All the Pretty Rubies

I have had a creative explosion in my head, and now have had twelve thousand ideas for stories, but I'm saving some.
This is one.
==Characters==
Fiona Jessie Rutherford- The main protagonist in All the Pretty Rubies, her brother is in the hospital, her dad in war and her mother is dead. She suffers from depression, anorexia and bulimia, and she cuts on her legs and arms, and occasionaly purges. She also lives alone, and is bullied at school by Gendalyn Cartwright and her boyfriend Brennan Charles.
Ever Lawrence- Another protagonist, and Fiona's crush. He is part of the emo clique, but is not necessarily emo, and he really enjoys Fiona's presence, but he doesn't know any of her secrets, besides her being anorexic. He is really sweet, but suffers from minor depression.
Rosanna Lee- Ever's friend, best friend next to Jamie Prendergast. She has purple hair, and is funny, and has a warm aura, and is loved by most people. She has a good relationship with her parents and sister Kaila, and she is a really happy person. Rosanna is a lesbian, so she finds it really hard to avoid being teased.
Jamie Prendergast- Ever's best friend, a fun-loving people person, who is not that hard to get along with, he is a funny person, and he has a girlfriend, Annalize Strong, they've been dating for a year, and are in a great relationship. He does have some problems, a dyslexic and a bulimic.
Annalize Strong- Annalize is a sweet, quiet girl, but she is bulimic, and purges, she takes a liking to Fiona, and they become great friends. She is like that one girl who tells you she is fine but really, she's not, she's a trainwreck, but Annalize is not necessarily that bad. She has bright red hair, and is really smiley.
Elise Lockhart- A quiet girl, with green hair. She is anorexic, and hardly ever wears any colour but black. She rarely talks to anyone but her friends and family, and is bullied by Gendalyn Cartwright quite frequently, but not as frequently as Fiona. She also becomes great friends with Fiona.
Cosette Swan- Rosanna's girlfriend, who cuts on her stomach, due to teasing about being a lesbian. She is really sweet, and has cotton candy coloured hair. She is part of the swimming team, so she avoids cutting her wrists and legs, but has very thin cuts on her stomach. She is very kind and caring.
Gendalyn "Gendy" Cartwright- The main antagonist. A rather egotistical girl, she is the popular girl, and she acts like a bitch to most of the kids in her school, besides her friends, and boyfriend. She is haughty and arrogant, and thinks everybody loves her. She bullies Elise and Fiona most, but bullies a heck of a lot of people.
Brennan Charles- Another antagonist, Brennan is also egotistical, haughty, and arrogant, but is also rude. He is professional at making people feel bad, which is a terrible profession. He is Gendy's boyfriend, and they claim they  are paired together like PB and J, even though they've been dating for a month.
4.jpeg|Fiona Jessie Rutherford
Ever.jpeg|Ever Lawrence
Rosanna Lee.jpeg|Rosanna Lee
James Mira.jpeg|Jamie Prendergast
Annie.jpeg|Annalize Strong
Elise.jpeg|Elise Lockhart
Cosette.jpeg|Cosette Swan
Gendy.jpeg|Gendy Cartwright
Brennan.jpeg|Brennan Charles
==Prologue==
Do you know what it's like to grow up alone since the age of 7?
To have to make dinner, lunch and, breakfast all alone?
To never be found by the government and sent to a temporary home?
To not have any friends?
To be the outcast at school?
To be looked down upon?
To cry yourself to sleep?
To have a dead mother, a father in war, and an older brother who can't come home from the hospital?
To be anorexic?
Bulimic?
When someone sees my wrists or legs at school, my excuse is "Cat."
Want to hear my secret?
I don't have a cat.
==Chapter 1==
I walk to school, my head hung low, my dark hair in front of my face, my wrists and legs covered up by skinny jeans and a black sweater. I watch the little popular clique, with their stupid faces and their stupid boyfriends and their stupid money, drive to school in their stupid cars.
The nerds, who look like, well, nerds.
The jocks and their idiotic cheerleader girlfriends.
