CJ

Another day working for my stuck-up Gem boss, Onyx. All I wanna do is get out of this lame town and move to a place where there are no Gems. I mean, I don't hate Gems. I just hate how they act. They think they're so much better than Silvers; however, there's nothing special about them. The only difference between me and them is our hair and eyes. Big whoop.

"CJ!"

I turn to see my little sister, AJ, running towards me. She works at the clothing store across the street. It's so amazing working so close to her. I get to see her all the time. Don't get me wrong, AJ and I are really close. We have been since our parents died a few years back in a car accident. I just like my space and she likes to get in my space. But I guess that's what little sisters do.

"What is it AJ?" I ask, a bit annoyed.

"Pearl just called the store!" she exclaims, "she wants us to make a custom dress for her movie premiere!"

"Didn't she just order a custom dress last week?"

"So?"

"Who needs that many dresses?"

"Can't you just be excited."

I sigh and put on a fake smile.

"That's great, AJ!" I sarcastically cheer.

She rolls her eyes, playfully, as a smile forms on her face.

"Whatever," she laughs, "it also means a bigger paycheck this week."

"Oh, so, you'll have enough money to take JJ out?" I question with a smirk on my face.

AJ has had a crush on JJ, my best friend, for about a year now. She has constantly dropped hints but nothing has happened. She always asks me to set it up but I tell her that she needs to step up and do it herself.

"Shut up!" she yells.

I laugh and look at my watch. 7:55 am.

"I gotta get to work," I tell her, "you better too. Gems don't give Silvers second chances."

"You're right!" she panic then runs to the clothing store as she waves, "bye, CJ."

I wave as I unlock the shop and begin another day as a mechanic.

***

The workday's finally over. I exit the shop at the same time JJ exits the bank down the street. We usually wait for AJ; however, she texted me during my lunch break to tell me that she's staying late tonight and asked me to pick her up later.

"How was work?" I ask.

"The same as any day," JJ responds, "spoiled, rich Gems come in and deposit huge amounts of money and always tell me not to take any of it. I always ask if they wanna donate anything to charity and they always say 'why would I wanna help Silvers? What have they ever done to me?'"

"Why do Gems think they're so much better than us? All they do is sit on their butts all day and night. They never lift a finger in their lives and always get things handed to them. If anything, we're better than them. They don't have any skills to make it in life."

"Never thought I'd see the day when you hated someone."

"They deserve it."

"I bet that there's one Gem who doesn't look down at us."

"Sure, JJ. Keep living in your fantasy world."

***

I'm on my way to meet up AJ at her to walk her home when I pass by a group of Gems. They all stop talking and turn their backs to me. They won't even look at me, I think you know why.

I pass one who is still facing me; however, she still doesn't really acknowledge I'm there. She has hair as red as a fire truck and matching red eyes. I'm honestly surprised I find her beautiful. I look away for a moment to channel my thoughts then quickly look back at her. She's staring at me and smiling. What is going on? I walk over to her and introduce myself.

"Hey, name's CJ. What's yours?"

She looks back at her group. They finally acknowledged my presence and are making the strangest faces at their friend and I. After looking at her friends, he looks back to me and her eyes, once filled with light, and now dark and full of hate.

"CJ? What kind of a name is that?" she hisses.

I sigh to gather myself so I don't lash out on her. Even though I thought she was different, I knew that was coming. She wanted to look good in front of the rest of them, but that wasn't going to stop me from knowing her name.

"A great name," I tease, "and I still don't have yours."

"My name is Ruby," she says, "not that you will need it."

She turns around, flipping her hair in my face. I don't know what to think right now except that she's beautiful. I've never felt this way about a Gem before. I need to see her again.

The group of Gems walks off. At the last second, Ruby looks back at me and smiles. Then she disappears around the block. I sigh as I look at where she once was.

"Whatcha looking at?"

I jump and turn to see AJ looking at me with amusement in her eyes.

"Sorry," she laughs, "I didn't mean to scare you. Why are you so jumpy?"

"It's nothing, AJ, don't worry about it," I respond, "are you ready to go?"

"Yeah."

We begin to walk in the opposite direction of the Gems to the part of town where the Silvers stay. After about a ten minute walk, we finally make it home. We live in an apartment building due to that being the only thing we can afford. The good part, we live across the hall from JJ and his family.

"What's for dinner?" AJ asks as we enter our apartment.

"I was thinking grilled cheese and soup," I state as I head to the kitchen.

"Okay!"

I begin to make our food; however, the only thing I can think about is that Gem. How could someone so stuck up make me feel like I'm on Cloud 9?