chapter five
the noise
🎧
There was still joy in Rue's life.
It was not usually seen, but it was there with every grim smile and beam to her eyes. Though often, she was seen with heavy eyes and a pale face despite it being the edge of summer.
She was clearly exhausted, but she was finding her balance within the small town of Hawkins, where she had a chance to start anew.
Ruth had taken Will Byers' advice about creating a routine. And so far, he had been right; keeping busy did help from thinking about it.
She decided to conjure up a routine consisting of four things she enjoys: music, plants, outdoors, and clothes. And four things she would like to attempt to better: consistent reading, cooking, knowledge of technology, and social life.
There were two ways she could get over this slump in her life, drowning herself in it or finding a way out. She preferred the latter. Rue was determined to recover; she wasn't going to let this chance to start again pass her by. She was going to be much better than she had been before.
The start had been slower than she would like to admit, but it was a commencement, and there wasn't a rush. She began unpacking her bags and finally moved in. Rue hung her clothes in her closet and folded them neatly. Then, she decorated.
Rue changed the plain white sheets into ones that held more colour; (baby pinks, greens, and purples), hoping they would brighten up the room and keep her from sulking in it.
Bob had walked past her room as she did so, and he insisted on her letting him take her shopping for decorations and new clothes. Rue gave in when he asked again during dinner, and the next day they found themselves outside of town, walking through the aisles of a home store in Illinois.
When they returned, Bob had helped Rue put up her medals and trophies on a freshly built shelf, along with the vinyl covers and a new vinyl player.
After Rue had made herself at home with the help of her father, she started with her routine. She would wake up at seven in the morning every day (an hour before Bob woke up for work) to brush her teeth and hair before heading downstairs to make breakfast for herself and Bob. On the weekends, Rue would make a big breakfast, and on weekdays she'd make something simple like oatmeal or eggs and toast.
Then, she'd leave behind a note before going on a run. At this time, she would listen to her mixtape as she ran around the neighbourhood. After an hour or so, she would come back home for lunch and shower before getting dressed to leave again. Rue would walk to the RadioShack to give Bob his lunch and extra for Joyce, knowing that he likes to make excuses to see her at work.
Then Rue goes to the library, where she's been meeting Will Byers every day because he promised to tutor her in Audio Visuals if she promised to make him a cassette of her favourite songs and bring him some leftovers from lunch.
Rue agreed because she needed to know as much as she could about Audio Visuals if she ever wanted to help Bob in the RadioShack.
If it had been anyone else, they would have thought it was too much work, especially on summer vacation. But with the simple yet busy schedule, Rue learned that she enjoyed keeping herself on her toes.
Somedays, she would take a different running route, and it would take her a little longer than usual to get back home, and others she didn't meet up with Will at the library but at the arcade instead, where he showed her how to play Dig Dug.
And that was her day: breakfast, morning runs, lunch, drop-offs at the RadioShack, meet up with Will—sometimes at the library or arcade, and Jonathan would pick them up where they would all gather at the Byers' home for dinner and a movie— sometimes it was in the Newby's. The loop Rue had put herself in made her gain more control of her life. She hardly ever broke her schedule.
Her mother had always told her that everything was better when it was in order.
Ruth's routine was predictable and consistent. It helped her get through the whole summer without another complete breakdown.
Some days, Rue still encounters Daniella Patel, the girl next door. They would chat from their windows and sometimes sit on the roof together as Daniella would give Rue terrible tips for life. "Don't ever kiss a guy with braces," Daniella advised one night as they sat on the branches of the tree.
"I'm guessing you kissed a guy with braces," Rue swung her feet back and forth, tilting her head as she glanced at Dani expectantly.
Dani sighed and slumped her shoulders, causing the strap of her red tank top to slip. "Made out with him, actually. Nearly tore my lip apart," she said, and Rue's eyes widened when Dani bent closer to her, pointing at the corner of her mouth, "You can still see the scar, look."
Rue backed away, laughing as she scrunched her nose, "I don't need to see that."
"Alright," Dani put her hands up in defence, leaning back, "Your loss."
"So, college?" Rue wondered, recalling Daniella's announcement a few nights prior that she would be departing a week before school began.
"I'm fucking terrifed," She huffed.
Rue blinked, surprised, "Really? Dani Patel is scared of something?"
"Shut up, Junior," Dani groaned, her hand squishing Rue's cheeks before she shoved her face away playfully.
The girl couldn't help but laugh, "What are you studying anyway?"
"The Arts. I'm going to Julliard, baby."
"Ah, she's an artist," Rue mocked with a false french accent. "Write a song about me once you get big, will you?"
