By the time lunch came around, Ruby was already tired. The morning had gone by slowly, and even though nothing unusual had happened, she still couldn't shake the strange feeling in her chest.
Victoria led her to the cafeteria, talking casually like everything was completely normal. The room was loud and crowded, filled with the sound of students talking, laughing, and trays clattering against tables. The smell of food mixed in the air as people moved around, looking for places to sit.
Ruby followed Victoria through the crowd until they reached a table near the middle of the cafeteria. They sat down together, and Victoria immediately started talking again, pointing out different groups of students and quietly explaining who was who.
Ruby listened, nodding here and there, but her attention kept drifting.
But she felt something, like someone was watching her.
She shifted slightly in her seat and glanced around the cafeteria.
That's when she saw them.
At a table across the room sat Max—and a group of other students. There were about five or six of them, all around the same age, all wearing the same school uniform. Some were leaning back in their chairs, others resting their elbows on the table, but they all had one thing in common—
They were looking at her, like Ruby had a third eye.
Like he was trying to figure something out.
Ruby quickly looked back down at her tray, her grip tightening slightly on her fork.
"…Do you know them?" she asked quietly.
Victoria didn't even turn to look.
"Who?" she said, taking a bite of her food.
Ruby hesitated. "That group over there."
Victoria glanced over for only a second—too quick, almost like she didn't want to look for long.
"Oh. Them," she said casually. "Yeah, I know them."
There was a small pause.
"They're not really… nice " Victoria added, her tone light.
Ruby frowned slightly. "They keep staring."
Victoria smiled.
"Try not to care about them, every new student that goes to hang out with them. " "They get missing the next day." she said.
Ruby looked at her, confused by how calm she sounded.
"Max is my neighbor, what do I do?"
"It's ok, try not to care, ok?"
Across the room, Max leaned forward slightly, still watching.
One of the people sitting next to him said something quietly, but Ruby couldn't hear what.
Back at the table, Ruby absentmindedly touched the ring with her fingers.
That same cold feeling spread through her hand again.
She froze for a second.
"Where did you get the ring? Is a bit weird." she muttered.
Victoria tilted her head slightly. "What is?"
"It feel a bit, cold."
Victoria's smile didn't change.
"That just means it's working," she said softly.
Ruby blinked. "Working…?"
Victoria leaned back slightly in her chair, her eyes meeting Ruby's.
"Like I said," she continued, her voice calm but just a little too quiet,
"It's a good luck charm that brings good luck."
Across the cafeteria, Max stood up.
Ruby noticed immediately, her eyes following him as he stepped away from his table. The group he had been sitting with went quiet, watching him go. A few of them glanced at each other, like they already knew what he was about to do.
Max walked straight toward Ruby and Victoria.
Each step felt slow.
Ruby's grip tightened slightly on her fork as he got closer.
Victoria didn't react, like this is normal.
She just kept eating, like she hadn't even noticed him.
Max stopped at their table.
"Hey," he said, looking at Ruby.
Ruby blinked. "Oh—hi."
Max glanced briefly at Victoria, then back at Ruby.
"Do you wanna sit with us, over there?" he said, nodding toward his table. "If you want."
Ruby hesitated.
She instinctively looked at Victoria.
Victoria was already looking at her.
"Actually," Victoria said before Ruby could answer, her voice light but firm,
"She's sitting with me."
Ruby looked between them, confused.
Max's expression didn't change, but something in his eyes did.
"I was asking her," he said.
Victoria tilted her head slightly, still smiling.
"And I'm answering for her."
The air between them shifted.
Ruby could feel it.
Something was definitely going on.
"I—uh…" Ruby started, not sure what to say.
Max looked at her again, this time more seriously.
"It's fine," he said quietly. "You sure you don't wanna come?."
For a second, Ruby almost stood up.
But then-
Victoria's hand gently rested on her arm.
Not tight, but enough to stop her. Then she looked at Max's eyes and said
"She. doesn't. want. to. go."
"Fine, Fine! Don't make a huge scene."
Said Max as he talked back to his table.
After he left Victoria said
"Told you they were weird."
"Yea.. Thanks, I didn't want to go anyways."