Her parents were having an argument — a loud one. Behind the closed door of their room that was at the end of the hall, she was sure that they thought she wouldn't be able to hear their argument. But she heard it all right. Not the wordings, the sound of it.

She had to force herself to pretend to not hear it. It was easier to pretend than to confront the truth. Easier to pretend that her family was still the perfect little family it was when she was still in high school.

Perfection. She'd been brought up to believe in that word.

After her ears hurt from the way her parents where yelling at each other, she put on her music and connected it to the Bluetooth speaker that she had purchased a while ago. She stood up from her bed and locked her bedroom door.

The lyrics of Stone Cold by Demi Lovato blasted across the room. She welcomed the sound.

Minutes later she could hear a knock on her door, but instead of opening it, she increased the volume of the music and sat on her bed, internally singing along with it.

After a while, the knocking stopped. When she was satisfied that the music had helped, she put it off and laid on her bed. She welcomed her droopy eyelids and let out a yawn. Closing her eyes, she let sleep carry her on it's wings, nestled in her blanket as the clock ticked on.

***

Sunday mid-day was exactly after church. The service had been over for a little over thirty minutes but her Parents were not ready to leave and her house was a little far from the church. If it we're close, she would've walked home.

Ruby loitered around the church premises, waiting for her parents to finish their discussion with various people so she could leave the scrutiny of the public. She didn't want to go to the car yet because Amara was inside and after the night before, she felt awkward around her. And she was yet to apologize.

She pulled at the ribbon holding her thick mass of curls and let it bob into its full afro nature. Running a hand through the tangles, she gave it a crooked side parting and put the ribbon in her purse.

"Ruby. . . I would totes kill for your hair." A nasal voice spoke beside her. She turned to find an elderly woman the church members called, Nana.

"Nana. Afternoon," she greeted.

"Oh save it kid. I'm not that old." She slapped her on the shoulder, a little too hard . Her short frame and equally short hand stretched to reach Ruby's not - too - tall one.

"Yeah, Nana." Ruby loved to tease the old woman.

"You child! I take back the compliment."

Ruby laughed and raised her hands in surrender. "Okay."

She loved the old woman. Cool old women were hard to find. Rubbing the spot she was hit on her shoulder she thought, That's one strong Nana.

"Goodbye, child." She gave Ruby a smile that revealed her fragile set of teeth. Some were missing. Turning on her heel, she left a trail of too much flowery perfume as she walked down the street to the home she shared with her old husband, her black gown trailing behind her.

Ruby wiped the smile off her face as her Mom and Dad approached her. They walked to the car together. She couldn't help but stare at her Parent's entwined hand. They were keeping up appearances. She scowled. This were the same people that were arguing the night before.

"Ruby, you've been awfully quiet today. Anything wrong?" Her Dad asked as he started the car and drove into the street.

"Oh, have I?" She retorted.

"Yes."

The conversation was already sickening her. She looked at Amara who had been sitting in the car and waiting for her. She felt sorry for reacting the way she did to her the night before but she still couldn't bring herself to say sorry.

Amara was tapping away on her phone and smiling, probably texting her fiance. Her Parents were talking and smiling at each other. Acting like nothing was wrong.

Something snapped inside her. She couldn't take it anymore. Why was everyone acting like things were normal? Perfect even. She couldn't understand because she was feeling anything but normal. As the car drove into their street, she couldn't take it anymore.

"Stop," she whispered.

Nobody heard her.

"Stop." This time she said it louder.

Her Dad looked at her through the rearview mirror. Her mom turned to look at her. Even Amara looked up from her phone. Maybe it was the strain in her voice that had caught their attention.

"But we're almost home." Her Dad stated to her like he was talking to a little child.

"I mean stop all this pretense. You all are acting like nothing out of the ordinary happened yesterday." She flailed her hands. "Something changed yesterday. I can feel it. Then today comes and you all are smiling and acting like we're one perfect family."

"We're a perfect family." Her mom corrected.

"No we are not. Please stop the car. I need to breathe." Her voice came out strained. Her breaths were becoming shallow.

"Please stop!"

Her Dad parked the car at the side of the road. They were all looking at her with their eyes wide and their mouths open. She came down as swiftly as she could, grabbing her purse.

"Ruby. . ." She heard them calling her name, but she didn't bother to turn back. She just kept walking as fast as her legs could go, with no direction in mind.

Maybe if she walked a little she wouldn't feel so alone. So different. Even if she'd said they weren't perfect, she was only bluffing. She was no one to judge because she was obviously the imperfect one. And the imperfect ones were not meant to be around the perfect ones.

Perfect to her right then was all pretense. At least that's what she kept telling herself as she walked aimlessly down the street.

But when the sun began to set. And the sky began to darken, she found her way back to her house and let herself in with her spare key.

She couldn't survive on her own, no matter how bad she wanted to be alone.

°°°°°

A/N
Ruby! Ruby!
Please don't forget to vote and comment.

Mackenzie the 2nd... Out.....
💓💓