She Read online

  SHE

  SHE book series part I

  ✽✽✽

  she was like fire

  she was like rain

  like a drop of water

  in a raging hurricane

  Franceska Krence

  credits to David Cantu for the art on the cover page

  Contents

  Title Page

  ONE

  TWO

  THREE

  FOUR

  FIVE

  SIX

  SEVEN

  EIGHT

  NINE

  TEN

  ELEVEN

  TWELVE

  THIRTEEN

  FOURTEEN

  FIFTEEN

  SIXTEEN

  SEVENTEEN

  EIGHTEEN

  NINETEEN

  TWENTY

  TWENTY ONE

  TWENTY TWO

  TWENTY THREE

  TWENTY FOUR

  TWENTY FIVE

  TWENTY SIX

  TWENTY SEVEN

  TWENTY EIGHT

  TWENTY NINE

  THIRTY

  EPILOGUE

  SHE

  ONE

  the beginning or the end

  what difference does it make

  if everything stayed the same

  ✽✽✽

  I heard footsteps outside the room, the familiar face appearing in the doorway.

  The persons' eyes widened in shock, realizing I was exactly where I was not supposed to be, running across the room to take the laptop I had been staring at for the past hour and a half away from my sight. They looked at it, then looked at me, the mouth opening and closing, dumbfounded, shocked. That's most likely when they realized I knew it all.

  "Is it true?" I asked silently, not even able to look at their face.

  But I didn't have to ask, I knew it was, simply by the fact I'd spent this whole time trying to figure out a way that it wouldn't be. I was smart, at least now, my eyes finally open to what was in front of me all along.

  "Ruby.." they put down the laptop, walking towards me, as if approaching a sensitive and unstable wild animal, whilst I simply stayed glued to the chair I had been sitting in, weirdly calm, "I can explain, I swear."

  I shook my head, smiling as I felt something inside of me break, the lump in my throat growing bigger: "no, you can't, only she can."

  Part of me wanted to hear it, part of me never wanted to leave, part of me still thought this wasn't true and it could be fixed. That part of me still loved her. This silly, naive part of me had to be destroyed, shot, burned and buried alive. That's all it deserved, pure pain in exchange of the pure blindness.

  I got up from the chair, wiping my face, speaking the words that would haunt me for months to come: "But I won't be here to hear it."

  I walked past the person, them asking: "is there anything I can do for you?"

  Turning around, I looked in their eyes, seeing the sadness, sincerity, guilt in them. For once, it felt as if I truly knew them. Funny, I got played in my own game.

  "Tell her if she ever steps near me," I smiled to myself, the irony cutting my lips like a razor as a tear traced my cheek, "she won't be leaving alive."

  ✽✽✽

  I walked in the school as confident as ever, my boyfriend and friends by my side, greeting everyone on the way to my locker. Yes, I know, rather cliche, isn't it?

  "See you at lunch, Ruby!" Tiff, my co-captain, said, swaying away with the rest of the squad which consisted of a few cheerleaders, as well as Kevin's football teammates.

  "See you!" I smiled, waving at them as I opened my locker, eyeing Kevin up and down as he seemed to act suspiciously, "something wrong?"

  "Babe, I won't be able to make it to lunch today," Kevin mumbled, an uneasy smile on his face.

  "Why?" I furrowed my brows. He hadn't turned up the last few times, giving me a reason to grow concerned.

  "Just have an extra practice, you know, all that boring stuff," he mumbled, giving me a quick peck, "anyways, I'll pick you up after practice."

  Giving me another peck, he walked away before I could even say a thing. Sad to say, but this was how we were every day. I wish someone would have told me two years ago that the cliche couple in high school, likely has the most cliche outcome it could possibly have.

  Walking to my class, I sat in my usual spot, hearing the bell ring, continuing to doodle in my notebook.

  "Class, we have a new student," Mr. Lake, the teacher, said as I continued to focus on my drawing, "want to introduce yourself?"

