Guardians of Plaxas

Chapter the Second: Ruby

All I can hear are muffled voices.

Mom, getting closer to my hiding place, calling me name, tidying up my room as she looks for me. It doesn't matter. She won't look for me here. She learned her lesson not to open my closet a week ago.

The doorbell rings and I jump. The lady with red nails is here. I hear Opal's voice, calling mom to the door, but I don't move.

When I saw my name on that list a week ago, I instantly knew one thing. I wasn't going. I knew that I'd miss Opal and my parents way too much. So that's why, on the day of my supposed departure, I'm sitting in my closet.

"Ruby! Ruby!" I hear mom call. She sighs in defeat and heads down the stairs to greet the woman.

Only seconds later, Opal trundles up the stairs. I hear her enter the room and get changed quickly, before heading downstairs again.

But she comes back up again, this time dragging my suitcase downstairs. Right. That's not going to make me come out.

I wait. It's hot in this closet, and dark. I lean against the wall, my legs folded up alongside my chest, breathing slowly and deeply.

The door slams downstairs, and I breathe out a sigh of relief. I wait for a little bit, just in case Red Nails comes back.

I'm about to leave the closet when I hear someone walking up the stairs. It's mom. She enters the room that Opal and I share, and I hear her sit on Opal's bed. She's silent for a few minutes, and it's only when I hear her sniffing that I realize that she's crying.

I cover my mouth with my hand. I've never heard mom cry in my life!

Then, strangely enough, she begins speaking to herself.

"One daughter is gone to a school that she's never going to come back from. And the other has run away....she must have. I can't find her anywhere!"

I gasp softly. Did I just hear what I think I heard? One has run away, sure I get that. That would be me. But the other one....Opal went to the school instead of me?

Outside the closet door, mom stands up suddenly. I can hear her rustling on Opal's bed.

"Ruby?" she asks softly. "Ruby, if you're here, please tell me. Please, Ruby,"

I slowly pick myself up and push myself through the mountain of clothes that have accumulated in front of my closet door. The clothes collapse around me as I push the door open.

Mom gasps when I emerge from the closet. "You--you were in here the whole time? Ruby, did you not hear us calling for you? Do you know what happened? Your sister went to that school in your place. She abandoned her whole life so that you could stay at home."

I nod, a tear dripping down my face. "Yeah, I know. I heard. And....and it's all my fault,"

"Oh, honey," mom says, hugging me. "It wasn't....well....I'm sure she'll enjoy it there. She'll find friends there."

I sigh. "But....I don't know. One of us would have had to go. One of us. And I chose her. It was an accident. But I did. And I feel bad about it. I wish I could replay that scene in my head, and change it. But I can't, and I made a bad choice. And I'll just have to live with it."