Chapter 6

A few days had passed and Tate seemed to make it a habit to sneak into my room at night where we would just sit and talk until I fell asleep. He was always gone when I woke up. I spent my days with my family mostly. Well, I was either with my mom or Violet and if I was with my sister it was normally only for an hour or two. She still liked to spend most of her time by herself.

Tomorrow would be our first day at school and I really wasn't looking forward to it. I didn't particularly mind school it was just the people in it. I honestly did love learning new things.

The night before school I was again sat in my room with Tate. We were mindlessly chatting about anything that popped into our heads. It wasnt until a minute later I realised it was quiet. I turned to my left to look at the blond boy next to me who seemed to be staring at me quizzically.

"What's wrong?" he asked, causing me to frown.

"What makes you think anything is wrong?" Tate scoffed, giving me an amused grin.

"I like to think I know you well enough now to know when something is wrong." he stated. "And something tells me you're worried about something. So what is it?"

Damn him!

"Nothing it's just," I paused letting out a sigh. "Violet and I start school tomorrow."

"Ah, I get it."

"I just don't want anything bad to happen you know?" I shook my head before lying down properly on the bed. Tate was still sat up. "Violet is becoming a loner and I want her to make friends. I don't want her sarcastic attitude to rub people up the wrong way and cause her to get alienated."

Tate lay down next to me and grabbed my hand, giving it a tight squeeze. "Everything will be fine." I didn't reply because something in my gut told me it wouldn't be.

The next morning I woke up and, surprise surprise, Tate was missing. I let out a huge yawn as I rolled out of bed. Heading straight for the shower to get clean and smelling nice I picked out an outfit as the water warmed up. I first put on my underwear then dried my hair. I then slipped on some black leggings with a black and grey batman top which came off one of my shoulders. Pulling my hair into a neat ponytail, I slipped on some shoes then quickly sorted out my bag.

Once I deemed myself ready I headed downstairs. My mother was already in the kitchen making breakfast, greeting me a good morning when she spotted me. I slipped into a chair as my mother put a bowl of fruit salad in front of me. I gave her a warm smile since I knew she was trying to help.

I knew this as she was currently frying bacon and eggs too. That would be for Violet and my dad, Ben. She knew I would refuse to eat it. Half way through the bowl my sister turned up looking grumpy but I didn't blame her. We ate our breakfast in silence.

Finally it was time to head to school, thankfully it was in walking distance. We didn't talk on the way there but I didn't particularly mind. As we reached the large building we stopped.

"Find me at lunch yeah?" I said, causing Violet to simply nod her head before we split off after gathering our time tables. I had English first which I was happy about. After I finally found the classroom I walked inside. Not everyone was here which I was thankful for. Walking up to the teacher who was a male in mid 40s I cleared my throat.

The man looked up with a confused look. "Can I help you?"

"I'm Ruby Harmon." A look of recognition flittered over his face causing him to stand up.

"Yes, you must be my new student. Don't know why I didn't realise that the minute you walked in. How silly of me." he rambled, causing me to smile. He gave me a kind smile before pointing to a seat I should sit in. No one was currently occupying the seat next to it. Thanking my new teacher, Mr Wight, I headed for my seat.

A couple minutes later and the bell finally rang. Ten seconds later the room started to fill up. I wasn't paying attention as I didn't want to see people staring at the 'new girl'. I heard the seat next to me scrape across the floor and from the shoes I could see I could tell it was a boy.

The teacher started speaking so I raised my head so I could pay attention. It wasn't long before my curiosity got the better of me and I turned to look at who was sat next to me. The boy was paying attention to the teacher too despite his looks. He had the look of the typical 'bad boy'. Probably why I was so surprised to see him paying attention.

He had jet black hair which was spiked up with gel yet looked surprisingly soft. He had a light tan dusting his skin and an amazing jaw line. I could see from this angle he had hazel eyes and quite a bit of muscle. The thing I couldn't stop looking at were his eyelashes. I know that sounds weird but I was envious. They were so thick and long.

The boy glance at me from the corner of his eye, raising his brow at me. I blushed as I snapped my head back to the front of the room. I gave the boy a few more glance but thankfully managed to keep up with my work. I was so happy to hear there would be no homework.

I put my things away and headed out the room, only to be stopped the minute I got outside. It was the boy with amazing lashes. He gave me a small smile as he held out his hand. "Hey, I'm Justin." I nervously shook his hand, mumbling my name. "What's your next class?"

"Biology."

"Awesome!" he cheered. "Me too. Come on I will walk you there." The way to my next class the boy, Justin, checked over my timetable. Apparently I had one other class with him. My last of the day - History. I was somehow sitting next to him in this class too where we talked in hushed voices getting to know one another. He was surprisingly a really nice guy.

Lunch finally rolled around and I was so happy when I saw my sister. I ran up to her giving her a smile, asking how her classes went. She didn't enjoy any of her classes so far but she had made one friend. A girl named Georgia. They were in the same Art class.

As we were walking past a group of girls Violet sparked up a cigarette. One girl from the group ran over to us with a frown marring her pretty face. "Hey! Student Council passed a rule against smoking in public places."

"Second hand smoke kills." one of her friends stated. It was silent for a second before Violet spoke.

"I'm new. I didn't know." She flung the fag on the floor, stomping it out with her shoe. Apparently the first girl didn't like that. A look of disbelief and disgust crossed her face.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she exclaimed, causing me and my sister to share a look. "People sit here, they eat here!" Her voice was getting rather shrill for my liking.

"Like my sister said-" I tried to speak but was cut off.

"Oh shut up! I'm not talking to you. I'm talking to this disgusting girl right here."

"Excuse me!" I snapped. "What did you just say." I never got a reply as Violet spoke up again.

