"I still don't see why I have to go live with Granny in the middle of bum fuck nowhere" A beautiful brunette with golden eyes grumbled from her spot in the passenger seat
"Language!" An older brunette said, "There are no schools that will take you in Boston anymore, Red. Granny knows the principal of the Storybrooke Academy, which happens to be one of the best in the entire state mind you, and she's accepted you in for whatever reason. And it doesn't hurt that Granny wouldn't put up with the shit you pull"
"This is so unfair" Red huffed, sitting back in her seat and putting both headphones in. Before she knew it the headphones were getting ripped from her ears and they were parked in front of a small wood cabin
"We're here" The older brunette said
"Granny doesn't live here. She lives at that bed and breakfast." Red rolled her eyes and moved to put her headphones back in
"No, but she does own this cabin. She said it's yours to use as long as you keep it clean and the second she hears of any parties or anything of the sort that you'll be living in the smallest room the B&B has to offer" The older brunette said with a smile when she seen her daughters face break into a wide smile
"Really? And you're not saying no? This is happening?" Red's questions shot off as quickly as she did, not giving her mother time to explain
"Hello Anita" Granny said with a smile as she took the women in her arms, "It's been far too long. You need to visit your old mother more"
"I've had my hands full with your granddaughter, ma" Anita grinned as she hugged the older lady back, "I think you've officially became her favourite after this"
"It keeps her out of my hair for the most part and the B&B isn't a place for young women on their own, even if they are my only granddaughters" Granny replied and smiled when Red ran back outside and all but tackled her to the floor
"Thank you, thank you, thank you" Red squealed, "You are the coolest granny ever"
"Don't make me regret it, dear" Granny replied, "I'm going to set the ground rules. 1. You work in the diner every weekday after school, you'll have weekends off and you'll be paid the same as everyone else there 2. Anything that gets broken you'll fix with your own money 3. This isn't really a rule but a preference, I want at least an average of B's in all of your classes, 4. I will be coming by every other day just to check on you so this is your warning to tidy the place up before I come and 5. I know you're sixteen now and I know that the kids don't hold the same value's as they did in my day but if you're going to have anyone over please give me a warning so I don't see anything I don't want to see" at the last one, Granny seen a deep blush raise from the young girls chest to her cheeks
"Sounds good, Granny" Red mumbled
"I've left your book list on the kitchen table and the pantries are all stocked for the next week or two, bedrooms are set up and I believe your electronics are arriving either tomorrow morning or afternoon. It's still the school holidays for a week here so you have one week to settle in. We'll leave you to explore" Granny said and grinned when her granddaughter gave her mother a quick hug, kiss and goodbye before shooting back off into the house
"Are you sure this is wise, ma?" Anita asked
"The girl is a wolf, Anita, and a wolf needs freedom as much as it needs its pack" Granny replied, "I remember you came to live here when you were sixteen and you flourished under the freedom and responsibility"
"I know, but she is so unruly. More so than I ever was" Anita said worriedly
"She'll be fine, my girl, if she breaks any of the rules then she'll simply come to the B&B and I don't think she would risk that"
"If she causes any trouble, please just ring me" Anita told her mother
"Of course. You should start heading home now, before it gets too late" Granny said, pulling Anita in for another hug
Red spent the next day looking around town trying to find a supply shop so she could pick up everything on her book list instead of going to school with a book and one pen like she usually did in Boston, coming up empty she made her way to Granny's to ask for help. When she arrived, a blonde girl with green eyes bumped right into her making her stumble back
"Watch where you're going" Red snarled as she straightened her clothes and ignored the daggers the girl was glaring at her as she went inside the Diner, "Granny, where can I grab all my school stuff? I swear there's like three stores in this damn town"
"Don't be so dramatic" Granny said with an eye roll
"Granny" A small brunette girl interrupted them, "Mother told me to ask you if it would be alright for you to cater one of the school meetings? She said it was going to be on Tuesday at 12:35pm"
"Of course, dear" Granny said with a smile, "This is my granddaughter, Ruby, Ruby this is Principal Mills' daughter Regina"
"It's a pleasure to meet you" Regina said with a glance in her direction
"Like wise" Ruby replied, staring at the beautiful girl
"Regina, could you be a dear and show Ruby where the school supply shop is? The girl couldn't find it after an hour of looking"
"Of course, Granny." Regina said with a polite smile, "Follow me"
"Bye Granny" Red said hurrying after the girl
"You're from Boston, are you not?" Regina asked the lanky brunette
"Born and raised" Red replied
"Why would you move here of all places?"
