Ruby Rose resented the fact that she was fifteen years old.
It wasn't necessarily a bad age, Ruby didn't mind high school or anything. It was just that Ruby's father, Taiyang, expected Ruby to get a job as soon as she was legally allowed to. He had the same rule for her half sister, Yang Xiao Long. Yang had begun working in a café called Beacon Café, and on her nineteenth birthday she had bought it herself. Taiyang was proud of her for managing her own business, and Ruby worried she wouldn't live up to her sister.
She sighed, lost in thought. How was she supposed to find a job? Not very many places would be overly happy to hire a fifteen year old. How on Earth did Yang manage to do what she did?
Ruby imagined a younger version of her sister strutting into a café and asking if they were hiring. How did she do it? Was Yang just more of a people person than Ruby?
How can I do what Yang did, she thought, when I can hardly talk to other people?

A thought hit her hard, as if it was an attention-hungry hammer. DO WHAT YANG DID. And the easiest and surest way to do that was to have Yang hire her!
Ruby whipped out her phone to send a quick text to Yang.
Ruby Rose: I'm coming over!
Yang also had her own apartment.
She replied within the minute.
Yang Xiao Long:
k. Im at work, b home at 4. Blakes taking my shift.
Ruby grinned. Blake Belladonna was the only employee of Yang's whose name she knew, mainly because Yang never stopped talking about her. Ruby had to stop herself from actually bouncing up and down. I get to meet Blake, she thought excitedly, and everyone else too!

Ruby left a quick note for her dad, explaining that she was at Yang's place, and threw some stuff in a bag in case she were to stay overnight. She tossed the backpack over one shoulder and skipped off down the street toward the subway station.
Ruby would say she spent maybe half of her time at Yang's apartment. She preferred spending time with her half sister than her father, who was too serious and overbearing. Yang, although not even related to Ruby's mother by blood, reminded Ruby very much of her. Yang was silly and funloving, and great at comforting Ruby when she was sad. It was surprising, because of how much time Ruby spent with her sister, that she had never actually seen the Beacon Café.
The subway ride to Yang's apartment was about three miles, a distance that was very short by subway but that Ruby did not want to walk. The train itself smelled especially awful today, as if it was thinking, Ruby's enjoying herself too much. I better make things less fun. Ruby was in a good enough mood that she didn't care.
The stop closest to Yang's apartment was about three blocks away, which Ruby would have easily trekked if it weren't for the construction work. There always seemed to be some kind of construction project going on, and Ruby often had to take a longer detour. Unfortunately for her, another girl, maybe two years older than her, was also taking that route. This was unfortunate because the backpack filled with Ruby's things made her slightly top-heavy and when she heard the footsteps behind her, she jumped and promptly fell backwards onto the other girl.
"Ex-cah-use me!" The girl enunciated sharply.
"Ack! I-I'm really sorry, are you alright?" Ruby worried. Things like this happened often. Ruby could be a bit of a klutz.
The girl glared, picking herself up and dusting off her rear. "Yes, I am fine, no thanks to you! Do you not know who I am? Never once have I been treated with this amount of disrespect!"
Ruby was befuddled. Was the other girl a celebrity, or a princess? She looked enough like a princess. She wore a knee length white dress with a blue silk cardigan, and high heels. Her pearl colored hair (How does somebody have white hair at seventeen years old?) was in a high side ponytail and she had a scar across her left eye. And... how did Ruby disrespect her? By knocking her over?
"I'm really sorry for knocking you down, I wasn't paying attention to my-"
The princess cut her off. "Uh-buh-buh. I didn't ask to hear your excuses. Do you even know who I am?"
Ruby shook her head. She hoped she didn't look too terrified, which was how she felt. "I'm sorr-"
Apparently the girl didn't want to hear Ruby's apologies. "I'm Weiss Schnee, heiress to the entire Schnee business. Never act in so much disrespect again. I will not forget this."
And with that, Weiss Schnee, heiress to the entire Schnee business, sashayed away, leaving Ruby even more confused.
When Ruby, after several more awkward situations (one involving an elderly woman and another an entire school bus full of children), finally reached Yang's apartment, her good mood was gone. In fact, she couldn't remember why working at Yang's café had put her in such a good mood in the first place. By then, it was after four o'clock, and Yang was home.
"Hey, Rubes! Guess what happened at work today," Yang snickered. At the mention of work, Ruby's mood was back where it belonged.
"Yang! Guess what! I'm going to-" she broke off. She couldn't exactly say 'I'm going to work at your café'. "Sorry, go on."
Yang continued her story, which seemed to be about one of her customers and an employee named Jaune. Ruby wasn't really paying attention, but the main idea seemed to be that a customer had a really complicated order and Jaune had to redo it six times before Yang realized what was going on. Ruby giggled politely, feeling as though she was about to burst from excitement.
"Speaking of your café," Ruby started, a grin spreading on her face, "I'm fifteen."
Yang looked confused. "Why does that have anything to do with- oh, Taiyang's making you get a job."
When Yang moved out, she started calling her father by his first name. This caused Taiyang endless annoyance. Ruby still just called him "Dad".
"So can I?" Ruby begged, trying to give Yang her best puppy eyes.
Yang sighed. "You're not even going to TRY to get a job anywhere else?"
She was always trying to get Ruby to break out of her shell, which was absolutely ridiculous.
"Please, Yang? It has nothing to do with not wanting to try. I just want to spend more time with you!"
Ruby silently pleaded Yang would fall for it.
Her sister smiled. IT'S WORKING, Ruby inwardly screamed.
"I'll hire you for a month, and you can see if you like it, but you're probably getting below minimum wage. Sorry!"
"EEEE!" Ruby yelped. She threw her arms around her sister. "Thank you!"
Yang laughed. "Okay, I'll send out a group text. Everybody'll meet you at the café tomorrow. You wanna stay over tonight?"
Ruby swung her backpack forward. "Already on it!"
Nobody had ever been so ecstatic about less than minimum wage.