Closed Crushed Petals

[Rion Pendleton]

Rion made it all the way to the entrance hall before the tears fell. She sat down on the base of a statue, gathering in her dress and hugging her knees. Weeks upon weeks she'd been looking forward to this night, hours upon hours she'd spent choosing her dress and pinning up her hair, and all of it had been ruined by one boy in the blink of an eye. Her crushed rose probably still lay on the dance floor now, being trampled on again and again. How could anybody do such a cruel thing? Why would they? Was it her? Had she offended him by admitting her feelings? She hadn't expected Horror - well, Terror - to fall madly in love with her, but he might have at least been flattered. Instead, he'd stolen from her what was supposed to be the most special night of the semester.

Her hand went to the yellow rose still tucked in her hair. She plucked it out and threw it on the ground. That was Hugo's rose. Oh, she was so stupid. Why had she ever bothered coming at all?

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Ruby had seen it all unfold. She had spent most of the evening, scowling at Rion for not attending the dance with her, but she definitely didn't think her best friend deserved this. No one did. She wanted to go and punch the stupid boy in the face right then and there, but instead used all her willpower to follow her friend out of the Great Hall. By the time she spotted her friend, she was sitting down, a yellow rose thrown on the floor in front of her. Ruby quickly moved over to her, picking up the rose, and sitting down next to her. "Hey Riri..." Ruby said, putting an arm around the girl's shoulder.

 

[Rion Pendleton]

Ruby. Rion had been so eager to talk to some boys, she hadn't even tried to find her best friend. She'd gotten her priorities all muddled up and this was her karma. Had Ruby seen everything? Of course she had. Half the school had probably seen. "I'm so stupid," she choked, leaning against Ruby's arm. "He hates me. He hates me and he's going to tell Horror and then he'll hate me too!"

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Ruby felt herself get angry that someone had made her friend feel this bad. She wasn't entirely sure what to do as Rion sobbed on her arm, so she gently shhhed her, rubbing her back, trying to think of what she would want someone to say to her. She had only dealt with someone crying once before, and that was Rion at the boat race. She didn't have anything to say then either, but today kind of felt like she did have to say something. "Well, if he hates you, it's his loss. I think they're the stupid ones. They're stupid, ugly boys."

 

[Rion Pendleton]

Ruby could usually cheer Rion up when she was sad, but today she was inconsolable. "No they're not, they're the cutest boys in the whole school!" she said. OK, maybe that was an exaggeration. Or at least, now that Terror had been so horrible, she didn't think he or his twin were half as cute as she had an hour ago. Rion wiped her face, briefly composing herself, then lapsed back into tears. "He's ruined everything. I was having so much fun and now I don't even want to go back in. Why would he be so horrible, Ruby? I just wanted him to like me."

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Ruby couldn't help but snort at Rion calling the twins the cutest boys in school. She, herself, hadn't actually paid much attention to any of the boys around, so figured she was going to have to start paying more attention to see if they actually were cute - and what cute actually meant - but for the time being, and for Rion's sake, they were ugly. Ruby continued to rub Rion's back, searching for words again to say to her best friend. "Have you heard their names? It sounds like they're trying to live up to it. You deserve better than someone who's name is Horror or whatever." Ruby paused for a moment, trying to think of more things to say. "We don't have to go back in if you don't want to. We can dance out here instead!" Ruby suggested, wiggling her shoulders.

 

[Rion Pendleton]

Horror and Terror. Rion had assumed they were terms of endearment, but now she wondered if the boys' parents were diviners. She wiped her eyes again, a smile creeping across her face. "Stop," she said. "I don't want to dance!" But now she was grinning, her shoulders wiggling in time with Ruby's, heels tapping in time with the music that came from the great hall. Finally she dropped her clutch and jumped up, offering Ruby her hand. "Do I deserve you?"

 

[Ruby Maeve Louw]

Though Rion told her to stop, the smile that grew on her face told Ruby otherwise, and she kept wiggling her shoulders, laughing when Ri finally joined in with her. She watched as Rion stood up, and when her Rion offered her hand to her, Ruby threw her head back with a laugh and squeal of delight at Riri's question. "Well, that depends on your dancing skills." Ruby teased, taking Rion's hand and pulling her into a hug.