The drama geeks, the stoners.
And the emo-ish/outcasts/kids in the writing club/people with brightly coloured hair/people that would make good friends with anybody. I've secretly wanted to be part of that groupa for a long time, I can relate to them most. I bet at least one of them is anorexic, bulimic or cuts. I, do and am all of the above.
And then there's the loners, maybe 5, 10 at my school, and by no coincidence, chance or anything at all, I'm one of them. I've always been one of them. Fiona Jessie Rutherford, that's me. The girl nobody cares about. No one at all.
I walk the rest of the way, staring at the pavement, kicking a pebble across the cold, hard ground.
When I get to the school, miss Queen Bee, Gendy Cartwright comes up to me, with her clique, and their boyfriends. "Hey Fiona. How's life as an outcast? I bet it's GREAT!" Gendy says, flicking her blonde hair behind her shoulders. "It's wonderful. Thank you for being so considerate Gendalyn. How's life as an, egotistical, arrogant, haughty, condescending, rude, mean and idiotic bitch?" I retort. Gendy's brown eyes widen, and her friends stop high fiving her, and her boyfriend, Brennan, gets all protective. "Hey! Don't talk to my girlfriend that way!" 
"Maybe she shouldn't talk to me that way then. You're an egotistical, arrogant bitch too, Brennan." I yell, and walk away. I don't look back, but I'm sure the other outcasts and Emos would be pretty happy if they could do that. 
I don't feel happy though. I feel broken, lost, like a ghost wandering earth, waiting to rest in peace. Like I always do.
I walk through the hallways, everyone oblivious to me. I pull up my sleeves, and, walk to my locker, beside Ever Lawrence, the kid I've had a crush on since freshman year. We talk quite a bit for someone who has friends and an anorexic, bulimic, outcast cutter with no friends.
"Hey Fiona." He says. "Hi." I mutter, pulling up my sleeves higher. We continue to grab our things without any talking.
"Ever!" A voice calls from somewhere in the hallway, and Ever's friends, Elise, Rosanna, Cosette, Jamie and Jamie's girlfriend Annalize, come down the hallway. I know for a fact that everyone in that group is single but Annalize, Jamie, Rosanna and, Cosette.
"Hey." Ever greets. "Hi Fiona!" Annalize says "Hey Annalize." I reply. "Wanna come with us?" Elise, the quiet, anorexic girl who always wears black asks. "Uh.. Why not? Sure." I answer. 
For the first time ever, I feel like I have even the slightest hint of a friend, and the tiniest glimmer of happiness inside me. Friends are a thing I've never had, and happiness is a feeling totally foreign to me.
It feels great.
==Chapter 2==
At the end of the day, happiness is still glimmering, shining like a star, as I walk to writing club. I have a feeling in my gut because this is the best day I've had since, well ever, that something bad will happen now. I abnegate the feeling and continue down the hallway, smiling.
I forgot what it feels like to smile. 
I open the door to Miss Evlyina's class, and everyone is there, looks like Cosette Swan saved a space for me. I sit beside Cosette, who's holding Rosanna, her girlfriend's hand. I think it's really sweet they're together, I support gay rights.
"Okay, today we're going to share our stories. Fiona, why don't you start?" Miss Evlyina smiles.
I walk up to the front of the classroom, a slight smile on my face, and my black composition book in my hands. The most recent story I wrote was one about me, and I think it's okay, except I replaced me with a boy called Eddie.
I sit on the stool that Miss E puts up at the front, and begin my story, the words spill out of my mouth, as I hope that nobody thinks it's my story. I finish my story with a happy ending. "And Eddie waited for friends, and they came, even a girlfriend, Eddie slowly recovered for her, and he grew up to be a very happy man, with a family of four, and an entire life ahead of him to live." I find myself smiling after I've finished. 
Brennan who (unfortunately) is also in the writing club (and he sucks at writing) starts to snicker. "Wow, Fiona, that story sucked! You can't write a thing, I bet that things filled with a bunch of shit! Fiona, you suck! A cat can write better than you!" He's lauging his head off, as all the people in the writing club stare at him, eyes like stone, stuck on him, most eyes have fire in them too. 
