A bit off topic, but not exactly. Does anyone ever watch Diary of Andrea? She is the Norwegian "friend" that Ruby mentions and has met once irl. Andrea just celebrated her 20th birthday and these were my takeaways from it, in comparison to Ruby.
Andrea is 3 years younger than Ruby, and sometimes that age shows, but overall, she is a lot more mature. She often lives away from home for long periods of time due to schooling and never whines about it. She drives, she paints nicely, has a clean kitchen and home, very neat and tidy, she had a party with about 8 other girls who all looked their age and no one was playing dress up or twirling in fields. She has real friends with a real life. They were dancing to music and acting like normal late teens/early adults, not playing out a scene from Matilda! I also could not help but notice the few sweet gifts she received. Some water paints, which she was thrilled with, being an artist, 2 matching mugs, a pretty plate, and then....a book of A Little Princess. I am pretty sure we know who sent that one. She looked less than thrilled about receiving it, to say the least, and while she showed it, she didn't say anything about it. Especially after her speech about no longer hiding behind being a teenager and time to act like an adult. Sorry, Rubes....not everyone wants to cling to their 8 year old self! I think Andrea wants to embrace her future, not linger in the past, something Ruby could certainly learn a wise lesson from.