My new life at Howard Tornado High school is different than I suspected. For one, it rains a lot and we often have to stay cooped up instead the gym. My old life in Arizona is very hot. We barely get any rain. Where I am now, is the complete opposite of my old life. I sit down at a table, with my usual lunch of fries and a hamburger. "Excuse me?" A snotty voice calls to me. I turn around and there, I see a blond girl tied in a ponytail. She looks like she put a lot of makeup on. "That's my seat!" She pushed me with her hip and her gaggle of girls laughed as if it were the most funniest joke in the universe. I pushed her back and her group of girls gasped. Soon, she was pushing me against the floor. "What did you do to me little chocolate head?" I slapped her. "My name is Ruby. What is your name? Pig-face?" Her gaggle of girlfriends gasped and the blondy slapped me back. "Allison! Principal's office!" A voice called out. I could make out the figure of a teacher there. Allison smiled. "Just having some friendly girl wrestling." She let go of me but not before saying this: "You just got lucky." She walked back to another lunch table and sat down although obviously displeased. "Hey, you alright?" A hand reached out to me. I stared into the eyes of a boy. No... a man. His eyes were the colors of ocean water, thrown into the gales of the wind, smothered. His eyes were the color of the sky. His skin was the color of chocolate brown and his hair was as black as the fur of a black cat. He didn't have the same snotty aura as Allison. He was something else. "Ya. I'm fine," I took his hand. He grinned, revealing perfect pristine pure white teeth. "Good. I'm Jasper Riley. You?" I grinned too although my teeth weren't as perfect as his. "Ruby. Ruby Rolling." He blinked. "Nice. Both crystal names." Before he was about to leave, I interrupted him. "Wait! Um... I'm visiting Seabrook this weekend. Want to come?" He nodded. "Sure. I'm free." "Cool," I replied. The following day, it was Saturday. I asked my mom to go to Seabrook so I could meet Jasper. "Ooh! Have a crush now?" She asked. "NO!" I screamed. "He's just a friend," I added in a quieter voice. My mom rolled her eyes but she nodded. "Okay sweetie. If you say so." At the beach, I saw him swimming in the waves. "Here already?" He nodded. "Ya." We started swimming for a while but then we both got tired so we flopped down onto the sands of the beach. He gazed at the sky. "It's night already. Day flies by huh?" I nodded. Jasper looked like he was identifying some stars. "That's Sirius there. Did you know Sirius Black is named after this star?" I didn't know who Sirius Black was but I said "no" anyway. He droned on about a lot of stars and I cared to listen. He must have noticed. "Not a lot of people ever cared about my star talks. You must be special." I blushed. "Thanks. I just..." I didn't know what to say without spilling my emotions. Luckily, he didn't push me. And now I realize that there are 3 things I know for sure. 1. Jasper likes space. 2. Jasper is very observant. and 3. I was in love with him. My being in love with him didn't show on my face but inside my heart was pounding. I didn't know how to let him know without going overboard. Maybe...
I decided to tell him how I feel. My mother once said it's better to know at the beginning than in the end. But every time I tried to write a letter, it didn't work out. Dear Jasper, I feel like- CROSS OUT! It looked just too weird... I finally decided with something so I took it to him next class. "Hey! What you got there?" Another boy in my class asked. He swiped the letter and was reading it aloud! "NO!" I jumped on him but he easily dodged away. His name was Sly I think. Oh yes. So sly. "Give it back you!" I screamed when he kept reading aloud. " Dear Jasper, I feel like my heart calls to you. There's nothing I want to be without you. I've loved you since-" I slapped him right across the cheek. He gasped and I took the letter back. Jasper looked very bewildered. I thrust the letter into the garbage can. "Wait!" Jasper cried but it was too late. The letter was gone. I sat down at my desk. "Oh Jasper, it wasn't important." I knew that writing the letter was a serious mistake. Jasper didn't need to know. Besides, by the look on his face, he didn't feel the same about me. Tears fought at the back of my eyes. I hated Sly for this. I didn't know how to feel. I knew I was mad at Sly but what about Jasper? Did I still love him? Or did my love evaporate. If you wanted, here's what I wrote in the letter: Dear Jasper, I feel like my heart calls to you. There's nothing I want to be without you. I've loved you since I first laid eyes on you. I know this probably sounds cliche and like any other love letter but it's not. The sight of you makes my heart pound like never before. I've met other boys and had other crushes but you're different. You're like the pearl in the oyster I've been waiting to find. You're like the star I've been trying to find for a long time. If you don't return these feelings, that's fine but please just know and remember these simple words. 'I love you.' -Ruby The following day, my feelings were just so messed up. I stayed away from Jasper until I knew the time was right. And you can guess that it wasn't the right time. Jasper stayed away from me for a few weeks. The only things he would say is 'Good morning', or 'hello' and all of the other polite things to say. But one day, there was something on the porch of my house. I picked it up and I realized that it was a rose. A splendid rose. A rose with petals so red that you could mistake it for someone's blood. There was also something strange on the petals of the blood red flower. There were tiny dew drops covering it. "Dewed rose," I said. [Flashback] Jasper smiled at Ruby. "You know how I said that I love stars?" I nodded. He shrugged. "I love stars but I've also always loved flowers. Do not laugh at me!" When he saw my expression. "Flowers are like animals. You just cannot understand them. I always find dew very pretty on plants." [Present] I smiled and brought it back in. Next day, I saw Jasper... with another girl. I didn't know who she was so I introduced myself to her. "Hi! I'm Ruby! What's your name?" She smiled. "Millicent." I shook her hand. "Nice to meet you? So... you with Jasper?" She nodded. "Ya. He invited me to his place. I'm a new student." I nodded. 'So he has a new girlfriend huh?' Eventually, I started talking to him more and soon we were friends again. But things were distant between us. With his new girlfriend, he didn't really know how to treat me... and neither did I. Years passed and I never married. Jasper married Millicent. It's weird how one small incident can change things so much. Even if the incident was incredibly weird. One day, there was a piece in the news. Jasper had died in a car accident. I dropped the newspaper. Tears immediately sprung to my eyes as if it were an automatic response. I didn't realize I still loved him even after everyone knew about my feelings at school. Maybe I just held back those feelings because I didn't know what he would do as a reaction. I picked up the newspaper and kept on reading. "Jasper's wife, Millicent is deeply saddened. 'I've known him since in high school! He actually had a girlfriend before but apparently it didn't work out so well. I just thought she might have wanted to come to his funeral... I guess I was wrong.' I threw the newspaper in the trashcan. 'Stupid Millicent!' I flopped onto the couch. 'Do I love him?' I decided to do something. I went into the car and went to Saint Ricardo Graveyard. That was where Jasper was buried. As I walked around, I spotted his grave. 'Jasper Riley. 1989- 2014.' I felt a tear slide down my cheek. I took an object and laid it by the tombstone. The object... was a rose. A dewed rose.
