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Chapter One:

The Five Friends.

"Ruby? Snap out of it!" The black haired, dark skinned girl snapped her fingers in front of her friends face, making her blink.

"What is it Louise?" Asked Ruby, brushing her dark brown hair from her ocean blue eyes.

"Don't you have work to do?" Said Louise, tapping her friends work book with her pen.

Ruby was sitting in the Science room at school with her four best friends, the gorgeous Louise Summers, Rebecca Smith, Sarah Jones and Lucy Hammond. Rebecca and Lucy looked like they could be sisters, with the same shade brunette hair and hazel eyes, whereas Sarah had dazzling red hair and bright blue eyes. Ruby and Lousie had been best friends since nursery school, and the other three joined them on the first day of high school when they were all lost and wandering round aimlessly.

"Why don't you just ask him out?" Said Sarah, looking at her friend. Ruby brought her hand from her cheek and let it hit the table.

"You serious?Why would someone like him want to go out with someone like me?"

"Come on Rubes! You are drop dead gorgeous and so is he... you will make a perfect couple!" Ruby looked away as Lance looked up in her direction, she blushed slightly and finished her periodic table, then decorated the page with love hearts.

The bell rang signalling the end of the lesson.

"Ruby Maitland? Can I see you for a moment?" Shouted the teacher over the noise of chairs scraping on the floor. Ruby sighed and went towards him, swinging her bag on her shoulder. She felt it hit someone and turned to apologise, it was Lance.

"Oh... I'm sorry Lance." She said, even more embarrased now. Lance smiled at her and walked away, leaving Ruby to check out his bum... Her teacher broke into her lovely dream by clearing his throat.

"Ruby? Sorry to interrupt with your dreams, but I can't help noticing you seem miles away recently, you used to be such a good student until another student joined." Ruby smiled a little, still blushing while her friends sniggered in the corner. "If you are in love with John you should leave the fantasies to outside the classroom." Ruby looked up, shocked, while her friends sniggers turned into proper laughs.When they left the classroom, they were still laughing. John was the classroom geek, who seemed to hate it when people laugh, because they 'disturbed his concentration.' By the time they got outside, they had calmed down enough to talk sensibly about their sleep over they were planning the following night.

"So, is it definatley at your house, Ruby?" Asked Louise, taking a couple of gulps from her water bottle.

"Yep, its fine with Stewart and my mum."

"Your sisters don't mind?"

"No, Crystle and Lauren love you guys!" Crystle and Lauren were twin sisters and were one year older than Ruby and had hair slightly lighter than Rubys', but had the same dazzling eyes.

Ruby bid farewell to her friends then let herself into her large house.

"Hi family" She said cheerfully, she was answered by several replies. Her step dad came and gave her a huge hug- something her mum never did. Ruby and Stewart shared a special bond, but that didn't stop Ruby wondering where and who her real dad was. Over the years, Ruby had begun to think her family was hiding something from her, for a start there was the mysterious photo which was taken after Ruby was born, her mum was holding Ruby with one hand, but on the other side of her mum, there was a smudge, which was apparantley where water had been spilt.Ruby wasn't entirely sure, but she always reckoned that the water had been spilt on purpose to cover up a huge family secret. Still, she never questioned it in case she got an answer she didn't want...

Chapter 2

The Fatal Accident.

The next day had to be one of the worst days ever in regards to lesson, they had Maths,English,Science,P.E and History, each of the lessons was spent by the girls planning the sleepover in the lessons which they were in together. Sarah,Becky and Lucy had to stay behind at least half and hour to finish some work they missed. This left the two best friends Louise and Ruby to walk home alone.

"Okay, you two can get everything ready then us three will be along later, okay?" The friends agreed to what Sarah had said in the last lesson,  then they left the classroom and went their seperate ways, Ruby and Louise headed towards the exit while Sarah Lucy and Becky headed upstairs to finish the work.

Ruby put her bag down while she zipped up her coat,

"One minute honey, you'vr caught your hair." Louise moved Ruby's hair from the zip carefully, and Ruby smiled in thanks. They left the school, unaware that it would be the last time that they would leave the school together.

