𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 𝐖𝐄 𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐄⼁Vida

NINETEEN

When Clara returned to doing Vida' hair she noticed she was hyper-aware of every place she could feel Vida. Her arms leaning on Clara's knees, the way she tilted her head when Clara neared her ear. She couldn't seem to take her mind off it, something which confused Clara to no end.

"You know, I could ask Cate to pick up some more dye next time she's out, we could do your hair," Vida said with a small shrug of her shoulders. "You reckon I'd suit it?" Clara asked, sounding slightly unconvinced.

Vida snorted slightly, "Please, you suit everything and you know it." Vida said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Clara didn't know what to say but she could feel a fierce blush rising on her cheeks as they lapsed into a tense silence.

After a long half hour of being in such close proximity, Clara was almost as flustered as Vida. She made up a quick excuse of forgetting to meet Nico before rushing out of the room. On her way out she could hear a confused comment from Vida. "You didn't even take your shower."

❊❊❊

Clara had spent the rest of the day milling around the Atrium while she waited for Jude and Nico to finish their training lessons. As per usual she had a table to herself, people tended to steer clear of Ruby and Clara. Ruby actively tried to push people away while Clara's treatment was just a byproduct of that. People assumed that because Ruby was hostile Clara was too, but it didn't bother her. She knew Ruby was just trying to protect herself from getting hurt again. That was something Clara could understand.

Eventually, Nico and Jude joined Clara and after practically pushing the two into the shower room they played cards for the rest of the afternoon until dinner.

When Ruby finally arrived at dinner twenty minutes late she merely picked at her food, not taking a full bite the entire time. She was abnormally quiet too, not that she was usually talking people's ear's off but she wasn't usually that quiet. Clara sent her some questioning looks, wondering if she was going to get an explanation for her behaviour.

Ruby had been on edge ever since she got out of that meeting with Alban and Cole a few hours ago. She had this talent, one Clara had envied on numerous occasions, where she was able to almost completely mask any emotions she may have been feeling. You had to either be extremely observant or truly know her to be able to pick up on what she was feeling when she employed that trick of hers. Clara, luckily, was the latter while a certain lanky redhead was the former.

"Roo, what's wrong? You've been acting weird since you got back. Did something happen, should I call Cate for you?" Jude asked with his usual kindness.

"I'm fine, Jude," Ruby snapped at him. She didn't even look up from her food. Jude looked back down at his plate with a downtrodden expression on his face. Clara kicked Ruby from under the table and sent her a sharp look when she met her eyes. Ruby knew as well as Clara did that Jude didn't deserve that. Talk about misplaced anger...

When Ruby didn't apologise Clara stepped in. She couldn't stand seeing Jude upset like that, he reminded her a bit of Zu sometimes, a big heart with an even bigger imagination. "I'm sure she's fine, Jude, don't worry. I think we're all just a bit tired."

"M'kay, if you say so," Jude said with a shrug, his face already brightening.

"Hey, why don't you and Nico go meet up with the other greens for a while, I'll meet you in a bit. I just need to talk to Ruby real quick." Clara told him, shooting a quick smile over to Nico who seemed to have his head in the clouds again.

Vida had drifted over to the other blues by this point so it was just Ruby and Clara. "Are you gonna tell me why you've been all jumpy or do I need to pry it out of you?"