"You don't know me. Why are you doing this?"

"Leah's grandmother died of lung cancer." the other girl spoke again. I mean, I understand where the girl is coming from, that must have been hard for her but to act like this was out of order. "She takes this stuff pretty seriously." Suddenly the girl, Leah, bent down and picked up the burnt out squashed fag. What is she doing?

"Eat it!" she growled, holding it out to my sister. Violet just stared at her.

"Um I don't fucking think so." I took a step forward as Leah's head snapped towards me.

"Again, I wasn't talking to you."

"You're right... But you are talking to me sister." I may not be able to fight but doesn't mean I couldn't try diffuse it before it got out of hand. Leah glared me before turning to Violet.

"Eat it or I'm gunna kick the shit out of you."

"No!" Violet shook her head and took a small step back. "What?" Apparently one her the bitches friends had more sense when she stepped forward and tried to get her to stop.

"No, no, no!" Leah snapped. I swear she looked deranged. "I want to see her eat it." My sister shook her head in refusal while the crazy bitch kept repeating for her to eat it.

"Leah, seriously she is like 12." her friend said desperately. Leah had started to walk forward so I swung my hand out, grabbing the cigarette from her hand. Leah's gaze focused on me.

"Give me that!"

"How about no."

"Give me it." she screamed.

"Go fuck yourself." That's when she jumped on me. She grabbed my ponytail yanking my head back. Just as she was about to punch me in the face Violet grabbed her. Leah stumbled back spotting the discarded fag I dropped. She jumped at it before grabbing Violet. She literally was trying to force it into her mouth. Violet managed to get loose but before leaving she spat right in Leah's face.

Violet and I ran, listening to Leah shout about how we were both going to be dead. When we were far enough we stopped. "What a great first day." Violet remarked sarcastically. I gave her a shaky grin but didn't reply.

Soon enough lunch was over and we had to separate once more. It wasn't long til the day was over though. I was walking with Justin as I headed out the building to find my sister. "Okay well, that's my dad so I have to go but I will see you tomorrow?"

"Sure. Bye Justin!" I waved before rushing forward. My sister was ready outside waiting for me. Again the walk home was quiet. I was pleasantly surprised to see mom had dinner waiting on the table for us when we walked inside.

After eating and talking to mom about school, leaving out the incident, I headed to my room. Putting on some music I sat on the edge of my bed as I yanked off my shoes, a small relived sigh passing my lips as they finally fell to the floor.

I didn't know why but I decided to do my homework. I only had one piece and it wouldn't take me long so I figured I best get it out the way. Once done I headed downstairs, pulling the bobble out my hair as I did so. My head was starting to hurt because of it.

I found my mom in the living room on her own. "Hey." I said casually as I plopped on the couch next to her. "So, did anything exciting happen when we were off at school?"

My mom shook her head with a smile. "No, not really. I met the neighbour though."

"Really what were they like?" I asked curiously. What if this neighbour was Tate's family?

"Well it was all so strange really. A girl called Addie turned up stating I was going to die in this house." Mom said with a frown. Ok, that was weird. "She seemed more like a grown woman than a girl though."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it looked like she has down syndrome bless her." she explained. Oh, that poor girl. "Her mother then turned up to collect her. Her name is Constance. She was strange but in a way I can't explain. Finally just as she was leaving she gave me something to help with the house."

"What do you mean to help with the house?" I asked confused. My mother shrugged.

"She said something about cleansing the bad spirits, or memories I can't remember. I just hope I dont have to deal with that women often."

I sat with my mom for a little bit longer before finally retiring to my room. I changed into some shorts and a baggy top. I smiled when I suddenly heard the familiar tapping on glass. Rushing over to let Tate in I yanked open the window. Once he was in he pulled me into a warm hug. I think I melted a little bit in his embrace.

"How did school go?" he asked me. I groaned, walking over to my bed flopping face first down on it. He moved towards me and crawled on top of the bed. I decided to go with what really happened and not what I told my parents. He sat patiently, quietly, as I told him but I saw him tense up when I mentioned what happened with Leah. I could see his fingers clench and his jaw twitch.

"I mean, it's fine nothing really happened and no one was hurt." I ended.

"And what if she decides to do it again?" he snapped. I didn't take any offence to it because I knew his anger wasn't directed at me. I simply shrugged. I moved over so I could hug him. I simply kept hugging him until I was sure he had calmed down. "So, what was the name of this friend you made?"

"Oh, Justin." I felt his body tense once more causing my to look up. His eyes were narrowed down at me.

"I should go." he murmured.

"What! Why?"

"You've had a long day." he told me, pushing some of my hair behind my ear. "You need rest." He pressed a swift kiss to my forehead before leaving my room via window. I plopped down with a huff. What was that?! Maybe his mom had actually noticed him being missing at night and he had gotten in trouble and he simply didn't want to let me know.

I fumbled around until I found the edge of the covers then slipped inside. Tate was right: I did need sleep. The minute I curled up and got comfy I was fast asleep.

My eyes snapped open, harsh breath was leaving my mouth and my heart was beating painfully against my chest. It was that dream again. The dream where Tate gets killed. Sitting up I brushed my messy hair away from my face.

This was not normal. I didn't know why I was having these dreams.

I headed to the bathroom when then need to pee hit me. As I was washing my hands I heard something from my room. Slowly turning off the taps I cautiously crept back to my room. It was empty.

Walking in further I stopped when I thought I heard something. Oh fuck I really was going insane. I heard the distinct sound of footsteps again but I was clearly the only one inside this room. I sprinted to my bed and curled up into a ball.

"I want Tate." I whispered to myself, not seeing the exact person I wanted stood at the end of my bed, watching me.