"I'll write you hundreds of songs," Dani hummed, nudging Rue's shoulder with her own. "Just don't tell Ricky, I already told him I have a notebook filled with songs about him."
"Do you?"
"What?"
"Have a notebook filled with songs about him?"
If Dani was blushing, Rue couldn't tell. But she could feel the sudden warmth that radiated off the older girl at the question. "Maybe I do," she sang, "Maybe I don't. He's my lover boy who brings me joy."
Rue faked a gag and hurling sound, "That was corny and gross."
Dani laughed, "It's not gonna be gross when you feel it too."
She rolled her eyes, "It is gross when I have to watch you guys eat each other's faces off," Rue pointed out, recalling the last time she sat out with Dani and Ricky. "Seriously, it's like you forgot I was sitting right here."
"We didn't forget," Dani scoffed, "If we did, we would have been doing more than just kissing."
Rue made a face, beginning to stand. "I'm leaving-"
"No, wait," Dani burst into giggles, reaching for Rue's arm. "I was joking."
"You were not."
"Okay, I wasn't," She admitted, and Rue turned to leave again before Dani tugged on her arm once more, "Please stay, I leave in two days."
"Which means we still have tomorrow."
"I'm busy tomorrow night."
"Doing what?"
"Doing Ricky," Dani said as if it was obvious, "It's our last night together until Thanksgiving, it's gotta be memorable. He's gonna take me on a date and everything."
Rue, who was visibly disturbed by the image placed into her mind, pulled her arm away from Dani's grasp. She sat back down anyway, but not without muttering, "Gag me with a spoon."
Dani had returned to giving Rue advice, but this time it wasn't as terrible as before. "You're a pretty girl, Rue. Use that to your advantage."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Dani shrugged, "Take it how you want it."
Rue didn't know which way to take it. And even after she had decided to sleep on it, she still couldn't figure it out.
A part of her felt flustered because Dani had called her pretty; there were very few people who called her that.
Even while on her run, she found herself distracted from the hymn of Voulez-Vous by ABBA as she continued to question it. She didn't know why it made her feel so on edge, but after a while, she realized it wasn't Dani's words that had Rue dishevelled.
Rue continued to walk more cautiously till she came to a halt near the neighbourhood park. With her headphones on, she couldn't hear anything to overlap the quick beat of Voulez-Vous, and once she pulled them off her ears, there was a bizarre silence that startled her slightly.
Rue had thought that she was used to the quietness of Hawkins, but every day seemed like it became more and more unsettling.
Beneath her, the sidewalk is parching from the rainfall that showered the town last night. Autumn was starting to creep up on Hawkins, and the leaves had already begun to turn into a rustic orange.
Rue felt a breeze blow at the back of her neck, causing her to shiver.
Something was felt... off.
It was quiet.
There were always families hanging out at the playground down the block, and she occasionally saw kids her age biking around. But there were none around, only parked cars on driveways and a lone white van belonging to an electrician at the end of the street.
Hawkins really was a ghost town.
Rue felt the breeze at her neck again, and she trembled once more. Glancing over her shoulder, she decided to go home.
Something wasn't right.
She took a step forward, then a second. Rue felt like she couldn't tear her eyes away from that van. Rue was tripping over herself before she could even realize it, and then, she stopped.
Her sneakers—the ones Bob had recently gifted her after finding Rue's old ones were nearly torn at the sole—thrashed over the sidewalk.
A shoulder jarred against hers as a rushed man collided against her front. The blow nearly had Rue knocked off her feet onto the wet pavement, and the man almost dropped a briefcase he carried in his left hand. His hands reached out to steady her before Rue's body would smack against the floor.
As quickly as he helped Rue steady herself, he let go of Rue's green shirt and stepped away. " Sorry, kid." He brushed himself off.
A businessman. That was the first thing Rue observed from him from the fair-worn office attire and a long black jacket: and not to forget the briefcase. The white hairs gave him a look of authority and knowledge, and it was safe to say that he stood over Rue by a least a foot, making her feel intimidated.
Why the hell was there a businessman in Hawkins of all places?
"It's... fine," Rue began to say, her voice dropping to a whisper as she narrowed her eyes at the man suspiciously.
He was strangely silent.
All her life, Rue had grown to believe that no one could be silent the way this man before her was. There was always this Noise.
Everyone she had met had a Noise.
He didn't.
The only time Rue had stood before a person without a Noise was her mother, but that was after she stopped breathing.
It was like he wasn't there, but he stood right before her to prove that he was.
Then, as she stares at the scar across his white face, it clicks. Familiar. Familiar. Familiar. She's seen this man before, but where has she seen him? Familiar. Familiar.
