Author's note:

Hello, hello. Welcome to my multi-chapter project. I'm still not sure if I'm going to continue this so, if you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to say so.

Nothing you recognise belongs to me.

Fading Veils

Ruby was sitting on the bench and swinging her legs, ignoring all the looks people gave her. One girl tried to sit next to her on a bench, but Ruby kicked the dirt and it sprayed all over the other girl's shoes. No one bothered her after that.

She sighed, frustrated, and wriggled her phone out of the pocket of her tight black jeans. It read 7:25 a.m. She quickly stuffed the phone back into the pocket-the screen was shining too brightly too early in the morning. She should really go to bed earlier. Ruby thought about it for a few seconds before chuckling. Who was she kidding? There is no time to go to bed early. There is so much to do and so much to see.

Finally, the bus arrived.

Ruby let all the kids climb onto it before she finally stood up. She was in no hurry.

"Kid, you goin'?" the driver threw at her, his fingers already circling the button to close the door.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she rolled her eyes. Why rush to the bus that will bring her to school, the only place she hated more than her own home?

She scanned the bus, seeking a free spot. She found none, but the driver already started the bus and she almost fell face-first on the floor. In the moments like these she wished for someone to hold her, to stop her from falling down and even further. There was no one to catch her, though, so she climbed back onto her feet.

"You can sit here, if you want to," a red-headed girl smiled at her. Charlie was her name, if Ruby recalled it correctly. It was a weary smile, like she was expecting Ruby to blow up or something. Ruby was used to people treating her that way, though. She couldn't blame the girl. Alastair was the only person on Earth who could understand her.

"Did you do the Maths homework?" Charlie attempted a conversation.

The question made Ruby laugh like she hadn't laughed in a while, "Of course I didn't. You think I don't have better things to do?"

Charlie played with her bracelet, swirling it around her wrist. "Um, sure, I like playing computer games and reading, but you know, I still need to do homework, and I sometimes just feel so sleepy, and the eternal internal conflict between sleep and school is just too much. That reminds me, did you study for Chemistry? I am so nervous, it's our third period, which is in..."

Ruby stared at her. She saw the girl's mouth move up and down, forming letters and words which Ruby didn't hear. Something was whistling in her ears and pounding from the inside of her head. Maybe she had had one beer too much last night.

"Look," Ruby finally managed to say when Charlie stopped to draw a breath, "Just because I'm sitting with you today on this 15 minutes ride doesn't mean that we are instantly going to become best friends. We are never going to become friends, is that clear? I think you go to my class and I think I don't like you. I'm currently too dizzy to remember why, but I'm sure I have a reason for not liking you. So now politely fuck off."

She could see tears gather in Charlie's eyes. The girl quickly turned away from her and stared out of the window for the rest of the ride. Ruby savoured the taste of sweet silence.

.

The bus abruptly stopped and Ruby realized she has managed to fall asleep and take a quick nap. She scowled.

"Hey," she yelled after Charlie, "What do we have the first period?"

"English," Charlie said over her shoulder, not quite turning around enough for Ruby to see her expression. She was probably about to cry or something. Ruby sighed. Of course. Monday morning, first period-English. How could she have forgotten? It was her favourite subject. On good days. Today was a bad day, because Alastair didn't allow her another dose. So she generally felt like crap. She knew that she was becoming addicted. She knew it wasn't good for her. But it just felt so...good.

She slumped into her seat in the back of the classroom and arranged her stuff to make herself comfortable. She was still in her leather jacket, which seemed to be too thin for the late autumn weather. She supported her head with her hand and massages her temple with the other. Her head felt so heavy. She soon found herself drifting off to sleeplands again. Unfortunately, Professor noticed.

"Ruby, what do you have to say about this topic?" Professor Michael startled her.

"Hmm?" she raised her eyebrows at him, showing slight interest and pretending that she wasn't sleeping a few moments ago.

"What is the significance of Holden's hunter hat?"

"Oh that," she yawned.

"Well?" Professor tried again.

Ruby didn't realise he was still expecting an answer. She paused and then shrugged, "How should I know?"

Professor Michael sighed and left her alone for the rest of the class. By the time the bell rang, Ruby's headache had calmed down a bit. She was the last one to leave the classroom and Professor Michael stopped her by the door.

"Ruby, is everything alright? I noticed you... aren't so motivated anymore? Has something happened to you?"

She had to muster all her strength not to roll her eyes. Professor Michael was a good guy but she was in no mood for tirades about how she should be getting a good night's sleep, eat properly, stay away from drinking and drugs, "I'm fine, what about you?"

