Jessie Humphries - Killing Ruby Rose

It was like none of it had ever happened. Except that it had. Liam knew it, I knew it, Silver knew it, and Alana maybe knew it—she at least knew something , because she still wasn’t talking to me.

Thanksgiving and the holidays were upon us, but no one would have known it at Casa de Rose. Not like last year when Dad and I got out the decorative fall wreaths and the miniature stuffed pilgrim set and spent days baking chocolate-chip-pumpkin cookies.

This year, there was only the scent of silence.

That is, until a bouquet of colorful autumn flowers arrived at my door, smelling maybe a little of marijuana. The delivery guy was clearly stoned even though it was only 7:00 a.m.

“Are you Ruby Rose?” asked the weed guy. I noticed that his eyelids were barely doing their job.

“That’s me,” I responded, ascertaining that his threat level was a mellow-yellow. I knew Silver likely had inside men helping him, but this dude couldn’t be one of them. Just in case, though, I had a bedazzled butterfly blade Dad had once given me for Christmas hidden in The Cleave.

When he’d buzzed in from the video gate, I asked him to leave the flowers by the call box. He said he was given specific instructions not to do so. Out of curiosity and sheer desperation for any clues, I let him come to the door. But not without properly arming myself.

“Rad.” He bobbed his head. “I’ve seen your picture on TV. You’re way hotter in real life, though.”

Gross. Even though he wasn’t completely destitute in the looks department, slacker skater dudes in their twenties weren’t my type. Especially not ones who may or may not be working with psycho manipulator of the year D. Silver.

“Are you going to give me the flowers or not?” I asked, holding out my arms. “I have to get to school.”

“Oh yeah, totally.” He looked down like he’d forgotten he even had anything in his hands. As he gave them to me, he said, “You know, if you ever get sick of the guy who sent these, I’m single.”

“Good to know.” I threw him a you-may-leave-now smile and shut the door before I got high simply from being near his clothes.

I practically sprinted to the kitchen to read the card sitting on top of the scarlet, white, and ginger blooms. Inspecting the envelope for any initial clues, I gingerly opened the seal.

Roses are Ruby red

Autumn lilies are orange and white

Let’s do something normal for once

Will you go to the Sadie Hawkins dance with me tonight?

Oh—kay. Sure, in the back of my mind I’d considered the possibility that Liam had sent the bouquet. It probably made more sense than D. Silver, who was more likely to send me a cryptic piece of art or a creepy message.

So why couldn’t I decide if I was relieved or disappointed? Excited or terrified? Appreciative or angry?

Despite my growing catalog of concerns, Liam was relentless about the dance. Even after I explained my aversion to underage binge drinking, awkward group dates, and cheesy picture stances, he still insisted that we go. All day at school, he went out of his way to make me smile, laugh, and forget. My answer went from a firm no, to a definite maybe, and then after his speech about being normal and going on our first real date, my answer turned into a hesitant yes.

After all that he’d done for me, it was about time that I did something for him.

I caught a glimpse of my androgynous ensemble in the reflection of his shiny Jeep door as it slammed shut in his driveway. “Sadie Hawkins, eh!” I said contemptuously.

“Come on, they’re just T-shirts,” Liam said, batting eyes the same color as our matching baby-blue Billabong Ts.

“At least we didn’t have to go all matchy-matchy in footwear,” I said, concentrating on my more flattering shoes. Sure, Liam could pull off the vintage checkerboard Vans, but I needed something with a little more lift.

“Well, I thought about getting matching shoes, but I can’t rock the heels like you,” Liam joked.

“Ha-ha.” I couldn’t restrain my smile. “These aren’t heels by the way, these are my stripey blue-and-white wedge-pump Toms with a bow.”

“And I thought I had a shoe problem,” he said, grinning. I was already starting to feel more normal. “Come on, I promise this will only take five minutes. My family really wants to meet you and take a few pictures.”

“Right.” I shook my head in disbelief as we walked to the front door. Why Liam’s mom and brothers wanted to meet the Vigilante Teen Killer was beyond me. Maybe they wanted to pat me down for weapons, or warn me to stay away from Liam when his back was turned.

“And just so you know, it was my bro Christian who helped me write that poem for you. He’s the family romantic. Tug, on the other hand…” He blew out a breath. “Let’s just say you need good reflexes. Watch out for flying objects.” He winked and took my hand to escort me into his small house.

“Hey, guys,” Liam said warmly to the two boys sitting in front of the TV. “I want you to meet Ruby.”

At first, all I saw were eyes. Two big, bright brown eyes and two big, beautiful green eyes—looking up at me with the same excitement.

The older boy stood up and came over to shake my hand.

“Hi, Ruby. My name’s Christian.” He was thin, with short dark hair and glasses. He looked nothing like Liam. Actually, he was sort of the opposite of Liam in every way.

“Well, hello, Christian,” I said, shocked at his polite and formal manner. Either he’d been prepped for this or he was the most charming twelve-year-old I’d ever met. “It’s nice to meet you.”

He smiled and returned to the carpet. Tug teasingly punched him and made a googly face. Tug had the same dark hair but was thick as a tank.

“Tug, be nice,” Liam warned, though he was obviously amused. “Don’t expect Tug to shake your hand, Ruby. He’s got cooties.”

“Hey,” Tug said. A shoe went flying past Liam’s head, barely missing his scarred ear.

“I see what you meant about reflexes,” I said to Liam.

“Yeah, we’d better get going before someone gets hurt.” Liam smiled. “ Mamacita! Estás lista? ” he called into the back rooms. I hadn’t realized he spoke fluent Spanish.

A woman with luxuriously dark hair and eyelashes that went on for days came gliding into the room. I could see where Liam got his lashes and olive skin, but other than that I was confused. Liam had much lighter hair and blue eyes. And I thought I looked nothing like my mom.

“Oh, Ruby,” she said, her dark eyes just as vibrant as the boys’, but softer at the same time. She took my hand in both of hers, then swiftly pulled me in for a kiss on each cheek. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

Oh, snap. Hearing things about me couldn’t be good.

She pulled away to look me in the eyes. “Thank you for taking a minute to come by so I could take some pictures. Liam doesn’t go to many dances. I have to seize my opportunities.”

It was only now that I noticed she had an accent. And that kissy thing wasn’t very American, either.

“Of course,” I said, finding myself naturally drawn to her. Either she didn’t know who I was and what I’d done—or she truly didn’t care.

“OK, vamanos . I have to get to my shift, and you have to get to the dance.” She motioned for me to follow her out the back door. “My name’s Claudia, by the way—or Ma, as the boys like to scream at me.” She swiveled her head around to smile.

Liam guided me through the house with his hand placed at the small of my back. True to his word, he made the whole thing painless. We took a few quick shots in the backyard flower garden, made pleasant small talk, and were out before his mom could ask any tricky questions.