A/N: Apologies in advance for another 'Pet Window' chapter while the story takes another brief detour into some fluff.

Outside the main school building, Shannon had found herself a particular spot where she could sit by herself in quiet solitude. She had discovered it as she slowly trekked across the mostly abandoned school yard: a portion of an outer wall, which contained no windows or doors, jutting its way toward a chain-link fence, and was also bordered by a relatively tall hedgerow; there was just enough space for human life to slip in between the building and the hedges with some elbow room to spare… it seemed like a rather cozy little spot of peaceful secrecy, especially during this time of year, when most of the flora of Royal Woods was still relatively full, despite the fact that the greenery had the sun-kissed tint of yellow in their leaves, which was indicative of the progression of the impending autumnal color change. She rested the back of her head against the wall, and just allowed her senses to absorb her surroundings for a while: the medley of birds as they sang their songs, traffic from nearby streets, and an occasional voice or two from a faculty member who approached their vehicle in the adjacent parking lot stimulated her sense of hearing, while the flutter of the leaves in front of her – either from a faint breeze, or due to ants and other insects scampering their way across them – stimulated her sense of vision.

Very slowly, she began to allow her eyes to ease shut and just let her mind wander where it may; after all, it would still be quite some time before either of her parents would arrive to pick her up… of course, this presented itself with an interesting predicament that she had to figure out: how was she going to explain relinquishing such a major part in the school play, especially after she was clearly so very excited to have been cast in said part to begin with? Mayhap she did not have to… she could still play another part, even if it was a much smaller and/or less significant one, like maybe a fairy who dwells in the forest?

Quite some time later, the peaceful solitude of her private time had all but lulled Shannon into a little nap, but a voice suddenly jolted her back to her senses as it spoke to her, 'Ah, there you are.' She turned her head to find the Indian girl approach her, which seemed to be happening a lot between the two of them as of late. Ruby slipped between the structure and the hedgerow to where Shannon sat on the ground, curious not only as to why she was here instead of rehearsal, but also why she had relinquished her role in the play as well.

"Like, what's going on?" She asked as she stood over her friend. "Did you, like, seriously let Amy bully you out of that role just so she could play with Rex on stage?"

Shannon sighed, shook her head, and responded, "No, I bowed out of the role on my own accord… it just wasn't worth having to deal with Amy's toxicity."

Ruby, likewise, shook her head, but rather, in disappointment in her friend's actions: "Shannon, you're, like, totally letting her get her way and push you around! You don't need to do that!"

Shannon, however, contested, "It's not that big of a deal… I mean, yeah, sure, I was excited about getting the part of Hermia, but like I said, Amy's toxicity isn't worth it… I could still be in the play if I had a different role."

Ruby continued to shake her head, "You totally should've kept the role; you totally have way more talent in your baby finger than she does her skinny body! She, like, totally sucks! She, like, can't remember her lines and she, like, can't act worth crap!"

Shannon shrugged, "Well… maybe Mrs. Bernardo will flunk her out of the club, then…"

Although Ruby wholeheartedly agreed with such a hypothetical scenario, little did she know how uncharacteristic such a sentiment was coming from Shannon – malice was a quality that she usually did not possess, let alone to speak and/or think ill of other people, but even a soft-spoken girl like Shannon Tannenbaum had her limits, of which Amy was increasingly reaching; the very idea that if Amy is as bad at acting as Ruby says could somehow influence Mrs. Bernardo into flunking her out the club suddenly felt like a probable silver lining to the bespectacled brunette… of course, there was no way to make Amy disappear from her life completely, but it would make the theater club far less of a toxic environment, which would make for a more enjoyable elective, overall.

She then turned and looked up at Ruby to express an appreciation for something she had done earlier that day: "Hey, Ruby, listen… I know this may sound silly, and you really didn't have to… but… thanks… for sticking up for me this morning when Amy was attacking me…"

People still gave thanks to other people for the things they do for them? Ruby found it rather surprising, especially since she actually didn't think much of what she did earlier to subdue Amy – after all, she's had to deal with Amy's brand of so-called 'bitchcraft' for three years at Fern Valley Middle, it was about time she was knocked down a peg or two.

Still, Ruby thought of it as no big deal, though she knelt down next to Shannon and said, "I mean, that's what friends do, isn't it? Like, stick up for each other?"