"My ma made me" Red shrugged, "What is there to do around here that's fun? I seen a movie that only plays movies from the 40's apparently and that's about it"
"We have stables just outside of town, we go camping a lot near the Toll Bridge and sometimes Marco lets us in his work shop" Regina shrugged, "Not much of anything"
"Who's Marco?"
"He's the town's carpenter. He creates the finest woodwork you could ever see" Regina praised and stopped suddenly, "here we are"
"Could you… Would you like to hang out for a bit longer?" Red asked hopefully
"I'd love to" Regina grinned and went through the door that Red held open for her, "So, Ruby, what do you like to do for fun?"
"Call me Red and back in Boston I would explore old building's with my friends and go to parties, I guess" Red said with a shrug as she threw anything her hand touched into the basket she was holding
"We have this really old castle looking building here. I want to look in it but everyone I ask is too scared to come with me, perhaps you would?" Regina asked
"Whenever you want. What's it like having your ma as the principal of your school?"
"It's not too bad, I mean if I leave my purse at home I can just go to mothers office and ask for some lunch money" Regina grinned, "and teachers treat me better because they're scared of my mother"
"So if you done something that would get someone else into trouble, it wouldn't get you into trouble?"
"Nope. I mean I would have to write lines or something but no detentions or suspensions" Regina laughed when she seen the look on Red's face, "Don't get any idea's, I do try to keep on my teachers good sides"
"Why would I need an archery bow?" Red asked out of nowhere
"You must be in the archery class. Mother thinks it's good for the students to do physical education but in a different sense. We have archery and sword fighting, both require patience and obedience while football or soccer just need aggression." Regina explained, "I'll take you to Marco, he gives the archery students one free bow and quiver of arrows"
"Well, I'm not Boston anymore"
"Marco" Regina called through the wood shop
"Ciao Regina" An Italian accented voice called back as an old man covered in saw dust emerged from behind a door
"We have a new student and a new archer in Storybrooke, this is Ruby Lucas, Granny's granddaughter" Regina introduced Red who waved
"Your nonna told me you would be arriving soon" Marco said with a grin, "Wait one moment"
"Here it is" Marco said, handing Red two carefully wrapped packages, "I would love to chat but I must finish this cabinet for Mr Hood"
"It was nice seeing you, Marco" Regina grinned
"Nice meeting you"
"Granny's letting me stay in a cottage she owns in the forest" Red said when they left the shop, "Come have lunch with me?"
"Only because I want to see what your bow looks like" Regina teased
"Little do you know that I'm really bringing you out to my cabin the woods to murder you and hide your body where no one would find you" Red deadpanned, "No one would suspect a thing"
"It's a perfect crime though you wouldn't kill me. I'm far too pretty to die this young" Regina grinned
"You've got me there. I don't kill the pretty ones, I just hold them in basement so I can look at their beauty whenever I feel like. Okay, we're here" Red said as they walked up the beaten path
"I had no idea there was even a cottage here" Regina commented as she walked through the door Red was holding open for her
"I didn't know Granny owned anything other than the diner and the B&B" Red admitted, "Make yourself at home while I make lunch"
"So, you're living here all by yourself?" Regina asked, sitting at a stool in the kitchen
"Yep. I mean, obviously Granny will come and check everything's okay and that but yeah"
"You're a young girl living in a small town in a cabin the woods far out from the town all by yourself. It sounds like a horror movie waiting to happen" Regina laughed
"Well now I'm just going to have to tell the sheriff to keep an eye on you"
"Wouldn't do anything. The sheriff is my girlfriend's father" Regina winked at Red, "He'd protect his daughters love"
"Now that's just unfair and you're a dirty cheater" Red pouted and handed a plate over to Regina
By the time the two young girls had finished talking and joking with each other, it was well pass eleven o'clock at night with the sun long since set and the forest was asleep
"The way I see it, you have two options" Red started with a snooty voice, "1. Stay in a cottage in the forest with a drop dead gorgeous women who may or may not be making pancakes for breakfast in the morning, who may or may not know Granny's secret ingredients for those maybe pancakes or 2. You can walk home in the company of said gorgeous women, sneak into your house, may or may not get caught by your ma and no maybe pancakes with maybe Granny's secret ingredient"
"Well how can I refuse maybe pancakes" Regina grinned, "Just let me call my mother"
"Is it okay?" Red asked when Regina came back
"She said it's only okay if those maybe pancakes become definite pancakes and you make some for her also" Regina said, "So we're having pancakes and you're meeting my mother, your principal in the morning"
"Hold on, I didn't sign up for that. At least buy me a drink before making me meet your ma first"
"Okay compromise, I'll make you dinner and you meet my mum"
"What will you make?"
