Chapter 24: Chapter 24

I shut the door behind me and stand out onto the balcony, glancing down at the car park below me. The sky is dark, the moon rising in the distance. A soft glow is created by the street lamps around me and I breathe in the cold night air. I feel the oxygen travel into my lungs and for a second, I close my eyes and enjoy the silence. That's when I remember the reason I came out here . . .

To call my best friend.

I pull out my phone and call her, placing the phone next to my ear. Within two rings, she answers.

"Where the hell have you been?"

At the sound of my best friend Tori's voice, I burst into tears down the phone, blubbering like a baby. She remains silent until I calm down slightly, the only indication of her presence being her shallow breathing.

"I miss you so damn much. You won't believe everything that's happened Tor." I tell her, reaching up to wipe at my eyes. I sit down on the cold metal of the balcony and cross my legs, leaning my forehead against the railings.

"I miss you too. You haven't called me in like two days. I've been going out of my damn mind Ruby!" Tori says, her voice firm and parent like. It's weird having someone beside from Uncle Tobias tell me off because there hasn't been a parental figure in my life for a few weeks now. I've always dreamt of having the privilege but now that I do, there's nothing more that I want than to be told off by Mum or Dad for doing something incredibly stupid or being my dumb irritating self.

"I'm sorry. I've been the worst best friend." I respond, sniffling. Tori sighs down the phone and I picture her sitting on her bed, her face permanently settled into an annoyed expression at me.

"Take a deep breath, remember who you are. You're a bad bitch and you've got this." She suddenly says, taking me by surprise. I laugh at her words, instantly feeling slightly better. I knew there was a reason Tori and I have always been best buddies.

"You're right, I am a bad bitch."

"Good, now tell me everything that's happened and don't you dare leave out any details unless you want me to chop off your boob and feed it to my pet fish."

"Your fish aren't worthy of such an amazing dining experience." I reply, shaking my head at her words. We both laugh in unison and it feels good to finally be a teenager again. . . Even if it's just a few minutes. I take a deep breath and begin telling Tori everything. From driving to Ivory's, meeting Ben, finding out about Trish and finally, kissing Woody.

"You lucky son of a bitch."

"I know." I laugh, hugging my knees into my chest.

"Is he a good kisser?" Tori asks me, giggling down the line. I bite down on my lower lip, nodding my head.

"The best."

*****

"Who was that on the phone?" Uncle Tobias asks me when I head back inside. I place my phone onto the dressing table and turn towards him —

"Tori. I was catching her up on everything going on. I miss her." I tell him. He sighs and stands up off the bed before heading towards me. I lean into him when he wraps an arm around my shoulder.

"You'll soon be back to your normal life Ruby. Seeing your friends, going to school."

At the mention of school, I cringe and feel my body automatically tense up. How am I supposed to tell him I've been expelled? Uncle Tobias inches away from me and frowns down at my face, his eyebrow raised high.

"What have you done?"

"Nothing! Why do you assume I've always done something wrong?" I gasp, faking hurt. I turn my back on him and from across the room, Woody sniggers under his breath. I shoot him a deadly glare and suddenly feel firm hands rest on my shoulders and whirl me around.

"Ruby Melvin . . . or should I say Wentworth? Whatever you're calling yourself nowadays." He mumbles under his breath, clearly unhappy with my previous decision. I narrow my eyes and shove his hands off me, taking a step back.

"It's Melvin. Don't get your knickers in a twist."

At my response (minus the sarcasm) his eyes widen in surprise before he quickly gets down to business again. I resist the urge to scoff at him and instead hold my head high, ready to defend myself.

"Please tell me you're behaving in school." He says firmly, giving me his best I'm serious expression. I shrug my shoulders, nodding.

"Sure. I'm behaving in school."

"No she's not." Woody pipes up from behind me. I whirl around and throw my finger up at him. He chuckles under his breath, clearly amused by the whole situation.

"Shut up Cowboy."

"Tell him the truth and I will, Melvin." Woody snaps back, a twinkle in his dark brown eyes. I smirk at him and whirl back around, my hand on my hip. Uncle Tobias' eyes flicker between Woody and I before he grows increasingly impatient.

"Well?" He asks, keeping his eyes trained on us.

"Woody kissed me."

"Ruby was expelled."

We both speak out in unison. Uncle Tobias stares at Woody for a second, his entire body frozen in place. Eventually he snaps out of it before he looks back at me. A silence falls upon all three of us and I hold my breath, wondering which confession he's going to explode at. I watch as his eyes widen and his face begins to grow red with fury —

"You kissed her, again?!" Uncle Tobias yells, his anger directly targeted towards Woody. I smile in triumph and turn around to watch Woody's reaction.

He's glaring at me and doesn't stop until Tobias repeats the question.

"Yeah I did actually, twice." Woody responds, taking me completely by surprise. Uncle Tobias blinks, unable to believe Woody's blunt honesty. The conflict between the two isn't resolved yet and I feel the tension grow by the second.

"You lied to me Tobias so why should I carry on doing what you say? I'm an adult. If I want to kiss Ruby, I'll kiss her." He says firmly, standing up to his feet. I gulp and take a step back, knowing Uncle Tobias won't like that answer at all. Part of me admires Woody's bravery and damn, it's a hell of a turn on.

"Like I said previously, over my dead body." Uncle Tobias responds coldly, his voice low. Woody cocks his head to the right, his eyes narrowing in a challenging manner. I watch, slightly frozen in place as he takes another step forward, his shoulders tense.

"And what are you going to do about it? Abandon me again? You already did that once." Woody almost sneers. Tobias shakes his head, warning Woody silently to back off.

"Quit whilst you're ahead."

"No, I won't. I won't stand here and do what you say anymore! I'm not your god damn puppet!" Woody yells.

"I never treated you like one! I've apologised and I am trying to fix my mistake. I specifically asked you to stay away from her and you've gone against my wishes, twice!" Uncle Tobias hits back.

"I like her! Okay?" Woody yells back. I blink in surprise and can't withhold the small smile from stretching across my lips.

"I don't care. Stay the hell away from her." Tobias says, his voice lined with a threatening tone. I'm suddenly snapped out of the Woody induced daze I'm in and frown deeply.

"You can't do that Uncle Tobias. You can't stand there and make decisions for me. That's not fair."

"Stay out of this Ruby. I'm not done with you either, I want to know exactly why you were expelled!" Uncle Tobias snaps at me, his voice full of anger. The pent up frustration continues to grow inside of him until he looks like he's ready to burst. The stubborn child inside of me refuses to listen to him —

"You can't tell me to stay out of it when it involves me! Why has nobody asked me what I want? This family is exhausting! I just want my parents back!" I yell back at him. For the first time, a silence falls upon us in the room and I breathe heavily, shaking my head at both of them.

"We're all losing sight of what's important. My parents might be seriously injured and we don't have much time left to find them." I say quietly. Despite being shattered from the days events, I realise I feel suffocated in Woody and Tobias' presence so I grab my jacket and leave before either of them have a chance to stop me.

I don't know where I'm going but I continue walking until the sun finally makes an appearance, greeting me after hours of nothing but darkness and quiet.