All Shannon could do was smile. "Yeah…"

Ruby smiled just the same. Even in spite of that little uplifting speech, she could see that Shannon was still visibly upset about the entire situation, so she offered her friend something a little more comforting that mere words: a hug. A gesture that Shannon not only deeply appreciated, but also was quick to offer up to Ruby in return. Even as they held one another in an embrace, Ruby could not believe Shannon did not even like her own hair – she was quite in awe over just how soft and fluffy her wavy mane felt in her hands. Upon the realization that it was time for her to get home after the day's rehearsal had concluded, the Indian girl pulled away from her friend and arose to her feet.

"I guess I better get goin'," she said before she queried about her friend's arrangement. "You good to go?"

"Yeah," nodded Shannon as she finally worked her way back up to her feet as well. "Either my mom or dad should be here to pick me up any minute…"

"Cool," Ruby nodded and maneuvered around the hedgerow to make her way over to the sidewalk to head for home. "See you tomorrow, Shans!"

Shannon found that to be an unusual little nickname extended to her – at least, it was one she had never heard before, as she returned the farewell in a similar manner, "See you… Rubes!"

She quickly realized that Ruby was right: sticking up for one another is exactly something that friends do… it seemed somewhat alien to her, if only because it was the first time anybody had done anything of the sort for her in such an ugly situation like what had unfolded in the hallway that morning. And, the more Shannon thought about not just that, but other things that had transpired as of late, the more she also began to think that Ruby was, perhaps, the best friend she ever had… something that would be confirmed for her the following day…

The following was one of the more chaotic days of the entire school year, as it was picture day – a day that ordinarily caused some major disruptions for the entire school, as classes and other regularly scheduled daily functions were interrupted for students and faculty alike to stand in lengthy lines within the gymnasium to have their pictures taken for the school year book, with many of them dressed in their best… Amy and Rex had opted to be one of those couples who dress alike, as they waited in line in matching green dress shirts, while Rex wore navy slacks, and Amy wore a long navy skirt. Despite the simplicity of her short-sleeved, knee-length orange dress, Shannon did clean up nicely, but what she really looked forward to was putting all of this picture day hoopla behind her – though, it actually did not end with the photographer who had snapped her headshot for the year book early in the afternoon…

When theater club met up for another day of rehearsal after school, Shannon found that Ruby was, apparently, still in the mood for taking pictures; the Indian girl shimmered and sparkled in a flashy, sequined dress that was a bright shade of red which was very befitting of her namesake.

"Wow, now you really look like a ruby!" Shannon remarked of her friend's ensemble, which she thought looked amazing on her.

"I have totally been getting that from everybody, like, all day!" Ruby chuckled before she produced her phone and asked, "How about a selfie together?"

Shannon was a little taken aback by the offer and asked, "Haven't you had enough pictures taken for one day?"

"No way," rebutted Ruby. "I, like, totally gotta get some pics with my extended theater FAM, and that includes you! Besides, don't you think our dresses, like, totally look fab together?"

Not being much of a fashion victim, Shannon really had no response for that, other than she did think that the colors of their respective dresses did compliment the other quite nicely, even in spite of the fact that her dress was rather plain and simplistic in comparison to Ruby's much flashier dress. But, what was the harm in one more picture taken?

"Alright, if you insist…" shrugged Shannon.

Ruby wasted no time in wrapping an arm around Shannon's shoulders and pulling her close to fit within the frame boundaries of her phone's camera. After the picture had been snapped, Ruby could not help but chuckle over how amusing she found that the selfie had turned out.

"We look so derpy!" She chuckled.

"I don't get asked to be in selfies very often," said Shannon as if she accepted sole responsibility for how said selfie had turned out.

"Well, get used to it," said Ruby with a wink before she went about her way to take selfies with some of other fellow thespians.

No sooner did the day's rehearsals conclude, and by the time Shannon had gotten home, changed back into more comfortable, casual clothing, she heard a notification tone on her own phone alert her of a new social media post. The notification had come from her Instacram app, and upon launching said app, she saw red_ruby had posted all of the theater selfies she had taken just a little while ago.

She chuckled as she swiped through the collection of selfies, the first few of which were of her and Spencer –who was a strapping, handsome fellow clad in a bright white suit- striking a number of lovey-dovey poses as though they were the it-couple of Royal Woods High.