  "Sure," a confident voice filled the room, I could feel her eyes on me, "though I'd rather do that when everyone is listening."

  That's when my head snapped up, it wasn't hard to tell she was talking about me since Mr. Lake was smiling at her remark and everyone in the class pretty much glared at me, putting me on the spot.

  "Sorry," I cleared my throat, smiling at her as I looked at her apologetically, "you have my full attention."

  "Oh, that I don't doubt at all," she smirked, winking at me.

  The whole class went completely silent, so did I. Did the new girl just openly flirt with me? Now that she had gotten my attention, I couldn't help but stare her up and down. She looked as stunning as one could, pretty much a copy of Ruby Rose, my name sister, and ultimate crush, the queen of the mysterious badass look. Don't judge me, even straight people watch Orange Is The New Black.

  "I'm Eden Harper, moved here from New York," she said and it wasn't hard to figure out that the whole class was interested in her. She was something else for the town where everything stayed the same.

  "Oh," she continued, looking me straight in the eye, "Just to avoid rumors.. Yes, I'm also lesbian, a very proud one at that, in case you haven't figured that out yet."

  I'm pretty sure my mouth was hanging open by now. Was she crazy? She had moved to the most traditional town of them all, flirting with me out of all people and now stating to practically the whole school she was lesbian.

  I gulped as she refused to break the eye contact, soon forcing me to pull myself together, putting on my normal facial expression - smile and confidence. Giving off friendly vibes is way better than awkward and nervous ones, after all.

  The teacher cleared his throat, yet she still wouldn't stop staring at me, as if eating me alive.

  "Eden," Mr. Lake said, a small smile on his lips, "you can sit down now, there's an extra seat next to Ruby."

  She turned to Mr. Lake, smiling: "Thanks, Mr.."

  "Lake," he said.

  "Well, you're my favorite teacher already, nice to meet you," she smiled at him, giving a quick handshake.

  He nodded, smiling back: "no worries. Now, let's begin the class, shall we?"

  As she sat next to me, I had to control every bone in my body not to sit further away because of the way my heart started racing as soon as she got closer. Quite frankly, it freaked me out. Besides, I still had to keep my image.

  I expected her to make a move on me or something, but instead she was completely focused on the teacher, which made me do the same. Well, something along the lines, I truly tried.

  "You guys know we always have big projects for holidays and this time won't be an exception."

  You could hear the groans of the students who weren't too shy to let it out.

  "Stop whining, would you? I have decided to change it up a little and make it easier."

  This time it was "yay!", "We love you Mr. Lake" that could be heard in the class.

  "So you're doing it in pairs, with the person you share the table with," Mr. Luke finished, the students cheering louder.

  I glanced at Eden, seeing the corner of her lips turning upwards.

  Mr. Luke proceeded to hand out the projects and then continuing with theory, which I zoned out to. Bef
ore I even realized, the bell was already ringing.

  Not wanting to be late for the next class, I quickly got up, yet I was stopped, by another hand holding on to my wrist. I had already forgotten about Eden, but then I turned around and she was there, smiling at me. How could I forget about that face?

  "May I ask for your name?" she still hadn't let go of my arm, looking up at me.

  "It's Ruby," I smiled back at her, looking down at her hand.

  "Ruby," she repeated, my name sounding so much better coming from her mouth, "can I walk with you to the next class?"

  "Sure," I smiled, staring at her arm that still had a grip on mine, expecting her to let go. She quickly let go, walking outside.

  "You're very beautiful," she said, making me quite dumbstruck once again, "just like your name."

  "Uh... Thanks," I muttered, not used to such bluntness or compliments.

  She smirked at me: "Can I ask for your number?"

  "Sorry?" I asked, shocked once again. This girl did not waste her time at all.

  Laughing, she handed me her phone, "for the project.. Obviously."

