All Too New (2/2)

Ruby nodded slowly and faked a smile. She was only looking for reasons to stay longer in this place. To take the moment in and etch this image forever in her memory. Unfortunately, she wasn't able to see Yeonjun today because of her parents' meeting with the principal.

That was another reason why she didn't want to leave yet.

Jennie closed the door and walked to the back to help Lisa. They folded the outfits nice and neat and placed them down on the empty space when there wasn't enough space to hang them.

"Hey, you!" A masculine voice called.

Lisa perked her head up above the car on instinct. She looked around and saw a familiar man walking toward them. He was buff, wearing an obviously fake leather jacket and cheap sunglasses. Behind him was a small boy wearing shorts and a bandage stuck to his knee.

"So it was yours, huh!?" He called again.

Lisa remembered him as the guy in the parking lot. The one who asked if she was a single mom or not. Instinctively, the blonde whispered to her wife. "Babe, get in the car when you're done. I have to talk to someone."

Jennie looked at him, had no idea who he was but was shocked at the volume of his voice. "O-Okay..."

Lisa made a move to leave her wife at the back while she walked to him. He sounded hostile which scared her a bit but not enough to stop her from protecting her family. "Afternoon, Sir." She greeted politely.

"Afternoon, my ass! It's what, 3pm?"

Which is... afternoon, Lisa thought. This guy must be dumb or drunk to say these things in front of a stranger.

"My son has been crying all day for his knee." He began. "He won't even wash his legs himself! I had to get in there and scrub around the wound like a fucking nurse!"

Lisa closed her eyes at the profanity used. She looked at him, and noticed how dirty or lacking he was in facial hygiene. Why was he like that, she thought.

Then she accidentally made eye contact with the small boy hiding behind him, most likely his son. He was clutching on his father's pants like he was scared and begging for his dad to stop.

"Yeah, you're looking at my son because you feel guilty huh?" He turned his body to reveal Taehyun more. "That's what your daughter did to him." The man looked at the bandaged wound on his knee.

Lisa then spoke. "I apologize for the inconvenience, Sir. We're already trying to steer clear from anymore conflicts." She answered formally.

The man scoffed. "Trying? You should've done that ages ago." He looked at her ring.

Lisa was confused.

"You see, that's what happens when two people of the same sex raise a child!" The man whined. "They become problematic! They're bred to badly influence other kids! You know you women always get our last names?"

Lisa remained firm. It wasn't her first time to be talked like that, straight out verbal discrimination.

"It's because we're better! A family can't survive without the Daddy... A wife can't even be satisfied herself without her husband filling her!"

Taehyun shivered behind him like he was more hurt than Lisa was. He looked like he wanted to cry but was trying so hard not to because he was also afraid of crying. Lisa wondered what feelings the boy was going through. "Dad... stop, let's go home..."

The man pried his son off his legs and walked closer to her.

This, Lisa was alarmed.

"People like you are ones who shouldn't be here." He added. "You don't belong. Anywhere."

Hearing those words again were like a slap to the past for her. It wasn't the first time she heard that. It wasn't the second, third, fourth, fifth, probably not even the sixth.

Just how many times did people despise her and discriminate her? She didn't know already, and it hurt to count.

The blonde opened her mouth to speak but was cut off with a honk of a car.

The trio looked left.

Jennie pulled the vehicle down where the front passenger seat was right next to her wife. She wore reflective shades that hid her eyes and her black blazer that screamed authority and wealth. Although she wasn't that wealthy.

The brunette greeted them by pulling her window down. She looked at the man coldly, hearing everything and every tiny detail he said. Jennie was fuming. Her ego was hurt when she saw a stranger mess with her wife like that.

If only the kids weren't here, she'd already be spitting cuss words and insults to the man and probably spit on his shoes. She didn't see anything and glared the man down like pure bloodthirst was raging through her.

The man scoffed and looked at Lisa again, backing off a little bit. He was a little intimidated at the size of their black car though because that was a man's car. Yet he had no vehicle like that and two women were driving one. "You women are so competitive."

Lisa looked at him before looking back at Jennie. The brunette was already glaring at her too as if saying "get in the car before I run you over with him."

He saw Lisa get in and felt disrespected that she was ignoring him. "You want a fight that bad huh!?"

The blonde was already inside the vehicle with her daughter behind her, looking at him out of curiosity.

Jennie didn't flinch.

"I can sue you for ruining my son! I will sue you!"

Lisa was hurrying to say a few words to her daughter at the back. "Peanut, don't listen to him." The man had been saying vulgar words since he called her. His voice was loud and language offensive. Lisa was scared if Ruby paid attention too much.

Jennie watched over them as her wife strapped Ruby's seatbelt in place. She turned back to the man who held the little boy behind him. "See you in court then."

~

That day, the car ride home was awfully silent. Only Jennie and Lisa were talking but the couple communicated in whispers and low volumes. It was the first time Ruby heard her parents like that.

