Don't like, don't read.

Ruby had a lot of reasons to go to the flower shop on the corner of Houston and Eldridge. The wide selection of flowers, the aroma wafting beneath her nose, and the colorful arrangements on display in the window. But most of all, she went to the flower shop to see Cinder, the girl who ran the cashier.

All Ruby really knew about her was that she studies political science at NYU and that she worked at Flower Girl in the mornings on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, but she would never admit to visiting often enough to know that. In fact, she was blowing off school to be here.

Ruby inconspicuously traced her fingers along the petals of a lilac orchid. Strangely, she felt like she shouldn't be doing it, as if touching it would cause it to wilt. But if she just stood there awkwardly, Cinder would probably notice her and she would never talk to her. Ever. Ruby looked up at the flowers on the upper shelves and stroked the stalks as they dangled out of the pots and off the ledge.

"I've seen you around, but you never say hello." A voice lilted with sultry tones sent shivers along Ruby's neck.

Cinder stood before her in a sleeveless top made of black silk, wearing her usual red lipstick, hair styled in its usual voluminous flair. Ruby tried to keep her eyes from drifting down to the cutout section in her shirt.

Ruby opened her mouth to speak. "I guess I'm a little nervous."

Cinder flashed a set of white teeth in a dazzling smile. "I suppose so. What's your name?"

"Ruby," she offered eagerly.

"Ruby," Cinder repeated, tilting her head to the side. "Listen, I get off shift in a couple minutes, but I'd love to see you around more often."

Heat effervesced in her cheeks and she hardly managed to stutter out the words, "Of course!"

Cinder withdrew a Sharpie from her back pocket and held her palm out, gesturing for Ruby's arm. Confused, she held her arm out. Cinder grabbed it and flipped it over, removing the cap from the marker with her teeth. Her acrylic nails pressed into her skin as she scrawled out her phone number along her wrist.

When she was done, she leaned back and examined her work. "Legible?"

Ruby nodded.

Cinder capped her marker and turned on her heel. "I'll see you around."

Ruby waited for her to turn the corner and rushed out of the flower shop with her hands pressed to her cheeks. She couldn't quite believe what just happened. Cinder came up and talked to her. And Ruby just stood there like the dolt she was, being so dorky that she didn't know why she would keep talking to her. Half of the things she said were so weird—she should have tried to play it off and act cool.

Well, then I'd probably trip over my own feet, Ruby thought.

Ruby shuffled down the stairs at the 2nd Avenue subway station, thinking about Cinder and the number she wrote on her arm. She left her backpack at home, but she never really needed it when she brought it to school.

Thirty minutes later, she was flinging her messenger bag over the fence. Ruby grabbed the top rail and hoisted herself up, using her feet to press herself up and over. Her body rolled off the top, but she let it happen and landed gracefully on her feet, trusting that practice would place the ground where it usually was.

Ruby righted herself in a standing position and looked out at the courtyard to see if anyone was staring. The supervisors usually focused their attention on the students, but some of the students have pointed out Ruby climbing over the fence before. Today, it didn't look like anyone was watching.

Shuffling to her table, Ruby lifted the strap of her bag over her head and placed it on her opposite shoulder. As inconspicuously as possible, she sat down next to Blake and Weiss—her older sisters' friends.

"Where's Yang?" Ruby asked, sitting down next to Weiss.

Blake set her book down. "She's inside buying you lunch. She didn't know when you were going to show up."

Ruby slumped. "You know I would have just fallen asleep in history class anyways."

"Never mind the fact that you need that credit to graduate," Weiss muttered.

Ruby blushed and tucked a strand of her behind her ear. "Was I marked absent?"

"Unless Mr. Smith figured out that I was answering for both you and me, then no," Blake answered.

"Thank you so much!" Ruby stretched her arms out across the table as if she was reaching out to hug her, but she didn't have enough reach.

Weiss's eyes lit up, and she grabbed her arm. "Whose phone number is this?"

Ruby flushed, biting her lip. Yang was walking back at that exact moment, carrying food on a tray, and the look on her face suggested that the situation she was looking at perplexed her. That is, until she noticed the writing on her arm. Then she rushed over to look at the shining trophy on her arm.

"Holy shit, did you get lucky?" Yang exclaimed.

Ruby giggled. "I think so."

Yang pointed at the number. "Is this that girl you've been telling me about?"

Nodding her head, she let the impulse to grin like an idiot spread across her face.

"There's a girl?" Blake asked.

Weiss whipped her ponytail around in turning her head to face Ruby. "Wait, you're gay?"

Ruby shrugged. "I don't know. I'm kind of 'undecided' at this point."

"Fair enough," Blake acknowledged. "You're just a sophomore."

"And you're just a junior," said Ruby, crossing her arms indignantly. "Besides, she gave me her number!"

"What happened?" Yang inquired eagerly.

Ruby pulled her arms off the table and let them dangle between her legs. "Her shift was about to end, and she came over and said hello. Then she wrote her number on my arm."

Yang paused for a moment, waiting for her to continue. Realizing she had finished, Yang asked, "and that's it?"

