Lock and Key (novel)
After her drug and alcohol addicted mother abandons her, child services forces 17-year-old Ruby Cooper to move in with her sister, Cora, who had left for college when Ruby was young. Ruby is upset about this arrangement and continues to wear the key to her old home on a chain around her neck. After learning she will be transferring to a new high school, Ruby attempts to run away but is found out. Nate Cross, Jamie and Cora's next-door neighbor, covers for her. Over the span of the story, Ruby slowly becomes closer to Nate.
Ruby Button
Ruby's storylines have often focused on her various relationships and "bitchy" ways. Ruby engages in a brief relationship with Duncan's best friend, Ricky Campbell (Ashley Margolis), which ends when Ricky sees Ruby bullying others. Ruby also becomes best friends with Esther and Sinead O'Connor (Stephanie Davis). A prominent storyline for Ruby saw her reveal her illiteracy and subsequently develop feelings for her tutor, Pete Hamill (Peter Mitchell). Ruby's behaviour soon begins to "spiral out of control" and she claims to have had sex with older man, Riley Costello (Rob Norbury). She later embarks on a relationships with Jono (Dylan Llewellyn) and Ziggy Roscoe (Fabrizio Santino), and becomes embroiled in the bullying of Esther as well as suffering a heart attack.