"I still think this is not a good idea."
A smell of alcohol and sweat filled the air of that noisy and crowded bar. Two young girls, one completely different from the other, were sitting in one of the small tables, one that gave them a pretty good vision of the local and allowed every customer that walked in to land their eyes on them.
"It's just a drink, Belle, relax!" said one of them, handing a shot glass to the petite brunette.
"Plus, it's our last night of freedom before hell, also known as class, starts again tomorrow." A taller and bubbly brunette joined them, landing another round of alcohol on their table.
Belle French, Ruby Lucas and Emma Swan had met each other on their first day of university, when none of them could manage to find their classroom and the three of them ended up being late and sitting in the back of said class. Ever since that moment, they became inseparable, and it had already been three years from that.
"Ugh, okay, but I'm leaving at 12 tops" Belle finally agreed, accepting one of the glasses and drinking the liquid content.
"Buzzkill." Ruby whispered, her party spirit crushed by her friend's responsibility.
The girls started then chatting about their summer and recalling all the crazy plans they managed to make true, like their long awaited road trip in which they had discovered many small yet charming towns they didn't even know existed. Once their trip ended, it was time to come back to their city, Storybrooke, located in Maine; the three of them started then looking for a nice flat to live in when the year started. They finally found it, and they had fallen in love with it the moment they first stepped in it.
But, of course, not everything was parties and fun, and so the girls got themselves a job to be able to make some money that would be really useful to pay the rent and university fees. Ruby decided to become a waitress in one of the local restaurants owned by a nice lady everyone referred to as "Granny". Belle, following her passion for literature accepted a job at the public library, where she was able to read for hours without being disturbed. Emma, on the other hand, ended up working at the grocery store, where she didn't get much free time.
Emma's job was one of the reasons she hadn't gone out with her friends as much as she intended to, and that resulted in her being the only one not finding a summertime romance, and she didn't mind putting their thoughts out loud, like she was doing that night.
"And that's why it's not fair that I am alone." She concluded her argument while she grabbed some of her long blond hair and paced it behind her ear. "I don't know, maybe it's some kind of karma for being such a hot an amazing person." She added, a huge grin forming in her face.
"Oh, that's not how karma works, honey." Belle laughed at her, taking another sip of her blue drink.
"Plus, you're not even that hot and amazing, so shut up." Ruby added rolling her eyes.
"Oh, but I am. Have you seen this?" asked the blond girl pointing at her body with both her hands, not being ready to give up.
"Confident, aren't we?" the tall brunette looked at her friend with a raised eyebrow. "Okay, okay." She made a pause, trying to make her next words sound dramatic. "I dare you to get the next girl that comes through the door to buy you a drink."
"Bonus points if you get her number." Belle added, joining in the bet.
"Okay, you got it." Emma agreed after a moment of thinking, trusting she could do it without any kind of problem.
The three of them turned to the door, keeping their eyes on it for several minutes before it opened. Emma then found herself holding her breath at the vision of a pair of long legs that ended up in a couple of black high heels that confidently made their way to the counter. Emma had been sure she could win that best but, in that moment, she started to doubt about her abilities. She was expecting some decent looking girl to walk through the door, but that woman's beauty was a whole new level.
"Crap." She whispered while finishing her drink and finding the courage to approach her.
Put it together, Swan, you have to win this. She repeated those words in her head again and again while giving their friends a thumbs up and a weak smile. She then took a deep breath and quietly sat in the stool next to the woman's.
"A gorgeous girl on her own is either celebrating or drowning her pains in alcohol. So, which one is it?" as soon as the words left her mouth, Emma internally slapped herself; she was never going to win the bet with those lame moves.
"Smooth." She replied before taking a sip of her scotch, not even taking a look at Emma. The blond thought her voice sounded sad, almost broken, yet it managed to make the girl shiver, as if electricity decided to circulate through her veins instead of blood.
"Not my best move, I must agree." Emma laughed, thinking that would help her in her strategy, but all she won was a cold stare of a couple of deep brown eyes, probably the most beautiful ones she had ever seen.
"Are you done flirting?" the woman asked raising her left eyebrow. "Because I'm going through some problems right now and I would like to drink alone." This time her voice was as cold as her look.
"Okay, I just thought you would like some company. No one really enjoys drinking alone, right?" Emma showed her best smile before taking the drink the bartender just put down in front of her and getting up, ready to come back to her friends.
"Wait." A voice behind her made her freeze, thinking maybe she had imagined it. "Sit down." This time she was sure, the gorgeous and mysterious woman had invited her to sit down with her.
Suck it, Ruby.