"I guess, yeah," Ruby mumbled.

"What was she wearing?" Weiss asked.

"Uh, well, she was wearing black jeans—"

"Skinny?" Yang interrupted.

"Yes." Ruby blushed.

Yang smirked. "Continue."

"And she had this black silk top with this piece cut out in front, and she was wearing dark red lipstick today, and it just looks really good on her…" Ruby trailed off when she realized she was rambling. Watching her girly crush play out in her expressions, Blake smiled.

"She sounds like a keeper. Does she go to school with us?"

Ruby shook her head. "She goes to NYU."

"Wait, whoa, you left that part out," Yang cut in. "How old is she?"

"Uhhh," Ruby drawled, "I don't know. I think she's a second-year."

"Oooh, that could be good in so many ways," Yang joked. Ruby hoped that no one was eavesdropping at this exact moment.

"Or bad in so many ways," said Weiss.

"Age is just a number," Blake offered. Everyone knew that she dated an older guy last year, but she didn't like talking about it because he turned out to be married. Tragically, she found out when he forgot to take off his ring before coming to see her.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Weiss sighed, pressing fingers into her forehead.

Ruby didn't know what to say, so she sat there with her lips parted, but nothing to say.

Ruby left school with a pep in her step. She opened a new message prompt on her phone and typed in her number. She didn't even need to look at her arm—she'd already memorized it.

When it came time to type a message up, she wished Yang was there to help. But then she'd want to see the whole conversation, and she wanted to keep interactions between them as private as possible.

Keeping up a cool façade would be too much work, and she would probably fall on her face if she tried, so she opted to just go for something a little more honest. She typed in "Hey, it's Ruby" and hit send before she had any time to second guess herself.

Knowing that she probably wouldn't respond right away, she slipped her phone into her pocket, but almost immediately, it vibrated. She pulled it out.

"Will I see you again tomorrow morning?"

Ruby rubbed her leg against the other as she thought up a response.

"Yeah, of course :)" Ruby typed, hitting send.

"I look forward to it," she responded.

Ruby smiled and ran to get on the subway before rush hour came.

Ruby stood in the mirror wearing one of Yang's spaghetti strap tops, pulling the front higher up on her chest. The same thing that happened with all of Yang's clothes was happening again: her bust was too small to pull off the look. Lace lined the top and the bottom, but that didn't help to distract from the fact that she looked like a kid in her sister's stuff.

Yang poked her head in Ruby's room, frowning. "Is that my shirt?"

Ruby sighed and pulled off her hoodie, casting it aside. "You can have it back. It doesn't work on me."

Striding across the room in only a few steps, Yang reached for the hem in the back and pulled it further up her back. Before Ruby could figure out what she was doing, Yang reached around in front and yanked down.

Ruby gasped and quickly slapped her hands over her chest, blushing like a fool. "Yang!"

"Move your hands," Yang directed, studying Ruby's reflection.

Setting her jaw, Ruby complied. A ridiculous amount of skin was showing, and that Ruby's torso was smaller than Yang's did nothing to help. Yang hummed as she readjusted the fabric on her body, moving the hem up only slightly. When she was finished, she set her hands on Ruby's shoulders. "That's how you're supposed to wear it."

"Thanks, actually," Ruby reflected, conveying sincerity in her tone.

Yang smiled. "Is this for your lady friend?"

Ruby's head snapped up to look at Yang.

Yang chuckled, stepping away and moving to the door. "Tell her I said, 'You're welcome!'"

Ruby scratched the back of her neck. She still looked like herself, but thankfully, the adjustments Yang made didn't leave her looking completely flat-chested. Shrugging on her hoodie, Ruby gave herself one last turnaround in the mirror before she declared that she was finished, then turned and walked out.

Opening the door to the flower shop, Ruby felt obnoxious with her heels clicking against the tile flooring. Her eyes quickly focused on the cashier counter, but Cinder wasn't there. Instead, a short girl with dyed pink hair and brown roots was ringing up a customer, using her hands expertly to press down the buttons. Ruby walked to the back of the store and went through the motions, picking up a few potted plants and touching the lilacs in full bloom.

Ruby's phone vibrated, alerting her to a new text message: "Come to the back room."

She looked at the girl at the counter. Something told her that she was much older than she actually looked. Regardless, she tried to make herself look as innocent as possible as she stumbled around the line of customers, ignoring their vexatious glares.

The pink-haired girl suddenly interposed herself. "Excuse me, what do you think you're doing?" As short as this she was, Ruby still felt like she was being talked down to.

"Uh, I'm a friend of Cinder's," Ruby stuttered.

The look in her eyes melted into something else as it raked Ruby up and down. The corner of her mouth turned up. "Okay," she said, and turned back to her work without another word.

Ruby took this as a sign to continue and opened the door labelled "Staff only". The hallway she stepped into was much darker than the shop itself, and wilting flowers keeled over in the dark corners of the storage room. Ruby peeked inside, looking for Cinder, but no luck. She turned away and moved slowly down the hall, her shoes on the concrete the only sound she could hear.

