Late update haha, my greatest apologies. I had a very busy two weeks, as well as major writer's block. But I am back, with this chapter and two more half-finished ones to come! As well as a haircut, very neat-o.

Reviews!

mixsii: so true queen, keep slaying.

MoonTheMagical: Oh, that's annoying. Too bad. And sour stuff is the best, like sour keys. Mmmm.

Penguimom: I'm jealous. Take me with you!

Qxr: Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it :)

SomeRandomRobo: Seriously? That teacher sounds amazing! You're so lucky. And I did not know that about the horse, very interesting.

Enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 61

The Queen Of Hearts

Ruby yawned, stretching out her long legs, and threw her phone onto her sweet-potato-coloured quilt blankets, groaning loudly. She'd been in her bedroom playing Cookie Run: Kingdom for the past three hours, and she was bored out of her skull.

Her phone vibrated suddenly, probably Tulisa or Josh texting her about something stupid. One time, Josh called her at one in the morning just to ask how long to microwave his popcorn when it was right on the package.

But nope it was a text from...Myah! Ruby did a fist-pump in celebration. So far, the only conversations they'd had via text were Ruby sending photos of sharks with human teeth and Myah saying she was getting nightmares from them.

myahisdumb: hi! i was wondering if u wanted to come over to my place today? any time from 10-4 works and i can send you the address :3

myahisdumb: sorry i think avian changed my username lololololol

Ruby's heart beat faster. Myah was inviting her over? What did this mean?

Calm down, Ruby told herself sternly. Friends invite each other over all the time. Besides, her siblings will be there, it's not like anything's going to happen.

Besides the fact that Ruby had a massive crush on the girl, it would be cool to see what her house looked like! It was weird how little she still knew about Myah. Ruby knew she had a mom and a dad, and that she had two younger siblings named Avian and Lyssa, and that she lived in a pretty nice house, but that was all she had to work off of.

Ruby glanced wryly at the piles and piles of clothes on the floor...not exactly the cleanest place in the world. And what was she going to wear? Right now, she was wearing a simple white tee that her aunt Daisy and cousins got from London, and a pair of worn red cotton track shorts she'd had for five years. Not exactly date-ready. Nope. Not a date. But should she try to dress somewhat formally, or dress more edgy, or what?

Ruby shook her head to clear all the anxious thoughts. First, she'd have to check with her mom if it was okay first. Then, she could panic.

Ruby ran down the beige-carpeted stairs, taking them two at a time. Not three at a time. That was how she twisted her ankle in late July. She skidded down the hall thanks to her slippery orange socks, and ended up right in the middle of their family room.

Jared was reading the newspaper with a mug of coffee in hand, and her mother was scrolling through Bookface on her phone. Cindy was perched on top of her new yellow scratching post, while Candy rested comfortably on one of Rylie's chartreuse hoodies. They glanced up to see Ruby with a winning smile plastered onto her face. She batted her eyelashes in what she hoped was a convincing matter.

"Mother dearest, giver of my life, spawnpoint-"

Her mother raised her eyebrows. "What do you want, Rubes."

"Can I go to my friend Myah's house? Please please please please please please please? I'll be super polite, and I'll come back as soon as I can, and-"

Jared held up a hand. "What's her last name?"

Ruby paused. "Um. Shoyo, I think?"

Jared's eyes lit up. "Yes, I know her father! Ryuk, right? He went to law school with me. They live on Dragondream Street, remember? In the green house at the end of the road?" He prompted Ruby's mom.

Her mother nodded faintly. She obviously didn't remember, but it was good that Jared knew Myah's dad.

"Will her parents be home?" Her mother asked. Ruby shrugged.

"Here I'll text her." Ruby pulled out her phone, the back of the case featuring a cute green dinosaur sticker Chica drew for her.

rubyred: my mom wants to know if your parents will be home?

myahisdumb is typing…

myahisdumb: yeah my mom will be home, she's busy with lyssa and kathy though so she won't be around much :P

rubyred: who's kathy?

myahisdumb: oh, she's one of lyssa's aids. she's rly nice :) she made oatmeal cookies so you could have some of those if you want xoxo

rubyred: ooooo cookies :O

Ruby held up her red-cased phone in order to show her mother the texts. She batted her eyelashes again, a pleading look in her tawny hazel eyes.

