Who: Ruby and Jules Where: Ruby’s house When: Saturday, October 28th, afternoon Status: Complete
Ruby was trying not to stress, but she was running out of time and she still wasn’t a hundred percent sure if Jules was going to show. She’d said she would, but she knew realistically that this wasn’t about her, that Jules was only doing this for Jasper and that neither one of them were probably going to the party at this point. But Ruby still wanted to go. The alternative was staying home and being depressed about Amelia and her mother, neither things she could change, no matter how hard she tried. It was reasonable to Jasper to skip out, and Jules as a result, but Ruby knew she needed to move on, no matter how much it hurt. And so, the party.
Except she hadn’t dyed her hair yet and she was thinking she should probably start. Even once her hair was done, she was going to need to paint herself blue and then do her makeup. Deciding she should probably get started, Ruby began to lay the supplies out on the counter. If Jules showed up, great! But if not, she wouldn’t let it ruin her day.
Jules had decided to go to Victoria's party, at least for a little while. She had the costume and everything for it, and she didn't think it would hurt to at least make an appearance. She could socialize for a bit and then leave to stop by Jasper's to see him for awhile. He might get a kick out of her costume... maybe. His moods were understandably unpredictable lately, but Jules supposed she would just have to find out how he's doing once she got there.
But she brought everything with her to Ruby's, finding it kind of weird to be parked outside the girl's house. They had been friends a long time ago, but now they weren't, not really, and Jules was feeling a bit awkward. But, she had promised herself she would do this for Jasper, so... there she was. And maybe it wouldn't be so bad. As long as they didn't fight or deliberately get on each other's nerves, they should have fun. Or something that resembles it.
Getting out of the car, she walked up to Ruby's front door, bag in hand, and knocked.
The knock on the door caught Ruby by surprise, seriously not expecting Jules at this point, but who else could it be? She hurried down the stairs to the front door and pulled it open, almost expecting to see someone delivering a package, but there was Jules. Ruby teetered between relieved and nervous, glad that Jules was there and also not sure what to do with her now that she was. It was a good thing, but an uncomfortable one too. “Hey,” she smiled, taking a step back and holding the door open. “Come on in. I was just getting setup. We’ll be up in my room.”
"Hey." Jules stepped inside, still rather familiar with Ruby's house, even though it had been ages since she had been inside it. There was definitely a twinge of awkwardness, but Jules pushed past it and gave Ruby a small smile. "Sounds good. I brought my stuff too, so I hope you don't mind if I change here." She would probably need Ruby to help her with the fake blood and everything anyway. "Did you get all the makeup that you'll need and everything?"
“You decided to go?” Ruby asked, brightening a little. She wasn’t depending on Jules being there since she had her own circle of friends to hang with, but it would be so much more fun getting ready if they were both going. She led the way up to her room, gesturing for Jules to drop her stuff on the bed if she wanted to. “I thought you might skip, but it might… it might be nice to do something different.” What she really thought was that it might be good for Jules to do something that wasn’t depressing. No one had said being around Jasper was depressing right now, but she just knew. And Jules needed to keep her head above the water if she was ever going to be able to help Jasper. They both needed to. “I’ve got everything. And I did a trial run on the makeup the other night and think I’ll be good there, though I’ll need some help with the blue paint. But I’ve gotta get my hair dyed first.”
"I'm going to go for a bit," Jules explained, setting her bag on Ruby's bed. It was so weird to be in this bedroom again, after so long. "Then I'll probably drop by to see Jasper. I kept thinking about asking him to go, but I'm not sure he would feel like going to a party." He might have been tempted to get drunk or something, and Jules wasn't sure that would have been a good idea, especially surrounded by people he didn't like, or who didn't like him. "I can help you with your hair, if you need it," Jules offered, since she was there to be useful and not just lounge around on Ruby's bed while Ruby struggled to get ready on her own.
Ruby’s room was pretty much like Jules would have remembered it. The pictures around the mirror had changed, and there were twice as many books on the bookshelf, but the furniture was the same, down to the flowered bedspread. “Yeah, I don’t know that a party’s the best thing for him right now. Maybe in a month or two?” If she were him, she’d be looking to get drunk and it wouldn’t be a fun drunk. It would be depressing and angry and bad for everyone. She took a deep breath. “Let’s get started on my hair. I can do the front, but I’m worried if I try to do the back on my own it’ll be all streaky.”