I, feel hot, and my entire body is fuming, a mix of emotions in my amygdala. Furiousity, hurt, anger, sorrow, wanting to kill Brennan Charles by torturing him and then cutting him into a million pieces slowly and painfully, then stomping on the chunks and throwing them into the sea, no I shouldn't throw them into the sea, the fish would get sick, and die. I'll throw them onto a busy highway.
Soon, I feel all the sorrow come out of my body, and leaves just flaming hot anger. "I don't suppose your story was any better you condescending asshole!" I yell, and throw my notebook at him, coloured red, his face is red, every fucking thing is red. I stay long enough to see him try to dodge the book, but it hitting him in the gut. 
I run out of the classroom, tears supressed behind blue eyes. As soon as I smash open the glass doors to the school, I let the tears come, hot, wet, salty tears, small diamond droplets running off my face. 
I have my bag with me, but I didn't bother getting my notebook. I'm not seeing red anymore, more blue, but I'll be seeing red in a moment.
I open the door, and shove all my things down. I go into the corner, and just cry for about ten minutes, and then, I take my hoodie off, and my arms are showing. I grab a pairing knife from the drawer, and grab onto the blade, letting it cut into my hand, just a little.
I go up to the bathroom, and sit in the bathtub. I wore black today, so the blood won't be visible in my clothes. I look at my ribcage through the shirt. On Rosanna or Cosette, it'd fit perfectly, but on me, even the sleeves are baggy, and it's supposesd to be tight fitting. It's also an extra-small. 
I pick up my blade, and put it to my arm, making short cuts through my skin, watching the ruby droplets come out of my body. I continue, and after exactly 136 cuts, I switch to my other wrist, where I make another 136 cuts, and move onto my legs, lovely, slender, bony, pale legs, scarred from my last cutting session. I cut into them too, 136 cuts per leg again.
"Silly girl, silly, silly Fiona, look at the mess you made. There's blood everywhere. All the pretty rubies falling down the drain." I whisper to myself.
I drop the blade on the floor, and just stay in the bathtub. I feel my eyelids get heavy, and I know I'm falling alseep.
"Silly girl, look at the mess you made..." 
==Chapter 3==
I wake with a start, realizing I'm in the bathtub. there's a coat of scarlet blood on the white of the tub, and my side. 
I smile, knowing what I did. I turn on the shower, to ice cold. I sit right under the jet of icy water, the droplets hitting my back like chilled needlepoints. I watch the blood run down the drain, and the blood wash off my sides, and out of my clothes. I turn off the shower, and dry myself off, carefully, trying not to rip the scabs.
I blow dry my hair, and stumble down the stairs, in my pajamas, which I changed into. A pair of black cotton pants, with little penguins on them, and a black skinny strap.
I stroke the couch, the soft fabric, comforting my aching arms and legs. I pull a blanket over myself, and curl up in front of The Avengers. A sharp ringing bursts my eardrums. My cellphone. I pick it up, and answer the phone. "Hello?" I rasp. "Hey, Fiona, it's Ever." Ever's calming voice comes in through the speaker. "Are you okay?" 
"Yeah. I'm just sitting on the couch. I've got the TV on." I say quietly. "Okay. Well, I've got everybody over, wanna come here?" He asks. "Yeah, sure, be over in five." I hang up the phone.
I go upstairs, and put on a t shirt, and some capris. I walk out the door, nothing but my purse with pajamas (for no reason) and my phone in my hand. Not like I'll need it. Gendy's not gonna call me and ask me to be her best friend. I'd probably call her a bitch again, and decline. 
I shove it in my pocket, and ring the doorbell, and walk into Ever's place. 
The greeting I get, is stares of worry and fright. "I cut. I'm bulimic and anorexic, I purge and I've got depression. Any other secrets?" I confess, trying not to sound bitter.