The first time she saw them so stiff with each other after meeting that man. And that man... who was he? Why did Ruby feel so scared from him when she did not understand what he was talking about?

He said a lot of words that confused her. Sophisticated grown up words, she thought, and she had them in order. Sex, competitive, and sue. What do those words mean?

And then there was the car ride home where both her parents were hushing on each other.

Ruby had picked up a particular word from her parents' conversation. Sex.... sexuality? Was that it?

What's sexuality, Mama? She wanted to ask.

But something seemed off with Jennie since the morning. Her pancakes weren't even fluffy, and they're usually fluffy. Ruby kept looking at her mom driving the vehicle to her new school.

Ofcourse, Lisa was no longer in the scene because she was back at work.

"You're gonna love it there, darling, I promise." Jennie said while curving the vehicle into a parking lot. "And there's someone on campus I'd like you to meet."

Campus? What did that word mean?

Ruby stayed silent as the car pulled to a full stop. Jennie got off the vehicle first before opening her daughter's door.

The little girl could no longer pull her eyes off of the building since the second she laid her sights on it. It was huge, way bigger and taller than her old school and there were more students here.

Not to mention, all the other kids dressed in funny identical outfits.

Jennie walked her daughter to the entrance where a tall, red haired woman stood happily in front of them.

"Ro-"

"Jennie!" The woman immediately enveloped the brunette in a bone crushing hug. "Oh god, I missed you. It's my first time seeing you after your maternal leave!" She took a step back and eyed her friend. "You look a lot slimmer... Did Lisa compliment you on that yet?"

Jennie laughed at the woman's silliness and fixed her hair when she let go of her. "Thank you, Chaeng. And yes, Lisa did compliment me." She rolled her eyes. "Every night."

Chaeyoung laughed and looked down when she noticed a figure moving. "Well, hello..." she bent.

Ruby felt so many new things all at once hitting her. Like this person for example, she was kind and funny but she was also pushy. This made Ruby shy and not so confident in her place.

"It's okay, darling." Jennie stroked her head and Ruby started to show her face little by little.

Chaeyoung waited patiently and excitedly to see the little girl's eyes. She looked just like her mom, she thought. "Oh, how beautiful... You must be Ruby!"

She knows my name! Ruby thought. And panicked. According to movies, only aliens knew how to read people's minds.

"Oh no, don't be scared." The redhead giggled awkwardly. "I'm friends with your mom. Really close friends. I'm not gonna eat you."

Ruby peeked out.

"Darling, this is Aunt Rosie." Jennie stroked. "She's an art teacher here in elementary. That means she draws a lot and knows how to paint. You like that don't you?"

The girl didn't say anything and looked at Chaeyoung straight in the eyes. She tugged at Jennie's slacks as a signal that she's uncomfortable.

The brunette knelt down. "Ruby... this is your new school now, okay? It's a lot safer here for you because Taehyun's not here anymore and you have Aunt Rosie..." she tucked a few hairstrands blown by the wind behind her ears. "Lisa and I are both working hard to put you here. You think you can walk in with Aunt Rosie for us?"

Ruby looked at her mom, who had identical eyes at her. She's never seen Jennie like this before. Something was off in her eyes, they look a bit smaller now as if she had been crying.

But Jennie's voice was still stern like the way it always has been. Was she hiding something? Ruby didn't feel her mother happy with being here. She grew concerned.

The longer she stared at her mother's orbs, the longer she felt she could get to an answer.

"Okay, darling?" Jennie repeated.

Ruby had no choice but to nod.

The brunette got up and faced this woman called Aunt Rosie again. It was all new to the little girl, so much information was trying to process itself in her head.

"Okay... okay... so where are you going?" Chaeyoung asked.

Jennie bit her lip and lowered her voice. "To fucking court."

"Ah..." the redhead nodded, visibly disturbed by the profanity. "Alright."

She noticed that the pair exchanged their words of goodbye. And soon, Ruby's hand was now held by Chaeyoung instead of her own mother.

This alarmed her and she looked back at the brunette who was about to leave. "Mama!" She called.

Jennie turned around. "Mama's going to be back, okay darling? Just go have fun in school and I'll be right back with your snacks!"

Ruby watched as her mom got farther and farther away from her. It felt like life was leaving her. When the car had moved out of the parking lot, she felt a tug on her wrist.

Chaeyoung smiled down at her. "Hey kiddo." She joyfully greeted.

The little girl looked up, tried to analyze this woman by looking straight into her eyes. It felt like the eyes were the easiest part of a person to read. She was so confused as to who this woman is, having known her for like, only 2 minutes.

Yet she was here with her, holding her wrist like a guardian. She wanted to get to know her more. But for now, she had other questions in mind.

"Aunt Rosie? What's fucking court?" =============================

AUTHOR'S NOTESChaeyoung: "watch your profanity"Also Chaeyoung: *speaking on the phone* "OH MY GOD, JENNIE WTF OMG OH MY- HOLY SHHHHH RUBY JUST SAID FUCKING"