i slept in way too late, lmao- uh, I finished a book though. It's called The Slayers, it's the second book in a YA urban fantasy series, and it's by Katie Faith. They're insanely good and I definitely recommend them.

Birthday was good, I consumed mass amounts of chocolate and now own two Fnaf posters and plushies, and almost every Fnaf book. A successful birthday ?

Reviews!

MoonTheMagical: Cats are so amazing. Is that cat afraid of cucumbers too? Mine isn't, sadly- she's currently yelling at me for food.

Naughtycat9: Thank you so much!

SomeRandomRobo: Yeah, that's what Phone Dude says in the game. Kinda sus...

Qxr: I read your stories and they are incredibly good and funny. Which Fazbear Frights book is that? Is it the new one, because I haven't read that one yet.

Enjoy!

Chapter 49

Girl Meets Girl

Ruby yawned and slumped up against the cushy, ragged gray passenger's seat of Tulisa's beat-up van. Tulisa saved up all year to get it, and was insanely proud of 'Destiny', which she'd named after the license plate: D3ST1NY. Honestly, it was a pretty cool license plate.

Ruby had called shotgun, even though it was only her and Tulisa, and Ruby still couldn't drive. They were heading to the park to pick Josh up from his daily run. Apparently his soccer coach was telling him he needed to train in the mornings for their upcoming game against the private school Capricorn High.

They pulled up in the parking lot, and a sweaty Josh jogged over, panting. Ruby unlocked the doors and rolled down the window to call to him.

"Get in loser, I've got a bio test to fail." She yelled. Josh jumped in the car and threw his backpack onto the seat, a couple gross-looking healthy granola bars spilling out.

"Oi! Get your gross birdseed bars off my beautiful van!" Tulisa shouted.

Josh wrinkled his nose. "This van is a dump. What even is this stain?" He asked, pointing to a dark reddish-purple stain on one of the left side seats.

Tulisa gasped. "Dessie is not a dump! She is a beautiful shining stallion!"

"Stallions are male horses, Lise." Ruby corrected.

"Whatever." Tulisa sniffed. "She's still pretty. And nothing you guys say can take away from that."

They reached the school parking lot, and Tulisa parked the van with expertise. The three of them walked past groups of kids chatting, studying, or throwing around a Frizbee, into the school.

"Okay, here's my locker. Cool that we don't have to share this year." Ruby said. Josh nodded.

"Yeah, I heard there were only like, two new kids in our grade this year. Usually we get a ton."

"Guess nobody wants to live here now that Freddy's is closed. It was like, the only thing Hurricane was famous for." Ruby unlocked her door with a few quick slides.

She grabbed a couple of books and turned to the twins to continue talking to them, but was promptly knocked down by two girls she identified as Camilla Knight and Risa Acharya, who were yammering on so much Ruby wondered how their jaws didn't fall off.

"Hey!" Ruby called, but they ignored her, heading to where Matt Spier, stereotypical jock, Mitzi Grey, stereotypical dumb blonde (Karen from Mean Girls vibes), and Abbie Mason, stereotypical queen bee, stood. She wound a long dark curl around her manicured finger and chatted airily with her friends.

Tulisa rolled her eyes and helped Ruby pick up her books.

"Just ignore them."

"I already do." Ruby muttered, brushing off her distressed black jean shorts.

The sound of footsteps registered before the person knocking into her for the second time did in her brain. Ruby fell to the floor with an oomph, as did the person who'd crashed into her.

"Owww…" She rubbed her forehead, which had bonked right onto the locker door. Ruby could practically taste the ugly violet bruise that was sure to form.

"Oh, sorry! I didn't see you there!" The person said, and Ruby looked up to get a better look at them.

He had caramel-coloured skin, and striking pale marks on his cheeks and over one eye - vitiligo, she thought it was called. He had warm brown eyes and his hair was split down the middle - one side dyed dark magenta, the other dyed a lovely shade of lavender. Freckles dotted his cheeks, and he was wearing a navy blue hoodie with a collar and a moon on it.