The two walked from the school gate and down the path by the hedge, they heard people screaming behind, Louise assumed it was just some year elevens messing around, then Ruby turned around and she screamed too, prompting Louise to turn around, thats when it happened, the moment which was to change young Ruby's life forever. She felt the car hit her, but felt nothing else as she immediatly blacked out. Louise lay motionless on the path while people crowded around. One of the teachers called the ambulance while frightened pupils watched with fearful eyes, the ambulance screeched to a halt next to the girls.They tried their hardest, but that fateful day, one young life was lost.

 Ruby's eyes began to open, and she felt someone touch her hand gently. She opened her eyes fully and stared up at the ceiling. She could hear repetitive beeping, and the smell... she recognised it, but what was it? Her questions were answered when she turned her head. She was in a hospital,great. She looked at her sister, Crystle who was stood by her bed holding her hand.

"Ruby, can you hear me?" Ruby nodded at her sister.  "I have missed you so much honey!" She hugged Ruby gently. Ruby cleared her throat and took the oxygen mask away from her mouth so she could speak.

"I've only been out for a few hours though haven't I?" She asked, looking from Crystle's face to Lauren's. Lauren moved forward and sat on the bed.

"Ruby... you have been unconcious for just under two weeks."

"You mean... I've... I've been in a coma?" Crystle nodded and Ruby put the mask back on her face thoughtful-looking face. Then she took it back off again, "Is Louise okay?Is she at home? Is she..." Then she looked at her sisters faces. She could read their faces like a book. "Is she dead?" Lauren looked awkwardly at Crystle.

"I am so so sorry Ruby."

"Just under two weeks? When is the funeral?" Again, their faces were so readable. "I haven't missed it have I? Please say I haven't." Crystle nodded, sadly. "But, I was her best friend! I was the one who stuck by her when noone else would, I was the one who taught her how to skip when we were five! Why, why has this happened?" Lauren could feel the tears building up in her eyes, she felt for her sister so much.

"Look, do you want us to go Ruby?" Asked Crystle.

"We don't mind if you do." Added Lauren. Ruby nodded.

"Please. I just want to be alone at the moment." Ruby remained on her own for the entire night. She didn't want to see or speak to anyone, not even her still grieving friends.

 Crystle and Lauren were sat in the cafe with coffee, when Sarah came up.

"Why doesn't Ruby want to talk to any of us?"

"Can you blame her? They were best mates, Ruby never expected this in a million years." Said Lauren, staring into the depths of her coffee.

"Just leave her on her own a bit, okay Sarah? It made her even worse when she learnt that she didn't even get to say goodbye." Sarah sighed, nodded then left again. Crystle and Lauren watched her walk off, both thinking of their sister, alone, upset and mad with Louise's parents.

After at least another hour, Crystle decided to go to see her little sister. She opened the door to an empty room. There was a note on the pillow.

To Crystle,Lauren,Sarah,Becky and Lucy,

I have just gone to visit Louise to say goodbye to her, even though this isn't the way I intended. Don't worry, I shall be back in about an hour.

Love Ruby xx

Chapter Three

Saying Goodbye is The Hardest Thing

Ruby half walked, half limped to the tall metal fence which surrounded the cemetery. She turned in and stopped for a moment to look at the gravestones which lay before her. This is how it all ends, she thought, you can go from being the most beautiful thing in the world in the largest house with the biggest bank balance to this... she shook her head and walked on, looking out for the newest gravestones. She found them and walked along slowly looking at each one. She stopped dead when one caught her eye, "Liam Lewis," Where had she heard that name before? Oh well, she thought, there must be loads of men out there called Liam Lewis. Then, a little further along, she saw what she was looking for. "Louise Hill, passed away 13th March 2004." Ruby sunk down to the floor in front of the gravestone, everything was still a blur. She couldn't believe what at happened and it made her think, one minute you could be doing something as normal as walking side by side with your best friend, and the next moment, your world can turn upside down.

Despite what her letter said, she stayed in the cemetary for more than an hour. A boy who has been sitting on a bench nearby looked at the Ruby, she caught his eye. He thought how incredibly beautiful she was, but also felt sorry for her. He could feel her pain and sorrow. 

"Hey, are you okay?" He asked. Ruby looked up at the black haired boy who was looking concerned at her. Ruby nodded at him.

