A/N: Hey, so this is an AU but I like to hope I keep parts of the characters true whilst others are completely new/fictional. Hope someone enjoys this - I'm already like 7 chapters in because I'm enjoying writing it so much lol. As soon as I get likes/reviews I'll start posting the next chapters ;)

Chapter 1.

Ruby yawned as she threw her bag onto her desk. Senior year, she thought. Then she was out of this shit hole. She lent back on her chair and placed her feet on the table as she looked around. Same old kids, nobody really worth her time. She was only here because Granny insisted. She rather preferred the time she spent working at the diner than the time at school, but apparently that wasn't enough for her. Granny said she should be more, go further, extend the bounds of…something rather. She couldn't remember.

All she knew was school was crap and there was nothing she'd missed over the break. Nothing good about this place. Then a soft 'ahem' forced her to open her eyes. Oh yeah, she thought, maybe she'd been wrong.

"Yo, Miss French, good break?" she grinned.

The English teacher sighed and hit Ruby's feet with her binder, "Feet off the table, Ruby. And how many times do I have to tell you you're going to break your neck if you keep leaning back on that chair?"

"Yeah, yeah," Ruby muttered as she swung her chair back onto all fours.

Still, she'd forgotten that being back at school would mean seeing more of the beautiful English teacher. She saw her at the diner sometimes, but not every day. If it was possible, she'd only got hotter over the break. Ruby bit back a smile as the woman spoke quietly to the class. Even though her voice was soft, she somehow kept the attention of the class. Something to do with the passion she had for what she was doing, Ruby figured, wondering what it must be like to be passionate about something like that.

The bell rang all too soon. She spent the rest of the day dragging her feet around from class to class.

"Damn, you're good at that, you know."

Ruby shrugged, searching the floor her clothes, "I know. I gotta go."

"Do I get your number this time?"

Ruby pulled her jeans on and slipped her shirt over her head, "You know the answer to that," she muttered before slipping out of the door.

"Late, Ruby," Miss French commented as the young woman rushed in.

"I know, you see there I was driving along. Totally innocent, right?" Ruby explained, a smile playing on her lips, "And this dog runs out in front of me so I'm like bam! Screech. I break. I can't hit a dog, Miss French, not even to be on time to my favourite class. So I get out of the car and – "

"Sit down," Miss French rolled her eyes, albeit Ruby's stories were always entertaining but she did have a class to teach, "Just don't make it a habit."

"What, the uh being late or saving dogs? Cause if I see a dog that needs help – "

"Ruby!" the teacher spoke sharply.

Ruby shrugged, smirking.

"You will do this assignment in partners – "

"Partners?" Ruby echoed.

Miss French stopped, looking at her, "Yes, partners," she took a breath to continue, "It will be worth twenty per cent of your grade for the year."

Ruby frowned, tuning her teacher out until she finished her speech. Uncharacteristically, she rose her hand.

"Yes, Ruby?"

"I don't do partners," Ruby explained.

"Could have fooled me," another student snickered.

Ruby turned around and glared at the girl in the back of the classroom, "You say somethin'?"

She shrugged.

"Can't I just do the assignment by myself?" Ruby turned back to the teacher.

"No," Miss French said, "Part of the criteria refers to how you work with others."

"Well, I can already tell you, I don't work well with others, give me a zero for that and I'll make up for it with the rest," Ruby asked.

"Ruby, this is not up for negotiation," Miss French said firmly, "You will work in a partnership."

Ruby growled and sunk low in her seat, sulking until the bell rung.

"Doesn't work with others… unless it's in the bedroom."

A couple of students laughed as they rushed past Ruby.

Ruby sighed as she reached her locker and threw it open. It was her own fault; she knew that, she got herself into these stupid messes.

"Ruby!"

She turned; oh shit. Talking of messes.

"Aurora, sup?"

Aurora clutched her books to her chest, "Well, um, you never called."

Ruby nodded, "Yeah, I didn't have your number," she said distractedly.

"Oh!" Aurora exclaimed, "I thought I gave it to you. Maybe I can have yours, maybe we could go – "

"No," Ruby sighed, "Aurora, just…no."

"But I thought – "

"You thought wrong," Ruby snapped before sighing, "Look, I'm sorry. Just go find someone else, okay? Trust me."

