Ruby sighed as she stepped out of her classroom. Even though she had studied for her Biology test when Brian left, she knew she failed. "The nervous system is destroying my own one!" she thought, quite disappointed. As she was walking through the corridor, she heard her name.

"RUBY!"

She spun round and suddenly, the thoughts about her test vanished. Brian was here, running up to her with a smile. He stopped before her and had a bigger smile. 

"Hey, Bri! How are you?"

"Quite fine, how was your test?"

"A huge failure, but I don't care. I'll do better next time," she smiled. "By the way, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, two of my classes were cancelled. And I had to talk to Rog, and as I knew you had a test, I also wanted to know how it had been."

"It's so nice of you! I haven't seen Rog today, or maybe he was behind me."

"Hey! Bri!" a high voice shouted from the other edge of the corridor. A tall boy with long blonde hair and blue eyes was waving at them. It was Roger. He calmly came up to them with a huge smile, and his hands buried in his pockets. He greeted Brian with a quick hug and he noticed Ruby. "Oh, Riley, I didn't see you, how are you?" he asked cheerfully before hugging her too.

"Oh, well, I failed my test, but I guess I'm alright."

"Don't worry, I'm sure you did great, you're extremely clever," he reassured her. "I didn't know you knew each other!"

"We met yesterday, actually," Brian said, "I kind of fell next to her on the grass in front of the entrance. And now we're friends. But yesterday I told you she said hello!"

"Oh, that's right! I'm sorry I'm quite tired today, so I forget things." Roger laughed. "Oh and Tim told me something after the rehearsals yesterday, after you left."

"What is it?"

"Er, I don't know if you prefer to hear that in private or..."

"Ruby can hear that. Why couldn't she?"

"Well... Tim's quitting the band."

"What? Wait, we have some gigs planned, he can't give up on us!"

"He's doing that, unfortunately, he found another band. But he told me about one of his friends who's at Ealing too. He told me he's a fucking good singer, maybe we should listen to him and then decide if he's part of the band or not."

"Shit, that sucks. What's his name?"

"I'm not sure but I think his surname was Bulsara. I don't remember his first name. But he called him 'Freddie', so I guess we're going to call him Freddie Bulsara."

"Let me think about that, okay? Ruby, what classes do you have left?"

"None. I'm free for the rest of the day."

"We can already go have lunch if you want."

"Sure!"

"Well, Rog, I won't be home tonight, I'll call you tomorrow morning if I can, otherwise I'll look for you there, okay? I think my decision will be made since then."

"Okay, no problem. Have a nice day, it was good to see you, Riley."

"Thanks, Rog. Bye."

Roger smiled and crossed the corridor before disappearing at the corner, his shoes squeaking at his every step. Brian look at Ruby, quizzically. "Why does he call you Riley?"

"He prefers Riley to Ruby."

"Personally, I like both" Brian shrugged. "It's sunny outside, why don't we sit on the grass and you tell me about your favourite books?"

"Didn't you want to have lunch?"

"It might be too soon, it's only 10:30."

"Oh, well, yeah, let's go outside."

Brian smiled and followed her to the grass where they had met the day before. They slowly sat down, and Ruby took off her jacket that she placed next to her. This time, she wasn't wearing a dress, but her favourite jeans and a colourful blouse. She closed her eyes and lifted up her chin, letting the sun shine on her face. Brian glanced at her. "She's beautiful, she really is," he thought, biting his lip. He was watching her facial features, his eyes following the line of her nose, stopping at her closed eyes, and lingering on her hair. Her medium length straight hair was falling down her neck, bathing in the sunrays. He noticed that her cheekbones were thin. Then, his eyes wandered lower... 

He didn't even realise he was smiling whilst staring at her lips. Their shape was so graceful and they weren't too full. "Ruby's lips look smooth..." his inner self said. He stopped breathing. It wasn't good. Why did he think about such things? The only two times he had had a girlfriend, he had never felt this way. "I've only known her since yesterday!" he tried to reason with himself. Ruby heaved a long sigh of satisfaction.

"I love it when it's sunny. Don't you?" she said with a smile, keeping her eyelids sealed.

"I like it but with reservations."

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

"Usually, when it's sunny, it's warm. And when it's becoming hot, we all tend to sweat. Imagine what it is with such a ball of fur on the top of my head!"