Rue felt that breeze again, and another chill ran up her spine. He stared at her the same way she did at him, almost as if there was something off. Or as if he knew something she didn't.
Rue backed away. She tore her gaze away from the man and hurried to finish her way back home as her mind raced. She realized that the harder she thought about it, the more her head hurt.
The rest of her day, Rue couldn't get that encounter with the man out of her head. She felt like he had appeared out of thin air.
"I'm telling you, Will. There's something off about him," Rue thought she was annoying the poor guy, but he didn't say anything, merely nodded and hummed, so she continued.
They had been trailing between the tall bookshelves that lined neatly like domino bricks of the library, and Will Byers led their path while occasionally plucking out a book or two from the shelves. Rue followed him closely, informing him all about the man in a hushed voice while she bounced on the balls of her toes.
The thing about Will Byers is that he never tends to speak unless it was necessary. But that also depends on how close he was to the person he conversed with.
When he and Rue first begin their daily meets, he would only speak if spoken to. However, after the whole summer had flown before their eyes, he seemed to have lost the stiffness he once held in his shoulders, and he would chatter for hours about anything and everything.
Other than that, Will Byers was a great listener, which is why Rue felt like she could just tell him everything. She owed it to him because if it weren't for his advice, Rue would have probably still locked herself in the house.
"What do you think was off about him?" Will stopped in his tracks and turned to Rue. He handed her a few of the books in his hands, and she took them without questioning him. "Did he dress weird? Does he wear plaid with stripes?"
Rue trapped her lower lip between her teeth to stop herself from bursting into laughter. "What?" She snickered, "No, he... he dressed like a businessman."
"A businessman?" Will made a funny face before shaking his head. "Hawkins is the last place to have businessmen."
"That's what I thought!" Rue chased after Will once he began to return to the table where they had left unattended because there was only one thing people never stole, books.
The two settled their books on the wood surface before sitting on the seats. Rue leaned back on her chair, throwing her head back to stare at the tall roof of the library while Will gratefully began to open the container of leftovers Rue had brought him.
Rue loved the smell of the library, a mix of wood and parchment. The high ceilings alleviated any sense of claustrophobia she would usually feel in a crowded cafe.
"You know, I don't usually like vegetables, but you make a killer pasta salad," Will suddenly said, mouth full of Farfalle while spots of Pesto stained the corner of his lips green.
Rue snorted a laugh as she sat up and glanced back down at Will. Her hair fell over her face, and it was still drying from her shower. She pushed it out of the way as she leaned her arms on the desk and watched Will stab the sliced cherry tomatoes and cucumbers.
"Do you think I should let it go?" Rue asked insecurely, mindlessly flipping through her notebook where she had neatly written most of her knowledge on everything she learned about Audio Visuals and Technology.
"You should never let it go," Will huffed, "Don't tell my mom I said this, but I think you should be in charge of Thanksgiving dinner this year."
She rubbed her eyes and glanced at him, puzzled. "What are you talking about?"
Will froze, swallowing thickly, "What are you talking about?"
Rue dropped her hands on the table and whined, "I'm talking about the guy! What are you on about?"
"I'm talking about your cooking," He ducked his head and whispered, pointing at the container sitting before him. And he grinned as he watched Rue huff and roll her eyes, "Probably the best hobby you've come up with. A delicious hobby."
"Will," She groaned, dragging on the sleeves of her mint green crewneck.
"Rue-Rue," He mocked.
Rue nudged his foot with her own under the table as a pout grew on her lips, "I'm serious."
"So am I."
Will stopped smiling once he noticed Rue tug on the ends of her hair. "Look," He leaned closer, taking her hand away from her hair, "this guy really has you freaked. And honestly, I don't like seeing you like that. Maybe it's best if you let it go. You'll probably never see him again."
Rue shrugged stubbornly like a child, and she muttered, "Yeah, in Chicago, where there are a million people. Unlike here where I could count the population with my fingers." She pointed out. "You run into people you know all the time. Like the other day, I went to the supermarket with Jonathan and Bob, and I think I saw that friend of yours from the picture in your room."
Will perked up at this, "Who? Mike?"
Rue scrunched her nose and shook her head as the familiar face of Mike popped into her head from the photos Will had shown her a week ago. When she thought of it side by side with the boy at the store, she was sure it wasn't him. "No, the one with the hat."
"Oh," Will leaned back on the chair, toying with the fork between his fingers. "Dustin."
Rue nodded, thinking the name seemed more fitting. "Yeah."
"Speaking of," Will started, and he began to toy with his fingers, a tactic Rue noticed he'd do when he was nervous. "School's starting next week... and, um, I was hoping that you'd wanna meet the Party."
