Red-Cricket Tails

By Shahrezad1

Summary: Welcome to Red-Cricket Week 2013 on Tumblr! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own, so please don't sue. And since this is based off of prompts…some of the ideas aren't even mine! *le gasp*

Day 2

Prompt Number Two: "Highschool/College AU: Ruby always had a crush on her teacher Mr. Hopper, they meet again when she is older."

To be in these halls again was almost surreal, Ruby thought with a smile. It was tinged with sadness, however, as she tiptoed past rolls of carpet and stacked chairs. The hallways, normally clear so as to allow students safe passage, were now littered with debris.

The side effect of upgrade, she supposed with some irony.

The school—her school—Storybrooke High, was being torn down. And the soccer field just to the side of it had been replaced with a series of new buildings.

The place had looked like a prison at first, a blocky edifice of stern brick and windowless levels. But those had come later, along with various glass outcroppings and atriums, and now it was a sturdily-built example of educational architecture. Actually rather pretty when you got down to it.

Still, she wasn't any happier to see the old girl go.

The young woman had missed the official 'goodbye' open house, but when she'd seen the doors propped wide open (due to the smattering of movers, she was sure. Men and women currently occupied with removing her old theatre's much newer seating) Ruby had parked behind the library and decided to take a chance.

Propping Alexandra up on one hip and throwing the toddler's diaper bag over the opposite shoulder, she'd traipsed in with camera phone in hand.

Reliving old memories and noting, despite her wish that things could be different, that her Alma Mater really was falling to pieces about her ears. Lockers were a faded light blue—Columbia Blue, so their school song stated—while the Crimson red was garish and flecking off at times. White tiling had slowly morphed into an off-white-ish-grey, and the brick walls were still sturdy if looking old.

The banners which hung from poles at incremental spots within the open, curving stairways were looking faded and tatty, and the golden knight, the school mascot, which had once stood at attention within a large glass case in front of the main office, had been fully removed. Leaving only a patch of floor behind to mark its passing, brighter in color than the surrounding area.

Ruby alternated between reminiscing and bouncing Alexandra, who was distracted enough by her new surroundings (and the various hidden hallways, open doors, and echoing rooms) to hold back on making a fuss. Meanwhile her phone's sim card was slowly filling up.

There were several structures to explore, including the rounded cafeteria ("Stonehenge," it had been traditionally called, with its pillars and wide windows), the Driver's Ed trailers, and the Institute of Religion. The football bleachers had already been rebuilt in an area further from either "school" and the Driver's Ed lot was much as it ever was—full of blank pavement and dull road markings.

Skirting across the back parking lot, she stopped long enough to take a photo of the Graphic Design building's door (the wide surface liberally smothered in student-made stickers and graphics, most of which were peeling off in the salty open air), before moving on to the "English" building.

For all that the place was a ratty example of its kind, tacked on to the border of the school grounds when some past principal had realized that an expansion was needed, but it had nearly been her home away from home. Ruby had been a wild child in her early years, yes, prone to acting out, smoking in the girl's bathroom and dressing outrageously, but by her last year she'd managed to shape herself into something resembling a responsible, proactive student.

Debate, Theatre, Choir. The Lucas girl had also written for the school newspaper for three years running, a sure-fire ticket into most school events in lieu of payment. She'd deliberately tanked the election for Student Body Officer, just to prove to her Grandmother that she had tried, but had somehow managed to wrangle a part in the Senior play.

Ruby had been Miss Prism in, "The Importance of Being Earnest," which must have been someone's idea of irony. Still, the experience was still a fond memory.

The young woman would never tell her grandmother, but it was all due to the special attention of a certain teacher.

Exiting the choir room, which she had found open just by chance, and closing its door carefully behind her, the brunette winced as a loose floorboard squeaked loudly behind her. The shabby orange carpet had always hidden the uneven boards, so that one tended to forget until it was too late that they were there. Ruby had been caught cutting class a time or two due to the things, and with some automatic trepidation she whirled around, clutching her tiny companion to her side.

There was no vice principal lurking behind her, however, lying in wait to drag her down to the office. Instead a man stood there, startled into pausing, and with a start of further surprise Ruby Lucas froze.

It was the lack of sweater-vest which threw her off.

Its nonexistence kept her from realizing just who she was looking over until it was too late. By then she'd noticed strong, freckled forearms, gripping an open cardboard box filled with mixed papers and a collapsible umbrella on top, plus long legs encased in sensible tan slacks. He wore a medium-blue button-up, its sleeves rolled to the elbows, and the man's collar was open at the neck. She could even see a freckle or two lingering at his throat, completely devoid of a tie.