Next, she saw a selfie Ruby had taken with Luan –who was clad in her elegant, floor-length yellow dress- while the comedienne flashed two of her fingers behind the Indian girl's head like a pair of devil horns, which seemed rather visually poetic, given Ruby's red dress.

Ruby's next selfie was with Lyberti –who caused a little bit of a controversy with her choice of wearing a tuxedo for her picture day ensemble, which definitely seemed as though she channeled her inner Judy Garland or Janelle Monae- both of them with their mouths wide open, as though they had belted out a musical duet.

Finally, Shannon came to the selfie that the two of them had taken, and was once again a little turned off by the 'derpy' look on her face, still not being used to be asked to take selfies with… but, what really caught her attention was the caption that Ruby had posted with this selfie: 'Best-dressed besties!'

Best-dressed besties? Besties? By now, Shannon was flushed with both a sense of flattery, as well as the warmth of genuine friendship; this positively confirmed how she came to regard Ruby as the best friend she ever had in her life, and now she could see that the feeling was mutual. Even though she had a few true friends in her life, never before had Shannon felt like she was close enough with somebody to consider them her best friend, let alone that anybody felt the same about her. The fact that she now had a best friend, she felt as if she was on top of the world, even if she also thought that she and Ruby were a might mis-matched as friends, considering she, herself, was a rather introverted theater geek, while Ruby was much more of an outgoing butterfly with seemingly higher social standards.

When the two met up for lunch as they usually did the following day, Ruby could not help but notice Shannon had an exceptionally huge grin and something of a rosy glow across her freckled face when she approached their usual table and sat next to her.

"What are you so happy about?" She asked.

Did it really show so much? Shannon was not even aware, as she explained, "We're besties…?"

Something of an amused smirk sprang onto Ruby's face, as she responded, "You know it, girl! It's like you said, we're not so different, you and I; we're pretty much, like, samesies!"

Shannon suddenly looked a little confused and asked, "I did? I said that?"

She could not remember ever having said such, but she actually had – to a certain degree. What it was that she had actually said was when she had recently remarked how despite she and Ruby coming from different cultural backgrounds, that both of their respective cultures had some similarities to them – of which, Ruby, evidently, felt also applied to both of them as people, as well.

"Besides, getting to know you has been, like, totally fascinating," said Ruby as she took a bite of her chicken sandwich.

Shannon found this to be a rather tough pill to swallow; Ruby couldn't possibly be serious about that, could she?

"Oh, come on," she muttered. "Now I know you're just saying that."

"I'm for real!" Ruby insisted. "You totally sell yourself short too much."

"Maybe I just never thought of myself as an interesting person…" confessed Shannon.

"Well, you totally are!" Ruby said with a smile.

This also garnered something of a small smile from Shannon as well, as she informed her new best friend that the sentiment was mutual: "I don't know about that, but you certainly are a very interesting person… I mean… you seem like a really cool girl, but not in a mean girl kind of way, you know what I mean?"

"You mean like Amy?" Ruby asked humorously.

Shannon's brow dropped as she responded, "Amy's not a cool girl…"

"Naw, she's just a mean girl!" Ruby said as she shared in a chuckle with Shannon. Before Shannon even had time to process what had happened next, Ruby had produced her cell phone once again while she wrapped a hand around her shoulder and pulled her in for another selfie. "Time to indulge in a little bestie swag!"

"Ruby…" Shannon muttered while she was caught off guard by this sudden impulse.

The picture was snapped and Ruby had a laugh over another less-than-flattering look on Shannon's face; she remarked, "You look like a deer in the headlights."

"I told you I don't get asked for selfies often…" Shannon reminded Ruby.

"And I told you to get used to it," Ruby reminded Shannon as she began the process of uploading the selfie to Instacram.

"I'm just not… photogenic like you are…" mumbled Shannon.

"Don't be silly," said Ruby. "If you're gonna be a Broadway girl, then people are gonna, like, be taking pictures of you all the time!"

That was a rather valid point that Ruby had just made that Shannon had never even taken into consideration – if she's going to live a life in the public eye, she may as well get used to being captured on camera, whether she was even aware of it or not.

Before Ruby's finger could tap the POST icon, Shannon spoke up, "Could we try that again?"

Ruby looked away from her phone at Shannon's hopeful, wanting face – a face which said she could do better. She smiled and said, "Like, okay!"

