SWEET CHAOS

The Story of the Strange

—Ruby... Ruby wake up, it's time.

Her mother's voice whispered through that air, pulling her from the comfort of the sheets. Ruby turned over, eyes still stuck together by sleep, feeling that strange joy in her heart that accompanied her every morning.

—I'm coming, mom… —she said, stretching her arms.

She was fourteen again. She imagined herself in her old house, that humble construction with crumbling walls but full of life. She remembered how she ran down the wooden stairs that creaked with speed and excitement.

—What is there to eat, mom? —she always asked, not caring if it was just bread with orange juice. To her, that was home.

—Today I have a date with someone very important —her mother would say in front of a small, cracked mirror while fixing her hair— I can't be late.

But the dream vanished. Ruby opened her eyes and found herself in a cold room, with high ceilings and instant luxuries. She was always alone. She got up and walked toward her table, where an old, wrinkled photo of her deceased father rested. She caressed it with her hand. He was the last man who truly understood her.

FLASHBACK

In public school, Ruby was simply Ruby. She had her best friend, and together they believed they were invincible. They walked through the hallways ignoring the compliments of the boys who always accompanied them. "How pretty they are!" they whispered among themselves, but they just laughed, sharing secrets and dreaming of the future they longed for so much. In tenth grade… her last year there, everything was laughter, games in the courtyard, and the oath to graduate together in the same humble institute.

But reality hit her. Upon arriving home one Tuesday night before playing with her friend.

—Why, mom? Why can't I stay?! —Ruby shouted while tears fell—. We made a promise! We said we would always be together… I don't want these luxuries, I just want to stay.

—I'm sorry, Ruby, but things have changed —her mother responded, avoiding her gaze—. We are moving in with my new husband. You will have a better life, a big house.

Ruby saw her new house for the first time and felt disgust. It was huge and pretentious. When she packed her things, her new room was so big that she only occupied half of her bedroom. The other half she left empty as she found it, as a reminder of the part of her life that had stayed in that place.

In the new prestigious school, everyone acted perfect. Ruby spent her days depressed, surrounded by empty compliments from guys who only wanted to show off how pretty she was. She never asked for anything; she preferred to make her own food in secret, crying in the kitchen while remembering her school friends. After school at her graduation, her mother's and stepfather's seats were the same; they didn't even go.

Ruby walked through the hallways of the new institute feeling like a ghost in an empty house. By her mother's whim, she had to wear expensive clothes and act with elegance. After physical education class, she entered the locker rooms and seeing her "perfect" reflection, she couldn't take it anymore.

BAM!

She hit the desk with rage.

—Why in this place does everyone have that speech and that ridiculous style? —she shouted to the air, now hitting her locker—. Why does everyone have to act perfect? I'm sick of this place!

She turned around, eyes red with fury, and encountered a boy observing her. It was Alex…

—Did you lose something? —she said coldly.

Alex didn't answer, he simply turned around and left with that natural elegance that characterized him. Leaning against the locker, with her head down.

—What is wrong with me?

The next day, she asked for a room change. She needed to find something new. She ended up entering the lab where she saw how everyone moved away from her because of her coldness, observing how a boy abandoned his partner.

—Good luck —the boy said to Alex while escaping.

Ruby slowly approached Alex's table with coldness for some reason she didn't understand.

—Can I be in a group with you?? —she asked trying to sound normal, but speaking with coldness.

They spent a while in silence. Ruby looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “What the hell is wrong with me? I should apologize for the other day” she thought. But before she could open her mouth, Alex spoke without taking his eyes off his experiment, overwhelmed.

—I'm Alex —he said in a low voice, concentrated on a tube and a lab jar.

Ruby stayed in shock. There was no arrogance, there was no "I'm the best" speech, there were no stupid compliments. Just a name. A normal presentation. At that moment, she saw him in a different way; it was an immediate fascination. A normal boy? Or so she thought.

From that day on, Ruby began to follow him from a distance. She observed him in the cafeteria, in the library, in the hallways. Every time their eyes crossed by accident, she felt an electric nervousness. She was falling in love with the idea that Alex was the "normal" one she had searched for so much.

One day, she followed him to a WacDonald. She sat at another table, hidden behind her red hair. She saw how Alex's friend made a fool of himself, acting like an i***t, and how Alex seemed overwhelmed, trying to confirm what she suspected: Alex hated that falseness as much as she did.

Leaving the WacDonald, Ruby walked feeling euphoric. She had confirmed it! Alex was normal!

—Yes! —she celebrated with a small fist in the air, jumping with joy before a black car stopped in front of her.

—Come on Ruby, it's late —said her mother from the back seat.

That night Ruby got out of the shower and lay down in her bed; she took a photo she had taken of Alex from a distance and put it against her chest, closing her eyes.

—Finally... someone normal —she whispered without knowing what she felt.

Ruby walked toward her class rehearsing in her head how to talk to him. She was nervous.

And if I present myself as normal? And if I just say hello? She thought, looking nervously at the floor while walking clumsily, lost in her own mind. She was so distracted she didn't realize someone was coming from the opposite direction in a hurry.

PUM!

The crash was sudden. Ruby felt like the world stopped, falling to the ground. She looked up with her heart wanting to leave her chest and met those cold eyes.

It was Alex Miller.

They stayed staring at each other in the middle of the hallway. She was trembling; he looked like an ice statue but staring at her fixedly…