All Over Again - Chapter 16: Chapter 16

"Hey Ruthie! You're home late—"
Ruth sped past a blabbering Jana to head straight to her room, determination in her eyes and cotton in her ears. Her backpack clenched to the front of her body was a barrier between herself and the girls until she could get a single thought out onto a piece of paper. There wasn't much time left and she needed to finish brainstorming ideas so she can get the words typed up. And she needed to get her mind off of Raffo, whose strange reaction earlier was tugging at her mind.
Jana cut herself off mid-sentence, the silence following Ruth into the room where she closed her bedroom door and ran to her cluttered desk of paper assignments and syllabi. Her fingers grabbed for an old assignment and flipped it over to the blank side, flicked the ink in her pen, and began to scribble down ideas. Eyebrows furrowed, and lips turned to the side, she was a force to be reckoned with for the next few hours.
She didn't mean to be rude to Jana. To be fair, she didn't even hear Jana. So when Jana came in to bring her dinner, Ruth was quick to apologize after Jana commented on it. But Jana only waved her off and gave a generous grin, gesturing to the plate of goodies in her palm.
A plate full of Taco Bell tacos; the simple way to Ruth's heart.
While Ruth munched away on her soft taco and Jana went to give her company away to Terry, she skimmed over what she had written down so far. Scribbled over a few pages of notes was hints of a story Ruth had heard her father tell her before. A true story about a man named William Roebuck who had fallen in love with a childhood friend, but due to the Indian Removal Act, they were separated as children until they both ran into each other again by colossal accident. The story ends with the two marrying one another and poof; the end.
So, this gave Ruth the idea to write a story similar to this one. She always loved classic "separated by years of time but eventually find one another" love stories, so she used that story as the basis of what she was going to write about. So, before she wasted anymore time, she began typing away on her laptop. She typed until her eyes grew heavy and her fingers cramped from curving over a keyboard all night. She typed until all she could see was the couple she wrote about instead of William Roebuck and his love Palayra Homa.
Ruth only got a few chapters in before she closed up her laptop and called it a night, but a few chapters were better than no chapters at all.
And this way, she dreamed up more and more wonderful ideas that sprouted behind her eyelids like Spring buds. She danced in flower fields, watched love bloom, envisioned the lake where William saw Palayra again. The dreams were colorful and beautiful, and when Ruth awake the next morning, she was very happy she made the deal with Raffo.
The next few days passed by in a breeze. Ruth turned in her first chemistry exam of the semester with extreme confidence as well as her lab report for Anatomy and Physiology. She even had time to work on her story in between classes and at home after eating an early dinner with the girls. It wasn't easy, and Ruth knew it would soon get harder to find time to work on the story once she was deeper into the first portion of the semester, but with how the story is already developing, she knew she could have it done within the next few weeks.
In her spare period, after stepping out of the coffee shop with her usual in her hand, Ruth was about to find her picnic table to crack open her notebook, when a familiar pair captured her attention. She was used to them being together, always walking around or drinking coffee with one another, sometimes hanging out outside of school.
But what Ruth wasn't used to, however, was seeing them angry with each other.
Mirana's manicured fingers were wrapped around the edges of her slender waist as she leaned towards Raffo. Her lips were rapidly moving, saying something that obviously had him fuming, as her eyebrows furrowed together, eyes narrowed on some part of Raffo's face that Ruth couldn't see almost spitefully. She jabbed at his chest with her forefinger, using it to enunciate each angry syllable she spewed from her tongue.
Ruth couldn't hear what they were saying, but Raffo's cheeks were moving tightly, jaw straining as if it took everything in him not to say what he wanted to say. He never pushed Mirana's finger away from his chest despite how much angrier it was making him, and he'd periodically roll his eyes, but allowed her to talk nonetheless.
The conversation was even making Ruth uncomfortable just by watching, not at all used to the two being angry with one another.
"That can't be good," a voice murmured from the side of Ruth and she quickly looked up, startled by whoever spoke to her.
A familiar Indigenous boy with a pretty smile held up his hands defensively. "Relax, it's just me. Ruth right?"
"Johnny?" she asked instead and he grinned wider, nodding his head.
"You remembered," he teased.
"So did you," she pointed out, smiling back. Her eyes unconsciously wandered back over to Raffo and Mirana again, both of whom were still wrapped up in their own little World War III bubble. When a wandering student walked a little too slow near them, curious by the argument as well, Raffo turned and snapped at them to beat it. Mirana was too focused on getting her point across to notice.
"What did he do?" Ruth wondered aloud.
"Who knows," Johnny snorted, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Mirana's always bitchin' about something. She can't leave the poor bastard alone."
"Huh."
There was a mini pause between the two.
"Not used to seeing them like this?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at Ruth. She quickly shook her head. "You're lucky you didn't grow up with them. Teen angst Mirana was the worst."
"Why do I think teen Raffo was just as bad?"
"He was a hormonal little shit too," Johnny agreed and the both of them shared a quiet laugh.
Not even a minute after their quick conversation ended, Ruth watched on as Raffo stormed away from Mirana with his fists clenched and his back rigid, facing all three of them. Mirana called to the back of him angrily, but he ignored her and continued on, ending whatever argument they had. He didn't even glance back to see what she was calling him for. Her beautiful features crumbled.
"Shit, that's my cue. Later Ruth," Johnny saluted her, rolled his shoulders back, and walked over to Mirana.
Though she looked relieved to see him, her wobbling lips and expression of guilt from the previous argument weren't enough to be extinguished. So when her eyes watered, Johnny caught on very quick and ended up patting her back almost awkwardly as he stood at her side. His loud "there, there" was painful to watch.