Ruby burst out laughing. She leant on her arms, which she stretched out on either sides of her body; he rapidly noticed that her right hand was extremely close to his own hand. His face warmed up as fast as a kettle.

Ruby wasn't taken in by that. Even if her eyes were closed, she could sense that Brian was gazing at her. She almost felt proud; boys never looked at her the way he did. She placed her hand near his, and hoped. She only hoped he would dare to take it. "Please, Bri, take my hand!" her mind was begging.

Brian gulped, feeling the slight tension, and broke the silence.

"Ruby?"

"Yes, Bri?"

"Why do you like On The Road?"

She opened her eyes and turned to him. His cheeks were red and he was biting his lip. Was it all he could say?

"Oh, well, I don't know. Why?"

"I've always heard that people who read On The Road are hippies. But since you're not a hippie, I wondered what made you like the book" he shyly grinned.

"I don't know, the idea of crossing America, of always being on the road... I like that. You know, even if I'm not a hippie, I'd really love to see San Francisco."

"Yeah, me too. I love England, but America seems to be a better place. People there are free. But I guess I'll never go there."

"Why? Bri, you're in a band. Now that many, many bands have been founded, I'm sure that the labels hire many new ones. You have a chance."

"Mercury Records signed us already."

"Wow, really? Then what are you afraid of?"

"I don't know. Maybe people won't like our music."

"At least, you can be sure you have a fan."

"Where?" he shrugged.

"Right here," she whispered, placing her hand on his. Both of their faces suddenly turned a brighter shade of pink. For a long moment that seemed to last an eternity, they just looked into each other's eyes. Brian slowly got closer, without taking his eyes off her. He didn't get rid of her hand either; he gently intertwined his fingers with hers. Ruby's head got closer to Brian's, and without hurrying, they got closer... And closer... And closer... And closer... And...

"RUBY! RUBY!" someone shouted, startling the two young people. They looked all around them, and Ruby immediately recognised Mike, her neighbour's son. He was three years younger than her, but they had always got on well together. He was riding his bike, when he suddenly jumped off it and threw it on the ground before running up to her. 

"Ruby, here you are! I was scared I wouldn't find you here!" he said loudly, out of breath.

"Hey, Mike, cool out! What's the matter? What are you doing here?"

"Your mum asked me to come and find you..."

"Why? What's going on? Is she okay?"

"Yes, but not Dennis."

"What happened to Dennis? Did he wake up?" Ruby asked, freaking out.

"He did, but he can't even drink or eat, and he can barely speak. He collapsed again this morning. He has been taken to the hospital about an hour ago."

"What? Oh my God, where is he? And where's my mother?" Ruby cried whilst standing up. Brian was shocked by the news too. He wrapped his arm around Ruby's waist to try to comfort her a bit. Her face was drowning in tears. He immediately started to wipe them with his thumbs.

"Go to the hospital, Ruby. We'll go to Hyde Park another time, okay?" he whispered.

"A... Are you sure?" she snorted.

"Of course I am. I'm going to give you my phone number, okay? As soon as you get home, or even when you still are at the hospital, call me. Give me some news, okay? If you need to talk, I'll be there."

He picked up his bag and rummaged through it. He took out a piece of paper and a pen. He scribbled his number on the paper and handed it to Ruby. She shyly took it and put it in her pocket. 

"Don't forget to call me."

"Thanks, Brian. I'll call you as soon as possible. I promise."

"I'm sure he's okay. I promise everything will be okay," he tried to smile before imprisoning her in his arms. He rested his chin on the top of her head and stroked her hair. "Come on, it's time for you to go. Be brave, okay? I'm sure you will be. Tell your mother I'm sorry for Dennis."

"I will. Bye, Brian."

"Bye, Ruby."

She picked up her jacket and her bag, then she followed Mike on the way to the hospital. Hardly had they picked up the bike when Ruby looked upon her shoulder and saw Brian standing there, with a weak smile. 

"Hold on, Mike." 

She ran back to Brian and had a moment of hesitation. She stood on tiptoe and briefly kissed his cheek before giving him a brief but tender kiss on his lips. She whispered "Sorry for all that" before running back to Mike and going to the hospital, leaving a totally confused Brian standing in the middle the grass, with wide eyes and red cheeks. A small and cute smile appeared on his face as he stroked his own lips.