Rue narrowed her eyebrows, "There's a party? What party?"
"Not a party," Will corrected, "The Party. That's what my friend group calls themselves. Cause we're a party of people."
"That's... a little..." She cut herself off, not wanting to say what she was thinking for fear that it would offend him. "It's..."
"Okay fine," He puffed out suddenly, causing Rue to raise her eyebrows. "It's not because we're a party of people, it's because we play..."
"Play what?" Rue asked, watching the boy before she leaned further back into his seat. Will muttered something she couldn't hear, and his cheeks grew a bright red. "What? What is it?"
"We play DnD," Will whispered.
"Dn—" Rue frowned, "What is that? Like a video game?"
"No, it's a board game."
Rue wasn't sure what to say. She found herself shrugging and puffing out, "cool?" unsurely.
Will brightened, "Yeah, it is cool!" He said, "I thought about teaching you the game for a while so you can join us at your next meet."
Rue smirked, "hah, meet. You guys are so proper. I like it."
"Right, so, if you're gonna meet the party, you wanna go to the next meet. Which means I have to teach you how to play, and we've got two days so it has to be as soon as possible-"
"Who said I wanna go to the next meet?" Rue quickly cut in.
"I did, just now."
"But, I don't wanna go to the next meet."
"Sure, you do," Will said, "it's gonna be fun. We play all day and hang out."
Rue shook her head softly, pursing her lips, "That sounds fun," she started, "but I don't really think I need to meet them."
Will wanted to scoff, "You need friends."
"You're my friend," She smiled.
Will blushed at her comment, "You need more friends."
"Why would I need more friends if I already have a best friend?"
"...Think about it, okay?"
"Sure."
Rue did think about Will's offer while it still ran through her busy mind. And she would have returned to him the next day with a final answer if only she hadn't completely forgotten all about it.
She didn't mean to.
Rue had just gotten a little bit distracted.
She would blame it on Bob if she could, because when she got home, he was sitting on the table, searching through magazines and the phone book. Rue asked him what he was doing, and he said he wanted to take Joyce on a formal date.
Bob never asked Rue to help him, she offered. In her defence, Rue hadn't thought it would have taken them all night to find a decent place. Bob was a picky man, he wanted to find the perfect place, and he wouldn't stop until he had.
Bob loved Joyce dearly, entirely, with his whole heart and soul.
It was truly overwhelming for Rue to stand by his side at the time. Whatever love bug had bitten the man had bitten him hard.
Rue felt like she would faint from the warmth that radiated from him. And if it weren't for that, it would certainly have been from the loss of blood because her nose and ears began to bleed promptly after Bob had secured the hotel room.
Rue wasn't the one in love, but she was the one who suffered from the quickened heartbeat, sweaty hands and loss of breath.
Her sight blurred with stinging tears as she focused on the sound of running water. She felt her knees buckle and her mind teetering to the edge of falling unconscious.
"Keep your head down," Bob whispered from behind her, holding her hair in a ponytail until Rue had recovered.
There were splotches of red left behind on the table, the phone book now stained with blood. The tiled floors of the kitchen had a trail of dark red leading to where Rue stood now, with her face over the sink while the blood from her nose stopped coming.
"I'm sorry," Bob mumbled, caressing his daughter's back as she spat out the blood that had pooled in her mouth. "I'm sorry."
Rue grunted and made a sound that wasn't understandable. She cupped her hands under the water, splashing them over her face. "Why...?" Her voice was frail, and she watched the water turn red before it curled and disappeared down the drain. "Why are you... sorry?"
Bob stayed silent, but his hand never left Rue's hunched back.
She shut off the water and stood up. "It's not your fault," Rue said, reaching for a paper towel.
After drying her face, Rue turned to face her father, whose eyes were wide like a nervous puppy's. She frowned at this, watching him shift in his feet. "It's just a nosebleed," Rue reminded him.
The look on Bob's face made her worry.
It was a look of guilt. Rue had seen it before: every day when she looked at her reflection in the mirror.
His face twisted in a way as if he knew something she didn't.
The Noise that would surround Bob felt louder while silence filled the air between them.
It felt like static, and it spread through every part of Rue's mind, and she could feel the blood make its way back to her nose. However, before she could make out the sounds of static in one of the voices, Bob had cleared his throat and shook his head.
"Right," He whispered, and his voice cracked, "just a nosebleed."
If Rue didn't feel on edge before, she sure did now.
And even though she slept like a baby after that encounter, it became one of those things she couldn't seem to let go of. Just like the man she faced on her walk.
Rue wondered if she would ever see him again or if Will was right.
Maybe it's best if you let it go.
If only it were that easy.