She bit her tongue as she walked away, forcing herself not to look back at the hurt look on the other woman's face. She knew she shouldn't have hooked up with Aurora of all people; she wasn't a hook up kinda chick, she was too nice. She deserved more than…Ruby.

"You think you can just sleep with whoever you like and then cast them off?" Mulan hissed at Ruby.

Ruby swore, "Look, Mulan, I said I'm sorry, I thought she knew the deal – "

"You mean, you thought she was like the rest of the girls you sleep with."

This should be a private conversation but then it wouldn't be high school. The cafeteria had seemed as good a place as any for Mulan to come to her friend's defence.

"Yeah, I guess so," Ruby spat back, pushing past Mulan but the other woman was determined, cutting her off.

"If you ever come anywhere near her again – "

"Trust me, I won't," Ruby said squarely.

"Right, you've moved on. How many times, Ruby? Probably the whole damn rabbit hole has seen your – "

A fist in the mouth usually stops a sentence pretty fast and this was no exception. Ruby shook her fist; damn, she always forgot how much that hurt. A dazed Mulan regained her footing and all of a sudden, Ruby didn't care about the pain in her fist and she hit her again.

"Ruby, stop," a small but commanding voice sounded from behind her.

She turned to see the English teacher, a stern look on her face.

"Fuck," she swore and followed her out.

"I thought you might have matured this year, but first day and you've already got into a fight."

Ruby sighed before her eyes lit up and she leaned forward, "Oh, well, Miss French, I have matured. Did you know I'm eighteen now? Totally legal," she winked.

Miss French rolled her eyes, not smiling, "Would you just be serious for once?"

"Since when do you get give lectures anyway, shouldn't I be talking to – "

They arrived at the coordinators office, where the English teacher tapped a nail against the new sign with her name on it.

"Oh," Ruby frowned, "You're coordinator now? Promotion?"

"It would seem that way," Miss French confirmed.

Ruby shrugged, "Ah, well better you than that bitch prick Mr Gol – "

"Ruby!" Miss French snapped, "You really need to learn when to bite your tongue. It's going to get you into serious trouble one day."

"Yeah, yeah," Ruby muttered.

"So, are you going to tell me why you felt the need to hit another student in the middle of the cafeteria?"

"Well I would, but you'd just tell me to hold my tongue again so…"

The co-ordinator sighed, "Fine. Detention for the rest of the week, you know where it is."

Ruby smiled, "Sure, the room with the kitchen and the comfy couch. Oh wait, that's home. I get the two confused sometimes," she stood up, "I'll try be there."

Miss French fixed her with a hard stare, "Ruby, if you miss a single day, I will add on a weeks' detention."

"Damn, you got strict over the break, huh?" Ruby grinned, "It suits you. I promise I'll be there, alright?"

"Good, I'll see you this afternoon."

"Hang on, you're supervising? Why didn't you say so?" she laughed as she left the office.

Miss French, Belle French, sighed as she rubbed her temples. Ruby was definitely one of the most difficult student's in her year level. She tended to keep to herself, unless she was inappropriately flirting with staff or new students. At least, Belle assumed she was flirting with other staff. She'd never made too much of a deal out of it; the young woman was harmless really, there was no need to get her into unnecessary trouble.

Still, she had hoped that there would be an improvement to her behaviour this year but it seemed to be vain.

Ruby headed into the Rabbit Hole aching for a scotch. She headed straight to the bar to fulfil her thirst.

"Scotch, straight," she ordered.

"Can I see your ID?"

Ruby laughed, "You're new, huh?"

The girl behind the bar shrugged, "Started last week," she smiled, "Look, they might be cool with not checking but I'm not going down for it. You look like a kid."

Ruby grinned, "Yeah, yeah," she pulled out her id and handed it over, "Lucky it was my birthday last month, huh?"

The bartender handed it back, "Lucky," she smiled.

Ruby leaned on the counter as she waited for her drink, "So, can I see your id?"

The young woman frowned, "Hm?"

"Come on, you hardly look older than me! You even old enough to work here? Maybe being all gung-ho about checking id's is your cover," Ruby theorised.

The bartender handed her drink with a laugh, "Wow, a real sceptic, huh? Name's Ashley. You a regular then?"

"Could say that, so uh – "

"Ruby! Hey!"

Ruby flinched before turning around, "Hey, Snow, sup? I thought you had uh dinner with your folks on Thursdays?"