She walked all the way down until she came to the end of the hall, which split off into a room of its own. On one of the tables Cinder was perched patiently, swinging her bare feet off the edge.

"Hello, Ruby," she cooed.

"Hey," Ruby replied, her meek voice getting the better of her. Cinder beckoned her to sit on the table next to her.

Ruby happily obliged, sitting a reasonable distance away from her.

Cinder hopped down and stood in front of her, placing both of her palms on Ruby's legs. Her heart fluttered in her chest. "Are you skipping school to be here?"

Ruby chewed on the inside of her mouth momentarily before responding. "How did you know?"

"I just figured." Cinder slid her hands to Ruby's inner thighs and gently pushed them apart, taking one step closer to her. Ruby opened her mouth to speak, but the words stuck to her tongue when she tried to get them out.

Cinder tucked a strand of her own hair behind her ear and stared into Ruby's eyes for a moment, letting her mouth turn up at the corners slightly as her gaze ventured down to Ruby's exposed collarbone. The pace of her heartbeat quickening, Ruby fixated on her lips, which appeared to be glossed with simple lip balm. When she inhaled, Ruby detected a hint of peppermint.

Cinder slowly traced a finger over one of her straps. She looked up to Ruby, who was now stained with an alarming shade of red, biting her lip in anticipation. Smiling darkly, Cinder trailed her index and middle finger along the lace trim, acrylic nails softly stroking her sensitive flesh.

Lust created a phosphorescent glow in Cinder's amber eyes, evident when she tilted her head down to face Ruby directly.

Cinder's voice came at a whisper. "Have you ever been kissed, Ruby?"

Ruby's jaw twitched when she tried to respond, but the softest sound came out.

Cinder's smile drew closed as she lifted a hand up to trace her thumb over her lips. Ruby parted them, and Cinder slid her hand beneath her jaw, teasing her nails along the soft skin.

"Lucky me," Cinder breathed.

Her lips brushed delicately against Ruby's ever so softly that Ruby wondered if they actually made contact. Cinder closed her mouth over Ruby's top lip, then moved to kiss the bottom. Cinder wrapped one of her hands possessively around the back Ruby's neck, and the other lay with her fingers brushing Ruby's clavicle, palm pressed against the soft, warms flesh of her breast.

Cinder withdrew, and Ruby leaned forward to close the gap, but Cinder's hands held her in place. Cinder opened her mouth wider, slowly, tantalizingly massaging Ruby's tongue with hers.

Then she pulled it back and looked deviously into Ruby's eyes. They had since softened, and the accompanying expression was that of one that Cinder was wearing. With a watery grin, Cinder slid her hands along Ruby's shoulders and pressed them into her jacket sleeves. Ruby sat up, leaning a little closer into Cinder, and pulled the jacket off her arms and let it fall to rest on the table behind her.

Cinder ran her hands up the sides of Ruby's abdomen, and Ruby responded by wrapping her tense legs around Cinder's waist and pulling her closer. Cinder glided a hand from her stomach, over Ruby's breast, and around Ruby's throat. Ruby whimpered.

Cinder placed her lips on Ruby's again, a little less delicately. Ruby reached around and wrapped her arm around Cinder as she slid a hand up the back of her shirt, raking her nails along her skin.

Cinder inhaled sharply when Ruby's hand gripped onto a fistful of her hair from the back. Feeling the air taken from her mouth, Ruby shivered, allowing the shocks in her spine to take control of her completely.

The hand in Ruby's shirt reached for her bra strap and unhooked it in one fluid flick of the wrist. Cinder quickly pulled the straps from her shoulders, Ruby pulling her arms through. Cinder lifted Ruby's shirt, not breaking away from Ruby's lips and pulled her bra out from under her shirt, throwing it on the table behind them without a second thought.

Cinder pressed her hands flat on her shoulders and moved them smoothly over Ruby's breasts. When Cinder squeezed them greedily, Ruby flipped her head back and moaned. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Cinder left one hand to fondle her breasts as she used the other to keep her head tipped back as she bit along her neck. Ruby shifted an arm behind her to keep her from falling.

Ruby's mind snapped, and suddenly, she remembered that she had a test in history today. She searched the wall for a clock. Class started in thirty minutes. If she left now, maybe she would make it in time.

"Wait," Ruby said.

"What is it," Cinder drawled.

"I have to go," she mumbled in response, pulling her hoodie back onto her shoulders.

Cinder made a jokingly dejected face and sneakily reached for Ruby's bra. Ruby didn't know what she was doing until she quickly moved away with Ruby's bra hanging off her finger.

"Hey!" she exclaimed, jumping down and reaching for her underwear. Cinder turned and held it away from her with a coquettish grin.

Cinder brushed the hair away from Ruby's face and gripped her chin between her thumb and forefinger. "You'll get it back next time," she purred.

I swear to god, I had to do it. I felt the burning urge to sin, and when sin calls, you can't ignore it.

So a note on this: I sectioned chapters off by creepiness/kinkiness/sexual content. This will be something that escalates. Quickly.

À la prochaine!