He grinned and passed her some books. When he was done, he stood up, Ruby following.

"I'm Ducky Simone, pleased to meet you!" Ducky stuck out his hand, and Ruby admired the lavender-and-black glittery immaculate manicure he had. She accepted and gave him a hearty hand-shaking.

"Ruby Roxanne. Ducky...is that your real name?" She asked. Ducky rolled his eyes.

"Nope. But there's no way I'm going by Dick III for the rest of my life. I literally have two older brothers, Dalton and Jonah, and two older sisters, Amalia and Heather, why not stick them with that name? Why the youngest?"

Huh. Heather was his older sister?

Tulisa laughed. "Yeah, that's weird. I'm Tulisa Abbott, and this is my twin brother Josh."

Ducky's eyes lit up. "Ooh, twins! Do you guys do that twin-switchy thing? Probably not, Josh is way taller."

Josh stuck out his tongue in a sassy manner and Tulisa shoved him playfully.

Ruby grinned. "So...Heather's your older sister? I work with her. You two look…I mean, you two are..."

"Different looking? I know right? My mom's white with blonde hair, and she gets it from her. She looks different from all of my siblings and me...the odd duckling, I guess you could say. Rather ironic!" Ducky laughed.

Ruby blushed, now feeling silly for beating around the bush like that when he answered so enthusiastically.

"So, what were you doing careening down the hall like a bull? You practically sent Ruby flying into the stratosphere!" Josh asked.

Ducky blinked.

"Running's faster."

Josh laughed. "Uhm, yeah. But like, why didn't you just walk?"

"Because it's inefficient. We'd save so much time if we all just ran everywhere." Ducky pointed out.

Josh paused. "Huh. I mean, you're right, but it also is tiring, plus you might crash into people like you did here."

Ducky waved a hand. "Minor casualties. Bumps in the long road of life. No offense, Ruby."

"None taken. Maybe then-"

"DUCKY SIMONE!"

"Ah crap." Ducky muttered, then turned to the girl who was stalking angrily up to them. To Ruby's surprise, the girl was Abbie. Ducky twirled around with a pleasant expression on his face.

"Hiya, cuz! Long time no see. How's it been?" He asked cheerfully. Abbie groaned.

"Spare me the small talk. WHAT are you doing here, at MY school?" She spat, placing her manicured hands on her pleated skirt-covered hips.

Ducky rolled his eyes. "We moved here from Saffron, remember? Dad wanted me to go here so that we could 'bond'. Why are you so made that I'm here? Afraid I'm going to embarrass you in front of all your 'cool' friends?"

"Oh my God, shut up." Abbie hissed, casting a nervous glance back to Camilla, Risa, Mitzi, and Matt, who were all staring at her in confusion. Ducky laughed in triumph and immediately slung an arm around his cousin's shoulder.

"Ah, this is going to be so much fun…"

Abbie shoved him off. "What-ever. Just...stay away from me, okay?" With that, she tossed a handful of dark curls over one shoulder and sashayed on over to her friends.

"Wait. Abbie Mason is your cousin?!" Tulisa asked incredulously. Ducky sighed.

"Unfortunately, yes." He paused. "Well, maybe not unfortunately. She's actually quite nice once you get to know her."

Josh snorted. "Abbie, nice? I'll believe that when cats fly."

Ruby laughed. "Guess I'll have to strap a pair of wings to Candy- WOAH WHO IS THAT?!"

Ruby's attention flickered over to the stunning girl who was walking with an air of elegance down the hallway.

She had black hair in space buns, smooth bangs, and two curled pieces that hung down. She had pale, almost white skin, and brown almond-shaped eyes. The girl wore a spiked choker, a bright indigo cropped spaghetti-strap tank top, a purple transparent jacket, and a magenta plaid skirt. She wore hot pink cat ears in her hair and thigh high fishnets paired with inky black Doctor Martins. In other words, literally the most beautiful girl Ruby had ever seen.