"Lasagne and hot chips"
"You have yourself a done deal"
"I don't think I can move" Red grumbled after they had finished their dinner, "You're a bad influence on me. It is now two o'clock in the morning and I'm just now finishing tea. For shame, Regina, for shame"
"Like you're complaining. I don't think I've ever seen such a slim girl eat so much before" Regina said, poking Red's stomach and laughed at the grumble and hand swat
"I caught you out" Red said suddenly
"What?"
"You didn't come here to look at my bow. You came here because you wanted to have lunch with me"
"I was being polite and was waiting for you to show it to me. It's just taken twelve hours for you to do so, you're quite rude" Regina said after a half second pause
"Can you get it for me? I can't move." Red said with a pout and grinned when Regina heaved herself up to get the bow
Red pulled the wrapping off the bow and nearly gasped at what she saw. Marco had carved two snarling wolves heads to meet in the middle of the bow, while their bodies had made the rest of the bow
"It's beautiful" Red whispered, stroking the polished wood
"I told you he was a fine craftsmen" Regina grinned, "I have horses on mine"
Red awoke to the sound of tires crunching gravel coming up her drive way and shot up when she realised it would be Principal Mills, waking the shorter girl in process who had fallen asleep with her head on Red's shoulder
"Good morning, girls" Principal Mills said, letting herself in to the cottage, "Pleasure to meet you, Ruby"
"The pleasures all mine, Principal Mills" Red said nervously and looked down at the cow covered pyjama bottoms and tight white singlet she had changed into the night before
"Please, call me Cora while we're not in school" Cora waved off and raised an eyebrow at her daughter who was currently in a set of too-big pyjama's and had her face buried in the couch cushion grumbling, "She never has been a morning person"
"So I noticed" Red grinned, "Well, I'm just going to get started on breakfast. There's no point trying to make myself more presentable because I doubt you'll ever get this image out of your mind"
"Your assumption is correct" Cora grinned, "Nor would I want to, I may need to blackmail you into something"
"I see where Regina gets it from now"
"May I ask how my daughter ended up sleeping at a stranger's house last night?" Cora asked while she pottered around the kitchen like it was her own
"Granny asked her to help me find the supply shop because I couldn't, then she took me to Marco's to get my bow and I asked her over for lunch as a way to make up for it and before we know it, it's eleven o'clock at night and I didn't really want her to walk home through a forest in the middle of the night by herself" Red shrugged, "She probably would have been fine but you never know"
"Good answer" Cora grinned and wrapped her arm around her daughter's waist when Regina slumped against her, "Here you are, I was wondering when you would smell the food and get up"
"Morning, mother" Regina grumbled, "Morning, Red"
"Good morning, Princess, how are we on this beautiful day?" Red asked in an overly happy tone
"I will punch you in the god damned throat"
"What was that? I heard Red, you are by far the most attractive girl I have ever laid eyes upon and I will be eternally thankful for my chance at meeting you"
"These taste exactly like Granny's" Cora praised after she had finished her pancakes
"Yeah, she taught me most of her recipes when I was young. She said that if she kicked the bucket that a Lucas needed to know the recipe and my ma is absolutely useless at cooking" Red said with a small smile
"She's taught you well – " Cora was cut off by a shrill noise coming from Regina's pocket
"Oh, sorry. I have to take this, it's Emma"
"I'm going to have to head off, Emma is being whining" Regina rolled her eyes when she came back from the phone call
"Alrighty, I didn't manage to get around to killing you yet but we have all the time in the world" Red grinned and snatched Regina's phone from her hand and poked at a couple buttons before handing it back "Call me"
"It was lovely meeting you, dear" Cora said with a wide smile at the girl's antics, "You must come around for breakfast at our house one day, I insist"
"Free food and good company? Also time to get into my principals good books before school? I'd be a fool to say no"