"Pleaseeeeeeeeee? I'll be the most polite person in the universe! I'll...scrub their floors! And their ceilings! Pretty pretty please with a cherry on top?"

Her mother and Jared shared a glance. A few moments passed before her mother finally nodded.

"Yes, you may. Ten-thirty till twelve-thirty, and text me if you two are leaving the house. And for goodness sakes Ruby, you don't have to wash their ceilings!"

Ruby sagged in relief. "Yessss. Thanks, Mom!"

She turned around, dashing up the stairs and back up to her room, making sure to tiptoe past Rylie's room. Jeez, it was ten in the morning and her sister still wasn't up yet? Talk about a major night owl. Though, Ruby was kind of a hypocrite on that subject though, so she wasn't really one to talk.

She opened her closet doors and examined all of her shirts that were hung up. Three. She then examined the many piles of clothes lying on her floor. Fourteen. Hopefully, those were clean clothes and not dirty.

After fifteen minutes of anxiety-induced try-ons, Ruby finally decided on an outfit. She selected a plain black T-shirt over a red-and-black checkered long-sleeve (both found draped over her desk chair). Ruby wore a silver chain necklace with her gold choker, and high-waisted black shorts with a simple black belt to tie the look together. She pulled her long wine-red hair into two French braids and put simple gold hoops in her ears. Ruby smiled at her reflection in the shiny full-length mirror. Perfect.

She picked up her phone and shot a quick text to Myah.

rubyred: I can't go from 1030 to 130, be there in 5 :D

myahisNTdumb: *applauding* yay! can't wait to see you xoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Ruby smiled softly to herself. She's so cute.

~lll~

Come on, just press it. It's not that hard. It's just a doorbell, it won't bite. Probably not, at least.

Ruby was standing on Myah's home porch, anxiously working up the courage to ring the doorbell and go inside. But somehow, her brain and her finger were not agreeing with each other.

She glanced to the side of the porch. A small cracked stone statue of a turtle with a floppy sun hat held up a wooden sign. Carved into it were the words, 'You Got This!'.

Ruby smiled. Thanks, stone turtle. Before she could overthink it any longer, she squeezed her eyes shut and poked the doorbell. It let out a loud chime, and then Ruby could hear the pitter-pattering of footsteps running to the door.

Suddenly, it swung open, and there was Myah! She had on a beautiful light pink fitted crop top with huge puffy sleeves and tiny strawberries dotted across it, paired with a cute high-waisted white miniskirt. Her coal-black hair was down and curly, with two little space buns tied into it. An adorable strawberry barrette was clipped to the side of her bangs.

In other words, she looked completely sensational, as always. Ruby felt rather plain in her simple black-and-red outfit.

Mya gave her a little wave and bounced on her heels.

"Hi, Ruby! Here, come on in. Just leave your shoes at the door." She stepped to the side to let Ruby pass her. While Ruby was tugging her boots off (with great difficulty), Myah looked her over, seemingly checking her out. Sensing an opportunity, Ruby leaned against the wall and winked.

"'Sup, babygirl. Come here often?" She made a clicking sound and pointed a lazy finger-gun at her.

Myah giggled lightly behind a slim white-nailed hand, a rosy blush spreading across her cheeks and the tip of her rounded nose. "Shut up, oh my gosh."

Ruby smirked proudly, glad that she could playfully tease Myah successfully.

Finally, after a little help from Myah with getting the tight knots out of her laces, Ruby stood up in her orange pumpkin socks, ready to explore the house.

"So, this is the entrance. To the right, there's just the garage. Down this left hall is a bathroom and then there's Avian's room. We could go say hi if you want to meet them. Oh, and they're deaf, in case you didn't know." Myah explained.

Ruby nodded. "Sure! And Avian uses sign language?"

"Yep! Don't worry, I can translate for you." Myah replied as they walked down the hallway.

The sound of rock music got louder and louder, until Myah opened the white-painted wooden door into a muted sage-green room covered in posters from assorted musicals, LED lights changed to purple, a column of ivy trailing down, and three flags on their wall. The first two were the omnisexual and the non-binary flag, and then the next one was a L'manberg flag with a sticky note readying 'this is not a pride flag, MOM!'

On top of the red-sheeted bed sat Avian, who was wearing an oversized black graphic T-shirt with a sun and a moon on it, as well as baggy lime-green pants and a spiked choker. Their fluffy short black hair had a stripe of white on one side and a stripe of shamrock green on the other. They were flipping through a magazine while head-banging to the song.