"Just still in shock I suppose." Ruby looked back at the stone while the boy stood up and came closer, then sat beside her.

"So, who was she?"

"Louise? She was my best, closest friend. We had been friends since we were at nursery school. She died in a hit and run just two weeks ago."

"Wow, I am so sorry to hear that." Then came the awkward silence, Scott was picking at the grass, trying to think of something to releive the tension."So... so what's your name?"

"I'm Ruby, Ruby Maitland. You?"

"Wow, gorgeous name!!I'm Scott Brookes." He held out his hand, Ruby laughed and shook it. The two teenagers sat talking for a while until Ruby announced she should get back to the hospital. "You mean you discharged yourself?"

"Yeah." Said Ruby standing up, her legs felt stiff. "Yeah, so I could come and see Louise since I missed her funeral."

"Well, let me walk you back to the hospital." Ruby agreed immediatly. She really didn't want to be alone now, even though she did before. They walked back past the church and Ruby looked up at it shaking her head.Scott saw this, "Are you okay?"

"Let me ask you something Scott, do you believe there is a God?"

"I... I don't really know."

"Because I almost did, until a couple of weeks ago. I wonder, if there is a God, why does he let all these things happen? Why does he let things like wars, tsunamis, deadly earthquakes, fires... what about the Twin Towers? Why did he let a young girl with her whole life ahead of her die? WHY?" She screamed at the church, then began throwing small stones at it. Scott grabbed her and pulled her back while she thrashed her arms around, she was going crazy and Scott was scared, she then stopped and to Scott's horror collapsed to the floor not moving. Scott felt her pulse then looked at her sympathetically.

 Scott was still by her side when she woke up again in the hospital. She smiled at him and he smiled back.

"How are you feeling Ruby?" He asked.

"Kind of stupid. I cannot believe I got that mad."

"It's okay. The vicar was wondering what it was, but once I explained everything to him he just said how he felt so sorry that you were going through this at such a young age."

"Such a young age? I'm 14, its hardly that young."

"I'll tell you what was weird though, this group of kids came out of nowhere to see if you were okay."

"Why is that weird? I know they can be weird sometimes."

"The fact that they came out of nowhere! Seriously, I think they teleported there or something," Ruby laughed gently.

After a few more days resting, Ruby was discharged from hospital and returned home. She was dreading going back to school though, she honestly didn't know how she can leave school  with four friends, then return with three. People would be looking, she will be getting sympathy- she hated that sort of thing. She wished that she could just vanish into the woodwork and stay there, forever.

Keyword: Unfortunatley Unlucky

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Comments (4)

Posted by tarhead 2008-03-08 13:43:37 so far so good liked the beginning - time to squeeze some more words out of your head!! write on! + Report this comment
Posted by whitj310 2008-03-08 16:16:16 Good Some comments Jo, I found it's tough to get comments on short story sites for chapters in a novel. The reason for that is when someone hasn't read previous chapters they lose interest. Having said that don't get discouraged. By forcing yourself to write the chapters in order to post, you gain valuable writing experience which ultimately is what sells your manuscript. I've written two 85,000 word novels doing just that. The hard part comes after you've written the first draft. The story is interesting and I can see it's going to keep the reader wanting more. Instead of "Ruby was sitting" try to write with action verbs like "Ruby sat" It makes it easier on the reader. Also you have too much description after taglines. It's better to say, Ruby said or said Ruby then to say Ruby said, as she grabbed a widget or whatever. I thought you introduced too many characters. Pick one character and dwell on them and their POV. Keep on keeping on. Your talented. JJ + Report this comment
Posted by whitj310 2008-03-08 16:20:32 See, nobody's perfect I said your talented. I meant you're talented. I shall whip myself 100 lashes. JJ + Report this comment
Posted by BritishRainDrop 2008-03-09 09:16:15 Thanks guys!!!! These comments have gave me a great boost, so thankyou!!! I read the bit about too many characters being introduced, and i think you might be right, but I aimed to try and show how close Ruby was to her friends, because for upcoming events, their bond is very important. Does anyone have any tips on how to show this while introducing the characters slower? Thank you guys!!! + Report this comment

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