Moonlit Cries

Nicknames

A/N: Hey all! Two chapters in one day?! *le gasp*! And one more planned after this one?! *le faints*

*magically revived* Ok, so, um, yeah, here's chapter three! Enjoy~!

Dedicated to draconicgoddess~!

When we finally got to school, Rose had to go to the office to get her schedule, as she hadn't gotten one in the mail like the rest of us. That gave me an opening to talk to Red.

"Morning, Ash. She... Is rather talkative..." I said. He nodded.

"Yeah, she's, like, the polar opposite of you! So, got a nickname for her yet?" he asked with a sly smile. He knew about my strange habit of nicknaming everyone.

"Yeah... I'm going to call her Rose-of-Sharon." He smiled, and I gave him a small grin. His eyes flickered over my shoulder, and his easy smile faltered. I blinked questioningly, not talking now that there might be someone behind me.

"Hi Ruben..." he said hesitantly. my eyes widened. Ruben Ross, one of my biggest tormentors in years past, and I do mean that literally as well as figuratively-- he was well over 6' tall. Nicknamed Ruby for his dark, bright red eyes. Why does no one in this town have normal-colored eyes? What are we, in an anime?

"Hey Color-boy. Hello, Wolf-girl. Gonna talk this year, or you gonna play the silent game again and let your boyfriend do the talking?" his nicknames were much less creative than mine...

I gathered up my nerve and gave Red a nervous, yet determined, look. Then I spun around to face Ruby.

"Ruben, weather I talk or not is none of your business. And who I talk to is even less of your business. Also, Red is not my boyfriend. So, why don't you try something new and leave me, Red, and Rose alone, yeah?"

I was shaking, but my voice was steady as a rock. Quiet, but steady. Ruby looked at me, shocked.

"Yeah, I am capable of speech. Not really that much of a surprise. You know I'm not a mute due to all the times you hit me. Now LEAVE ME ALONE!" I said, my voice rising to just under most people's normal speaking range-- practically shouting for me. I sensed Red coming up behind me, so I controlled myself to suppress the urge to jump when he placed his hand on my shoulder.

"Go, Ruben. Or do you want to make a scene on the first day of school?"

He sputtered for a few moments, glared at me and Red, then turned on his heel and stalked away.

"... Thanks, Ash..." I murmured.

"No problem. Let's go find what homeroom we have..."

A/N: I'm sorry, such a short chapter... The next one is short too, but I'll try to make chapter five longer. No promises, though......