"I'm bulimic." Annalize says quietly, flicking her scarlet hair over her shoulder. "Ditto." says Jamie. "Anorexic." Elise rasps. "I'm a cutter." Cosette says, seemingly proud, for some odd reason. I'm not proud of my cuts. "I've got depression." Ever whispers, so quietly, I bet Rosanna, who's sitting right beside him can't even hear him. 
We all sit around Ever's living room, and eventually everyone goes home to get pajamas, as it's 3:25 in the morning, and we're not planning on waking up early, as it's a Saturday. I grab the loveseat for myself, but I don't fall asleep, at 5:00, I'm still awake. 
"Fiona?" I hear a whisper, it's a masculine voice, and Jamie's obviously asleep, snuggling Annalize. Ever. "Yeah?" "Just wondering if you're awake. Okay, I'm going to sleep again." He says. "Wait, Ever, I've gotta tell you something. "I have to tell you something too." He says. "Okay, we'll say it at the same time, on three. 1... 2... 3..."
"I love you."
==Chapter 4==
I wake up at Ever's place, vaguely remembering everything that happened last night. All of it is masked by one event. 
The one where I figured out Ever loved me back. I never, never, ever in a million years would have thought that anybody would love me. Fiona Jessie Rutherford, the biggest loser, outcast and suicidal person in the state of California. It's the perfect late Christmas present. Not super late though, it's still December, two days before new years day. 
After a quiet breakfast, with all their rainbow hair in their faces, we all get dressed and go home. I sit on the couch, and count my scars from last night. 544 cuts. I sit on the couch for a while, watching the comedy channel, then I hear my ringtone. The hospital? Why are they calling me? 
"Hello, this is Fiona." 
"Good morning Fiona, we have some good news for you. Your brother, Jaye's illness has almost completely cleared away. He can come home in a week minimum, as soon as he can walk without the assistance of crutches." The lady at the reception desk explains.
"What? Jaye's okay? Can I come see him?" I ask exitedly. "I'm sorry, but not until he's well. We'll call you as soon as he can come home." The lady at reception hangs up. I scream with joy. Jaye can come home! Jaye is my brother. When I was 7, and he was 9, he was diagnosed with something the doctors have never seen before. They called it Jaye Rutherford Syndrome, or JRS. 
It caused him to not be able to move, and he could barely talk or eat. He's been stuck there for half his life. He's 18 now. They schooled him, and raised him from age nine, but now he can come home! Jaye can come home!
I smile happily, and flop onto the couch again. 
This is probably the best week I've had.
==Chapter 5==
About a week later, I get a call from the hospital again. "Hello, this is Fiona." I say, holding back my exitement, because I know why they're calling. "Hello Fiona, you can come pick Jaye up today at noon. He's just packing his things now." Reception lady tells me. "Okay. I'll be there." I say, wondering what things Jaye has to pack. Maybe clothes? He'll have to have some, he's been on crutches for 3 weeks apparently. They say he'll probably never be off them, and if he does get off them, he'll be in leg braces for the rest of his life. 
I look at my watch. 11:45. I can't wait, I run outside to my car, and drive to the hospital as fast as the law will allow. I get there about 2 minutes before noon. I go inside the white building, and go to the reception. "Jaye Rutherford?" I ask the lady at the desk who can't be more than twenty. She smiles, and points. I look in the direction she's pointing, and there he is. My brother.
He looks nothing at all like me, he looks like mum did, before she died, just before Jaye was taken. I contain my emotions as I walk towards him. He has crutches that I've never seen before, silver poles, with a round circle at the top that he puts his hand through. 
I stop about 6 inches from his face. I feel like crying, but I don't. We don't say anything, just stare at each other. I can't take it. I bear hug him so tight, I have to try not to suffocate him. He does hug me back, weakly though. I cry tears of joy. I haven't seen him in nine years. "I missed you." He says. "I missed you too. I haven't seen you in nine years." I rasp. I let go of him, and I walk to the car, while he half walks-half hops on the crutches. 
Category:Realistic Fiction
Category:Romance