Ducky turned and noticed who Ruby was pointing to.

"Who? Oh, that's Myah Shoyo. She used to go to the private school, but her mother wanted her to come here, I don't remember why. Her younger sibling, Avian, was in my violin class last year, and I know that their parents have some serious cash."

Most of what Ducky said was blanked out however, by Ruby's brain going:

Prettygirlprettygirlprettygirlohgodshe'swalkingtowardsmeohgodwhatdoido!

Was this what gay panic felt like? If so, it wasn't doing her any favours. Her brain felt like mush and her legs were made of cement. She hadn't even said one word to this girl and she was already drooling over her? Dang.

"Hey, I think my locker's beside yours." Myah pointed out.

"You're outfit is pretty…" Ruby blurted out, then immediately regretted it. Ugh, that was SO UNCOOL!

But to her surprise, Myah giggled, a light blush spreading over her cheeks. She had the cutest laugh. It was small and ringing, like little fairy bells.

"Thank you! I think you're pretty too." She smiled. "I'm Myah Shoyo."

"I know," Ruby said, then face-palmed. Couldn't she say just one cool thing in the presence of this girl? She was Ruby friggin' Roxanne! She spat in the face of danger! She was friends with murderous animatronics!

"I'm Ruby Roxanne." Ruby told her, beaming. Finally, one normal thing had come out of her mouth.

"That's a really pretty name. Um, do you mind…" Myah pointed to her locker. Ruby flushed and moved out of the way. "Sorry!"

"That's okay!" Myah unlocked the door and placed her books and purse inside. She unzipped said purse and fastened a magnetic mirror onto the blue locker door. Myah added another layer of lip gloss and turned around.

"Hey, do you mind showing me where Math is? I completely forgot." She laughed.

Tulisa wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "I bet Ruby would loooove to show you where Math is. Wouldn't you, Rubes?"

Ruby almost slapped her friend, but of course didn't.

"S-sure, I'll show you. It's just down the left hallway and to the right. I'll walk you there." Ruby suggested. Myah grinned.

"Cool. Thanks!"

They wandered down the hall, past groups of kids milling about and teachers looking through books, getting ready for the new school year.

Ruby snuck a glance behind her and saw her friends making kissy faces and flapping their hands like angel wings. Ruby rolled her eyes and turned back to Myah. Sure, she was beautiful, and cute, and seemed really sweet, but she barely knew anything about her. What if Myah was actually an evil soul-sucking alien here to take over her body? It was unlikely, but possible.

"So, why'd you transfer?" Ruby asked, fiddling with an anime cat keychain on her backpack. Myah's gaze flickered downwards for a moment.

"Um, my mom just wanted me to go here for senior year, she said the people here were...nicer." Myah trailed off.

Ruby nodded. "Ah. Yeah, there's some pretty...nice people here. You can sit with me and my friends at lunch, if you want to?"

Myah perked up.

"Really? Thanks! I'd love to!" A smile made her face glow even more. Ruby couldn't help but sneak a few quick looks. They walked past a couple kids before finally reaching the door. It was plastered with cheesy inspirational posters, like 'Dare to Read' or 'Why do they say sky's the limit...when there are footprints on the moon.' Okay, that last one was kind of cool. But still.

"Here's Math class. The teacher, Mr Abrams, is pretty boring, but other than that this class is tolerable. He also somehow doesn't notice if you chew gum in class, just make sure to sit in the back like I do. Oh, and science is amazing. The teacher, Ms Diaz, is seriously so nice, you'll love her."

Ruby dug around in her bag and pulled out a red stick of cherry gum. She passed it over. Myah took it and popped it in her mouth eagerly. "Thanks! I love cherry. It's a really beautiful colour, it's just like your hair."

Ruby blushed. "Thank you so much! I love your outfit, it's so pretty." Somehow, that was Ruby's way of humility. Deflect a compliment with a compliment. It usually worked, but it appeared that was Myah's strategy too. So then they ended up in this endless loop of compliments.

