THE ROSE AND THE THORN

Chapter 20

RUBY'S POV

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It had been two weeks since the shower incident. I had been avoiding India as much as I could and trying to find a way to amicably end my relationship with Maria. I didn't love her anymore, and the way she treated the girls in the soccer team was atrocious. Her jealousy was out of control, and I wish I could say it was unprecedented, but I'd be wrong. I wanted one of the girls on my soccer team, more than I've wanted any other girl in my life.

I was walking to the staff room after one of my lessons when my phone rang. I sighed as I saw the caller ID, Maria, and answered begrudgingly.

"Hello?" I said.

"Come home. Now!" she demanded instantly.

"Maria, I'm at work. I can't just leave whenever I want to," I said with a sigh.

"Look, Ruby. You've been acting weird around me for weeks now and I want to know why. So come home. Now!" she screamed down the line of the phone.

"Maria, I'm not coming home!" I said exasperatingly.

"If you don't, then we're done!" she snapped.

"Then we're done, Maria. We're fucking done. I'm so sick of you treating me like shit. I'll be back tomorrow to pack up my shit and then I'm leaving!" I spat, and hung up before she had the chance to reply.

I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. I was finally free from her jealous and manipulative ways. But suddenly the weight was returned when I saw India and Aimee walking to the office, their arms around each other as India leaned on Aimee for support. I quickly ran over to them, wanting to know what was going on.

"Girls, what's wrong?" I asked as I caught up to them.

"India fainted again," Aimee said simply.

"I didn't faint!" India snapped, "I just fell over."

"You fucking fainted you bitch, now get into sickbay now before I throw you in there!" Aimee snapped.

"I'll take her, Aimee. You can go back to class," I told Aimee, and she gave India a pointed look before hugging her and running to her next lesson.

"You need to go to a doctor, India..." I said softly, guiding her to the office.

"I don't need a fucking doctor, I'm fine!" she growled.

She tried to push me off her, but stumbled sideways and fell against the door before I could catch her.

"Fuck!" she hissed, holding the back of her head.

"Want to tell me again how you don't need a doctor?" I said.

"Shut up, Rose..." she snapped, and allowed me to put my arm around her and guided her to the sick bay.

She sat down on the bed and put her head in her hands, taking a deep breath.

"India, why don't you want to see a doctor?" I asked.

"Because I already have. And I'm fine!" she grunted.

My heart rate quickened as my anxiety heightened. Was she sick? Was she dying? Oh god.

"What was wrong? Are you going to be okay?" I asked quickly, jumping up and kneeling next to her.

"It's embarrassing, it's just low blood sugar. It's such a nothing problem and yet my body just faints and freaks out, I don't know why!" she said angrily, gripping at her hair.

"It's not embarrassing, India. Heaps of people have low blood sugar," I comforted.

"But they don't all faint do they? I feel so weak," she exclaimed.

"You're not weak, India. Everyone reacts to differently to things that happen," I said, placing my hand on her knee.

"Ruby..." she said softly, looking down at me as I kneeled in front of her. "Can you...can you drive me home?"

I had never heard her sound so vulnerable. It would've been endearing if I hadn't been so worried about her. I placed my hand on hers and squeezed it tightly.

"Of course," I whispered.

After she had fully recovered we walked to my car and climbed in. On the drive we remained silent, but all sexual thoughts I had of her were overtaken by how much I cared for her. She was so intent on being strong that she was embarrassed by something that made her feel weak.

"I broke up with Maria..." I found myself saying. I don't know why, but I wanted her to know.

"Good," she said, still staring out the window, "You deserve better."

"How do you know that?" I asked her.

"I just do. You deserve someone whose going to treat you right and fuck you right," she said simply, "I bet she didn't do either."

"You're right, she didn't..." I said honestly.

I heard her murmur something quietly but it wasn't loud enough for me to hear. I knew better than to ask what she had said, knowing that if she wanted me to hear it she would've said it louder.

"So, where are you going to stay now that you've broken up?" she asked curiously.

"No idea, maybe my parents place," I shrugged. I hadn't really thought that far.

"You could stay with me...if you want to?" she asked me.

I had never heard her be so considerate. She sounded almost nervous to ask.

"I think after everything that has happened between us that's probably not a very good idea," I said, but I wanted nothing more than to stay with her.

"I promise I'll keep my hands to myself!" she smirked. The old India was back.

I thought about it realistically. She lived so close to the school, and if no one found out then it wouldn't cause any problems. The only issue was my growing feelings for her, and my inability to keep my eyes off her.

"Okay, but no one can know. It's not - ," I began.

"Appropriate. I know," she rolled her eyes. "But as I've pointed out before, we crossed that line a long time ago."

We got out of the car and she let me into her house. She threw her bag to the side and put down her skateboard, walking to the kitchen and grabbing a carton of juice from the fridge.

I knew that staying with India wasn't a good idea but I couldn't help but feel excited. Spending time with her away from a school environment is what I've been craving for a long time. It would make me feel a whole lot less guilty about the feelings I've been harbouring. But what feelings were they? I knew I was attracted to her physically, and her personality was just my type, but after seeing the vulnerable side of her today my feelings had grown. Significantly. I truly cared for her, and I was screwed.