DeStory

Battle Scars
Chapter 16
Alaska’s P.O.V.

 
“Don’t try to kill her with a prank like that.”
“We’re not pranking.”
“It gets even more hilarious every time….” I say sarcastically.
“WE”RE NOT PRANKING!” shouts Louis.
“Okay. In the same universe pigs fly.”
“Do I have to shout it in your ear?”
“You’re not pranking.”
“YES!”
“Oh saweet!” squeals Ruby.
“But the tour starts tomorrow…” I mention.
“People up higher at Syco have already sorted out everything. Even costumes! All you need to do is sort out some songs to sing!”
“Sorted.” Says Ruby.
 
Ruby’s P.O.V.

“And now you’re going to sing for us?” says Ellen.
“Yes we are!” we walk over to the stage area.
The music starts.
We’re singing Stronger, by Britney Spears.
After what seems like not long, the song finishes.
And the audience comes and claps for us.
“That’s all we have time for today, be kind to one another and goodbye!” says Ellen. The cameras stop.
And then the reality sank in.
I was going to travel the world with five hot guys, my best friend, and I get to preform at concerts all over the world!
Sweet As.

Battle Scars
Chapter 15
Alaska’s P.O.V.

ONE DIRECTION ONE DIRECTION ONE DIRECTION ONE DIRECTION HOLY HALO ONE DIRECTION’S IN FRONT OF ME.
I go absolutely mental. I start screaming… and I don’t appear to stop, do i?
And I eventually manage to calm myself down.
“Happy Birthday Ruby!” say One Direction, simultaneously.
“BEST. BIRTHDAY. PRESENT. EVER!!!”  she squeals, again.
“Amen to that.”
We hi-five eachother.
So we’re both a little bit calmed down by now, but I’m still bobbling a little bit, and Ruby’s grinning like a Cheshire cat.
So One Direction’s standing behind us, and Ellen says:
“Anything you’d like to say to these boys?”
“Um, yes.” I reply. After a pause, I say:
“I know we only met but let’s pretend it’s love.”
 Again, the audience erupts into laughter.
Ruby then follows:
“I need a new bucket list.”
Again, the audience laughs.
“And, we’ll be right back with more Ruby Croft and Alaska Merino right after the break!”
 
Ruby’s P.O.V.
 
No more cameras.
Phew.
And we get to actually talk to 1D…. like, seriously.
Us?
Living in Linden Grange, Ohio?
“So, Ruby.” Says Hazza.
“Yes?”
“You’re a Kiwi?” he asks.
“Yep.”
“Do you surf?” interrupts Niall
“Do cows moo?”
“I’ll be taking that as a yes then.”
“I would be worried if you took it as a no.”
“Do you play any instruments?” asks Liam.
“No, not really. I  can play about three songs on the piano, though.”
“And what are they?”
“Someone Like You, I Will Survive, and All That Jazz.”
“Nice! Alaska?”
“Yes?”
“You have an amazing musical talent.”
“Well, I guess. But then again, I can’t dance. At all! But I make up for that with my acting skills.”
“I think you can dance, but you don’t want to.” Teases Louis.
“Really? Okay, we’re starting this. From right now, it’s on.”
“Okay, I’m terrified.”
“Alright Carrots,-”
“Thirty seconds till camera!” says the cameraman.
“You did not just call me carrots.”
“Oh yes I did.”
Ellen comes back, and sits in her chair again.
 “3…2…1…”
“Hello, we’re back with Alaska Merino, Ruby Croft, and One Direction!”
Cue the audience clapping.
“Ruby, it’s your birthday today!”
“Yes! 21st of Febuary!”
The audience cheers.
“Well, I believe the boys over there have another present for you…”
“Seriously. I just completed my bucket list right there, what else could I possibly get?”
“You and Alaska could come on tour with us… and open.”


Author’s Note: ooooh, this plot twist tastes spicy!!!!