"Maybe," Jules murmured. "I thought maybe something distracting would help, but... throwing him into a house with alcohol and a bunch of people he doesn't like seemed like a bad idea." A month or two. Would Jasper even feel better in a month or two? She wasn't sure. She knew he had told her she had an out if she wanted it, but Jules hadn't wanted it. She still didn't. It was just... depressing to think about being depressed for that long, and longer. No way would he be over his sister going missing in a few months. Jules had worn an older cheer t-shirt that she didn't mind getting messy and she quickly tied her blonde hair up into a high ponytail to keep it out of the way. "I can do the back, no problem. How long does this stuff stay on for? It would be fun to go to school on Monday with your hair bright red."
“No, right now it wouldn’t be,” Ruby agreed. “It… It’s gonna take a while. It’ll help that they didn’t live together, that he wasn’t used to seeing her everyday, but it’s still not easy. Distractions will be really good at some point. I’m glad he has you.” Ruby hoped to help him as well, but the more people Jasper had on his side the better. She took a seat on a stool in the bathroom and began to section her hair off. “It says three to five washings, so there’s a definite chance my hair will still be red on Monday,” she grinned. “Hopefully it looks good.”
"They lived together for a long time though," Jules pointed out. "I mean... when he wasn't sleeping in his car, anyway." Which still baffled her when she thought about it. Had his dad known about that? Jules wasn't sure if Ruby actually meant what she said, considering their fight in Jules's kitchen a few weeks ago. "But, yeah, I think Jasper needs as many friends as he can get right now, even if he doesn't realize it. I don't think his parents are much help, which I get." Jules leaned against the wall to watch Ruby until she was needed. "But, anyway, yeah, I don't think I could pull of different colored hair. My hair will probably still be pink from the fake blood by Monday. People will think I'm trying to be edgy or something."
“I know,” Ruby sighed. “You know she came over, like, days before she disappeared? He was telling her about you. She wanted to know if she could wear your crown.” But she didn’t think Jules had ever gotten a chance to meet her. God, that was depressing. Ruby shook her head, trying to clear it. “Sorry, I don’t want to be a downer,” she said, then gave Jules a little smile. “You could totally pull it off. Not your whole head, but something more like I do. A streak of color. What color would you want?” Even if she didn’t do it, it was fun to pretend a little.
Jules hadn't known that, and she stared at Ruby, dumbfounded for a second. It made her feel conflicted in such a strange way. Pleased that Jasper had told his sister about her, but also really shitty because Jules had never been able to meet Amelia and she wasn't sure she ever would. "You're not being a downer," Jules assured her after she cleared her throat. "To be honest, it's kind of nice.... though that's totally the wrong word... to be able to talk to someone else about this who isn't Jasper, you know? I didn't get to meet her. I've met his dad, and that's about it." Jules chewed on her lip for a moment before studying her reflection in the mirror. "I guess I'd do like, black. Everyone could say I'm going through an emo phase or something."
“You don’t wanna meet his mom,” Ruby said, scrunching up her face. “His dad’s not father of the year or anything, but I think he’s trying. I’m sorry you didn’t get to meet Amelia though. She was a good kid.” She realized she was talking about her as if she wasn’t coming back, but it was hard to believe she would at this point. “His cousin Aaron’s pretty cool, too,” she said with a little smile. “Everyone deserves an emo phase,” she said with a hint of amusement. “But if you’re going to do black, I’d say dye the tips instead of streaks, that way you can cut them off when you’re done. Black’s hard to get out.”
"I might still get to meet her," Jules murmured. It made her feel guilty, talking about Amelia in past tense, like she was betraying Jasper somehow by thinking his sister was gone for good. "His dad seemed nice enough. I mean, at least he's making sure Jasper's not sleeping in his car anymore, you know? And I know it's kind of icky, but I can totally see where Jasper's hotness came from." Her lips twitched into a smile. "Thanks for the tip though. I don't know if I'll dye my hair, but we'll see. My mom would probably flip out and think I'm doing drugs or something."
“I hope you do,” Ruby said, looking back at Jules, the color in her hand, ready to start the application. She wasn’t trying to be pessimistic; it was just her own experience that when people disappeared they didn’t come back. “I know what you mean,” she said, laughing a little. “Way too old for me, but I can see it.” He’d probably been hot when he was younger. “She might flip out, but at least she worries about you? Not that dying your hair has anything to do with drugs, but you know what I mean.”
