“I told you red was your colour.”
“Well, you’re often right.”
We stand there for a moment, and I clasp my hands together.
“I should go,” Ruby says, pointing at a cubicle.
“Oh, yeah. Yeah, I should go too.”
“To the dance floor?”
“To the table." I explain my dancing-without-intoxication problem and she chuckles. “So, I’m going to sit at the table and pretend to look busy,” I finish, taking a step towards the door.
“Hey,” Ruby says. “Can you … wait for me? I mean, I get it if you don’t want to, but — but can you? I won’t be long.”
I blink. “Um. Sure. Less time looking like a loner.”
She ducks into the cubicle and I use the time to check my phone and inspect my appearance. The toilet flushes and Ruby washes her hand in the sink beside mine. We look at each other through the mirror’s reflection.
“If I were you, I’d hate me,” Ruby says. “I’ve been so obnoxious. You kept trying to fix things, and I wouldn’t help.”
“It makes sense. You were upset,” I say, after a pause. If I were angry with Ruby, I’d avoid her too.
I did that with Noah. Avoided him. Didn’t try to fix things. My pent up irritation with Ruby dissolves.
“That’s the problem,” Ruby says, turning off the tap drying her hands with paper towels. “I wasn’t angry with you. Well, maybe a little,” she admits. “But it was more … ugh, you’re going to think I’m such a loser if I tell you.” She throws the towels into the bin.
“I won’t.”
“I wanted to be angry with you. It made me feel … less unwanted.”
“Unwanted? What are you talking about?”
She swallows. “Okay, not unwanted … I don’t know how to explain this … I was jealous, okay?” She buries her head in her hands, then stops because she doesn’t want to smudge her makeup. “Because you were suddenly friends with Noah Rosselli. I thought we hated him, but he’s so popular and you were such good friends with him. You spent all your time with him.”
“Ruby …”
“And people started noticing you and paying attention — not that I care about that popularity crap except … well, I suppose I do, a little. Mostly I hated that he was your new best friend.”
“That’s not true,” I say.
“It is! I might have been your best friend, but he was yours too … I sound possessive but it’s true. Anyway, I thought you two were secretly in love as well, which made me feel more jealous. Which sucks because boyfriends are lame, but … I still want one.”
I move closer.
“These exciting things were happening to you,” she continues. “You got invited to that party!”
“You went too.”
“Because you were invited,” she says. “It sounds dumb, but I want people to invite me to parties, and people to love me, and people to know me.”
I put a hand on her back and rub. “It’s not silly,” I murmur. “I think everyone wants that.”
“And then,” Ruby says, her eyes moistening, “everything with Oliver happened, and I felt more abandoned than ever. And now you’re dating him! You’ve got a boyfriend, and it’s my freaking brother!”
“I know. I know. Ruby, I never wanted to abandon you. I never meant to. I’m sorry I made you feel that way, but know that was never my intention.”
“You shouldn’t have to apologise for me being a clingy friend,” she says.