Battle Scars
Chapter 14
Ruby’s P.O.V.
ONE WEEK LATER

 
“They’re youtube queens at 17. Please welcome to the stage, Ruby Croft and Alaska Merino!”
We walk down the hall to come out to where the cameras are, with Kiss You playing in the backround. We both do a little dance before sitting down.
“So good to have you on the show, girls!”
“It’s so good to be here!” I reply.
“Now, I understand Alaska had her first trip to the beach yesterday…”
“Yes! It was awesome! The sand is wayyy softer than what I thought it would be like, and the water was nice and cold! I Made my first ever sandcastle. Ruby taught me how to surf! It was just awesome.” She said.
“What did you think the sand would feel like?”
“Sandpaper.”  The audience bursts out laughing, including me.
“I sound like Sophia Grace, Don’t I?”
“Yep.” I finish.
Again, the audience laughs.
“And Ruby! This accent you have, where is it from?”
“AOTEAROA REPRESENT!”
“Aotearoa?”
“That’s the Maori native’s name for New Zealand.”
“Okay.”
And then my awesome spacial awareness kicks in. There’s someone sneaking up behind us. And then I remember that sometimes Ellen sends people out to scare her guests.
So, thinking that was it, I waited, and kept answering questions, so I could pretend I was’nt scared when they crept up on us.
But then a minute passed.
And another minute.
And another minute.
They would have scared us by now.
So, when I answer the question “Who’s your fave member of One Direction?” with “I have no favourites, I just have a soft spot for Liam Payne.”, I turn my head around slightly.
And that’s when I saw them.
I turn my body round fully.
I pinch my stomach.
“I’m not dreaming, am i?”
They shake their heads.
I try to rationalise myself, and I start to talk to myself.
“Okay. Ruby, keep calm, and – oh, screw it. I am a fangirl, I CAN NOT KEEP CALM.”
And then, I start bobbling up and down in my seat, letting out a couple of high pitched squeals.
Ellen’s epicly laughing, and Alaska  is still unaware of what’s going on.
“What are you too laughing at?” asks Alaska.
I stop fangirling.
“You seriously don’t know.”
“I don’t know!”
“Look Behind You!” and then I resume fangirling.
Alaska turns around.
“HOLY HALOS IT’S LIKE THEY’RE PHOTOSHOPPED!” she squeals.
“I KNOW!” I shout.
Because standing right infront of me was…..
One Direction.

Teaser: 'Seriously. I just completed my bucket list right there, what else could i possibly get?'

Battle Scars
Chapter 13
Alaska’s P.O.V.

 First we had a comment from Liam Payne – which almost made me faint.
Now we have one from ELLEN.
ELLEN DEGENERES.
We’re doing well!
“Hello Girls. Nice singing!”
Rubes replies.
“Ello Ellen, Ruby here. Thank you! We absolutely LOVE your show, we try to watch it ALL the time!”
The conversation goes on and on and on.
And then Ellen says this:
“How’d you girls like to be on my show next week, 21st of Febuary?”
“Hahaha, you’re kidding, right?”
“No… I wouldn’t joke about something like that.”
Okay. We just got an invite from ELLEN to be on her show.
Wow….
“Thank you so much! It’s just that we’re In Ohio and your studio’s in California.”
“We’ll fly you girls, and both your moms, there on the 19^th,!”
  And Ruby, breathless the whole time, stammers...
“That is the best birthday present ever!”
Her birthday?
“When is that, by the way?” I ask her.
“The date we’ve been asked to go on the show!”
“I’ll tell Ellen that then!”
So she types in:
“Oh, that’s absolutely wonderful, Ellen! There’s a nice aspect to being on it on the 21st – That’s my birthday!”
So we arrange it, and Ruby calls her mum, to tell the good news.
I go and find my mum up on the second story.
“Mum!” I shout.
“Yes honey?”
“We’re going to California on the 19^th!”
“Both of us? How?”
“Me and Ruby are on Ellen on the 21^st.”
“No.” she says.
“Yes!”
“OMIGOD OMIGOD OMIGOD.”
Mum starts fangirling…. Over Ellen. Awkward…
“Well, I’ll tell her that then!”
So I run back down to the computer.
“My mum’s so happy we get a holiday!” she screams.
“I’M JUST HAPPY I GET TO GO TO THE BEACH!”
“You’ve never been to the beach.” She says, with a serious look on her face.
“Yeah…. But I have seen it on an international flight to Paris though.”
“Oh. My. God.”
“What?”
“THE BEACH IS MY LIVELYHOOD! For god’s sakes, I’m a pro surfer!”
“Teach me how to surf?”
“Of course.”

Battle Scars
Chapter 12
Ruby’s P.O.V.