The brunette beamed, "Mum was sick!" she said happily, "So thought I'd see if you were around."

"Sure," Ruby smiled, looking to Ashley who shrugged, "Uh, you wanna drink?"

"Well, I've got a whole bottle at my place," Snow smiled wryly.

Ruby hesitated for the briefest moment; buying time as she downed the rest of her scotch, looking around; Ashley was already serving someone else, "Sure, why not?"

"Great, let's go," Snow took Ruby's hand.

Ruby placed her empty glass on the counter and allowed herself to be pulled away until she bumped into someone. Hard.

"Jeez, watch where you're…oh shit," Ruby blinked, letting Snow's hand slip from her own.

"Ruby, what are you doing here? It's a bar…oh," Belle remembered, "You're eighteen now, right?"

Ruby nodded, "Yeah, yeah, I'm eighteen. What are you doing here?"

Belle quirked an eyebrow, "I think you should be getting to bed, it is a school night," she said pointedly.

"Rubes, she's right, let's go," Snow pulled at her friend's hand.

Belle looked at the young woman, coming to a realisation and clearing her throat awkwardly, "Just don't be late to my class tomorrow."

Ruby grinned, "Why? You miss me when I'm not there, Miss French?"

"Rubes," Snow whined, grabbing her hand again and pulled her away, "Was that some teacher? Are you gonna get in trouble?"

Ruby nodded absently, "Yeah, some teacher."

Ruby dragged her feet along the ground, yawning. She ran a hand through her hair, stopping at a fountain to splash some water on her face before pushing open the classroom door and falling into her seat quietly. The English teacher glanced at her but continued with whatever it was she saying; Ruby tuned it out as she rested her head on the desk, closing her eyes.

Belle dismissed the class as the bell rung before casting her eyes back to the student who had decided to take an hour nap during her class. She sighed and picked up a book from her desk before heading to Ruby's desk. She let the book slip out of her hands hard enough to wake the younger woman up.

Ruby groaned and ran a hand over her the back of her hair.

She squinted one eye as she rose her head from the desk, "Oh, hey."

Belle looked at her student incredulously, "Oh, hey yourself," she replied, "You know, as a teacher, if a student falls asleep during your class it's not exactly a compliment."

Ruby nodded, "Ah, sure. Well, nothing personal, Miss French."

"You didn't exactly go home to bed after I saw you last night, did you?" she should have known it was a stupid sentence to say a student like Ruby.

"Well," Ruby smirked, "I may have gone to bed…whether it was my bed…whether I slept – "

"Ruby," Belle held up a hand, "Why do you do that?"

Ruby pulled a face, "Really? You gotta ask an eighteen year old that? Damn, Miss French, that's just sad. It feels good, you know if you want, I could – "

"Way over the line, Ruby," Belle cut in sharply, before sighing in exasperation, "Don't play dumb. You know what I mean. At the very least, you're going to land yourself in some serious trouble one day."

Ruby licked her lips as she looked away, shrugging, "No law against a bit of flirting, is there?"

Belle fixed with her a stern look, "With teachers, yes."

"Whoa, who's flirting with teachers?"

"Ruby – "

"Hey, I don't waste my best material on teachers, you know. I mean, maybe if they were all as good looking as you," Ruby stood up and moved closer to the petite teacher.

Belle took a step backwards; sensing dangerous territory approaching, "Okay, you need to stop," she said firmly, taking another step back as Ruby advanced, "I'm serious, Ruby."

Ruby hung her head, but to Belle's relief, stopped her advance. In fact, Ruby took a couple of steps backwards. She moved to grab her bag and slung it over her shoulder.

"Ruby," Belle took the step forward this time, albeit cautiously, "Why do you insist on doing things like that?"

Ruby shrugged, "I gotta get to my next class," she said evasively.

"It's lunch time," Belle pointed out, "Just… tell me. Why?"

Ruby smiled half-heartedly, gave a small wave, "Gotta hit the books, Miss French, I'll catch you later."

Belle chewed her lip nervously as she packed up her things absent-mindedly. So she was the only staff member Ruby was flirting with; she hadn't counted on that. Still, she knew Ruby would never actually take anything too far. After all, she had backed off the moment Belle had said the word stop. In fact, she'd even looked a bit ashamed…guilty. She'd always known that the young girl was putting a façade on, but for what reason?