DANGEROUS SIBLINGS (complete)

CHAPTER 2

After having dinner with her mother and Harvey, Ruby retired early to her room where she resumed with her assignment. Her mother married a man who had three children already; two of them being older than her and the youngest being Harvey. The oldest was the one who was currently helping in running the company with her step father and married. The second child was female and not yet married. It was only the two of them that were staying at home with the parents. At one point she wanted to leave the nest but they would not allow her. They said it was not good for the house to remain without any children so she and Harvey became the sacrificial lambs and remained home with the parents.

It felt so good seeing how money can change one person's life. She could still remember the nights when they had little to eat, her mother would give her all the food all the time. It was really tough for them. When her birth father died and left her mother with so much debt, she thought she will become an orphan seeing how depressed her mother was. Her grandparents and father's relatives refused to help and it became the burden of her mother. Along the way she met the man she married now and all her debts were paid. She began to see her mother smiling again and that is all she wanted.

Ruby looked at the time and saw that it was already  around eleven and her essay was almost done. There was a slight knock on her door and her mother entered.

'I saw the lights were still on, so i brought you some fruits. Are you almost done?' her mother asked her as she placed the plate on the table.

'I think i will be done in another thirty minutes,' she replied taking a piece of fruit and threw it in her mouth.

'I thought you always did your assignments during the weekends. Why are you rushing yourself like this?' her mother asked as she sat on the couch.

'I will tell you something but it is a secret. Do not even tell Harvey or dad,' she said looking at her mother.

'Okay, i won't,' her mother promised.

'I will be joining Harvey on his trip. The principal asked me to go and check up on the kids,' she said.

'That is so sudden. Is that why you are rushing to finish your assignments?'

'Yes, i don't want to do any assignments when i leave and especially when i am back. So i will do some while i can and finish the rest when i return,' she said.

'I am proud of you. Just don't do any mistakes, i wouldn't want you to fail just because you were rushing to finish.'

'I will not make that mistake. Is Harvey sleeping?'

'Yes, he left a while ago.'

'Okay, I will see you in the morning. I need to finish this quickly so that i can wake up early,' Ruby said giving her mother the cue to leave.

'Do you have enough money for the trip?'

'I think i do. I haven't bought a lot of things lately. Why do you ask?'

'I think i will deposit some money for you. Use it for yourself and your brother,' her mother said standing up.

She came up to her and kissed her on the forehead.

'Goodnight mother.'

'Goodnight Ruby, i love you.'

'I love you too.'

Her mother left her bedroom and she continued with her assignment. She finally finished her essay, saved it and switched off her laptop. She went to her en-suite bathroom to brush her teeth and wash her face. When she returned he was seated there.

'I thought you were sleeping,' she said as she walked up towards him.

'I was but i woke up. You owe me , have you forgotten?'

'How can i ever forget that when you don't stop with the reminders?' she asked as she joined him on the bed.

'It's good that you know. I came up with what i want,' he said looking at her.

'And what do you want now?' she asked staring deep into his eyes.

'I will be leaving in two days and i will definitely miss you. So i will sleep with you until i leave,' he said getting into her bed.

Ruby laughed at how silly her brother was at times.

'You will never change. Do you even realize that you are no longer a child?' she asked as she joined him.

'I know but you have yourself to blame,' he said as he pulled her towards him.

It was awkward for other people but not for them. When her mother married his father, he used to have nightmares so she slept with him so that he could sleep at ease. That became a habit that even when they grew up, they would sometimes just do that. Their parents grew tired of trying to stop them until they just left them to it. The feeling of being around him she loves it; the feeling of being comfortable around him. He patted her hair before he kissed her forehead.

'You must be tired, sleep early. I will wake you up in the morning' Harvey said and Ruby smiled and closed her eyes.

With Harvey there she had nothing to worry about.

It might have started as a way of Ruby to make sure he slept well but he got used to it that whenever he slept alone, he felt so lonely. Be always knew that the kind of feelings he harbor for his older step sister weren't normal but he just couldn't himself. He was weak when he was a child unlike his older siblings. Be barely remembered his mother's face. His mother died when he was just three years old. He was raised by countless nannies. His sister and brother were too busy to play with him. He was just so lonely and it pained him so much. When his father married Ruby's mother he was so sad since he thought that this woman was replacing his dead mother. What if she abused him?