Rue was pacing around in her room early morning the next day. She was considering going for her run that day, unsure if the man will be there again or not. On top of that, she was wondering how she will deal with the weekend alone.
Bob's date with Joyce would be out of town. Hawkins was a small town, it wasn't like Chicago. There were barely any fancy restaurants to choose from. In the end, Bob had chosen to take Joyce out for the entire weekend, and he planned on proposing the idea to her tonight over their family dinner.
As Rue paced a hole into the bedroom's floor, there was a soft tap at her window. She froze and turned to it. Rue spotted Dani at the other side, waving at her from her own room. Rue tried to suppress her grin as she hurried to open her window to chat with the girl next door.
"Ah, there she is!" Dani beamed, leaning on her window-side.
"You're up early," Rue stated the obvious, and as if to prove her point, the morning birds chirped in the distance.
Dani frowned, "I'm leaving today."
Right. She's leaving for college.
"I wanted to stop by and tell you not to miss me too much, Junior," She smirked, trapping her lower lip between her teeth.
Rue laughed, shaking her head. "Only if you promise you'll call."
"Obviously," Dani rolled her eyes, "I can't let my summer baby sister hanging, can't I?"
"Summer baby sister?" Rue snorted.
"That's what you are, isn't it?" Dani questioned. "Listen, I've got one more word of advice for you before I go."
"Shoot."
"Life is too short to be unhappy. What I mean is, ignore all the shit, or take it with a grain of salt. We won't be here forever, so what's the point of crying over something that won't matter in a few years?"
Rue tilted her head, a bit shocked by Dani's words. "That's... actually good advice."
"Really?" Dani gasped, pushing her hair out of her face, "I'm like, totally fucking stoned right now, so..."
"Dani, It's seven in the morning!"
She laughed, "I know!"
Before Rue could get a word out, a guy appeared at Dani's side, and she couldn't help but roll her eyes at the sight of a topless Ricky, wrapping his arms around Dani's waist. "Who... are you talkin' to?" He slurred.
Rue guessed he was stoned as well, more than Dani.
"Junior!" Dani told him, pointing at Rue, who waved at the boy from her window.
"Hey."
"Oh, shit!" Ricky blinked, and he reached for Dani's curtain to cover himself from the younger girl. "Ruby, watchu doin'? I haven't seen you in a hot minute."
"That's not... my name," She sighed defeatedly. It had been two months, and Ricky Maguire still hadn't been able to remember Rue's name. She'd correct him every time, but now she felt like giving up and letting him call her Ruby. "I'm doing good, Dick, how are you?"
If he wasn't going to call her by her name, she wasn't going to call him by his. It was only fair.
But he was too high to even notice.
"Mmh, so good," He grumbled, pulling Daniella closer to his body. "Great even..."
"Yeah—okay," Rue said stiffly watching as Dani's attention slowly turned to Ricky's rather than Rue's. "Okay," she repeated, realizing where this was going. "Good luck in college, Dans," she called, "Call me when you can."
Rue didn't bother to answer before locking her window and pulling her blinds shut. She wasn't about to sit there like an idiot while Dani and her boyfriend did... whatever the fuck they like to do.
The rest of her day had gone smoothly, and Will turned out to be right. Rue never saw that man again, however, she noticed that the same van hadn't moved from where it was parked, and she wondered how long her neighbours across the street would be renovating.
Rue tried making something different for lunch today, and while she walked to the RadioShack, the smell of warm garlic bread kept her on her toes. She realized she didn't need to go into the store because she found Bob and Joyce waiting for Rue outside.
They sat on the hood of Bob's car, enjoying the summer sun while it still lasted. Rue thought it was nice and convenient how RadioShack was next door to Melvald's General Store, where Joyce works.
"Hi, Rue, sweetie!" Joyce grinned at her endearingly when she spotted the girl skipping toward the two adults. Rue wore a baby blue top with a pair of shorts that had yellow flowers stitched onto the denim.
Rue beamed at the sight of the woman, and she held her arms out. "Hi!" She squinted at the sun as Joyce embraced her in a hug.
It was after a month when Rue had let anyone touch her. She hadn't known why human contact had made her feel uneasy for the longest time, and Joyce said it was something to do with what had happened that night of... you know what? Let's not even talk about it.
"Today's lunch menu is..." Rue trailed, and Bob began to drum at his thighs. She chuckled at that and pulled out two containers from her bag, handing one to each of them, "Shrimp bowls with a side of garlic bread."
Both Joyce and Bob took the lunch happily.
"I also made some mango and pineapple smoothies," Rue continued, turning to dig into her bag again to pull out two cool bottles and passed them to them as well.
