Twenty

Ruby

"Ruby Powers, are you planning to stand there all day?" Mrs. Cook's firm voice whipped me out of my temporary trance.

I was still finding it hard to get that Adonis man out of my head.

"Oh..." My eyes met the multiple eyes staring at me. " I am sorry I am late, " I hurriedly said before she decides to give me an F-minus for lack of morals.

"Just go and have your seat."

My head ducked a bit as I walked towards the only available desk which was way at the back, but luckily behind Jake's.

After I settled, Jake's face literally almost smeared against mine.

"How are you doing?" he whispered and his eyes narrowed as though daring me to lie.

"We'll talk later, Jake." I briefly looked ahead. "Mrs. Cook mustn't be given a reason to deduct non-existent marks."

Jake smiled, nodded, and shifted properly to face the ongoing class. But as he turned, I noticed the large bandage that secured a spot on his right jaw and I wondered if he got injured somewhere.

Well, I'll just add that to a list of things I'll ask Abby and Jake to gist me about.

After opening my Chemistry notebook which was looking like a periodic mess, the entrance door suffered a loud blow and everyone's attention was diverted.

As though in an action movie, two uniformed cops walked in, sunglasses and all, looking like they came to kill terrorists.

Too bad all they can kill here are spiders and some offensive flies.

Mrs. Cook who was writing a brief note on the board, turned, her long skirt dancing along. Her face which always looked hydrated and treated nicely wore a frown.

"How can you just barge in like that?"

Trust Mrs. Cook to not give a damn about them being cops. Nobody disturbs her class and gets away with it.

"Sorry ma'am, we are here to get a student of yours," one of the men, who wore a small moustache that made him look a bit macho, said. And the second, who stood just a few inches shorter than his partner nodded in agreement.

Mrs. Cook also nodded as she crossed her arms. She slowly crossed them and that told me that danger was coming.

As I said, no one disturbs her class and gets away with it.

"Gentlemen?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Get out."

"Uh?"

Her right hand stretched towards the door.

" You are going to get out right now, close the door after you, and exactly after five minutes, introduce your presence in a much better, less notorious way. "

A few giggles erupted from the class but the woman's glare ruined that parade and I knew I had to send back the urge to laugh that was rising within me.

After her head snapped back at the visibly shocked men, she firmly asked, "Are you still here?"

"Well..." The first man didn't complete his statement as he tapped his partner. The two walked out and closed the door after them as she had requested.

Then, like some emperor awaiting news about defiant citizens, she went to settle on the top of the desk in front of her.

Silence took over the room, no one dared to move an inch as we all waited for that humble knock from the humbled cops.

The knock finally came and after Mrs. Cook asked them in, she asked almost nicely, "Is there a problem?"

"No... ma'am. " It was the second man who spoke this time, his brown short hair suffering his touch because he continuously scratched it while he formed his words. "We are here to get Jake Glacier."

Jake?

I frowned and Jake looked at me immediately.

The odd thing... He didn't look surprised.

"Jake... What's going on?" I whispered to him but he gave me his assuring smile and got up.

" Why are you here for him?" Mrs. Cook asked.

"We need to ask him some questions."

"Hmm. Very well then," she said as she got off the table and motioned towards Jake to follow the men.

Confusion all over my face, I watched as they escorted my friend out of the class and I was almost getting up when Mrs. Cook called my name.

"Yes, ma'am?" I answered her.

"Please move forward and fill Jake's seat."

" Uh? " Her thick brows lifted and I found myself complying while shifting my urge to run after Jake to the end of the class.

~

As I planned, with no regard for the fact that I still had two classes before the short break, I rushed towards the corridor that led to the secretary's office where I guessed they would have taken Jake.

While I was at it, I took my phone out of my pocket and dialled Abby's number which didn't go through.

A sigh escaped me and I hastened my steps while I wondered if it was safe to link the injury on his face to the questioning situation.

He couldn't have fought with someone, could he?

"Ruby." A thick, masculine voice stopped my tracks and when I looked to the side and saw the person, I scoffed.

His back peeled off the wall and he took relaxed steps toward me.

"What do you want?" The scene at Maddison's memorial played in my head and my hands fisted in reaction. "I don't exactly-" The design on his face came into view and my forehead creased. "What happened to your face?"

He had few hints of discolourisation just by the side of his right eye and the side of his lips. He also had little bandages on two different spots on his face.

"What do you think?" he calmly asked and I inwardly swore at him. "You should ask your friend... Jake. That's his name right?"

"Did you beat him up?" Okay, that's it. My rage is coming in and fast. I think I will finally get to know how hard I can punch a person.

Bryan let out a small chuckle before he began to take slow steps around me as though he was a predator trying to corner his prey.

"It was quite the opposite, actually. You should learn  to keep a leash on him-"

I didn't let Bryan finish. Rather, I didn't wait to hear what he had to say because I soon resumed my journey to the secretary's office.

Minutes later, with my chest rising and falling heavily, I made it and when I saw that Abby was already there, I felt a bit relieved, I decided to take a few seconds' break to catch my breath.

"Ruby, you are here," she said, her feet rushing towards me. "They took Jake in, they are saying he might go to jail."

I stood straight instantly. "What? What did he do?"

"He beat up Bryan Lockwood."

" What? Why?"

" What do you mean by why? He was obviously angered by the whole nude thing that happened at the memorial."

" But-"

" Let's go in."

I had no idea how to process it.

After Abby had successfully dragged me into the office and my eyes met Jake's, I felt so terrible.

"Jake..." I muttered as he turned back to face the two cops who were noting things down.

"Am I done here?" he asked the men.

"No," the Macho-moustache man replied and I wore a frown.

"Why?" I asked.

" We are waiting for the important part of this investigation."

"Important part? Bryan Lockwood?"

" No Miss, it is someone else."

" Who on earth is-" Abby placed her hand on my shoulder and signalled to me to try to keep calm. As I exhaled hard and looked for a place to sit, a very familiar voice entered.

"Hello there, my father is around."

"Celery..." I muttered under my breath.

" Oh..." She looked like she was having the time of her life. "I didn't know you'd be here. Well, the more the merrier. Dad?"

" Hmm?" The tall man whose eyes were bold, they could confuse a soul, questioned his daughter's call.

The resemblance was there actually.

Distinctive eye colour, the proud stance, the random hair flipping, the look that damned people before even knowing them... it was all there. Celery was indeed her father's daughter.

"That is the guy that beat up Bryan," she said.

"Oh." He put away his phone and eyed Jake who returned his gaze with a blank look. "I can see why Bryan didn't stand a chance. But regardless, I am here to make sure you pay for what you did to him."

" Mr. Bounce, please have a seat." Scarping noise filled the air as the shorter cop got up and offered his seat to the suited man.

"Ass-kissing cop," Abby muttered bitterly beside me and I couldn't agree more.

Without regard for the man's action, Celery's Dad walked past Abby and me and sat down, so he was now facing Jake.

Then, he continued, "As I said, I need you to pay for what you've done to him."

"What am I supposed to do?" Jake sternly asked.

The older man snickered. "Well, at least you are not dumb. What you have to do will prevent you from being expelled and serving some jail time."

My brows lifted as I pondered on what that could be. While my mind worked on the pondering, my eyes scanned the room and I caught Celery watching me. She then wore a smile that told me that her father's request wasn't going to be a good one.

"What do I have to do?" Jake asked again.

Mr. Bounce adjusted in his seat and shifted a bit closer, his hands beneath his chin. "All I want you to do is, approach Bryan, kneel in front of him and apologize for hitting him."