Ruth took this as her own cue to leave. Gulping back a sip of her drink, she turned around and started walking to her favorite table under the tree. She shoved her earbuds into her ears and unlocked her screen as she walked, scrolling through her usual playlist. Though she was wildly curious about what she just witnessed only moments before, she tried to drown out those thoughts with her music. Wondering about something never gave anyone any answers, and besides, she didn't know their friendship enough to guess as what they were arguing about. It could have been a homework assignment for all she knew, or a misinterpreted text. The possibilities were endless and Ruth didn't have one clue to go off of.
She didn't like it when people were in her business, so she tried her best to stay out of others. Though it seemed like lately there was one boy who always happened to be the exception to her old rules.
Ruth looked up from her phone the closer she knew she was to her table and was immediately surprised to see a familiar male brooding over her usual spot with his head stuffed into his hands. She didn't slow her step, because she knew exactly who it was, but she did take her earbuds out of her ear and stopped her music once she got to him. She lowered herself in the seat across from him, saying nothing.
He knew that was her spot and he deliberately came at the time she was usually there. So if anyone was going to speak first, she wanted it to be him.
Eventually, after sitting in silence for another minute or two, Raffo lifted his head.
And something inside Ruth broke at the sight.
A violet half-moon craters beneath his left eye and a burgundy bruise littered the top of his cheekbone beneath it. His emotionless, tired eyes watched her, wearily waiting for some type of reaction like Mirana's and Ruth suddenly pondered if this was why Mirana was so mad. Did he get into a fight with another student? Was it one of Mirana's friends?
Ruth lifted her hand instinctually towards his face and he flinched back, his gaze calculated and wild like a wounded animal, unsure of her motive. Ruth's heart shattered, destroyed at the look. This was deeper than just another fight with a student . . . unless it was a lifelong bully.
"I won't hurt you," she promised him softly, giving up her hope of him talking first. She was too concerned to worry about some silly ego.
She hesitantly rose her hand again, insecure in herself on what she was doing, but she knew she had to test the swelling. It didn't look too swollen, despite the discoloration, which told Ruth it had to have been a couple days old. But she had just seen him two days prior, so it had to be somewhat recently. And the thought didn't sit well with Ruth.
Raffo stiffened, his body tense like a rock the closer she came, but he doesn't flinch away from her again.
Instead, he slowly closed his eyes and allowed her fingers to brush against his warm skin. She didn't want to cause him anymore pain than he was already in, so she just lightly probed the tender flesh. He said nothing at all during the intimate moment, though occasionally his shoulders would tense up. Especially when her thumb began to faintly stroke the bruise under his eye, her fingers lingering. Pressing. Stroking.
His legs began to bounce and Ruth instantly removed her fingers from his soft skin, worried she hurt him. His umber eyes opened, watching her with an unreadable expression on his face as the right side of his jaw clenched.
"I'm sorry," Ruth quickly apologized, misinterpreting the movement.
Raffo was quick to reassure her.
"It didn't hurt," he said quietly, coughing a few times under his breath hoarsely. He glanced down at the surface of the picnic table. "I just—I can't sit still for too long."
Ruth tilted her head, never noticing that about him before. He was always tranquil, almost statue-like when they weren't moving around playing rezball. Every move was strategic and had a purpose. He didn't have to move unless he had to, like he enjoyed being still and using his heightened senses to appreciate what the Great Spirit has put forth for them. He enjoyed the brilliant sun, the whispering winds, the secretive moon who occasionally played with the stars.
But that day, he was restless.
Was he sick? Ruth wondered. Did he have an infection from the bruising along the right side of his face?
She didn't miss the tired droop at the edges of his eyes, like he hadn't gotten any sleep in days, and suddenly, it hit her like a runaway train.
He's having withdrawals.
Her guilt for mentioning giving up cigarettes trembled in her stomach now. Not only was he battling a bruised up face, but going through nicotine withdrawal on top of it! She shouldn't have made that part of the deal. If he wanted to give up cigarettes on his own terms, then he would have eventually. She didn't have to push the issue-
"Hey," Raffo murmured, drawing Ruth out of her thoughts. He stared at her hard but did his best to keep his tone softer than velvet, his eyes filled with understanding. "I chose to stop them. You aren't forcing me to do anything I don't want to do."
"I know," she admitted, biting her lip. "B—"
"Good, then stop worrying. I don't like when people pity me."
"I don't pity you. I'm just—I'm sorry you're hurt is all."
Raffo looked at her then, really looked at her. She met his stare straight on and allowed their gazes to lock on one another as her annoying heart hammered in her chest. He relaxed more at this knowledge, his eyes softening.
The two were so wrapped up in each other, neither one of them noticed the sweet girl watching them on a hill with watery eyes and a heavy heart frozen in place. Her hazel eyes wouldn't stop filling no matter how long she watched on. She didn't miss the shy way the curly-haired girl down below tucked an unruly strand behind her ear while the boy's wounded face lit up, a small smile touching the corners of his lips. Not many would know when Raffo's face lit up because he was so damn stoic all the time, but the girl did, of course.
He was different with the curly-haired girl. Everyone thought he was different with her, but she knew him well enough to know that that wasn't true. He was constantly watching someone else when she watched him. He didn't know that she always followed his gaze, noting that it lingered on Ruth every time he caught a glimpse of her, even if she didn't see him. She was almost always oblivious to his gaping stare, as she was too wrapped up in picking her Youtube playlist rather than Spotify like every other modern-day girl. She wore older, simpler outfits, completely fine with not wearing the newest trend and rarely wore a lick of make-up. She didn't need it. She was naturally beautiful without it, and Raffo didn't care whether or not she wore it. He'll always notice Ruth either way, so she must be doing something right.
Mirana's eyes watered at the thought. She turned away, unable to watch Raffo slowly fall in love with someone who wasn't her.