"Anyway, if you ever want to tell me something or you just feel like talking, you can always look for me."

"Thanks," she turned to leave, but he stopped her again.

"By the way, you are getting an additional homework as a reward for your behaviour today. I want a 1000-words essay about Holden, his hat, its significance and what it means to you. You have two weeks."

"Awesome," she slung her bag over her shoulder. She decided to skip Maths and Chemistry-no point going to go write an exam when she'll just get another F. So she went out for a smoke.

She soon found herself lying in the grass behind a hedge by the football field, blowing little puffs of smoke. She watched them dance for a mere few seconds before they spread up and disappeared. She wanted to think deep thoughts about that metaphor, but the headache was still lingering in the shadows and she was kind of cold, too.

She heard PE teacher's whistle as students spilled on the field. She raised her head a bit to see who it was. She recognised a few guys from the parallel class. They started to play football, while the teacher made the girls go for a run. She lay back down and took a long smoke. The next half an hour was uneventful, but then a ball flew over her in a long bow. One of the guys had an abundance of testosterone and kicked a ball too hard.

"For the love of God, Gordon, why do you always kick so hard?" A deep voice said.

"Just because you can't catch it doesn't mean I'm not doing it right!" Gordon retorted. I know Gordon, Ruby lazily thought.

"Shut up and go get it!" Another voice added.

"I always go!"

"That's because you always kick it out, you dumb fuck!" Here, she stopped listening because more voices joined and they were making too much noise.

"God, you're like children," the first voice said, "I'll go get it."

"You're the best, Sam."

.

Sam jumped over a hedge and almost had a heart-attack. He almost landed on a girl. She was startled but didn't make a sound. She only widened her brown eyes.

"Um, what do you think you're doing?" he asked, confused. She looked him up and down and shrugged, "I could be doing you if you want to."

Sam wanted to think of a witty comeback but his brain decided to ditch him so he just laughed and raised an eyebrow at the girl lying in the grass. Her long brown hair was spilt around her head and framed her pale face. Her cheeks were a little red, though, as if she had a fever.

"Do you often lose your balls?" the girl asked.

Sam was taken aback once again, "Excuse me?"

"Your ball. It's right there," she pointed to her right.

"Oh that," Sam said, embarrassed. He jogged over to the place and kicked a ball so it landed in his hands. With the corner of his eye, he watched her reaction and was slightly disappointed when she wasn't even merely impressed by his mad football skills. She closed her eyes and drew a smoke. She let it through her teeth.

"Sam, how hard is it to get a ball back?" Gordon shouted from the distance.

"I think you are needed somewhere else, Sam," she said.

"I don't even know your name."

She slowly opened her eyes, "So? Why would you care?"

Honestly, he couldn't tell why. This girl was confusing him. He wasn't sure if she had a really sassy sense of humour or if she was simply a bitch. As a football player, he didn't like the fact that she smoked, but hey-she was kind of hot.

"You can stop staring now," she zipped up her leather jacket. In the distance, a bell rang. She made no attempt to move. Sam's next class was English and he didn't want to be late.

"So you're just ditching the classes? Just like that?"

She let out a throaty chuckle that turned into cough, "What are you, some kind of a nerd?"

"Good job, Winchester, we didn't play at all," someone's voice reached them, but it wasn't nearing them.

Sam's head snapped around, "If any of you cared enough, you could've come and gotten it anytime. It's not like you wanted to play." It was true. They had a Chemistry test later today and most students were revising for it. The teacher never cared enough to stop them. He was satisfied with an occasional, "Hey, go back to the game."

"I'm not a nerd," he said to the girl.

"Yeah, sure. I bet you know the whole periodic table by heart."

He half-smiled, "So you have the test today, too?"

"What else would I be ditching?"

"I don't know." He should really get going if he planned to get to English on time. He was always kind of intimidated by Professor Michael.

"Yes, Chemistry exam is in," she pulled out her phone, "5 minutes."

"And why are you still here?"

"Because, you dumb fuck," she jumped onto her feet and smashed her cigarette under her shoe, "Because I didn't study and I don't need another F."

"Are you going to study for the next time?"

"Let's see," she pretended to think, "No."

He shook his head, "You're hopeless." He started to walk away.

She stared at his back, "Don't you want to know my name?"

He didn't even bother turning around, "I don't really care."

Another A/N:

Thank you for reading, please leave a review to let me know if you liked it or not and also check out my other stories! Take care!