"He's way too old for me too, and you know, Jasper's dad," Jules said, her smile widening. "But still hot. Don't tell Jasper. That'll just weird him out." She moved closer to Ruby, in case she needed help. "But you know my mom... it's not so much that she's worried about me, it's that she's worried what I'll do to make her look bad. Dyeing my hair some weird color, doing drugs... the severity doesn't matter if it tarnishes the Cooper image." She spoke matter of factly, and without much emotion. Jules knew her mom loved her. It was just... stilted, somehow. Sometimes she wondered how Margaret had been before her dad died, and if his death had changed something inside of her. But she knew no one in town to ask, because she had no idea who her mom had known before the fire at the research facility. Jules offered out her hand for the bottle. "Since I'm doing the back you might as well let me do all of it."
“Of course not,” Ruby promised. She wasn’t looking to make things weird between Jasper and Jules. Not only would it be seriously not cool, it would be weird, like she really thought Jules was interested in his dad, which she knew wasn’t what she meant. She was trying to improve her relationship with Jules, not make it worse. “How’s she feel about you dating Jasper then?” she asked, looking up at Jules’ reflection as she handed her the bottle of dye. She imagined that Jules’ mother hated it with a passion. “Why do you care so much what they think?” she asked after a second. “If you’re happy, they shouldn’t matter.”
"I don't care what they think," Jules said with a shrug as she began to separate Ruby's hair. "I mean... I care what people think, but not so much my mom. I wanted to keep Jasper a secret because I knew she'd flip out and I didn't want to deal with the drama." Which was probably weird, coming from Jules who could be a total Drama Queen, and she knew it. "But she found out from Mara Jenkin's mom and she's not happy about it. She thinks Jasper's just after one thing, blah, blah, blah. But I told her I wasn't going to stop dating Jasper, so it is what it is. He just won't be coming over for dinner anytime soon, you know?"
It was so weird for Ruby to hear those words come out of Jules’ mouth, so very different from who she expected her to be-- who she’d thought she’d been. Maybe she’d been wrong. Or maybe Jules had changed. Either way, what she was saying now was way more in line with what Ruby wanted to hear and she doubted Jules was catering to her in this case. “Good for you,” she said, smiling back at Jules. “It’s not like she’s the one dating him, so why should it matter if she likes him? I know, like, super long term, it’d be nice if your parents liked the person you’re with, but right now she needs to get over it.”
Jules could admit, at least to herself, that a few months ago she would have thought differently. Jasper had just been a thing to use to her, which she had been fine with, since she had just been a thing for him to use too. She still wasn't sure when or how things changed, but they had and now she wanted to be with him, even in the midst of all the bullshit going on around them. "He's a Lucas," Jules said dryly as she applied to the color carefully to Ruby's hair. "And you know my mom... she cares about image. Her daughter dating Jasper Lucas is... I think she'd be less upset if like, I got knocked up by some popular boy on the football team. But you know, I hate the person she's with, so I guess we're even." Jules glanced at Ruby in the mirror. "But, anyway, what about you? Are you going out with anyone?" She probably would have known if Ruby was. People liked to gossip in school and it rarely mattered who it was about.
Ruby knew what people thought of the Lucas family. She’d heard them talk. Trouble, all of ‘em. And to some degree that was true. But she’d also heard the kinds of things some people said about her, people like Jules’ mom, and she knew that those people were always going to look down on people that had less than them. Or they thought were less than them. “Does she know you’re here?” she asked, raising a brow, a smile playing on her lips. “No, no one for me right now. I kinda thought maybe Tyler and I had something going, but then he hooked up with Sophia, so whatever.” She wasn’t going to waste her time on a guy that wanted someone else.
"I don't know if my mom knows I'm here, but it's not like you're trying to get in my pants, so I doubt she'd care," Jules pointed out with a grin. Margaret knew Jules and Ruby used to be friends, and as far as Jules knew, she had never had much of a problem with it. She also hadn't been too broken up with Jules told her that she and Ruby had a falling out. She smoothed back Ruby's hair and started on another section with the dye. "Tyler? You can do better. Sophia will get bored with him after a week anyway. Not worth the drama."
Ruby laughed and gave a little nod, being careful not to disrupt the dye process. “This is true.” She was thinking it might have more to do with the people Ruby associated with, but her reputation wasn’t horrible and Jules was already dating Jasper, so it wasn’t like she was going to introduce her to anyone. “I know. I just… I guess I was just bored.” It would’ve been nice to date someone for a bit, but she didn’t want to let it bring her down. She had plenty of friends to hang out with and a busy social schedule; she didn’t need a man to make her happy.