But then be was that smiling young girl around his age. She didn't hate him but she was curious about him. She played with him and gave him all her attention. For the first time he didn't feel lonely at all. He was so eager to go to school so that he could be with her. Ruby was a prodigy of many things. Be had never seen such a person before. Ruby trained in taekwondo, judo, karate and mixed martial arts which was unusual for a girl. Why was she so interested in fighting? That question was answered when he saw just where she used all that training. No one bullied Ruby, her friends or him. She was feared by everyone and even boys couldn't approach her which made him so happy. He didn't want anyone to take Ruby away from him.

Ruby was good at her academics too which made their parents not to worry much about her behavior. Because he saw how strong and courageous Ruby was, Harvey began to follow in her steps. He trained so hard so that no one would step on him too. He wanted to protect his sister and those that he loved from any harm. He wanted to make his family proud so be studied hard just like his sister.

He followed  her into University they were both currently in. She became the student council president for two years in a row which was something that had never happened before. He was really proud of her and didn't want to disappoint her. He thought so highly of her and didn't want to lose her which is why he was so afraid of telling her how much he really love her. Not as his sister but as a woman, it might be crazy but she is his first love. She is the only girl he had ever wanted to kiss and embrace like that. He just couldn't do it with anyone else.

Harvey remembers the day he had his first kiss. He was in high school and Ruby had just graduated. She was overjoyed and in extreme jovial mood that she hugged him and kissed him straight on the lips.

He was so shocked and she noticed it but instead of stopping she even joked with him.

'Was that your first kiss?' she asked him but he couldn't answer her. He was so embarrassed and he just couldn't do it. He wanted to run away and go as far from her as he could but she pulled him closer to him and smiled.

'If that was then it should be good,' she said and lowered her face to his again. He felt her lips touching his and he knew that he was in trouble. She kissed him until he kissed her back. After a while she broke off the kiss and smiled at him.

'Now my brother is no longer a kid. Don't embarrass me out there when you get yourself a girlfriend,' she said and left.

To her it might have meant nothing but to him it was everything. He was professed to by many girls that he tried to forget about her but he never worked. Every time he tried kissing with a girl the only image that would pop up was Ruby. Her face, her smile and everything just haunted him. Just being with her now meant a lot to him.

She hugged him close and he smiled. She was really tired after doing all that work. He was going to miss her when he leaves for the trip. He didn't want to go but Ruby went all nuts on him. He was going to leave with his friends and classmates and have fun whilst they could. He finally closed his eyes and dosed off.

Ruby woke up earlier than Harvey as always. He was sleeping so soundly she was reminded of back then when he couldn't sleep because of the nightmares. She crawled out of bed quietly so that she wouldn't wake him up. She went to her bathroom where she took a nice hot shower. When she was done, she left the bathroom and returned to her bedroom so that she could find some clothes to wear from her closet. When she came out, he was not there. She just shrugged her arm-band thought that maybe he left for his room to take a shower too. She went to her closet and smiled when she got there. Harvey had prepared an outfit for her already.

She applied her body lotion and put on the clothes that had been laid out for her. The student council members had dress colors that they were supposed to wear even though she could opt not to. They had three colors that comprised of white, black and purple. Purple was the school's color. She checked herself in the mirror and loved the dress she was wearing. It was an outfit that Harvey bought for her about a month ago. It was a full white dress that reached just above her knees and a purple jacket to go with the dress. She out on her stilettos and left her bedroom for the ground floor. When she arrived her mother was busy helping to out breakfast at the table.

' Good mother,' she said as she kissed her on her cheeks.

'Good morning, my love. Where is your brother?'

'He will come down any second. Where is dad?' she asked looking around.

'He had an early appointment so he left already,' her mother answered.

'Okay,' she said as she sat down.

'You look beautiful,' her mother complimented her.

'Thank you. Harvey picked the clothes,' she said.

'He has a lovely taste. I thought you were going to wake up late considering the fact that you two were sleeping so soundly,' her mother said as she joined her at the table.

'I guess I now have a natural instinct of waking up,' she said as she dug into her breakfast.

'There is your brother,' her mother said as she was shoving a piece of sausage in her mouth. She looked towards the stairs and there he was, looking magnificent that she heard her heart racing faster. What was that feeling?

Harvey arrived at the table and kissed Grace, Ruby's mother good morning before joining the two lovely ladies at the breakfast table. They all smiled at each other and their breakfast in silence. After breakfast they all stood up and rushed towards their rooms to get their belongings for school. He was the first to finish and waited for Ruby at her door.

'Are you done?' he asked her.

'Yes, I am. Let's go,' she said walking towards him.

He took her other bag and took it downstairs. When they reached outside their cars were already waiting for them.

'Should we race again?' Harvey asked Ruby and Grace answered instead.