He’s SORRY?
He’s the reason I have nil self-esteem.
Okay. He’s the jerk who’s trying to use my newfound fame to make him famous, and once he’s more famous than me, he’s going to ditch me.
I might not have self-esteem, but even I know that I’d be stupid to accept his apology.
I stand there for what seemed like forever, and then he takes a step forward. I might not be facing him, but I have good spacial awareness.
I put my arm out to the side, and signal for him to stop and shut up.
I start to sing.
“You trifilin’, good-for-nothing type of brother. Oh silly me, why haven’t I found another?”
That’s all I sing.
Alaska unlocks the car, and we get in.
We drive away, leaving him standing there like an idiot.
Sweet As.
 
Alaska’s P.O.V.
When we get to my house, we check Ruby’s twitter.
Lots of compliments on her looks and singing on her last post, which was:
‘Viral! Thank you all for watching! #CelebrationTime’
Some hate too.
“OMG how can someone as hot as you like 1D?”
“Ugh. Your voice makes DEAF people cringe.”
For the first time in her life, she’s ignoring hate instead of reacting.
And then there’s a comment from….
Brace yourself.
@ellendegeneres.

Teaser: "That is the best birthday present EVER!"
Author's Note: Thank you my lovely readers for staying with me for twelve chapters!

Battle Scars
Chapter 11
Ruby’s P.O.V.

“Goodbye everybody!” I say, whilist walking off stage, back into the dressing room.
And the dressing room door is closed, and locked.
And we change back into our other clothes.
“You know, Rubes…”
“Yeah?”
I turn around to face her.
“Who is your fave in 1D?”
She shuffles her right foot.
“I… kind of have a celeb crush on Liam?” she says, with a defensive-yet-scared look on her face.
“Nice pick! I’m desperately in love with Zayn…”
“To be honest, he is the best looking of the group. Nice abs, too. But I am drawn to personality. Liam’s personality appeals to me. Nice guy, good looks, and that little bit of humor puts him over the top.”
“Yeah. The way you put it makes me start to fall for him.”
“GET OFF MY MAN!” she screams.
“I WASN’T ON HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE! STOP ACCUSING ME!”
“Laska, I’ve never seen you so out of your shell!”
“Well, because of DMT –“
“Doomed Monkey Tyrants” she interrupts.
I let out a gigantic laugh.
“They slowly changed me into a combination of the three of them wihout me realising, and they’re opposites of me. So I was always restricted to what THEY wanted me to be. What I am showing you is what I actually am! It’s good to be free.”
 I open the door.
Chad’s there.
Does he stalk us, or something?
Seriously.
“Keep a-walking.” Says Rubes. She walks straight past him.
I follow.
He chases after us.
“Ruby! Ruby!” he screams.
She starts to run to the car. In heels. She must be desperate!
Again, I follow.
 
Chad’s P.O.V.
 
Why is she running? Oh, yeah. I got expelled, over her, and she thinks I’m going to be mean! No. No! NO!
“Ruby! Come back! I Love You!”
And now she stops in her tracks, about a metre to Alaska’s car.
“I love you.” I repeat.
There’s a long pause as Alaska stares at me and Ruby stands still.
“The reason why I’ve been so mean to you is because I got feelings – I did’nt know what they were – and I did’nt know what to do with them. Since you were the person causing them, I pinned it on you. That’s what happened, and I’m sorry.”

• click to see this quote •

Battle Scars
Chapter 9
Ruby’s P.O.V.

Once D.M.T. (Demi, Megan, Terra, or as I prefer, Doomed Monkey Tryants) go away, and we quietly walk to the stage.
“Laska.”
“Yes, Rubes. I know what you’re thinking.”
“How do you hide it so well?”
“I just…. Do. I don’t know how.”
By this time, we’re in the change rooms.
“Okay. Just to let you know, I’m here.”
“How could you possibly know exactly what I’m going through?”
“Laska. I get called about three names per minute, constantly beaten up, and when I do something about it, it gets worse! I never cared about labels, that’s not how it worked in New Zealand. I just do what makes me happy, and that’s music. Unfortunately that’s ultra-hard due to reasons previously listed. It’s also the reason for the reasons previously listed.But I think, would I rather be happy, or be unhappy. I wanted to be happy.”
By this time, we’re in our dresses and shoes, and just sitting there.
“I also have no self esteem.”
We give eachother a hug.
“Okay. I believe you, even though you’re an exact replica of Mila Kunis. Now, we need to get up there, and sing.”
Luckily, Laska bought her guitar.
So we walk out on the stage. There’s a rather big crowd. Seriously huge, too. They’re chanting
“Alaska! Ruby! Alaska! Ruby!” repeatedly.
Laska starts playing.
“Oh, I just wanna take you anywhere that you like. We could go out any day, any night, Baby I’ll take you there, Take you there, Baby I’ll take you there, yeah.”
I start singing.
½ way through Liam’s solo, who should I see entering the crowd, but Chad Ingram.
I’m so over him. Talking with Laska last night, I realised how toxic popular boys can be.
And why she’s still single.

