Ruby

"How are you, baby?" Mom says, placing a plate with a tuna sandwich in front of me. "I am okay, mom. How are you?" I say. "How do you think?" Dad says. I look at him. His beard has grown. His eyes look hard. He doesn't look like the man who I have known to be my father. "Stop being mean to her, Shawn." Mom says. He rolls his eyes. "I can't believe my two babies are here and so grown." Mom says. I look at Louisa. I didn't see her much as well. FaceTimes were the only way, since she's studying in Canada. Her hair has streaks of blue running through it. She looks grown and more mature. I notice a start of a tattoo at her wrist. "How is your life back at New York, honey?" Mom asks, holding my hand between hers. Her hand is warm. They look old. Streaks of white hair and wrinkles show how much my mother aged. "It's okay." I say. "Ash is getting married, right?" She asks with a smile. "Yes, mom." I say, nodding. "When are you going to get married, baby?" She asks. "When I find someone, mom." I say. "You're a pretty girl, you will, soon enough." She says , squeezing my hand. I smile at her.

"Leaving so soon?" Dad asks as I stand at the door. "I will come back with you guys, after the wedding." I say. "This is no hotel." He says. "I know. This is my house." I say. "Leave her alone, dad." Louisa says. "You don't own any responsibility in this house, Ruby. We don't even see you anymore." He says. "I am sorry. I am always busy." I say, looking at the ground. "Look at her, Ruby. She needs you. More than any time." He says. He walks away into the kitchen. "Don't listen to him. We take good care of her." She says. "He's right. I am a terrible daughter." I say. She hugs me softly. "You're a great daughter. Don't beat yourself up." She says. We pull back. "You saw it and that's more fucked up than any of us." She says, patting my shoulder. "I don't like thinking about it that way." I say. "She will be okay, Rub. She has good and bad days. Like all of us." She says. "Right." I say with a sight. "You sure you don't want to come to that bachelorette party?" I ask. "Yeah." She says. We hug one last time before I head back to the beach.

I touch the nude lipstick to my lips, coloring it up. The black glittery dress that touches my knees, sparkles in the mirror. I fix my hair and walk out of the bathroom. I meet with the other girls at the hall. "You look good." Penny in a pink dress says. "Not as good as you." I say with a smirk. She lets out a chuckle as we make our way out of the hotel. The rest of the girls are already seated inside a limousine parked outside. We get in. "There they are!" Elizabeth and Emily say with excitement filling the air. "Let's go." Dianna says to the driver up front. The limousine starts to move. "I got us a reservation in a great club here in Vegas." Dianna says. "Of course I got the strippers, because this little shit here won't." Emily says, making her sister cross her arms. We all chuckle. Elite catches my eye. Her hair is loose and straightened. She's not wearing her usually glasses. Red lipstick is covering her lips. She looks at me. I give her a soft smile, she looks away. I stare at my nails, in embarrassment. Elizabeth gets out of the top window along with Emily. They scream and laugh as Dianna hands out champagne into the limousine.

The music is loud inside the club. It doesn't have a lot of people due to our reservation. "Get ready, Beth!!" Emily says as the music stops and the stage in front of us has a spotlight. The crowd roars as six shirtless men get onto the stage, each with a spotlight upon him. "Hello everyone! I am Olly and these are my friends. We are here to give Elizabeth the time of her life!!!" A guy with golden hair says into the mic. We all hype Elizabeth and push her into the stage. She's wearing a red glittery dress. Her hair is loose and straightened. Olly takes her hand and they start to dance, as music roars again. We laugh as Elizabeth's face starts to get red. I take a couple shots of tequila as the rest join up the stage with Beth. My vision starts to get blurry. "Hello sweetheart." I turn to a man with a grey hair. He looks almost forty. "Looks like someone is hitting on you, Ruby." Elite says. Her voice has a bit of slur in it. "Eww, fuck off, buddy." I say, pushing him away. He rolls his eyes walking away. "Good defense." Elite says as we high five.

I swing the bottle of tequila up to my lips, being too drunk to actually pour some into a cup. "You know that this is one of the best nights I have ever had." Elite says with a drunk laugh. I laugh along. "Oh no, I bet your nights with Tobias are much better." I slur. "I don't spend much time with him. My work takes most of my time." She slurs as well. "That's shitty, man!" I say. "That's why he's cheating on me." She says. "He is? Fuck, man." I say. "Yeah, it's totally fucked up." She says. We both laugh as we let more liquor into our bodies.

I open my eyes, to meet with Elite's face. I sit up in bed. My head is pounding. I hold my head in my hand. I feel nauseous. As I feel the vomit make its way up my body, I skip to the bathroom. I vomit into the toilet. God, I must have been wasted last night. I wipe my mouth with toilet paper, as I flush. I wash my mouth and splash water onto my face. My appearance looks like complete hell. My hair is messy, with a couple of messily made braids. My makeup was messed up. My mascara all over my cheeks and my lipstick smeared across my lips. I let out a sight. I walk back into the room. "What happened last night?" Elite, holding her head asks. "I am not sure." I say. "You look terrible." She says. "I could say the same about you." I say with a chuckle as I look at her messy hair, that has braids in it as well. Her makeup is terribly messy as well. She chuckles along. "I wonder what we did last night." She says, getting out of the bed. "Probably shared our darkest secrets." I say with a shrug. My darkest secret right now is that I slept with her boyfriend. Fuck. "Now we can't even remember it." She says. "Yeah." I say, internally sighting in relief.