Free Ruby Rising by Leah Cook Page B

collapsed on his outdoor bed with an exhausted sigh.
    I smiled watching my parents still working in the garden. They didn’t even notice I was there, too engrossed in whatever they were talking about. I went inside for a much needed drink and decided to make a start on dinner and surprise my parents.
    I cracked a can of Coke Zero, my favourite soft drink and guilty pleasure. I pulled my phone out of my pocket as it dinged a message notification. I really needed to get some decent ringtones having never changed it from the stock standard ones that it had come pre-set with. The message was from Claire asking why I hadn’t returned any of her calls. That’s probably because I never got any calls from her since we’d last spoke. Guiltily I realised that I’d forgotten about her this week, and although it had been a long one, she was still my best friend. I wondered what was holding me back from confiding in her about Scott.
    I messaged her back telling her I’d never received a missed call from her, I went through my phone and there were no incoming calls from her at all. After a minute I received a message that read, unable to send . I tried a few more times before I gave up and went upstairs to email her.
    I typed in a long winded email about everything that had happened and told her I would call this week. Hitting send, I headed back to the kitchen and started chopping vegetables for dinner. I was bopping along to Bruno Mars’ Marry You when my mobile rang.
    “Hello?”
    “Hey Ruby, its Scott.” Damn it, even his voice made me blush. “Stop blushing, I haven’t even said anything except hi yet.”
    “I’d love to know how you even know I’m blushing.” I stopped cutting the vegetables for the casserole unable to concentrate with Scott on the phone.
    “I know how I make you feel, you do the same thing to me remember?”
    “You don’t blush at all.” I replied.
    “No, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel the same way.” He sounded so relaxed, even though this was a pretty comfortable conversation. “I was wondering if you wanted to come over and watch a movie later?”
    “Um, I’ll have to ask.” My father walked in halfway into my reply. “Dad, can I go over to Scott’s later and watch a movie?”
    Without even hesitating he gave me permission telling me to be home by eleven the same as the previous night’s curfew given by my mother.
    “Wow that was easy. Can I have your address? I’ll come by after dinner.” I picked up a pen, noticing my hand was trembling slightly at the thought of more time together, and the prospect of meeting his parents.
    “I’ll come and get you at six thirty and I’ll even have you home on time.” He laughed.
    I hung up my smiling so hard it almost hurt my cheeks. I closed my eyes for a second and tried to get my body to listen to my head instead of my hormones. It didn’t work.
    “What are you smiling about? Wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain blue eyed young man would it?” My mother gave me a knowing smile of her own. “I remember feeling that way whenever I got ready to see your father. I still feel that way if he’s been away for a while.”
    Blushing harder I gratefully handed over the dinner preparations and went upstairs to my room. Checking my emails to see if Claire had replied I noticed a message that read unable to deliver email, unknown address . Had she changed email addresses? I jumped onto Facebook as a last resort, I didn’t really use the social networking side much but I knew she was contactable on there. Or so I thought. I couldn’t find her in my friends list or even when I did a search. Picking up my phone I dialled her number. “ This number is not available. Please check the number before trying again.” came the automated response. I dialled a second time and then a final third, each time I got the same message.
    What the hell was going on? I couldn’t reach Claire at all. I felt sick at the thought of her