Chapter 16

Heather & Rue

Heather breathed relief that the halls were empty this early. The swim team must have started practice already, and only one secretary was in the main office so far. Mrs. Talbot was the kindest secretary Heather had ever known. Always cheerful and helpful, she made all students feel comfortable approaching her.

But when Mrs. Talbot looked up to see Heather’s scarred face staring down at her, her mouth drew into a scowl. She grasped her chest and looked away. After taking out the stitches, Heather’s doctor prescribed an ointment to put on her scars; it was oily and slick and prevented Heather from being able to cover her scars with makeup. Heather had used up Burton’s ointment and would not allow herself to ask him for more, so today her scar looked shiny and dark.

“Is Principal Elders here?” Heather asked, trying to ignore Mrs. Talbot’s reaction. “My sister and I would like to speak with him.”

Mrs. Talbot forced herself to look up again. It was obvious she was trying to look in Heather’s eyes, but she could not keep her gaze from wandering to the scar. Mrs. Talbot turned to look at Principal Elders’ door. It hung ajar, and the light from his office shone clearly into the main office. Mrs. Talbot turned back to Heather. She studied the girl a moment before answering.

“I’m afraid Principal Elders is tied up right now,” she said.

Heather wrinkled her brow in suspicion. “But my sister and I need to talk to him.”

“Your sister?” Mrs. Talbot inquired. She stood up to gaze over her reception desk to take her first glance at Ruby.

Mrs. Talbot’s strained expression melted to delight. “What an angel! An absolute angel. And look at you all dolled up in your woolen coat! What’s your name?” Ruby made no answer, but rather, stared at the woman and chewed on her bottom lip. “Surely you have a name?” Mrs. Talbot suggested, smiling down at Ruby. “Here, let me take your coat. Then you’ll feel more at home.”

Just then, as if a capricious spirit had possessed her mind, Ruby unbuttoned her coat and giggled wildly. She ran around the tall reception desk to hand her wool coat to Mrs. Talbot. Then she skipped around the desk again and again, giggling all the while.

As she did so, Heather tried hard to stifle a shriek. Instead of her professional-looking journalism outfit, Ruby had chosen to dress herself the way one would expect a small child to in the absence of adult supervision. She wore red and white striped pajama pants that fit tightly like leggings. On top of those hung knee-length overalls—in pink corduroy. From underneath the overalls flowed a bright yellow ruffled shirt. Adorning her arms and neck were all manner of costume jewelry. Plastic bracelets and bangles. Fake pearls and beads and little bells that jingled every time she moved. On her right foot a rainbow-striped sock peeked out, while her left foot was bare. The only element of her outfit that did not stand out were her plain black shoes—which she probably only wore to avoid suspicion while wearing the long wool coat.

Heather gasped. “Ruby! Mom told you to dress nicely. What happened to your journalism outfit? What’s going to happen to The Ruby Review?”

Ruby giggled and motioned for Heather to lower her head. Then Ruby leaned in to whisper, as if she were about to divulge a very serious secret.

“Be quick about it,” Heather said, lowering her head. “I’m going to have to call Mom and have her pick you up right away. She’s going to be so mad!”

Ruby seemed unfazed and kept her eyes locked on her sister, motioning for her to lean even closer. Once again, Ruby looked as if she prepared to divulge a secret. Heather leaned closer.

“I dress like this when I can’t be true.” Ruby traced an invisible T on her forehead, giggled like crazy, and skipped right in to see Principal Elders.

Despite—or perhaps because of—Ruby’s unabashed entrance, Principal Elders would not deign to see Heather. Instead, he threw up his hands and asked Mr. Wallace, the director of guidance, to talk to Heather. They left Ruby with Mrs. Talbot and used an empty conference room adjacent to the main office.

Heather explained her mother’s request. She explained about Ruby and the babysitter. She explained about her mother’s early meetings and busy schedule. She was talking quickly, her nerves blending her words together. When she finished explaining her mother’s request, Mr. Wallace seemed far more concerned about Heather herself.

“You don’t have to stay here, you know,” he said, ignoring her request. Too conveniently, he pulled a packet of papers from his desk. A packet of papers Heather had already seen. Transfer papers.

“I don’t want to transfer,” she said.

“But think of the treatment you’ll get here. You did a good thing, and you should be proud of it. But the rest of the school doesn’t necessarily see it that way. And I’m not just talking about the students. There are many who resent being stripped of our state championship. Many.” He looked right in Heather’s eyes as if trying to communicate a great secret. But it was as if her scar did not allow his gaze to penetrate through the skin.

“I already know that,” Heather said matter-of-factly. “I know what I’m doing. This is where I belong. It’s where I started high school, and it’s where I’ll finish it. I’m the one who chose to be a journalist. This is a consequence of my choice. A journalist should always seek the truth—and should not hide because of the consequences.” She spoke solemnly but softly.

Mr. Wallace shook his head. “You’re a brave girl. If it were me, I’d be long gone by now.” He stared at her for a moment, but when his eyes found her scar they darted away. “If you ever change your mind… You understand the school division has agreed to—it would pay your tuition…”

Heather nodded.

Despite her refusal to transfer, Mr. Wallace had no objections to letting Ruby stay with Heather during her first-period class. He felt that getting out of study hall would be a benefit to Heather. “Best if you spend first period in the library. There’s nothing worse than a group of students with nothing to do staring at a symbol of their troubles for an entire class period each day.”

Heather asked him what he meant by that, but he would not answer. Instead, he walked Heather into the main office, where Ruby was giggling with Mrs. Talbot. Mrs. Talbot was decorating Ruby’s hair with colorful little stickers, stickers that added to the bizarre rainbow of an outfit Ruby had chosen.

And Ruby couldn’t have been any happier.