"You really know how to out-do yourself, Rue," Joyce shook her head.
Rue felt heat grow on her cheeks, and while swinging her bag over her shoulder, she waved her hand in the air as if to act like it wasn't a big deal. "It's nothing really, just a hobby."
"A delicious hobby."
Rue couldn't help but smile and tilt her head, "Will said the same thing yesterday. I'm actually about to meet him at the library."
Joyce raised an eyebrow while taking a sip from the bottle Rue handed her. "You're gonna walk all the way to the library on your own?"
Rue shrugged, "It's not that far."
"You should take your bike," Bob agreed with Joyce, nodding.
"I... I don't have a bike?" Rue said, confused.
Bob and Joyce glanced at each other knowingly, leaving Rue utterly puzzled as she started back and forth at the couple.
"Sure you do," Bob scoffed out, digging his fork into the meal Rue had given him.
Rue squinted at the sun and laughed nervously, "No?" She wondered if she really did have a bike this whole time and never knew of it.
"Yeah?" He hummed, a smirk growing on his lips as he mocked her.
The girl didn't know what to say, and she found herself rendered speechless and confused.
"Bob, stop messing with the poor girl," Joyce suddenly burst out, lightly slapping Bob's arm. "Just give her the bike."
Bob pouted like a child and rolled his eyes, but he stood up anyway. Rue watched him pop open the trunk of his car and pull out a fresh and brand-new baby pink bike.
Rue's eyes brightened at the sight of it, and she ran around the car towards it. She brushed her fingers over the white basket at the front and tugged on the bows softly in awe. "Oh!" she gasped, and she rang the cute bell on the side. A warmth of gratefulness grew in her stomach as she gripped the handles.
"Oh, wow..." she said breathlessly, "I... thank you!" she gushed and jumped into Bob's arms. "Thank you! Thank you!"
He laughed, hugging her back with just as much strength. "It's no problem."
"Oh, God," Rue sighed, rubbing her eyes once she pulled away from her father's embrace. "I can pay you back."
"It's a gift, you're not supposed to," Bob chuckled.
Rue shook her head stubbornly, "No, please, let me."
Bob furrowed his eyebrows and glanced at Joyce from over his shoulder. The woman shrugged, unsure of what to do.
Joyce's response was no help, "Alright," Bob hummed, and the RadioShack almost winked at him from the corner of his eyes, and he suddenly remembered those nights when Rue subtly had hinted at wanting to help him at work. "You can help pay it off by working at the RadioShack—"
Rue nodded eagerly, barely letting him finish the sentence before she was agreeing. "Yes, yeah. Yes!"
When Rue had retold the story to Will later that day, he had scrunched his nose and shook his head disappointedly. "You willingly want to have a job?" He questioned, "To work in your freetime?"
Rue threw her head back and dramatically rolled her eyes, "It's not like that—"
"That's exactly what it's like," Will clicked his tongue and glanced back down to the book in his hands. "Talk about child labour."
Rue snorted, crossing her arms. "It's not child labour," she mumbled, and when she glanced out at the window beside them, she grinned, spotting her new bike sitting prettily under the sun next to Will's.
"Sounds like child labour," Will muttered again.
The girl scoffed out a quiet laugh, knowing that arguing with Will Byers would get her nowhere. She glanced at the book before her, a classic and old copy of Pride and Prejudice. It would have been the twelfth time Rue had read it, and the words were engraved into her mind by then, and she's memorized each chapter by heart.
Her eyes lingered on the book in Will's hands, it was thin and colourful, like a child's book. But it was enough to grab her attention completely. "What book is that?"
"It's a comic book," He told her, still not tearing his eyes from the pages. "X-Men."
"What section is that from?"
Will closed the book, raising his eyebrows in interest at Rue's new curiosity. "Why?"
Rue blushed and shrugged, "I dunno, it looks cool. I thought I'd give it a try."
He squinted his eyes at her, "Comic books are usually for boys, you know."
"Right," Rue pulled her lips into a thin and awkward line, "Right, nevermind—"
"Last shelf, far back corner to your left. They're old, if you want the newer Volumes you're gonna have to buy them but these are alright too," Will said simply before turning his attention back to the book.h
Rue straightened up, and her shock was evident.
"...What?" Will asked, feeling her eyes burn into his forehead.
"...Nothing just..." Rue trailed, tapping her fingers to a rhythm on the table. "Thanks," she puffed out as she began to stand from her seat. She didn't walk away from their table before dropping a cassette in front of Will's face, letting it fall onto his lap.
He picked it up, a grin growing on his face as Rue kept her promise and made him the cassette he wanted.
