Ruby had always been different drawn to colors and lights that others barely noticed. While most people looked at sunsets or rainbows, Ruby sought the strange shimmer of ultraviolet, something she claimed she could “feel” more than see. That evening, the atmosphere was heavy, the sun dipping below the horizon, leaving streaks of violet and indigo across the sky. Scott stood quietly beside her, his eyes calm yet curious, watching the way Ruby tilted her head upward as though the heavens were whispering to her alone.
But Ruby’s attention wasn’t only on the light it was on Scott. She turned suddenly, her gaze locking onto his. What began as a fleeting glance stretched into something far deeper. Her eyes didn’t wander, didn’t blink; they held him with a strange intensity. Scott, caught between amusement and discomfort, tried to shift, but Ruby followed him with unwavering focus. The ultraviolet glow behind them seemed to blur, making her eyes shine even brighter, as though she was drawing from the light itself.
“Ruby,” Scott said softly, attempting to break the tension with a chuckle. “You’re staring.”
But Ruby didn’t laugh. She was lost, immersed in the moment, her mind tangled between the beauty of the light and the magnetic pull of Scott’s presence. The longer she stared, the more it felt to Scott as if she were looking straight through him, unraveling thoughts he never intended to share. What might have been playful or romantic began to stretch into something strange, as though she had gone too far, stepping beyond the boundaries of comfort.
Finally, Ruby blinked, shaking herself free with a soft sigh. “The light makes everything feel different,” she whispered, almost apologetically, as though she had woken from a dream. Scott smiled faintly, uncertain but forgiving, realizing Ruby hadn’t meant to unsettle him. She was simply swept away by the ultraviolet sky, by the thrill of being near him, and by the raw intensity of emotions she didn’t know how to control.
In that moment, Scott understood: Ruby wasn’t just looking she was reaching, searching, and perhaps loving too deeply for her own good.