  "Sure, that makes sense," I quickly typed my number in her phone, embarrassed of my own assumptions.

  Giving me a wink, she walked off to another class.

  ✽✽✽

  The whole day passed, and the practice flew by. I tried my best not to think about Eden and whatever it was that she was trying to do with me. Constantly brushing it off, I focused on the fact that we were simply partners for the project. I didn't want to be that girl that thought a girl is into her just because she's strictly into females.

  "Ok, girls, time to end this practice. Tiff, you need to be more careful with the backflips. Linsey, practice the dance a little more, you're a little bit behind. Other than that, you all were great!" I smiled, giving them applause.

  "Yes, captain", "Thanks Ruby" and "see you tomorrow's" followed by the girls as the number of people in the room quickly decreased.

  I went to grab my bag, checking the time and realized I was late for meeting Kevin.

  "Shoot," I mumbled, quickly grabbing my bag and phone, as I headed for the exit.

  "You're late," Kevin stated, smiling as he came towards me. Running up to him, I pecked his lips.

  "Sorry, we had to go through the dance one more time since we lacked practice on the weekend," I explained.

  "It's alright," he winked at me, opening the passenger doors, "you can make it up to me on the weekend."

  "About that.." I felt bad, "I have to cancel the date night.. I have tons of homework."

  He shrugged it off: "The team is throwing a party anyways, I'll just go to that one then."

  Couldn't he at least pretend to care? Or perhaps question my reasons further? I wrote it off as me overthinking yet again.

  We quickly reached the front of my house, the car stopping, me taking it as my cue to leave. I couldn't even pretend to be okay with the sad reality of our "relationship" for a second longer. But I stayed optimistic nonetheless.

  Opening the door, I got out as slow as I physically could, having a slight hope he'd at least ask me if we're fine, if I'm fine, anything. But nothing. Just good old silence.

  Closing the door, I heard him drive away as always, and made my way in the huge, empty house as always. Then I went up to my room, taking a quick shower as always, doing homework as always, reading and responding to group chat texts. It was always the same, always cliche yet it never felt quite right.

  How was it the same? I felt as empty and lonely as every single day. The sad reality of having so many "friends" and the "perfect" guy. But I wasn't a quitter, I would wake up tomorrow and have my head filled with hopes and positive energy. As always.

  Out of nowhere, I heard the doorbell ring. I was startled, no one ever came to visit. Perhaps Kevin had forgotten something.

  Running downstairs, I opened the door and saw no one else than Eden herself.

  "Hey," she smiled at me as if knowing I would be on the other side of the door.

  "Hi," I smiled back, stunned by her beauty and presence.

  There was a silence of us simply smiling at each other. Which felt weirdly far from awkward, the neighbors would probably think differently though.

  "So it turns out we're neighbors," she handed me a box that smelled pretty delicious, "my mom wanted me to bring this to you."

  "Wow, it smells delicious. What is it?"

  "Just lasagna," she said, looking me up and down, "anyways, I still have boxes to unpack, so I'll head back now. But see you in school tomorrow, beautiful."

  "See you," I smiled at her, giving a quick wave.

  After watching her walk away in the most non-creepy way, I closed the door after me and leaned against it.

  I had known this girl for a day yet my heart was beating out of my chest because of her. This certainly did not feel "as always".

  TWO

  was it that moment or was it us

  that seemed to repeat the past as it was

  ✽✽✽

  After eating the delicious lasagna Edens mom had made for me I made a mental note to properly meet this woman and find out the recipe from her.

  Turning off the TV, I headed upstairs to read a little before sleeping. Reading was a must-do thing for me every day. I just couldn't go a day without getting lost in a book.

  My phone buzzed from next to me, signaling a received text.

  -Hey, it's Eden. Just wanted to make sure you had my number in case you needed it. How was the lasagna?-

  I smiled at the text, that was quite nice of her to do all these things for me. She was just being nice, right?