Rue's washed-out white converse shuffled over the tiles of the library as she made her way to the shelf Will told her the comic books were at. There was a thin layer of sweat that glistened against her skin—summer in Hawkin's was hot—and the library didn't have any air conditioning, something Will and Rue sadly realized when they came for their usual meetups and had to leave because it was too hot inside than it was outside.
A little bit of sweat never worried Rue, and she thought it was better than freezing her fingers off in the winter, which was coming around the corner as the leaves slowly turned orange. This might be the last hot day in Hawkins for the rest of the year.
Her fingers brushed over the spines of several books as she walked down the shelves. She noticed how dust would clear off the spines as she did so, leaving a dusty grey stain against her finger.
Rue rubbed her fingers together, cleaning them off as she reached the end of the shelf. Will was right, these were old. They seemed to be hidden from the public eye, and she wondered if it was Will who hid them from everyone, wanting to keep the comic books as his little secret.
Rue got on her toes and reached for the comic books. She pulled out at least four of them and cradled the books in her arms so she could take a glimpse before deciding to read them.
"What are you doing?" A voice suddenly spoke, causing Rue to jump in surprise. She hadn't noticed how stayed she had become after flipping through the first few pages.
Rue had dissociated from the real world for only a few seconds, but clearly, it was enough for someone to sneak up on her, something that not many people could do because she would be able to hear them coming before she saw them. The last time someone had snuck up on her was the man on her run... the silent one, whose mind seemed like an endless void of nothing-
"Hello?" A hand waved before her face, and then it was snapping its fingers. "Are you deaf or...?"
Rue blinked out of her thoughts and noticed she had been staring at the boy before her. He wore a camouflage bandana around his head. He seemed familiar, his face was one that Rue knew she had seen before, but she couldn't remember where.
"Sorry," She mumbled, "I'm not... deaf," Rue frowned as the boy stared at her strangely.
He had a look in his eye as if he was trying to remember where he had seen her as well.
"Did you get lost or something?" He suddenly asked, and Rue didn't miss the way his eyes would drop to the comic books in her arms.
"Uhm, no. I'm not lost."
There was a beat of awkward silence.
"I should probably return to my table," Rue started, gripping the comic books tighter as she tried to squeeze by the boy and the shelves.
"You're taking those with you?" He asked.
Rue stumbled in her steps, "Uh, yeah? Why?"
The boy made a face and nodded to the books, then looked at Rue up and down. His eyes seemed to linger on the baby blue ribbons in her hair and the yellow flowers stitched to her pants. He stares at her as if he's never seen a girl before. When she gave him a clueless look, his shoulders dropped in defeat. "Nevermind." He shook his head, "Um, 'Daredevil' good choice."
Rue blinked at him before realizing he was talking about the comic book in her hands, "Oh, yeah, it looks cool. There's also some Captain Marvel, Black Panther, and Wolverine. I'm not sure who they are but I'm excited to find out."
The boy began to grin as he nodded. "That's cool. I hope you like 'em."
"Me too."
Those were the last words exchanged before Rue flashed him a smile and spun on the heels of her shoes. She nearly ran back to Will, clutching the books to her chest as she did so. "Will! Will, Will," She whispered as she slumped onto her seat in front of the boy.
Will perked up from his comic book, the one he was almost finishing by the time Rue returned.
"I got some comic books, they're pretty cool, honestly. It's like reading a picture book, and I feel like I'm in the second grade all over again. Oh, and there was this boy—he looks so familiar I swear I've seen him before..." Rue paused and let her voice drop when she spotted a new bag on the seat next to Will's. She furrowed her eyebrows at the foreign object, one that she knew didn't belong to either herself or Will. "Whose is that?"
"It's Lucas's," Will told her. "Remember yesterday when I said you should meet my friends?"
Rue's eyes widened, "You invited them here?"
"Not all of them," Will waved his hand in the air dismissively. "Just one."
"Even after I told you I didn't want to meet them?" Rue ignored him, feeling her smile drop.
Will noticed the way she stiffened. "He's really nice and understanding... Lucas is the best one out of all of us..."
Will's words were going in one ear and out the other, and Rue began to glance around at the library, trying to find a familiar face from the photo Will had shown her weeks ago. The three faces of the boys were blurring from Rue's mind as she panicked.
Rue thought she was being silly, she felt embarrassed and even a little ashamed for panicking the way she was, but she couldn't help it. She wasn't sure if she was ready to bring even more people into her life yet.
"Hey, Will, I don't think our secret comic stash is so secret anymore—oh," The same boy from earlier had approached Rue and Will's table. He held a Spider-Man comic book in his hands as he stood before the two.
