Gotta Get Out

This year had had its ups amd downs, but at least it was almost over. But the year couldn't end without Ruby catching up with her friend Marcy. She wasn't as close to her as she would like to be so to change that, she thought she would invite her to come over over the summer. It would be nice to have someonebaround that she could talk to and relate to. They did like the same things after all.

So, she asked her to meet her in the common room after classes were through. As she waited, she hummed a tune that had been stuck in her head all day. When she saw a familiar face, she jumped up from the couch she had been sitting on. "Marcy! How are you?" She threws her arms around the girl and gave her a hug. "Its been so long since we've talked." She let go of the girl after kissing both of her cheeks.

Marceline wasn't sure she'd ever get used to Ruby. Though she didn't hate the older girl like she despised most other people in school, she wasn't used to the close contact friendliness Ruby possessed, or her disposition to be exceptionally kind. Marceline didn't understand it, but she just went along with all of it. After all, who else did she really have to call a friend besides Ruby?

Marceline was so used to fending for herself and being on her own that she hadn't noticed how long it had been since she last saw Ruby until the girl pounced upon her as soon as she entered the commons. "Uhh, hey,' She replied, patting Ruby's back timidly with one hand as the girl nearly crushed her ribs and then kissed both her cheeks. Marceline brushed away the kisses with the back of her hand as she took a seat on the couch.

"Black, just like mine," Marceline pointed out, touching a lock of Ruby's long hair before letting it go again. Ruby was always dying her hair, but black felt abnormally normal for her. "So, what's going on?" Marceline questioned. It had been a while since they had talked, but not much had happened to Marceline.

Ruby didn't think anything about the younger girl wiping her kisses away with her hand. It was just the way she greeted her friends and family. "You like it?" She grinned and twirled the ends of her hair with her index finger. She always liked dying her hair but it was beginning to do major damage. "I'm thinking about putting pink back in it and keeping it like that for a while."

She paused for a moment while she thought over the question. So much has happened to her in the past year that it was hard to remember all of it. "Oh, well, I found out my birth parents aren't actually dead. So, that's new." She couldn't say she hated them nor could she say she liked them. "I have a boyfriend. And I have a brother I didn't know about." That was probably it for her exciting year. "What about you?"

Marceline nodded along to Ruby's news "Mine are still dead, as far as I care," She noted, though she knew that the story had to be big to Ruby. After all, Ruby probably discovered the state of her birth parents by some sort of contact with them, and Marceline knew for sure if her birth parents ever tried to come back into her life she'd be pissed. It was their own fault for giving her up in the first place.

"A boyfriend?" Marceline repeated, sounding surprised. Something didn't set right with her with that thought, but she couldn't put a finger on what that was about. "Congratulations, I guess," She added, bitterly. Maybe she was tired of being alone herself. Maybe she was jealous her only school friend had a boyfriend and she didn't. No. That wasn't it. If Marceline wanted a boyfriend, she could've accepted the advances of that poor sod Philip, so it couldn't be that Marceline wanted just anyone. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by news of Ruby having a brother.

"Oooh," She cooed. "Is he hot?" Marceline questioned, but she knew there were more important questions here. "Who is he? Are you guys blood related? Is he still living with your birth parents or?" She cut off, allowing some time for Ruby to answer. A lot certainly had happened to Ruby this year, but Marceline wasn't complaining. She liked having no family and no boyfriend to worry about.

Ruby raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Are you okay?" She picked up on the other girl's tone. Had she upset her in any way? Had she said something wrong? "Um, yeah, boyfriend. His name is Noah, he's in your year. Maybe you have some classes with him." He was a total sweetheart and she was sure that her two friends would get along swimmingly. "If you don't know him, you should meet him. I think you two would get along great."

"He's my brother," she giggled. "I don't think he's hot, but you might think he is." She shrugged. "Then again, I don't know what your type is." Then came the questions. It was only nature for questions to be asked. "Blood, same mom and dax. Yeah, he is. I've talked to him about them." She couldn't describe the feeling about talking about her parents or talking to her brother about their parents. "Even though they're my birth parents, I would still choose my momma and papa over them."

"I'm fine," Marceline hissed, through clenched teeth. It was obvious that something was bothering her, but just what that something was, Marceline couldn't say even if she wanted to. She listened with impatience as Ruby went on about her boyfriend. She knew friends listened to friends when they talked about someone they liked, but something about this Noah kid really pissed her off. "I've probably already met him if he's in my year. Probably wasn't impressed because I don't remember him," Marceline replied, picking at the black nail polish on her nails. She didn't mean to act so cold, the topic just made her feel rotten.

"Well if he's related to you, then he's gotta be hot," Marceline found herself saying, without even thinking. She scowled as she realized her blunder and ran a hair through her short black hair. She was thankful that suddenly they were talking about her birth parents again. At least they were away from the topic of boyfriends.

Marceline nodded in understanding. Though she didn't exactly love Agatha, if she had to choose between her birth parents and her foster mom, she'd choose Agatha every time, for the woman chose her when her parents didn't. Marceline was thankful though that she didn't need to make that choice. "I get that," She said. "You've been with them longer, anyway, and besides, they chose you first."

Ruby couldn't put a finbger on why Marcy was suddenly so cold. Was it really something she said? Maybe she should stop talking altogether. But she found herself babbling on. "You will get along great," she said. "I'd like my best friends ro get along." She grinned and held out her pinky finger. "Promise you'll hang out with him and me? It'll be super fun!" Oh how she hoped she'd agree to her plan, it would be so great to have them get along and be friends.

It took Ruby's brain a moment to realize what her friend said. She chose not to comment on it, but a tint a pink flushed her face. It was just a compliment, nothing more.

"I'm so glad I have someone to talk to about this stuff," she admitted. "No one seems to understand what I'm going through, not even my brother or Noah." She threw her arms around her friend again. "But you seem to understand more than anyone else." She pulled away and took Marcy's hands in hers. "Thank you for understanding, you're a great friend." She squeezed her hands and smiled big. "So, tell me about your life. I've rambled on and on, I wanna listen to what you have to say."