Myah grinned and opened her mouth as if to say something, but before she could, the bell cut her off with its loud ringing. Myah smiled apologetically and waved goodbye to Ruby.

"See you at lunch!" She called.

"You too!" Ruby watched as Myah dashed into the classroom. She sighed and turned around to head over to PE, her first class. New year, new friends, and possibly a new crush. She couldn't wait till lunch.

~lll~

"Josh, tell me why you brought a giant bag of hard-boiled eggs to lunch?"

It was lunchtime, and Ruby, Tulisa, and Josh were all sitting in their usual spot, with the new additions of Myah and Ducky next to them. The topic of conversation was currently Josh and his strange lunch that he'd pulled out of his bag. A large plastic Zipploc bag filled to the brim with cold hard-boiled eggs.

Josh shrugged and popped one in his mouth, chewing it with relish. "Coach says I need to bulk up, so I thought I'd eat these 'cause they've got a lot of protein." He said all this with his mouth still full of chewed-up egg.

Tulisa gagged. "I think I'm going to be sick. God, why can't you eat something normal?"

Josh swallowed the eggs and held up a finger. He dug around in his yellow sports bag and pulled out...a ginormous jar of floating olive-green pickles. He pulled a fork out of the front pocket and speared one of them in the middle, removing it from the jar and taking a big, crispy, crunchy bite.

Tulisa face-palmed, but Ducky leaned over, enthralled.

"Pass me one, man! They look good."

Josh complied, passing the jar to his friend. Josh had taken a liking to Ducky, happy that there was another guy he could talk to.

Ruby clapped her hands excitedly. "I want one too! My, do you want one?" She asked the petite girl sitting cross-legged beside her. Myah thought for a moment, then shrugged.

"Sure, why not."

Tulisa watched her friends all enjoy the strange lunch that was the oddly large pickles. Pickles were so gross! How could they all just sit there and eat them?!

Ruby stared down her friend. "C'mon, Lisey! Have one!"

Tulisa shook her head. "Nope. Peer pressure."

"Pick-le. Pick-le. Pick-le." Ducky chanted, pounding his fists onto the grass. Josh joined in, then Ruby, then Myah. Soon, even kids Tulisa didn't know who were sitting beside them had started chanting too. She groaned.

"Okay, okay! I'll have a pickle."

Everyone cheered.

Josh passed his sister a small one, and Tulisa held it experimentally, examining it closely. Green. She sniffed it. Tangy. She gave it a small lick. Sour. She was clearly stalling, trying to drag it out for as long as she could, but Tulisa just really, really didn't like pickles.

Ruby rolled her eyes.

"Oh my God, just eat it!"

"Fine!" Tulisa took one last look and shoved it all in her mouth, chewing it slowly and thoughtfully. She swallowed. Hmm. The tangy, slightly sour, slightly sweet taste actually kind of worked. There was a fresh taste of spices to it that was a lovely touch, and for someone who hated pickles, this was actually a pretty decent one.

"Huh. Y'know, it's honestly not that bad." Tulisa decided.

Josh clapped his hands in victory. "Yay!"

Ruby grinned. "Damn, and I thought my lunches of whole-wheat grape-juice mini-muffins and chickpea hummus with string beans were weird. You certainly take the cake, Josh."

Josh smiled. "Well, I do love cake. Ooh, I tried this cake that had olives, sprinkles, and chocolate ici-"

"Ew! I'm literally going to be sick, shut up!" Tulisa pleaded, falling over onto the soft green grass dappled with acorn shells. Myah and Ducky laughed, and the topic of conversation switched over to cheerleading and Ducky's many awards in the sport.

Ruby smiled at how easily her new friends were fitting in with her best friends. This school year was promising, and Ruby couldn't wait to see what the coming months had in store for her.

Cute! Ducky won't be a super big part of this story, but Myah will definitely be important to this act…

Question/Challenge: What's your favourite sport? I like swimming, curling, and soccer (although I'm not a super sporty person).

Have an amazing day/night!

~Ghost