Chapter 37

Ruby

When the dance ends, a limo pulls up that has been sent by Nancy’s family and all of the girls pile in -- even Beck, who sits in the corner and glares down at the floor for the whole ride with her arms folded across her chest.

We drive up a long paved driveway lined with cypress trees on either side and arrive at Nancy’s home. I knew that Nancy was rich, but didn’t expect this. Her family lives in a massive mansion that’s almost as big as the castle! It’s a lot newer and has a more modern design than the castle, but it’s still beautiful. There’s a stable off to the side with a sprawling pasture, and several small cottages -- likely for servants or guests -- are scattered around the property.

The house itself has a beautiful minimalist design, with giant windows that look out over the forest and fountains out front. Nancy guides us all inside into a large entryway with tall ceilings and a spiral staircase leading up.

“Everyone has to take their shoes off,” Nancy says to the group. We all take off our shoes and line them up in the entryway. Even Beck complies, surprisingly. It feels good to have these painful heels off.

Nancy leads us all on a tour through the first floor of the house. There are two large living rooms, one of which is set up with blankets, cushions, popcorn and a huge television, a massive kitchen with all sorts of food dishes and snacks laid out for us, and there’s even an indoor pool with a hot tub and sauna.

As the other girls get changed into their pajamas in the living room, Nancy leads me upstairs to her bedroom.

“I wanted to tell you about the sleepover after the play last night, but I couldn’t find you for obvious reasons,” Nancy says, digging through her closet as I walk around her luxurious bedroom. Her bed is massive with a canopy hanging over it. She’s got pictures all over the walls; some family photos, pictures of her riding a horse, pictures of the cheer team, and other photos of nature. Her vanity is laden with all sorts of makeup and knick-knacks, and her closet and dresser are both overflowing with clothes. She even has her own personal television with a video game console.

She emerges from the closet holding two matching sets of pajamas, one for me and one for herself. I find it a bit odd that she just so happened to have two sets of pajamas, but given how much stuff she has, I guess it’s not that weird.

We get changed and head back down into the living room, where the other girls have already settled in and are talking amongst themselves as they eat snacks and play music. Surprisingly, even Beck seems to be having a good time. I hope she won’t be too angry with me all night after my dance with Earl.

My concerns are made a reality, however, when Beck suddenly looks up at me with a dark expression on her face.

“Hey, everybody,” she says, not breaking eye contact with me, “we should play truth or dare.”

Much to my dismay, all of the other girls seem excited by this proposition -- even Nancy.

Everyone sits down in a circle on the floor. Nancy pulls me down to sit next to her, although right now I’d rather run away as fast as I can. Why did I agree to come here?

“I’ll go first,” Beck says immediately as soon as everyone sits down. “Ruby. Truth or dare?” She smirks at me, her face a mixture of anger and scheming.

“Uh… dare?” I say. I know I’m screwed either way, but somehow choosing dare seems like the better option since I know that Beck would have chosen a horrible question if I had picked truth.

Beck taps her chin thoughtfully, although I know that she already has a dare in mind. “Show us your wolf form.”

There is a collective gasp around the room. Nancy grabs my hand. “You don’t have to do it,” Nancy says quietly. Beck glares at her for a moment, then looks back to me with the same evil expression on her face.

“No,” Beck says, “she does have to. This is truth or dare, after all, and Ruby chose dare. Unless…” she pauses, her grin growing wider. “Unless she can’t.”

The other girls collectively gasp again and begin whispering amongst themselves. I can feel my face grow hot as I sit there under Beck’s evil gaze.

“Awww, she really can’t shift,” Beck says after a few more moments.

“Beck, stop!” Nancy says angrily. “Don’t make me kick you out.”

“No, Nancy,” I say finally, “she’s right. I can’t shift. My wolf hasn’t emerged just yet.”

Beck stands and walks across the circle, crouching down in front of me. “That’s because you’re not like the rest of us, right, Ruby?” she says. I look over to Nancy, who’s fuming, then around at the other girls. They’re all watching intently.

“No, I’m not,” I answer, looking down at my lap.

“What are you, then?” Beck whispers menacingly. “Go on. Say it. Tell the whole room what you really are!”

“I’m a hybrid, alright?!” I shout back in Beck’s face. It feels good to shout, and I can feel the anger bubbling up inside of me, urging me to do something awful like the times before… But I don't. I control it.

Beck stands, looking pleased with herself, and turns to address the rest of the group. “You all heard her,” she says haughtily. “The bitch you elected as homecoming queen is a filthy hybrid with no wolf.”

“Her wolf is almost here!” Nancy chimes in, standing too. “Just look at her eyes! Not everyone gets their wolf at the same time.”

Beck looks back down at me. Her smirk has turned into a deep, angry frown. “Most hybrids never get theirs,” she snarls. “You probably won’t, either. Hell, you probably don’t even have any abilities, just like your ugly little sister!”

I jump to my feet, lunging at Beck before she has a chance to react and knocking her to the floor. “How do you know about my sister?!” I scream, pinning Beck to the ground.

Suddenly, as I push Beck into the floor, I’m overtaken by a vision.

Beck clinks her glass with Earl at a party. She’s finally getting what she wants: Earl’s attention. But then… she doesn’t feel so well. She stumbles into Earl. He wraps his arms around her, leading her away. He throws her down on a bed and lifts her skirt, then has his way with her unconscious body. When he’s done, he leaves her there.

“Ruby! Stop!”

Nancy’s voice snaps me back to reality. I look down to see that I’m still pinning Beck to the floor. She looks terrified.

Terrified of me.

I release my grip on her shoulders and scramble off of her. With tears streaming down her face, she crawls into the arms of one of her friends, sobbing and shaking uncontrollably.

Everyone is looking at me with hatred in their eyes. Even Nancy looks as though she feels betrayed.

Nancy raises a shaking finger and points toward the door. “Both of you,” she says through gritted teeth, “get out of my house. You ruined my sleepover!”

“Nancy, I-” I say, but Nancy clearly doesn’t want to listen.

“Get out!”