  -Appreciate it. Lasagna was mouth-watering, I'll have to meet your mom to find out the recipe!-

  That was neutral enough, I suppose. It took less than a second for her to reply.

  -Wanna come over?-

  I stared at the text, not sure what to think. There wasn't really anything to overthink, though, since she was just being friendly towards me. My phone buzzed again.

  -It's not a booty call, I promise. She baked cookies. They're the best.-

  I didn't even need convincing in the first place, but this for sure made me more excited, as I laughed at the text.

  -If you insist. Be there in 2. (:- I replied.

  I quickly got up and checked if I looked somewhat decent. I had taken my make up off before eating, but since I remained somewhat confident with myself, I didn't bother putting any on again. After all, a pimple or two don't really matter. I quickly made my way downstairs, putting on my shoes, making my way towards Edens house.

  Before I could knock or ring the bell, she opened the door, flashing me a smile as she proceeded to look me up and down. Was she checking me out? Must be my brain messing with me.

  "Hey, again," I smiled at her.

  "Hey," she wouldn't stop smiling, gesturing me to come inside, "cookies are in the kitchen."

  Their house was as huge as mine, which said a lot. It made me wonder if she also barely ever saw her parents and if her home always made her feel as lonely as mine did. After all, to own a house so big means you needed to be rich, and from what I had learned in my life - to be wealthy, you had to sacrifice a lot as well.

  "You okay?" Eden asked, searching for something in my eyes.

  "Yes, sorry. I was just checking out your house. It's really beautiful," I smiled at her.

  "Thanks," she smiled back, deciding to drop the subject, which I was thankful for.

  My eyes found the cookies, right after the delicious smell hit my nose. I could tell my eyes lightened up just from that.

  "We can watch something while eating, with a potential addition of a bottle of wine, if you're down," Eden said, pretty amused about the obvious change in my expression just from seeing the cookies.

  I nodded excitedly, "what are we watching?"

  We went to the sofa, but instead of sitting on it, we chose the ground, supporting our backs against the sofa and placing the plate of co
okies and glasses between us.

  "Anything you want," Eden handed me the remote.

  But we forgot about the TV as soon as we turned it on, I blamed it on the cookies, perhaps it was her company alone. We spent most of the time talking about random things, just getting to know each other.

  "So, last question," Eden said, her light blue eyes still making me feel some type of way. There was no reason to overthink it, it was probably the wine.

  I nodded, taking a bite out of the last cookie we had left.

  "Why are you dating that guy?" she looked at me intensely, noticing my shocked expression, "I mean, it's not hard even for a stranger to see that you two are far from being the couple you pretend to be."

  I didn't expect this question. What did Kevin have to do with us? But somehow, there was still a bigger one - Why was I with him? Now that I thought about it, I couldn't figure out an answer myself.

  "Isn't it supposed to be an easy answer?" she chuckled, sensing my struggle with the question.

  "Yeah, I guess it should be," I smiled as always, taking another bite out of the cookie. Smiling tended to bring me out of the most uncomfortable situations, so I guess eventually it had become an everyday routine.

  "You have some crumbs on your face," Eden said, smiling.

  But before I could wipe it off with my hands, Eden was already getting closer to me, her eyes focused on my lips.

  Why was my heart racing so fast? Why couldn't I avert my eyes from her lips? Why was I unintentionally moving closer to her? How could I suddenly forget about my boyfriend?

  "I'm back, sweetie!" a feminine voice yelled from the entrance.

  That was enough for me to get kicked back to reality. Somehow, I still couldn't move, my body battling my brain. Eden's eyes traveled from my lips to my eyes, as she wiped the corner of my mouth with her thumb. She then got up, holding out a hand for me.

  I stared at it, but seconds later pulled myself together, taking it and smiling gratefully at her.

  "Oh, I didn't know we had visitors," a beautiful woman in her 40s smiled at me, walking in the living room, "who is she, sweetie?"