Once again, she wrapped her hand around her friend's shoulder as they moved in closer for another selfie; this time, Shannon had such a huge grin on her freckled face – a grin that resembled the same one Ruby had just seen earlier over Shannon's elation in knowing she has a best friend. After the picture was snapped, both girls liked the results a lot better.

"Now there's an award-winning smile!" Ruby remarked, as she proceeded to share this selfie onto Instacram instead of the previous one.

Almost instantly, she saw that the post had received a heart emoji, as well as a comment from one Broadwaygirl1924 that said, 'BESTIES 4EVR!' Ruby stole a glance at the girl who sat next to her and saw that she, too, had pulled out her phone in order to react to the post as soon as Ruby had shared it, which prompted the two to share in another giggle with each other.

It was not just 'Bestie Swag' that Ruby enjoyed her indulgence in, it was also her 'Boyfriend Swag' that she also enjoyed as well, and after the day's regular classes had concluded, she had met up with Spencer by his locker, since the two of them would be on their way to the auditorium for that day's rehearsals.

"Sup, my man?" Ruby asked as she stepped over to the burly jock in the number seven jersey.

"Hey, babe; check it out…" Spencer shut his locker before he pulled his phone from his shorts pocket to show his girlfriend what he had just set as his new home screen wallpaper: one of the selfies she had taken of them from the previous day, with the two of them decked out in their picture day ensembles. "I hafta say, this has gotta be the best wallpaper ever."

"I'll say!" Ruby agreed. "We got swag!"

"You know it!" He said before returned the phone to his pocket. "Well, shall we head over to the auditorium and become fairies?"

She chuckled, "I'm a fairy, and you're a sprite."

"Same diff," he playfully shrugged. As they turned to leave, he suddenly stopped dead in his tracks when he noticed from the opposite direction came Horatio, Carlton, and Brandon – no doubt that they were on their way out onto the playing field for football training. He mumbled, "Oh, crud…"

"What?" Ruby asked.

"It's the guys…" he mumbled again.

"The guys?" She asked; she had yet to meet any of Spencer's other friends, so she was unsure as to what, exactly, he meant.

Spencer quickly turned to his girlfriend, lowered his voice, and asked, "Look, Rubes, do me a favor?"

"Yeah, anything for you, Spence," she offered.

"Don't say anything about the school play or drama club, okay?" He requested.

Ruby looked a little confused as she further inquired, "Why not?"

"Just… don't, okay?" He insisted; he had no time to go into all of the sordid details… and, frankly, he really did not want to go into them if he could help it; the less anybody knew about anything, the better.

As the other three jocks continued to talk shop amongst them, they noticed the pair in the hall, as they stopped for a brief chat.

"Hey, Spence…" Brandon was the first to call out.

"Hey, guys…" Spencer responded with a confident smile that he had screwed onto his face, and an arm around Ruby's shoulder. "I believe you know my gal…"

Finally, they got to see the immortal Ruby Patel in person, and it became apparent to the boys that she looked even hotter in person than in her pics and selfies, as they began to gawk over the sight of the exotic beauty their friend had his arm around.

"VA-VA-VA-VOOM!" Carlton exclaimed with an absolutely goofy look on his face.

"Boi-yoi-YOING!" Horatio also exclaimed with an equally goofy look on his face.

"Hubba-hubba!" Brandon added into the mix.

If there was one thing that a social butterfly like Ruby Patel enjoyed, it was being the center of attention, regardless of the nature in how that attention had been garnered; to see these three boys nearly drool over her brought her some amusement as she engaged in a little more of her particular brand of playful teasing…

"Easy there, boys… I'm afraid there's not enough of me to go around, so, like, save your energy for when you really need it…"

Spencer chuckled as he pulled her even closer and commented, "Dig that sense of humor?"

The other boys also had a chuckle, but a certain word from Ruby's sentence had prompted another topic of discussion for the jocks…

"Speaking of energy, so, Spence, what's up?" Brandon was the first to ask.

"What do you mean?" Spencer asked.

Carlton continued, "What happened to you?"

"You guys are gonna have to be a little more specific…" Spencer said; even though he had a pretty good idea of what the guys were digging at, he still attempted to beat around the bush.

