IF I STAY HERE TROUBLE WILL FIND ME

Ruby Faye came into this world on a winter night in January of 1992. The only thing her mother gave her was a name. She has never known who her biological parents are. Having spent the first three years of her life in the foster care system, Ruby by nature was a quiet and shy little girl. Never knowing just how long she was going to end up staying in one place before moving to the next. Though she was very young, it was during those formative years that she never really felt truly attached to anyone. If she got attached to anything it was a little stuffed ballerina doll that she still has. When she was three, Emily and David Hastings welcomed her into their budding family. Emily and David were as loving as any child could dream of. It took her nearly a year to accept that they weren't going anywhere, and another year until she was adopted properly. Never did she ever feel treated as 'other'. Her family life was loving and warm. If you were an insider as well as an outsider you'd never be able to tell that she hadn't been born to them. It was around the time she was four that her dad started to call her "Rube" as a nickname. It was a small gesture but one that made her feel more welcome and more like she belonged than any other family had. Though she was still quiet and introverted her instincts told her that this was in fact her family. To this day she has no desire to seek out her biological family. To her, she's a Hastings and nothing more.

Growing up in such a unique family, Ruby flourished. Her parents noticed her natural ability and inclination for dance. She started classes and ended up working with the Boston Ballet in her 6th year as a mouse in the Nutcracker. As years went on she kept with it and eventually played her beloved Clara two years in a row. Her family never missed a performance, if not all of them together there was at least one member there in the audience looking on each performance. While Ruby did well in school, her heart was with dancing. Summer camps were begged, trips to New York to see bigger ballet performances as she got older. Never once did she forget how lucky she was to have found her place within the Hastings family. Though it wasn't spoken in the household, growing up with parents who were well educated Ruby felt that they expected the same of her. She tried her best and with the help of a tutor she managed to graduate with good enough grades to get into nearby Emerson college where she studied performing arts while still dancing part time with the Boston Ballet. Unsure if it's nature or nurture like her family members she is a hard worker and committed to work first and foremost. She graduated in 2013.

The year she graduated she went to Paris to study ballet. She spent a year living there (Summer 2013-Summer 2014) and working her ass off night and day focusing only on her dancing. There were men in her life before but no one that ever lasted very long. As soon as she could get serious about someone, or someone about her, the dedication she had to dance seemed to put them off. Or she found her focus too distracted and she'd break ties. If anyone analyzed it enough it would be easy to discern that she simply wasn't able to make the kind of attachments that most people could, romantically because of her early life. Though she was never thought much on it herself she simply lacked the skills to really allow anyone to get close to her from the outside. There was always a deep rooted fear of someone being taken away from her. That happened, that year in Paris though when she met Jacob who was living in Paris for work. Later when she was planning to leave and go home he made the strong commitment and decision to move back to Boston with her. He had family living there, and his job would let him. It was a huge step for her to take, living with someone but it felt right with Jacob. Sharing a life was easy with him, he met her family and she'd met his over the holidays too. New Years Eve as 2014 turned into 2015 he was killed by a drunk driver as they crossed the street together. He'd been holding her hand one minute and let go the next to cross the street. She'd stayed on the other side to fix a shoe that was slipping off in the icy weather. She can't remember looking up, just the sound of the tires. Ruby moved back home with her parents as she grieved the loss. Though she internalized most of it, she very rarely speaks of Jacob to anyone. His brother was the first person to show up at the hospital besides her own who worked there, but most of that period remains a blur to her. There has been no one serious since him. Ryan, Jacobs brother has tried to stay in touch with her but Ruby has been cool and distant throughout, because at the end of it all she still blames herself.

Moving home after Paris, she joined the company at Boston Ballet where she works 38 weeks out of the year. She moved into her own apartment in March of 2016 after living back with her parents just a little too long. It wasn't that she didn't love being back at home with them, but she felt it was time finally to be back on her own. The apartment has three loft levels one of which is used for a library and reading area. This season she was promoted from within the company to Principal dancer for the upcoming 2016-2017 season at the ballet. When she's not dancing with the company she teaches ballet and does charity work with the company as well as promotions.