I'm Only Me When I'm With You

Chapter 4

"Rub. You're fine without him." Audie started the same pep talk she'd been giving me for the past two weeks, always the same words, never any difference, and never any meaning to them. At least not for me.

Leaving to be with Joe had seemed a little crazy at the beginning but once I thought of his dark hair, green eyes and deep olive tan, I'd just swoon even faster and harder. He was so different than everyone around here, with there light tans, blonde hair and blue eyes, I felt like every guy in high school had been a clone of the same people. He listened to me rant about bad shows, and sent me little chocolates and trinkets while I was on the road, sure we hadn't known each other long, but how long does it take for you to realize that you love someone?

"Mom, let me talk to her." Ben stated, slightly nervous from my doorway, I hadn't talked to him since the day he'd yelled at me, and Joe had called, and called off the engagement.

"Okay." Audie whispered, lightly and swiftly slipping out the door.

"Look, Ruby. What the hell does this guy have that's so majorly important?" Ben asked, quite snottily.

"Ben, you don't understand." I stated, quickly turning to my other side, realizing that I was going to get absolutely no sympathy from him.

"Sure, I don't know what it's like to have the person I think I love call off an engagement to me, but I know what it's like to be in love. And even that's not worth laying in bed for WEEKS! I've never not seen you smile at least once a day, and then this guy dumps you, and you can't get out of bed? What makes him that special? Huh?" Ben asked, flipping me back around to face him in one swift movement, and flaring his nostrils throughout the whole speech.

"He's…different. He's unlike anyone I've ever met." I whispered into my comforter, refusing to look into his eyes, scared of what I might realize if I did.

"Look, Ruby, you're a happy person. You aren't the kind of girl that mopes around for a guy. You've never been like that, don't change yourself for someone you knew for a few weeks. He doesn't deserve. You were amazing just the way you were." Ben replied, clearly not wanting to insult Joe, but trying to tell me that he was just not worth anymore of my time.

"Oh, you're not starting to fall for me too, are you?" I smiled out, trying to get a laugh out of the boy.

"You know it." He winked, before getting up and heading for the door.

"What'd you mean you know what it's like to be in love, Benny?" I asked, just as he reached the doorknob.

"You'll find out tonight. If you come down for the family meeting." He replied, smiling and opening the door.

"I'm still family?" I asked as he slipped out, knowing the answer deep inside of me.

I'd never been anything but.

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

"So, are you really going to tell them tonight?" A heavenly voice asked from the other end of the telephone.

"Of course, it's been a few months, and well, there bound to find out somehow. Why not just tell them myself? And I know, you've been telling me that all along." I sighed out, slightly frustrated that Georgia kept asking me that same question like it was a miracle.

"I'm sorry. I'll stop asking. I'm just so excited. I mean, it's been cool and all that it was a secret from your parents, but always having to be your 'buddy' when you wanted to come over and stuff, it got kind of annoying. And I could never call your house, either. In case someone else picked up. I'm just so excited that none of that's gonna apply anymore!" Georgia squealed out, and I could practically imagine the grin on her face.

"I know. It's gonna be pretty sick." I replied, leaning back against my headboard and picturing how much more Georgia and me could hang out now.

"BEN! You called this family meeting didn't you?" Jordan yelled up from the living room which was practically right below my bedroom.

"Crap, is it seven already?" I asked, butterflies filling up my stomach suddenly, at the thought of actually telling my parents and Jordan about Georgia.

"Don't worry. They'll be happy for you. They're your family after all. Call me afterwards. I wanna know what happens." Georgia said all of this in one breath before blowing a singular kiss into the phone and hanging up.

I swiftly got up and placed the phone back on it's charger and trudged downstairs. When I got there, everyone was sitting down and my parents were laughing while Ruby was feigning a smile and cuddled up in a blanket and Jordan strummed his guitar looking down absently at it, probably trying to find something to rhyme with 'purple'.

"Hey, everybody." I stuttered out trying to get their attention.

"Finally." Jordan muttered, placing his guitar back in it's case and sliding it beneath the ottoman in front of him, while Ruby smiled at me, obviously remembering our earlier conversation.

"Look, these past few months…I've…I've kind of had a girlfriend." I mumbled out, not wanting this to be the center of anything.

"haha, little dude, you're funny." Jordan stated, getting up, ruffling my hair and heading towards the door to leave.

"First off, I'm not a little dude, and second, sit back down. I'm being serious." I stated, grabbing Jordan's wrist and pulling and then pushing him back toward the chair he'd been seated in a few moments ago.

"What's her name?" Ruby offered up quietly and politely.

"Georgia Anne." I answered, smiling at her. She was the only one in this room that felt my pain at Jordan saying that sentence to me,

"Ah, that's a cute name. What's she look like honey?" My mom asked next, smiling and putting her arm around Ruby.

"She's got the reddest hair I've ever seen, and skin that's so pale it shines, and her face and arms and legs are covered with these cute little light brown freckles." I answered smiling at the both of them.

"What I want to know," My dad finally spoke up, "is why you never told us about her before."

"I've seen the way you guys have dissected each and everyone of Ruby and Jordan's past boyfriends and girlfriends. And I didn't want you to do anything like that to Georgia, so rather than have her criticized, I hid her from you all." I answered, looking down.

"I still don't believe she exists." Jordan mumbled receiving an elbow in the rib from our dad.

"How about we have her over for a dinner one night? Thursday sound okay? Good." My mother asked and then answered her own questions.

These were the very words, that began a war in the house we all live in.