"How are they able to hear that song?" Ruby whispered under her breath, confused.

"They can feel the vibrations of the song, if it's playing loud enough. It's really cool!" Myah told her cheerfully in a loud tone of voice. Ruby silently face-palmed, realizing that she'd been whispering for no reason.

Myah walked over, avoiding the sharp pencils thrown aimlessly onto the floor, and tapped her younger sibling repeatedly on the shoulder. Avian looked up sharply, noticed their sister, then glanced to the side and saw Ruby standing there awkwardly, not quite sure of what to do.

Avian signed something quickly, their hands moving up and down wildly, and Ruby had to admit that it was pretty dang cool. She'd meant to try and learn it some time, but never really got around to learning anything except how to say J and Z, and that was just because it was fun to make long, grand swoops through the air with your fingers.

"They want to know who you are," Myah translated. "I'm telling them your name." Her hands moved swiftly like a whirlwind. Avian smiled and waved at Ruby, who waved back.

Avian signed something else, wiggling their slitted dark eyebrows suggestively, and a light blush dusted Myah's pale cheeks, who signed back angrily. It didn't take a rocket scientist to guess what Avian said...good to know other people shipped them as much as Ruby did. Ryah? Myuby? She'd have to work on that one a bit longer than three seconds.

Myah signed a quick goodbye, and Avian waved again at Ruby, winking at her as if to say, go get your gal!

Ruby and Myah exited, and Myah exhaled.

"Sorry if that was awkward for you. And sorry for the loud rock music. They're in their edgy phase that I think sixty percent of twelve-year-olds go through!"

"Yeah, I definitely did." Ruby shuddered, thinking of how much she listened to Teenage Dirtbag when she was twelve. So...so...so many times. On loop. For hours at a time.

They walked up the acacia-wooden stairs in silence till they reached the upstairs. The floors were carpeted in a lovely eggshell colour, and they seemed to be in a living room of sorts. A large TV hung up above, with a large couch in the back of the room. There were photos on the wall of Myah's parents, Myah, Avian, and a little girl with her black hair in braids that Ruby assumed to be Myah's little sister, Lyssa.

Speaking of Lyssa…

"Hey, can I meet Lyssa anytime?" Ruby asked, casually perching on top of the armrest. Myah shifted in her place uncomfortably, avoiding eye contact.

"Um, she's napping right now." Myah told her hesitantly.

Ruby nodded. "Oh, yeah, my sister naps all the time. Could I see her after?" She pressed.

Myah figured there was no getting around it. "Well, Lys has some really, really bad anxiety problems. She's homeschooled by Kathy, and my parents too sometimes. And she's selectively mute...and she really doesn't take well to new people. So, yeah, probably not the best idea."

Myah sighed, looking sad. "It's really hard for her. She has a full-on panic attack whenever she's with somebody new, especially an adult. I feel horrible for Lys, because although she's getting therapy, she's in and out of the hospital a lot, and she certainly won't get over it in the next few years."

She then straightened up, hope flashing in her inky black eyes. "But I am a hundred percent confident she can defeat these anxiety issues at some point, or at least squish them into tinyness. Lyssa's really strong for a seven-year-old. It's just...hard, on her and me and Avie and my parents too."

Ruby stared at her in wonder. It was clear that Myah wasn't just some cutesy, frilly perfect girl with a perfect home life. It was flawed, but anyone could see how much Myah cared about her siblings. Ruby smiled softly.

"I think you're a really good sister, My."

Myah beamed shyly, clasping her hands together.

"Thanks, Ruby."

There was a beat of comfortable silence as they both let the thoughts swarming their minds catch up to them, before Myah shook herself and decided to ease the mood in the air. "Now do you want any of those oatmeal cookies, or…"

"Heck yeah I do! Lead the way, princess." Ruby retorted, jumping to her feet. Myah snorted in laughter as they walked forward to the dining room.

"Did you just call me princess?" She laughed. Ruby nodded, lidding her eyes.

"Why, do you want me to do it more?" She winked, and Myah giggled nervously, clearly flustered.

"Um, here are the cookies! Lukewarm and delicious." Myah declared, spreading her arms out to the plate of brown cookies seated on the thick white lace tablecloth. Ruby reached for one and took a huge bite. Mmm…The perfect combination of crumbly, crunchy, and chewy - the three Cookie C's.

