“But—” Ruby cuts off when Allison elbows her. “First, ow. Second, that was rude. Third, let me grab a few things, and then we’ll head to somewhere more your style.”
She twirls, grabbing the dress off the rack. As she makes her way toward the checkout counter, she grabs a handful of other dresses, skirts, and tops.
I just shake my head because I’ve never understood how she can take the most random pieces of clothes and work them together like she does. I’ve always been envious of Ruby’s style, but I really just don’t want to put in that much effort.
I’ll let her dress me up from time to time, but I really prefer my clothes to be about my comfort.
“All done,” she announces, dumping everything onto the counter. “Now, what to distract you with.”
She taps her chin with her finger, sliding her card and not paying a bit of attention to the total of her purchases. We really are so spoiled, not having to worry about money.
I haven’t taken money from my parental pack since I graduated, but I know if I needed money, they’d give it to me. I’m just not someone who feels the need to spend money just because it’s there. Probably because I didn’t grow up rich, unlike Ruby, who’s never known anything else.
“Oh! I know!” She grabs her bag before linking her arm with mine and heading toward the door, leaving Allison to trail behind us. “It seems you’re not the only one returning this summer. Do you remember Harper Murray and Emmy West?”
“Of course I remember them. Pack Bryant are my neighbors.”
Ruby waves me off. “Right. I forgot. Well, they finished up their last semester at OUTN, and they’re taking a month-long tour of Europe, paid for by the Murrays. Apparently, they’ve become attached at the hip with another omega, so she’s withthem. I don’t remember her name, but it’s not really important. The two of them are coming back next month, and they’ll be teaching at the middle school this fall.”
“That’s nice.”
I’m not really sure how else to respond. It’s not like we were ever close with Harper or Emmy. They’re three years younger than us, so we had a year of school together. Pack Bryant used to be the Murrays—Charlotte and Rhett and their three kids when they met Charlotte’s scent-matched omega, Avery. Even though he was only Charlotte’s scent match, he bonded with both alphas, and Pack Bryant was born.
Charlotte and my stepmom are close, so Harper and I were often at the same parties. She’d always drag her best friend, Emmy, along. We were friendly but never close. It’s hard to be with the three-year age gap.
Back then, three years felt like a huge difference. As a senior, I was less than a year from designating, and as freshmen, they were too busy being worried about boys.
Now, three years seems like nothing.
“Maybe we can invite them out for a girl’s night after they settle in?” I offer, sighing in relief when Ruby leads me into the next store, which is much more my style.
“That’s my girl! That could definitely be fun. I always remember them being nice—not too stuck up.” Ruby nods, releasing me when I move to the table of leggings.
Allison snorts out a laugh. “I don’t know about that. All you rich girls seemed pretty damn stuck up to me.”
“You take that back!” Ruby spins around, frowning at her beta. “I’ve never been stuck up.”
I don’t bother holding back my laughter. “Yeah, okay. If that’s what you want to believe, Rubes.”
“Wait. I was stuck up? Seriously?”
I snicker as Allison shakes her head. “Babe, it’s not like you were maliciously stuck up and excluded anyone because you thought you were better than them. You just…expected things to be a certain way, and you weren’t always happy when they weren’t that way.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting things a certain way,” she argues.
“No, you’re right. Except when you’re mad because the bathroom at the hotel isn’t big enough. Or when our teacher wanted us to carry around an egg baby for a week.”
She wrinkles her nose. “I just didn’t understand the point. We could’ve had those stupid dolls that act like babies. Why an egg? They’re so small and so…breakable.”
“That’s kind of the point.” Allison loops her arm around Ruby’s waist. “Your rich privilege just shows from time to time, that’s all. Nothing wrong with it.”
“I don’t like the idea of people thinking I was stuck up,” she admits. “I don’t want to be stuck up.”
Now, she’s pouting, and I feel a little bad. Ruby’s always wanted people to like her, and she never looked down on someone because of how much money they did or didn’t have.
Allison snuggles into her. “Don’t worry. You’re much better than you were when we first met—even though I think we have more money than your parental pack. I’m actually not sure. We can ask Christopher.”
“I don’t care if we’re richer than my parents!” Ruby pushes her pack mate away. “Oh! I almost forgot! Wesley is also coming home.”