Her gaze rose to his face, finally, and almost immediately burned up from embarrassment.

The so-called 'stranger' she'd just visually felt up was none other than Mr. Hopper, her old A.P. English teacher. The professor who had coached his students into liking poetry, reading Shakespeare as though he actually mattered, and nudged his pupils into actively expressing themselves in their writing.

The redhead had once said, at the very beginning of her senior year, that if you could survive his class then you would be able to survive college (or really anything).

She had. And his statement had been one of truth—nothing could have better prepared her than Hopper's class, even if it was a community college which followed thereafter.

At the time the waitress had had a love-hate relationship with her third period course. Half-loathing the way that she felt when his disappointed gaze rested upon her, Ruby's lanky form squirming uncomfortably. His baby blues had been sad and firm upon the girl being discovered cheating, just the once. But the feeling of his approval was just as strong—his joy infectious, his enthusiasm thrilling.

She'd dared to be someone she was not while in his class. Wanting to be a better person merely for the sake of making him proud.

His glasses were the same horn-rimmed devices, the young woman noted in the wake of all those thoughts and more, his hair only slightly less full than it had been eight years previous. His eyes were as clear as ever.

"Um, hello, Miss," he stumbled at first, seemingly unable to find a response at her sudden appearance, "I'm not sure if you know this, but the school really isn't open to the, uh, the public. I'm going to have to ask you to-."

The brunette's brain finally caught up with her emotions, blurting out, "hey, Mr. Hopper."

He gaped, blinking at first. Then what followed was his own perusal and Ruby nearly blushed as she wondered what he saw, "oh! Oh, um, hello. I'm sorry if I don't recognize you immediately, it's just that-."

"It's okay," she brushed off, even as a small part of her was hurt, "you probably have hundreds of students, so I can't really expect you to remember someone from eight years ago."

Not that she was counting.

The good man smiled faintly as he took in her words, "eight years ago? Then that would make it…2005?"

Making her twenty-five or twenty-six, the girl thought smartly and hoped that he noted that she was well past her high school years. That that it mattered. Really.

"Yep," she popped the word like bubblegum, "I had you for A.P. English."

"Really?" he remarked, fascinated, and absently moved the box to his hip in thought. Allowing another inch of skin to peer out from below his open collar.

"Passed it with flying colors, too. And I passed the test for college credit," she'd actually only just scraped on through the latter one, and only because a poem they'd discussed in class had appeared on her examination. It had been an act of divine intervention, the girl had always thought. But wasn't she grateful for the eight college credits one single test had provided?

That seemed to spark his memory, and the older man beamed joyfully, "Miss Ruby Anne Lucas, Miriam's granddaughter."

"In the flesh," she laughed, and resettled Alex on her hip. The child, for her part, was currently fixated on the stranger in front of her, although Ruby had a feeling that it had something to do with his spectacles.

"And how are you doing these days, Mi—ah, R-Ruby?" he surprisingly stuttered over her first name and she realized, with a start, that that had never been his first choice when she'd been in high school. It had always been 'Miss Lucas,' or the full 'Miss Ruby Anne Lucas,' an awkward appellation which made her feel older than she was. But 'Ruby' by itself…well, that was certainly different coming from his mouth.

Then he waved at the babe in her arms, "doing well, I s-suppose?"

The dark-haired young woman looked at him blankly for a moment before following his gaze down to Alexandra, "what do—Oh! You mean Alexandra. Oh, she's not mine."

"Oh!" he drew back bashfully and the umbrella in his box nearly tumbled out from the movement, "I apologize for assuming, it's just that…just that…"

She grinned wickedly, and even as she did so Ruby wondered where all of this was coming from. Was she actually teasing her old teacher, poking fun at him as her eyes grew half-lidded? "just that you thought that blonde hair must exist somewhere in my family line, I'm guessing?"

"Um, no of course not."

She playfully scrubbed at the child's mop of golden curls, so like her mother's, and then laughed, "to be honest, I'm more likely to have red haired children than blonde."

The second the words came out she wanted to draw them back as the two adults stared at one another, his box nearly slipping from a shaking grasp. And suddenly Ruby knew what she was doing—she was FLIRTING with Mr. Hopper. Which was disasterous. Especially as no relationship had ever worked out for her, post-Peter. No, no, that wouldn't do at all…

Although she had always thought that he was cute, especially when he took his glasses off to clean them and—

NO!

"I'm babysitting," the comment came hurtling out in defense against her own mental meanderings, but it was at least a welcome change to where their conversation had been going, "for Ashley and Sean. Um, they were on Student Counsel."

