"Did you look at that one?"
Elsa angled her laptop towards Emma to show her the title and description of yet another scholarship/grant/loan/anything that will put tuition on the table.
"A scholarship for individuals interested in confectionery technology?" Emma leaned over Elsa's shoulder who was sitting on the floor in front of the couch Emma had taken up residence ever since they got back from dinner. They had been scrolling through as many obscure scholarships and grants that they could find. Sadly most of them had been weeded out simply because they were only awarded to high school seniors and Emma was a junior with the scary prospect of having no scholarships for her senior year.
Poor orphans from tiny towns in Maine just didn't have the funds to pay for a private university.
"You make candy." Elsa defended her find.
"That was one time… in the microwave," Emma shook her head at her roommate.
"Yeah, but," the fair haired girl turned around to look back at her with wide eyes.
"It caught on fire." Emma argued. "We had to get a new microwave."
Elsa eyed her for a moment before shrugging and returning her focus back to her laptop screen perched on the coffee table. "You're just being dramatic."
"Right," Emma said. "Me. Dramatic. I might has well apply for one of the many theater scholarships we ran into earlier. Change career perspectives. Why aim for a 6 figure corporate job, full benefits, and a company car when I can be a starving artist. At least my education was free."
"Stop it," Elsa tsked. "You're not going for a corporate job anyways and you know it."
"Business major." Emma said while stretching her limbs out on the sofa. She had massive crick in her back after wandering around the library all day shelving books. Why were that many books unshelved the first day of classes anyways? Wayward freshman getting lost during their focus group time?
"Face it, Emma." Elsa stood up from her position on the floor. "You'd hate corporate America. Think of spending the next 30 years in a cubicle and get back to me on how you feel about it."
Emma watched her roommate who she had since the beginning of freshman year meander towards the tiny kitchen area. No doubt searching out something to satisfy her substantial sweet tooth. "Want some ice cream?" Elsa called from around the corner.
"Nah," Emma answered after some consideration. "I'm good." She sat up from the couch and pulled Elsa's laptop closer to the edge of the table. There had to be something. The possible scholarships available to college students was an endless (often ridiculous) list. She huffed a laugh at the scholarship for "Duck Calling."
Well..
She googled searched duck calling and was about to click on the youtube link when a knock on their front door startled her.
"You getting that?" Elsa called from the kitchen.
"Yeah yeah," she muttered while pulling herself up off their fluffy couch they snagged last year from an estate sale. Elsa had an amazing ability to find the best yard sale deals. Seriously, Emma had placed a few bets on whenever her roommate would finally land a tv deal for her show on how to work the buy and sell market.
"I've figured it out."
Emma had barely gotten the door open before Mary Margaret came barreling into the apartment. Her cheeks were flushed and she sounded out of breath.
"What?" Emma asked with some reservation. Sometimes her brother's girlfriend reminded her of an over excited puppy.
"Your financial aid problem." She explained as if it were obvious.
Emma couldn't stop her irritation from rearing its head at the personal intrusion. Her old fail-safe of trying to protect herself from others urged her towards extreme privacy. Leveling a heavy gaze at Mary Margaret, she tried to reign in her natural tendency to protect herself. All signs were pointing to the fact that Mary Margaret was here to stay in her life and she needed to remind herself that the short haired optimism on a stick was just looking out for her.
"What do you mean?" Emma asked with as little hostility as she could muster.
"There's a scholarship that is perfect for you." Mary Margaret explained in a rush a words while lowering herself on the living room couch. No doubt hearing the commotion, Elsa had re-entered the living room carrying a bowl of ice cream close to her chest while leveling a curious gaze towards Emma.
"And?" Emma's roommate prompted their friend.
"It's a scholarship given out here to an upperclassman female," Mary Margaret explained. "They only award it every other year to a sophomore or junior with a 4.0."
"Really?" Emma asked dubiously.
"It's a two year full ride."
"Emma," Elsa gasped quietly, her voice weighted with unspoken meaning.
It was almost too good to be true. A full ride scholarship for an upperclassman, female, and 4.0?
"Why haven't we heard about it?" Emma asked. "What's the catch?"
Like mercury, Mary Margaret's excited, hopeful expression shifted quickly before landing on the one she had been wearing. A normal person would have never noticed the shift, but Emma had spent her early childhood having to read the emotions and moods of people just to keep herself out of anybody's bad side.
"Well… there is one thing." Mary Margaret shrugged apologetically. Oh. Emma knew she wasn't going to like this one. "It's not a big deal.."
"Out with it." Emma demanded, but amended quickly after Elsa sent her a reproachful look. "Just lay it on me, please." She fought to soften her voice.
She'd do it.. whatever it was that Mary Margaret was rearing up to tell her. This was a full ride they were talking about. Two year full ride… she could take a 5th year, something she'd only thought about it in passing. She'd have time to double major. It couldn't be that bad of a requirement-
"You see, it's called the Greek Woman of the Year Scholarship. So, you would have to join a sorority."
Oh.
Hell no.
Except that. Anything but that.
