapphire lightly blushed as Norman and Carol moved out of the way so Ruby could move forward. The rather unfamiliar figure stepped forward, his face, his clothes entirely different from whatever she could remember of the younger version of him.

"Hey Sapphire, remember me?"

Alright, so that's that. I have the next few parts of the story coming along, and since it's the holidays, uploading will be no problem. Please do look forward to more chapters.