Miss Ruth's Home for Renegades, Misfits, and Other Such Beings

Chapter 1

"Where were you last night?"

Brin felt the motion of her girlfriend's fingertips on her skin stop. Her huge green eyes looked gorgeous in the soft light of the late afternoon flooding in through the small window, but Brin could sense a flash of panic behind them.

"Don't worry about it," she then replied, contenuing to stroke Brin's arm.

Brin relaxed a little, endulging herself under Adrianne's gentle touch. However, last night's events were still bothering her. She sat up, receiving a questioning look from her girlfriend.

"No, but seriously Addie, I waited for you for over an hour. We were supposed to go see Rumi's art exhibition, remember?"

Adrianne just laughed, gently pushing Brin's chest, forcing her to lie back down.

"I said, don't worry about it. I'm sure Rumi managed just fine without our presence."

She then planted a soft kiss right above Brin's left collarbone. Normally this would have made Brin completely melt, but Adrianne's nonchalant attitude was bothering her.

"You could have at least called. I was worried."

Adrianne rolled her eyes.

"For fuck's sake Brin, let it go. Could you just enjoy the moment for once?"

She started tugging on the hem of Brin's top, pulling it upwards. Panicking, Brin slapped Adrianne's hand and sat up again.

"Brin, what the fuck!"

Adrianne seemed frustrated. Brin pressed herself thightly against the wall, as far from Adrianne as possible, trying to gather her thoughts.

"I... I'm sorry, I just... I just can't do this now."

Adrianne rolled her eyes again, but backed away from Brin:

"Grow up."

Brin fumbled with the hem of her shirt, trying to get it back down. She could feel her face heating up.

"I'm sorry, Addie."

Adrianne didn't say anything, just stared at the wall with her arms crossed.

"I... I should propably get going. I promised my parents I would be home for dinner," Brin said carefully once she had gained back the control of her thoughts and had her shirt back in place.

Adrianne pulled out her phone, still not saying a word. Brin just stared at her awkwardly.

"So I'll just... I'll just leave," she finally said, reaching fof her bag.

"Fine," Adrienne said in a monotone voice.

Brin unplugged her charger from the wall and put it in her bag. She glanced at the black hoodie she had worn on the way to Adrianne's house earlier that day, now lying on the floor next to the bed. It was Adrianne's hoodie, the one Brin always stole. It was huge and warm and smelled of Adrianne's favorite perfume. For a moment she wanted to ask to borrow it again, but Adrianne's sudden lack of interest in her was getting on her last nerve, so she left it in its spot.

"Text me tonight," Adrienne said as Brin was turning to leave, still refusing to make eye contact. Brin frowned:

"We'll see."

Brin practically slammed the door of Adrienne's apartment shut. She could feel the cold weather creeping in the stairwell, and immediately regretted not taking the hoodie. It was starting to get dark as well, the shadows casted on the walls only seemed to get longer by the second as Brin descended the stairs.

The wind hit her face as she stepped out of the building, making her long hair fly in front of her face. The beautiful light of the last moments of daylight that had filled Adrienne's apartment just moments ago was gone, and was replaced by darkness that was surrounding her rapidly. Brin walked as fast as she could; she hated to be in this part of town at night. The air felt heavy, and she was certain that she could feel raindrops on her skin, to add to everything.

Addie was always like this. They had an argument, and if she felt cornered or didn't get her way, Brin would receive silent treatment. Usually Brin could take it, it was just the way Addie was. That's why tonight's outburst was bothering her.

As she was walking, more regretful thoughts were filling her mind. Who was she to question where Addie had been? Maybe she was with her dad and didn't want to talk about it, or had some other personal issue. Was Brin seriously that untrusting that she had to know her girlfriend's every move?

Brin pulled out her phone, even though it was definitely raining now. She opened her and Addie's chat on iMessage and began to type. The increasingly heavy rain was making the task almost impossible, as the randrops were blurring her vision. Suddenly, she was sure she heard someone calling to her in the distance:

"Evening, Brin."

She flinched, dropping her phone. However, she was too scared to try and pick it up. She looked around, spotting what she was sure to be the source of the noise: a dark figure with what seemed like a bright yellow umbrella, walking towards her.

Her first instinct was to walk away, but she couldn't. She felt frozen in fear, her feet locked on the ground.

The figure stepped into the light of the streetlamp. She was an old woman, maybe around 60 years old, with a kind smile and a curious expression.

"You dropped something. Here, let me help," the woman said, picking up Brin's phone. Her hand was covered by a colorful knitted glove, and she was indeed holding a bright yellow umbrella, but otherwise her clothing was dark.

"T-thank you," Brin said, taking her phone.

"Now, what are you doing, standing out here in the rain dressed like that?" the woman asked kindly. Brin glanced down, realizing just now that she must have been quite a paethetic sight: her white cotton top was entirely seethrough by now, the sleeves of her jeans were covered by splashes of water and dirt, and her long blonde hair was dripping wet and sticking against her body.

"I was just walking home."

The woman shook her head:

"No. Not in this weather, not in this neighbourhood, and definitely not alone. Come on," she started walking back to the direction where she had come from, and gestured Brin to follow.

Something about the woman stopped Brin from protesting, and she decided to follow the woman. Her smysterious presentation and kind nature made Brin too puzzled to care. They walked in silence, and Brin was so lost in her thoughts that she barely even noticed that it was no longer raining.