They ate in silence for a bit, until Myah decided it was time to have a conversation.

"So, Halloween is coming up! Got any ideas? I was thinking you and me, the twins, and Ducky could all do something." Myah suggested, nibbling off the corners of the cookie.

Ruby nodded. "Yeah! I just can't think of any ideas…" She looked around the room for inspiration. A green candle, a painting of a sunrise, a small porcelain white rabbit…

"Wait!" Ruby snapped her fingers. "I've got it! Alice in Wonderland! I could be the Mad Hatter, and you could be the Queen of Hearts - if you wanted, that is."

But Myah looked completely on board. "Yeah! And Tulisa could be Alice, Ducky could be the Cheshire Cat, and I'll bet Josh would love being the dragon thingy...what was it called again?"

"The Jabberwocky?" Ruby asked. If she remembered correctly, that was.

Myah nodded vehemently. "Yes, that's it! Gosh, this'll be so cool! I've never had anyone who'd do group costumes with me, my old friends usually did their own stuff." Her midnight eyes sparkled with determination, like stars in the nighttime sky.

"I like it. We should design costumes, and then we can pick out what we need from Amazook or Sheen." Ruby noted.

Myah grinned and gave her a cheerful thumbs-up, and for a long while, the two girls sketched out outfit ideas on little pieces of note paper, with little stars in pink and yellow highlighter next to the ones they liked. The chewy oatmeal cookies were a lovely snack, perfect for epic brainstorming! While they drew, the two of them laughed and joked and chatted and gossiped about random things. Ruby couldn't remember the last time she'd had this much fun with somebody new.

"So, I heard the Drama club was putting on a play soon," Myah mentioned, shading in a long elf ear.

"Ooh. You thinking of joining?" Ruby asked her.

Myah shrugged, glancing to the side shyly. "Um, I'm not sure. I've done Drama before, but never any big roles. I've never liked how there's all those eyes watching you, all those phone cameras waiting to record your every mistake…" She shivered.

Ruby placed a comforting hand over Myah's outstretched one, and Myah's eyes grew wider.

"Aw, My, it's okay if you're a smaller role in it. I think you should definitely try out. And if you are in a larger role, then all eyes will be on you and your awesome performance!"

Myah flinched, looking slightly more terrified. Ruby winced.

"Sorry. Not helping."

But luckily, Myah laughed. "That's okay. Thanks for helping, anyways."

Suddenly, there was a loud knock at the door. When someone, probably Myah's mom, went to answer it, Ruby's mom's voice rang out from downstairs. Ruby's mouth dropped open.

"No way. Has it seriously been two freaking hours?!" She checked her watch in disbelief, and sure enough, it read 1:34.

Myah grinned. "Time flies fast when you're having fun."

"Yeah, it sure does." Ruby was still in shock. Why did the best things always have to leave so early?

"RUBY! Come on down!" Her mother called.

Ruby stood up, tucking her chair in. "I guess I have to go now. It was really wonderful seeing you!"

"You too," Myah told her, her face bright. "And maybe next time I could come over to your place?"

"Totally!" Ruby agreed. "Although I have to warn you, it's completely covered in cat fur."

"Oh, I can stand a little fluff and stuff," Myah informed her. They stood there for a moment more, before her mother voice yelled out a loud,

"RUBY! NOW!"

"Okay, now I really have to go," Ruby laughed. "See you on Monday?"

"For sure." Myah said. She reached her hand out for a formal handshake sort of thing, but Ruby mistook it for a fist-bump, so it ended up as this amalgamated fist-grab. Myah shook it firmly, and they dissolved into giggles.

"Bye, Ruby!" Myah called as Ruby headed down the staircase.

"Bye, Myah!" Ruby called back. She greeted her mother, thanked Myah's own mother, and ran down the driveway and into their car, crossing her legs and daydreaming about what had just happened. Like Ruby thought.

The perfect girl…

A/N

Aw, how cute. Ruby's first crush - in this story, that is. Also, I have Let It Grow from The Lorax stuck in my head. Let it die, let it die, let it shrivel up and die - who's with me? ;)

Question/Challenge: What is/was your favourite school subject? (Remember no revealing ages or personal info lololol). I like English and Drama, I think they're pretty fun!

Have an amazing day/night!

~ghostw