The teacher seemed to come back with a nod, setting his burden down as he tucked his hands into his pockets, "I-I had wondered if those two would ever get together."

"Yep, they're married now," only a year after Alexandra was born, "Ashley's doing night classes and Sean's working. And David and Mary Margaret—Homecoming King and Queen?—they're engaged, too. David inherited his family's ranch."

"That's good," he remarked with all the enthusiasm of a scholar, thus it was unsurprising that his questions turned to her, "and y-you, um, Ruby, are you in school?"

"Just graduated with my degree. In Clothing Design," not that the dusty, holey jeans and baggy T-shirt she was wearing were the best example of her work. But he hardly seemed to notice, nodding thoughtfully.

"Yes, you did seem to always have a head for that sort of thing," his remark was thoughtful and absentminded, Particularly when his follow-up question was, "and Peter? Are you still dating him?"

"Um, no. Peter, ah…Peter died in a motorcycle accident in 2007."

He gaped at her for a moment before stumbling into an apology, "I-I am so sorry, Ruby, that must have been t-ter-um, horrible for you."

"It was," she mumbled awkwardly, "but, um, I'm, you know, okay now."

"Good."

She was left with nothing to say, really. Except perhaps to stare awkwardly at him a little longer, wondering if he also had freckles on his face to go with the ones on his arms. So instead Ruby, lifted the diaper bag higher up on her shoulder, tucked her phone away and held out her hand.

"Well, Mr. Hopper, it was good to see you. I hope that the move from one building to another hasn't been too bad."

One of his shoulders lifted, "not really, although it is rather saddening to see the old girl go. I was just packing up the last of my things, anyway."

Then he took her palm in his to press firmly and her thoughts completely derailed. Why had she never noticed that his hands were so large, she wondered, the fingers long and tapered like a pianists and thumb a steady pressure on the back of her own? His skin was dry and cool, in contrast to the constant heat she seemed to retain, and her instinctual thought was a question of whether he would be willing to put his hand against the back of her over-warm neck to battle the summer swelter.

Her own digits rested on his pulse, and with a jolt of surprise she realized that it was raging like he'd just run a 10K.

Ruby jolted back like she was on fire, blushing as he just stammered his goodbyes. Both headed for the same exit, nearly stumbling for the push-bar, and as he made his way to a beat-up Sedan she made swift strides toward her white Nissan Maxima. But as Ruby fumbled with Alexandra's car seat, finally buckling the drowsy child in, something prickled at the back of her neck. Causing her to straighten slightly and then…look back.

Hopper had stopped with his car door open, and was peering over his shoulder back at her. However, as soon as they made eye contact he attempted to clamor in, nearly hitting his head in the process.

Ruby took a breath, then made a choice.

Closing the back passenger door of her vehicle, she swiftly returned whence she came on sneakered feet. Striding up to her former professor's window, where he sat with hands frozen on the wheel, Ruby leaned in. The redhead didn't even seem too surprised to see her appear.

"Look," Ruby murmured quietly, not-quite looking him in the eye, "I don't normally do this. As in, ever, but…" she slipped a receipt from the diaper bag she still had slung over one arm and then pulled out the pen from his shirt pocket, eliciting a sharp breath in the older man. She also received an answer to her question—he did have freckles smattered across his cheeks, but only a light dose.

"Anyway, um, Hopper, here's my number," she handed the paper and pen over, stuffing the latter into his shirt's compartment and brushing the surface of his chest. When he took the slight offering their hands brushed again, and so she stumbled with the rest.

"And…thank you for, you know, setting me straight."

He finally looked up and Ruby nearly gasped at the endless sky in his eyes, but caught it just in time as he smiled and nodded her back to her vehicle, "it's…it's just 'Archie.'"

~/~/~

AN: THIS IS UNEDITED! You have been warned. :S I just had to get it posted before the day ends. D:

This actually happened. Well, not the "re-meeting a hot teacher that I liked in high school,"—most of my teachers were female and/or married, anyway. But my high school is currently being torn down. Its replacement has already been built and they're just working on the finishing touches. I did miss the goodbye ceremony, but got to walk through the building at a later date. Taking pictures all the while, of course. Except…that then I lost my SD card. Argh! Anyway, at least I got to say 'farewell.' :)

So the school Ruby is treading through is in actuality my own (and most of the "activities" Ruby participated occurred my Senior year of high school). Even the A.P. English teacher described is basically one of my teachers, tweaked to fit Archie (although I never cheated in class). Goodbye, Granger High School. You had a good run. :)