Jules knew it was probably shallow of her, but she loved having a boyfriend. She had never had any trouble getting one either. Having boys like her and want her and do things for her...who wouldn't like that? Of course, after awhile it could get old and boring, and maybe that was why she liked Jasper so much, besides the obvious reasons. He cared about her - loved her even - but he wasn't someone she could boss around and he didn't put up with her shit. Well, he did to an extent, but still. Jules was silent for a few moments as she worked on Ruby's hair. Then she glanced over into the mirror to look at her former friend. "Well... I'm sorry for the party. Like, for what I said. I'd been drinking and I still wasn't really sure what was going on between me and Jasper and.... I was just stupid jealous and let it sort of spiral out of control. So... I'm sorry for being a bitch."
Ruby’s eyes met Jules’ in the mirror and she found herself swallowing back her pride. She really hated to be wrong, but she knew Jules wasn’t solely responsible for the outburst at the party. “It’s okay,” she said. “I’m sorry, too. For assuming you were using him. I just knew he’d gone through a rough patch, had been sleeping in his car and shit, and was having a hard time accepting that he hadn’t told me about you. I felt like the last to know and I thought we were friends.” It had hurt and, as awful as it was, she’d wanted to hurt someone back in that instant and Jules has been such an easy target. Being just a little drunk hadn’t helped either.
Jules had no illusions that the apology, and this night, meant that they were suddenly friends again. Things were never that easy. But it did make her feel a little bit better that they weren't snapping at each other or bickering yet. Obviously Jules and Ruby getting along was the very last thing on Jasper's mind right now, but if it made him feel better, even in the tiniest of ways, it would be worth getting along with her. "No one knew," Jules murmured as she moved to Ruby's side to start sectioning her hair off there. "I mean, literally no one. Neither one of us wanted to tell anyone, for obvious reasons, and I think Jasper knew if I found out he told someone, I would have gotten super pissed. Homecoming was kind of like... I don't know. Different, but not." Jules sighed and shook her head. "I get why you thought what you did, which was probably why I got so defensive. Plus, you know, you're you and he's... him. I thought there was something going on there that I didn't know about. And... well, alcohol. So it was just a bad combination all around."
“We’re just friends,” Ruby said with a little smile. That wasn’t to say she wouldn’t have dated Jasper, but Jules knowing that wouldn’t help things and it would probably never happen. It would just make her suspicious when they were together and that was the last thing Ruby wanted. “Seems like things worked out though. They didn’t kick you off the squad or anything dramatic. You’re still at the top of the pyramid.” She knew why they’d wanted to keep it a secret, but it didn’t seem like that big a deal now that it was all out. People moved on as soon as there was something new and exciting to talk about. Jules dating Jasper Lucas was old news once people realized they weren’t going to put on some kind of a circus show.
She knew that now, but Jules hadn't been able to push out the thought that maybe Ruby and Jasper had been a thing before. Or if she had been one of the girls Jasper hooked up with in the summer while he was hooking up with Jules. But that didn't seem to be the case, so Jules had finally let it go. For the most part. Obviously she knew what Ruby meant by Jules still being at the top of the pyramid. Dating Jasper hadn't hurt her "Queen Bee" status like she thought it would. Sure, she got comments sometimes, from boys who thought dating Jasper Lucas meant she'd fuck them too, but it was easy for Jules to dismiss them, usually with a glare or a harsh word or two. As much as Jules loved being in the spotlight, and center of attention, she was grateful that people had moved on from gossiping about her. "Things worked out," Jules agreed with a small nod. "I still get some crap about it at school, but it's nothing I can't handle. Besides, all that stuff seems super insignificant now that Amelia's gone missing. It's changed everything, and I'm honestly glad he has you as a friend right now."
“Thanks,” Ruby said with a little smile. “He’s put up with me through some pretty shitty times, so, you know…” She gave a little shrug. It was the kind of thing that Ruby couldn’t imagine not doing. This was what you did for friends. Those that fucked off when things got rough weren’t worth her time when they were good. “So, what’re you watching these days? And please don’t say The Bachelor,” Ruby grinned. It was lighter conversation, but she thought they could both do with something a little less heavy. The weren’t going to magically become friends again, but an evening without bickering felt like real progress, and maybe even a new beginning.