'If i hear that word again, you will find me in a hospital,' she said and they all laughed.

'Don't worry mom, you will never hear it again,' Ruby assured her mother as she get into her car.

Harvey smiled at how crazy his step mother acted but he loved her for that. It was her way of showing love to the two of them. They bided Grace farewell and drove off to school. Since they were in different classes, they parked in different places. Ruby had her own parking slot, another benefit of being the president. When Harvey arrived, his best friends were waiting for him.

'We thought you will never show up,' they said as soon as he got out of his car.

'Why do you say so?' he asked looking at them.

'Can't you see the time? Did you forget what we promised yesterday?' Brian asked him.

Harvey began to comb through his thoughts and realized that he had forgotten about it.

'I'm sorry, something cane up,' he said and they all smiled at him.  

'What did you do this time?' Owen asked him.

'That is a secret,' he said with a smile on his face.

'Come on, let's go or else we will be late,' Brian said.

The trio began to walk towards their first lecture hall, the girls couldn't stop staring but that didn't work mostly on them. He was single and carrying a torch for his step sister, Brian had this huge crush on Ruby's best friend and Owen already had a girlfriend. They couldn't stop the girls from doing what they did. They arrived in the hall and sat when this group of girls approached them.

'Hey guys, did you hear that a bunch of seniors from the student council will be joining us?' one of them asked and they all looked at each other.

'No, why would they do that? It's our trip and not theirs,' Owen asked.

'I don't know why they are doing this to us,' the girls said in unison.

'Do you know whom the seniors are?' Harvey asked being curious.

'No one said anything. We didn't even get their names but they will be quite a few of them.'

If Ruby knew about this, wasn't she supposed to tell him? This was probably a lie. Ruby wouldn't hide something like this from him. After all she knew everything that happens at campus.

'Hey, how about you ask Ruby, she might have an idea?' Brian asked and he looked at him.

'Are you hoping that he will go?' Harvey asked Brian and saw him blush for a second. 

'You know he won't go alone  unless Ruby is with them. But just imagine going to the trip with Ruby and her friends. I am telling you man, we will be screwed,' Owen said and they all smiled at the thought.

Harvey knew exactly what his friend was talking about. Only if they knew how friendly, lovely and cute she was, they would never say this about her.

'I will ask her when the classes are over. You know how she hates being disturbed,' he said and they all agreed.

'We wouldn't want to face her wrath,' Brian said in agreement.

The girls returned to their seats as the professor walked in and the lecture began.

Ruby went through her assignment one more time and she saved it. There was still about a week until it was due. She printed the essay, stapled it and took it to her professor's office. When she arrived, her professor was in so she let her in. 

'Good morning sir,' she greeted as she entered in the office.

'Good morning Ruby. What did you bring for me this morning?' he asked her.

'I came to submit my assignment,' she said as she placed the file on the desk.

'But it is not due yet. Why are you submitting it early?' 

'I will be accompanying the second year's tomorrow so i won't be able to submit it then. I would rather do it now than later,' she said.

'That's very considerate of you. I will take it and i hope that you have fun,' he said.

'Thank you sir. I have class, so i will take my leave,' she said.

'Sure.'

Ruby left the man's office and began to make her way back to her office. She didn't have any class in the morning but she just hated being around professors for a long time. On her way to her office, she bumped into another student who was a senior like her.

'Well, it's Ruby. What are you doing this side?' he asked her and she stopped and looked at him.

'Last time i checked, i was a student council president. That is an irrelevant question to ask, don't you think?'

'How can you never change? I thought you will be less aggressive to me by now.'

'Then you should have made sure i didn't see you so early in the morning. You know exactly how capable you are that you make my blood boil with so much anger,' she told him with a poker face.

'You are still mad?'

'Not mad exactly. What i feel, I just can't describe it, so ex-boyfriend of mine, please don't make ne angry now!' she warned.

'I said i was sorry.'

'I know how sorry you are which is why you are still intact by now. I have things to do. Take care of yourself Tom,' Ruby said and walked away.

Tom was her last boyfriend. She thought she would settle and just love him but that ungrateful donkey continuously cheated on her with other girls. She was tired of fighting, so she simply broke up with him and ended it without a fight. For the first time, she didn't even confront the girls, she left them alone but she knew that they shouldn't play with fire. Sometimes she wondered if what she did was the right thing. It was the best decision to leave Tom however forgiving him was what she regretted.

Ruby returned to her office and hoped that by the time the day ends, she will be done with something. She wanted to relax and have fun during the trip she was going to clash with her friends.