Battle Scars
Chapter 8
Alaska’s P.O.V.

Oh yeah, I forgot. The ‘popular’ clique does a weekly shopping trip on Saturday. They might have been waiting for ages.
“Where have you been?” says Megan, storming up to me.
“And why’d you bring - that?” follows Terra, refrencing Rubes.
“Haven’t you heard?”
“Oh yeah, you’re viralists. You’re not friends though. You’re still mortal enemies, just doing it for the fame. Come with us, we found an amazing dress we think you’d like to try-“ says Demi, trying to turn me away.
“No. Stop. Just, stop.”
I sigh.
“Ruby understands me better than any of YOU ever did. We’re not friends, like you said. We’re BEST FRIENDS. I really don’t care WHAT dress you’ve found, and on the rare occasion I wear something that you’ve picked, I change out of it as soon as I walk through my door. THIS is the kind of dress I like.”
I pull out my white dress.
“Oh, no, Alaska. That’s really Horr-“
“Don’t you get it? I don’t CARE what you think. I NEVER DID.”
“Of course you do. We’re-“
“Don’t you get it? You guys are the reason I do this.”
I take off my watch to reveal I don’t know how many 1.5 centimetre vertical scars, about 2 millimeters apart, which are the result of self-harm, easily able to be hidden by a watch or bangles.
“Attention-Seeker.”
“Emo Freak.”
“Drama Queen.”
“You guys RULED my life. I hated that, I want to be free. And I am, thanks to Rubes.”
“Rubes? You call her Rubes?”
“Yes. And she calls me Laska. Now if you’ll excuse me, We have a gig to preform.”

Battle Scars
Chapter 7
Ruby’s P.O.V.

Our first autograph! And to a cutesy-cute little girl too!
“Sure thing honey.” I say, and give my siginature.
Alaska gives hers too.
“Thankies.” She says.
“You’re very welcome sweetie.” Replies Alaska, and then the little girl skips back, full of glee, to who looked like her older sister, and shows her the autograph.
It’s a good feeling bringing that much joy to somebody.
So we keep a-walking. I purchase a kingfisher blue evening dress, one that stops slightly above the knee, gives me an even bigger backside than the one I already have, shows some cleavage, and has NO straps for 75 dollars. That’s the most extravagant thing I’ve bought since we moved here, to Linden Grange. We spent most of our money on flights and then we had to go to a motel for a while until we found a house to buy. That’s why I have had no pocket money since I came here, hence the lack of extravagance. Then Alaska spots a brilliant dress. It’s white, stops at the knee, and it is sparkly!  Her dress is exactly 80 dollars. And then I go and buy some stilletos of the same colour as my dress for 25, and Alaska bought some big black boots for twenty dollars. Walking out the store, we’re approached by two mall staff. One looks like an assistant, while the other appears to be their boss.
“Alaska Merino and Ruby Croft, I presume?”
“Yes.” We say at the same time.
“Teresa Pall.” The boss one says. “I was wondering if you’d like to play an impromptu gig for us?”
Laska and I look at eachother, then simuletaneously say
“Sure!”
“Well that’s great! Umm, you can see the stage from here, and there’s dressing rooms if you’d like to change into the new clothing you’ve just bought?”
“Okay!”
“Thank you so very much. This is my employee, Paige.”
“Nice to meet you!” she says, doing a wee little dance on the spot.
So we head towards the stage, until we find the exact LAST people I want to see.
Demi, Megan, and Terra.
The rest of Laska’s clique.
And they don’t look happy.