She wakes up, fear thumping in her chest. Anxiety, it's been pestering her for days and days. She's not sure why. There's no real reason for it.
Her sister's back, thankfully. Tina never really gave an explanation for where she went. She's been grounded for disappearing for a week, and Ruby hasn't had a chance to talk to her, but she knows–somehow–it was a Lee Ping prank thing.
She still doesn't know what the Lee Ping prank thing was, or why the Cleaners were involved, or how Tina got involved–well, no, she knows that last one. Tina's had her eye on Lee for a few years now. Of course if something weird happened to Lee, she'd try and get involved. It seems like Tina's actually finally managed to make some progress there if their interactions at school are any guide, so she's happy for her sister.
Still, it's obvious to Ruby that Tina disappeared for a few days because of Lee. Or maybe not Lee specifically, but all the weirdness that surrounds them. She's pretty sure that having to assemble a pyramid in the basement also had something to do with Lee, but she's not sure how they're connected, and that annoys her.
Ruby glances at the clock. It's 5 in the morning; still dark, still too early to do anything. Her parents wake up around 5:30, but they'll be suspicious if she's up before them. They'll probably want to talk about stuff with her, but they're not the people she wants to talk to. She wants to talk to Tina and find out what the heck happened this year. Not just about her disappearing, although she wants to know that too, but about everything. Why the cleaner robots, why the underground pyramid, why the Wurst twins, and what the heck is up with Barrage? He seems like a jerk, but he did a lot to save them from that stupid pyramid scheme.
Inadvertently, Ruby snorts. Pyramid scheme. That's a pretty good pun.
The anxiety doesn't go away, and staring at the ceiling doesn't help. She pushes the covers off and gingerly stands up. The hardwood floor is a bit cold beneath her bare feet; it's one of the reasons she doesn't like getting up in the mornings. Winter's on its way; the floors will stay cold for a while afterwards.
She thinks about putting on socks, but decides against it. She'll be going back to bed soon anyway.
Hector and Paris are scurrying about their cage when she approaches them. She waits for a few seconds, then reaches in, hoping one of them will be ready for pets. Paris is nibbling on some food, but Hector quickly finds his way into her hand, and Ruby gently lifts him out and carries him against her chest as she goes back to bed.
She puts her pillow up so that she can sit against it and sits down, Hector now gently cradled against her stomach with one hand while the other slowly ruffles the fur on the scruff of his neck towards his head. She can feel Hector boggle and gently nibble at the pad of her palm, and a smile reaches her face. The worry starts to dissipate as she pets her rat gently, and with it comes a sense of clarity.
Ruby hasn't had much time to actually think about everything. She knows that life is supposed to suddenly pass you by; she's heard it a bunch and dismissed it as a cliche, but suddenly she's not so sure. The past few months have been absolutely insane. She hasn't even begun studying for midterms yet, but she still can't believe how much has happened that she's not privy too. Her sister's disappearance came as a total shock, but maybe if she'd been paying more attention, maybe if she thought about what was going on with Lee more, maybe if she'd focused on what was actually important instead of hanging out with the Genius Club and trying to work out ways to improve on the schematics of the Cleaners...
The signs were all there. Most of the Genius Club talked about Lee's weird conspiracy thing at some point. It became more frequent as time went on–it never dominated discussion, but it was something they all knew about, and everybody had some sort of an opinion, even if it just Irwin's blanket hatred of Lee or Ruby's own apathy, seeing it as her sister's life that she wasn't really involved in. She still cared, but–well. Tina's the older sister. She's not supposed to need assistance from her 11-year-old sister. Tina should be the one wondering what to do with her life, not Ruby. Tina shouldn't be–
And Ruby can't help but wonder what she could have done if she paid more attention to Tina. If maybe she could have helped with putting all the pieces of whatever weird puzzle involved a pyramid, clones, and her sister's eventual disappearance together. If maybe her brains could have come in handy in ways that they just didn't because she never asked Tina what was going on.
If maybe she could have kept Tina from disappearing.
But maybe Tina will tell her if she asks. It'll have to be when her parents are gone, and maybe when there isn't anybody else around, but there's going to be a time when she can do it. She'll just have to find Tina and ask her. Hopefully her sister can be honest about what happened in ways that she seems unable to with their parents.
She can't blame her. Ruby has a very incomplete picture of what exactly happened, and just that little bit is enough to convince her that if her parents found out what Tina was up to–what the whole Lee Ping prank thing is–they'd freak out. Maybe they'd even pull Tina out of school and have her go to a boarding school somewhere well outside of Toronto. Maybe they'd pull Ruby as well. Maybe they'd move away completely.
None of these options make her happy.
She glances down at Hector, barely visible in the early morning dark of her room. He's fallen asleep, nose twitching gently as he dreams of whatever rats dream of. Ruby smiles, calmed by the serenity of her pet, and thinks about returning him to his cage. She decides against it, though; a few more minutes with a warm body in her hand won't hurt anyone.
As she gazes at Hector, she wonders about the nature of pets and love. Can animals love? She knows that reptiles are generally considered to be incapable of love due to their solitary natures, but then, no reptiles have written about the subject. And rats are social animals, so love should be possible with them.
Do rats love unconditionally?
As if he hears her thoughts, Hector rolls over and nuzzles into her hand, belly exposed, in the ultimate expression of a rat's trust.