"Yes!" Ruby cheered as the ball went neatly into the net. It was a clean shot, and they needed one more. Currently, the score was 2-2. Ruby never could end things off with a tie.

"Jasper!" She called out to the largely athletically built girl across the court. She passed her the ball and Ruby caught it. She dived in between players, she jumped over others. Being a smaller player had its advantages.

As the clock counted down, Ruby noticed only 5 seconds remained. She picked up the pace and made the shot.

4 Seconds. She held her breath.

3, Her eyes glared daggers at the ball as it danced along the ring of the net.

2, They couldn't lose! The had come too far!

1, Her hands were practically pruned with sweat.

0, The ball rolled in at the last remaining second.

The right side of the crowd was hysteric. They shot to their feet like rockets and chanted. Ruby felt as multiple arms grabbed her from under and lifted her off her feet. She was a star player to the team, and they knew it.

Ruby looked around. Life couldn't be better.


"Worthless!" The words rang through Sapphire's head as he spat them out. She could feel his foot driving into her stomach, but the pain was becoming numb. Her arms stung as he roughly grabbed her wrist. The dried up blood from the night before broke away and blood seeped through her shirt.

"You're the reason!" He yelled in her face. The emotional pain was the largest source of her suffering at the moment. "Maybe if you weren't such a failure-" The man was cut short as the phone rang. He dropped her to the ground and for the first time, Sapphire realized she was crying.

He picked up the phone and started idle conversation. He talked in a cheerful manner as if he hadn't just beat his daughter. She rushed to her room, his voice remained in the kitchen.

Her hair had come undone, she quickly fixed the blue locks to cover her eyes. Her clothes were bloodstained, and on a day she decided to wear white. Ironic.

Her mask fell as the smile slipped away. Tears escaped and her emotions ran away. She was going through- what she liked to call it- The Silent Suffering. She couldn't tell a soul what was happening.

Sapphire looked around. Life couldn't be worse.