A/n: Hello dear readers! my apologies for not posting this sooner, the chapter was already done but a lot of stuff has been keeping me occupied, but it's here now!(Triggers: None)

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The sound of an alarm clock interrupted the peaceful silence of the early morning. Ruby reluctantly got up from bed, dressed up, and went to meet up with the Crew for breakfast. Breakfast quickly came and went, and it was time for the first class: math.

As Professor Datamouse began writing the day's lesson on the whiteboard, Ruby's mind couldn't help but wander to another place. A place of what-ifs where anything was possible. A place of respite, a place of refuge, a place of sanctuary. Soon the murmurs of her math teacher faded off into inaudible murmurs, and Ruby was in a whole other world.

"Miss Ruby?" At least until Ruby heard her name being called by the professor. "Would you like to answer this equation on the board?"

Taken by surprise, Ruby nodded quietly, stood up and walked to the board. A quick glance at the notes and a minute of writing on the chalkboard passed, and Ruby finished the equation.

Professor Datamouse was surprised by Ruby's submissive behavior but was otherwise satisfied. "Alright then, Miss Ruby, your answer is correct! You may take your seat now."

Ruby went back to her seat and sat down, not bothering to wipe the chalkdust off her sleeves. This sent the class into soft murmurs about Ruby's behavior and a few glances shot in her direction. Ruby didn't really care much about them all... until she realized that Martina was looking at her.

Martina was the one member of the Thea Sisters that Ruby felt uneasy with. No matter how quiet and neutral Martina was, there was something about her that made Ruby uneasy. Was it her seemingly eyeless sockets? Was it her stoicism? Was it her mannerisms in general? Ruby didn't know, and she didn't want to think about it.

The bell rang, signaling the end of classes, and as Ruby walked out the classroom, she felt a bump on her shoulder. "Excuse me-- I mean, watch it, you klutz!"

"Sorry for bumping into you," a familiar monotone, almost expressionless voice said in return.

Ruby turned in the direction of the voice, to find Martina standing there awkwardly. "Oh... hi."

"Hello," Martina said.

"S-so... umm..." Ruby struggled to find the right words to say. "How's it been going for you today?"

"Just the same as usual," the girl responded, with the same monotone, robotic voice she always had. "I woke up, had breakfast with the Thea Sisters, and had math classes."

That response sent shivers down Ruby's tail. "Oh... um... did you sleep well?"

"It depends on what you mean by that. My sleep went on uninterrupted until the alarm clock rang."

"Uhhh... what about dreams?"

"Dark and dreary as usual. Being an inling means that pleasant things don't exist in our lives."

The shivers only multiplied. "O-oh, um... oh, look at the time! I'll be late for my next class! I gotta go!"

Ruby turned to run to the next class, but Martina suddenly appeared right in front of her, stopping her in her tracks and almost giving her a heart attack. "AAH!! Martina, warn me next time you do that!"

"Apologies for being rude." Martina then looked Ruby up and down. "You're different today."

"U-uh, really? How is that?"

"You have no insults to say, no sarcastic remarks to give, no excursions on your mother's yacht to brag about, no trivial temporary pleasures to flaunt to your peers... your voice is lowered instead of raised how it always is. Or was, because you're not being any of those things today, besides just now. It's odd. You look troubled."

Before Ruby could respond, Martina vanished into thin air, probably having teleported to the next classroom.

Thank Gouda that's over, Ruby thought with a shudder. She still freaks me out...

Ruby gathered her courage after a minute and moved on to her next class.

She couldn't focus on anything in her class, she was too caught up in her daydreams.

Every class she was in, it was all a repeating cycle. Daydream, behave (much to the students and teachers surprise), whispers, stares. Daydream, behaving, whispers, stares. It was repeating over and over again! Ugh, she was getting sick and tired of this.

It was lunch time, finally.

As she packed all her stuff, leaving the class in a hurry to go to the cafeteria, she saw her Crew at their usual table. They noticed her and wave at her to catch her attention.

The (youngest) Oldest Flashyfur saw them and immediately went to the table and sat down, grabbing her lunch from the bag as she started eating, not bothering to say anything.

The three stare at her, raising their eyebrows as she continued eating, one of them was about to say something but Ruby put a finger up saying, "not another word" before going back to eat.

The three looked at each other, as if they were having a telepathic conversation before going back to their lunch.

They struck up a conversation after they ate their food and left the cafeteria but Ruby didn't uttered a single word even after they left the place. She was silent, behaved and Not so...Ruby-like.

For context, she was mentally exhausted after she and her Mother had that conversation last night. Since she's not doing anything that good ol' Ruby we all know would do, let's just hope she doesn't get Oof-ed by her Mother in this story.

Hopefully.

Alicia, Zoe and Connie tried to start up a conversation with Ruby but she always ended up dismissing them, saying that she was "tired" or had "a lot in mind".

They tried a lot of times but it almost resulted in with Ruby almost yelling at them in the courtyard.

Zoe and Connie stopped but Alicia was persistent.

The Horned Ice (Demon) Hybrid was the only one who had well,"bothered" Ruby to join in a conversation later but stopped when she noticed how tired the Flashyfur was.

She stopped like the two to let Ruby rest.

The school bell rang and it signalled that it was time for another class.

Classes ender for the day as the Flashyfur and her Crew retired back to their room, hoping to get a good night's sleep, fortunately and unfortunately enough, tomorrow was a weekend and...they have a project to do by Professor Marblemouse.

Ruby was sprawled on her bed, deep in thought. She had a strong urge to work on the project but her body refused to move. She was exhausted.

Lazily getting her phone, she considered chatting with her Brother but at this time, he's probably passed out from exhaustion by this time.

She...checked to see other stuff too see if she missed anything. Nope, she did not.

Strange, her Mother didn't bother her for the whole day, so...that's a relief.

Sighing, she thought she had to check on her brother to see how he's doing. She put her phone down, changing into her pajamas lay down, and finally, slowly succumbed into slumber.

This time, her Mother wasn't breathing down her neck.

She was fine

At least for now

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There you have it folks, Chapter 2 is done!

and, its also one of the Thea Sisters first debut, Martina!

in case you didn't know, Martina is Paulina in my AU, i changed her name for au reasons.

More Notes:

If you don't know what an Īnling is, its basically a Ghost species of sort in my au, which i may or may not explain it later on the story for plot reasons.

Chapter 3 is on writing (E's part is already done) and i am writing it slowly because i procrastinate a lot, so hopefully i will right now.

So that's all for now mates!

See ya at the next chapter :)

Chapter 3: in Writing