His eyes lingered on Rue before he turned to Will, then he glanced at Rue again and snapped his fingers as his eyes brightened. He beamed as if he had connected the dots in his mind and smiled at her, "You're Ruby."
Rue winced, "It's Rue," she frowned, brushing her hands over her hair, hoping that she looked somewhat presentable despite having run into him mere minutes before.
He kicked his bag off the chair next to Will and sat down, "Is that short for Ruby?"
"For Ruth."
"Oh, sorry. My bad," He apologized sincerely.
Rue raised her eyebrows at him, her hands pushed themselves further into her lap, and she picked at the stitched flowers to her shorts. She forgave him. "It's alright."
Rue had forgotten why she had been so panicked at first.
"Where are my manners?" Lucas suddenly laughed, and he leaned forwards on the table, sticking his hand out for Rue like a gentleman, "I'm Lucas, Will's friend since like... forever."
"I'm Rue," She shook his hand politely, "I've been Will's friend since like... this summer."
Lucas chuckled, sitting back down after letting go of Rue's hand. He leaned back on the chair, his hands behind his head. "Yeah, I know. Will can never shut up about you," he puffed out, ignoring the way Will elbowed his side. "Mike's not very happy about it. He thinks you're stealing him or something. But I think it's nice that Will finally got a girlfriend."
Will and Rue's eyes widened at Lucas's assumption. They stiffened and glanced at each other. Any mature person would have quickly denied it and explained to Lucas that it wasn't like that, but Rue and Will were barely teenagers yet.
They both erupt into a burst of loud laughter once they caught each other's glance. The librarian had let out a shrill "Shh!" At their table's direction, though it didn't really matter since the library was practically empty if it wasn't for them and three other people
Will had turned red in the face as Lucas stared at him, clearly confused. "No, dude," Will wiped his eyes and grinned at Rue from across the table, "She's my mom's boyfriend's daughter."
"We're just friends," Rue giggled.
"Practically siblings." Will added with a tilt of his head, and Rue nodded in agreement.
Lucas dropped his arms in embarrassment, "Oh shit," and he gave a bitter laugh, "Mike's a liar."
Will had stopped laughing, "Why? What did Mike say?"
"He keeps calling Rue your little girlfriend or whatever," Lucas scratched his nose, "He's probably just jealous because you've been spending more time with her than him."
"That's not true, I've been spending fair time with all of you," Will rested his hands on the table.
Rue shifted in her seat, uncomfortable with the rising tension between the two boys as they spoke of Mike, another one of their friends Rue was yet to meet.
"That was I told him," Lucas whisper-yelled, and he slapped his hand against his thigh. "I told him he's making a big deal out of nothing but—" Lucas sighed, "I dunno, you know how he is."
Will pouted sadly, "Yeah, I know. He's just overprotective since..."
He never finished his sentence.
Lucas pat Will's shoulder comfortingly and gave him a kind smile. "I know, buddy," He squeezed Will's shoulder before turning to Rue. "Sorry about that, Rue."
Rue coughed, "It's alright," she said again. "I'm sorry your party is fighting right now."
"Not fighting, just Mike being Mike," Lucas explained. "So, Will told me you make killer dishes. Will I ever get to try any?"
Maybe meeting Will's friends wouldn't be so bad.
no cause someone said that rue is a morning person and i can see it. that girl loves getting up early.
our girl ruth is THAT girl, good for her.
i just realized that rue hasn't called bob 'dad' yet 💔💔 she mentions him as 'bob' whenever she talks about him to other people :( i can't wait until the slip up when she calls him 'dad'
creepy businessman 😐😐😐yeah ok,,, um.. and the van. it's giving season 1 when the lab guys would stalk the neighbourhood fr.
on a brighter note: will and rue's library meets <33 i really do love them, your honour!!!
also bob and joyce gaslighting rue about having a bike LMFOAD i had too much fun with that it was too funny.
LUCAS GUYS <333 i do have to say more??? RUCAS RUCAS RUCAS
i'm thinking about all that bag rue is gonna make after bob dies. NO before you argue about me being heartless, listen!! okay? LISTEENNN
her mother owned a well-known diner in chicago, where is all the money she made gonna go to?? RUE! yep, and bob is the manager of the radioshack and he's obviously doing well money-wise AND in the show, he asked joyce to move out of hawkins with him while having 2 KIDS and all AND knowing that he'd be paying for jonathan's college tuition if he ever planned to go. ALL THE MONEY IS GONNA BE INHERITED TO RUE YALL SHE'S MAKING MAJOR BAG 🤑🤑🤑
ALSO WE GOT ST4 NEWS?? season 4 has 2 volumes?? WHAT? that's so crazy bro
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