The Town That Drowned
Ruby is the main character of this novel and the story is told entirely from her point of view. She is a 14‑year-old girl. Near the beginning of the book she has a vision of some of the townspeople swimming around her and one person happens to be someone she had never seen before. Ruby gets bullied at school (mainly by June Crouse) as a result of this incident. To make things worse, she has a unique brother who is seen as a freak by others. She receives suspicion after the townspeople learn that her house would be saved from being flooded (Later on, it is revealed that Ruby had to move anyway since the water went further than expected). Her best friend and cousin is Sarah Carson who was always there for Ruby. However, in that year, Sarah moved to another town and leaving Ruby to face her troubles on her own. Later on in the story Ruby falls in love with Troy Rutherford, who happens to be her first love.
Ruby Button
A few weeks later, Ruby returns to college and ends her friendship with Sinead. Patrick asks John Paul to help Ruby with an anti-bullying campaign and also has Phoebe Jackson (Mandip Gill) help her, although Phoebe is still angry with her for bullying Esther. Ruby forgives Esther, along with Sinead, after they discover that it was Brendan Brady who blackmail at her to bring Bart McQueen and Joel down. In August, after much flirting, Ruby finally kisses Ziggy Roscoe (Fabrizio Santino) and they begin a relationship.Despite their new relationship, an upset Frankie sleeps with Ziggy leaving Ruby heartbroken. She tries to tell Jack of Frankie's affair but he doesn't believe her. An upset Ruby purchases cocaine off Trevor and steals alcohol from the dog and has her own party leading her to have a heart attack.