"Fall training, man," Horatio pointed out. "We heard Coach Rubiner talking about how he thought you would be a lineman for the team, but it's like you just disappeared."

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Carlton asked.

This confirmed Spencer's suspicions that it was his quietly dropping out of football training in sports club that the others were digging at; as it turned out, the explanation he offered to their coach was still fresh in his mind from the other day, as he merely repeated it back to his fellow jocks.

"Oh, that," he began. "Yeah, about that, you see, something came up… a family matter of sorts… you know how it is."

Although that was about as far as he had gotten with his explanation before Coach Rubiner agreed to release him from training, the curiosity of the other jocks had remained a little more vexed.

"Yeah, so, what's the deal, then?" Brandon further inquired.

All eyes were glued to Spencer – even Ruby was unable to help darting a glance up at him in quiet confusion; he might have known that his pals would want hear about more details, as they could be rather nosy at times. Luckily, his gift for improvisation was a failsafe that he could rely on in times like this, as he further fabricated an additional explanation for their benefit.

"Okay, see, my granny? She's, uh, she's got the gout…" he continued. "Yeah, and both my parents are working late right now… so, if I don't get home as soon as school's over to rub her feet, then her ankles start to swell, and then she can't get her house shoes off, so… yeah, that's the deal…"

All eyes remained glued to Spencer, although this time, their eyes seemed to express even further confusion as to this explanation – it did sound just a tad odd to them. At least he had Ruby in his corner; even though she, too, was unsure of what to make of this seemingly strange explanation of his, she did what she could to help sell his alibi as she rested her head up against his side, and wrapped her arm around his torso.

"I just totally love a man who's, like, dedicated to FAM…" she cooed in regards to her man.

Spencer could not help but blush a little over Ruby jumping into the well to help save him from drowning under his own lies; he sure felt lucky to have someone like her in his corner. Finally, he spoke up to his fellow jocks again, "Look… I… don't really wanna keep talkin' about it, okay?"

This got the others to back off a little from their inquisition and agree to leave matters where they may and drop the subject; though, it did little to alleviate their disappointment in Spencer not being part of football season for the time being.

"That's a shame, dawg," said Horatio. "We could really use you."

"Yeah, we really thought you'd be able to help carry the team for us," added Carlton.

"Yeah, well… a guy's gotta get his priorities straight, I guess…" said Spencer.

"Respect," said Brandon with a nod before he prompted the others to continue on their way out onto the field. "Well, hope things can get straightened out soon, Spence."

"Yeah, see you around, man…" said Carlton.

"Hasta luego," said Horatio.

As soon as the three had turned a corner, Spencer was able to breathe a sigh of relief; he really appreciated that Ruby helped sell his alibi, as he expressed to her in deep gratitude.

"Thanks, Rubes," he said. "You really came through for me."

"No prob, Spence," she said, but even she was curious to know what all of this was really about. "So, what is the deal, really?"

A look of agitation sprang onto his face; he reminded her, "I really don't wanna keep talking about this, okay?"

"Alright, fine with me," said Ruby as her hands shot up into the air rather defensively.

His face quickly softened again as the two of them resumed their trip over to the auditorium with their arms around each other.

"Come on, let's go indulge ourselves in a little high drama…" he said.

"Right with you, my dude…" she agreed.

Despite her otherwise valley girl demeanor, Ruby was not at all a ditz, and it did not take rocket science for her to start putting two and two together… clearly, these other guys whom Spencer engaged in conversation with were jocks, like him. All of this discussion about him not training for a team? And this rather wild story about this after school family matter, even though he clearly was at rehearsals? Not to mention he practically pleaded with her not to mention said rehearsals? She was beginning to figure out that he did not want the others to know the truth that; perhaps, he had chosen to be in a school play over training for a team sport instead. As to why that even mattered, she was still unsure… unless Spencer had concerns over how this would affect his image.

I recently read an article online that suggests having any of the characters deliver one of those, "What are friends for?" speeches is a sign of bad writing. Maybe my haters are right; maybe I am a complete hack. I'm the absolute worst... the worst, Jerry! In all seriousness, though, I suppose I can understand... it has become something of an overused cliché in writing, but even so, sometimes somebody who's down in the dumps just needs to hear something as uplifting as such, which is what Shannon needed at the time.

Hope you enjoyed this calm before the storm, because we have a disturbance in the force ahead of us...