"See?" Mary Margaret's eyebrows and her smile so wide that her twin dimples took up prominence on her face. "It's not so bad."
No.
That had always been her standby answer to that question. Ever since David went off to college and somehow found himself in the Greek system, everyone and their uncle had to know if she too would follow in his footsteps. David fit in with his Pi Theta brothers. He was just that type of person who thrived in a fraternity, but Emma?... No. She enjoyed the frat parties to a certain extent, but she had watched Mary Margaret subtly for the past couple of years with her duties involving her sorority and frankly, it just didn't seem worth all the trouble.
"Umm.." Emma reached for Elsa's laptop and pulled it towards her to deflect from her pseudo-sis-in-law's intensely energetic gaze. Mary Margaret look like the cat who caught the canary, and deep down, Emma hated to be the one to burst her bubble. "Yeah, I'm not so sure that's a good idea."
It really wasn't. Emma was the last person who would function well in sorority life.
"It's not as bad as you think." Mary Margaret was not deterred by Emma's reluctance at all.
"I'm sure it's great for some people," Elsa said with her soft voice. Emma could never be too grateful for her roommate's gentle but pragmatic nature. "I just don't think Emma's the right type of person for it."
"That's just the thing," Mary Margaret said, "there's so many sororities to choose from, you're bound to find one that works for you."
"Yeah," Emma said with a more confident and firm voice, "I'm not going to go that way. Thanks, but I know that it wouldn't ever work out."
"Why?" Emma whined from her perch on Ruby's half made bed.
"Because. Emma." Ruby huffed at her friend's reluctance while still digging through her overly full closet. "One day you'll be old and even more boring than you are right now, and you're going to need some wild and crazy college stories to tell the grand kids."
"Grand kids?" Emma's eyebrows rose up as she grabbed a red sequin studded pillow to squeeze between her hands "I think you missed a few steps."
"What about this one?" Ruby asked holding up a bright lacy, fuchsia number from her closet.
"Is that a dress?"
"Yes." Emma's friend rolled her eyes. "It's a dress." Ruby tossed it towards her bed before turning back to her closet.
"There is no way that there is enough fabric for this to be a dress." Emma held up the so called dress to further exam it.
"You'd look hot in that." Ruby's voice was muffled by the closet and it's impending explosion of clothing.
"Well," Emma said trying to hold the dress up to her body. "David would at least choke if I wore it. That's funny."
"Oh oh," Ruby exclaimed as she fought another hanger that was caught up with its fellows. "Look. Even better."
All Emma could tell was that it was short and red.
Ruby held it up against herself before tossing it towards Emma and the bed containing the ever growing stack of discarded and coincidentally scandalous items. This new one, however, never made it in the discard pile as Emma held it up to examine it further.
"Try it on," said Ruby, back already turned to her closet again. "I got it this summer and for once Granny didn't have to fake a heart attack when she saw me."
By Ruby's standards it was mild, but by Emma's, it still showed more skin than she was accustomed to.
What the hell. She could have at least try it on..
Ruby froze, eyes wide when Emma finished zipping up the back. "Oh.. wow."
"It's okay?" Emma bit her lip and stop the sudden urge to use friction to warm up her now exposed arms.
"Okay? Just okay?" Ruby came closer to her friend. "More like hot damn! Emma just look at yourself."
Reluctantly, Emma turned towards the full length mirror on the back of the door. Ruby was never getting this dress back.
The sleeves cut inwards showing off the fruits of her labors when she agreed to workout all summer with David. The muscles of her shoulders and arms were on full display, while the red fabric cinched tightly at her waist and slightly flared out on her hips. And, Hello Legs. This dress was long for Ruby's standards, while stopping mid thigh on Emma.
"So?" Ruby asked as she pulled black lace from the closet. "You gonna come to the party?"
"Ruby-"
"C'mon Emma." Ruby cut-off the refusal Emma was preparing. "Live a little. You're only in college once."
"I know, but-"
"Nope! No excuses." Ruby tossed the item in her hands over the back of her desk chair before she came closer to grab at Emma's hair, pulling the elastic from her hair that had secured up the ponytail. "You're coming out with me," Ruby said using her fingers to comb out Emma's waves. "You're going to have fun." Turning towards her desk (that mostly acted as a vanity covered in hair and skin products and lacked any real academic purposes) Ruby skimmed over the items littering the surface until she located a tube of bright red lipstick. "Drink a little. Dance a little. Maybe loose enough inhibition and find a cute guy to flirt with a little."
"Yeah right," Emma said as carefully as possible while Ruby currently had her face trapped as she applied the dangerous red lipstick.
"You never know." Ruby, who after being finished with primping Emma, had begun dressing in the little black lacy number she had pulled out for herself. "You might meet your Prince Charming."
"Mary Margaret always says these parties are against the rules." Emma pondered out loud as she and Ruby walked along the driveway to the back of the large house.
"Technically," Ruby agreed. "The frats aren't suppose to have any parties until after both boys and girls' rushes are over, but c'mon, there's no way they just can't celebrate the first week back. So, the invention of the 'secret party.'" Ruby waved her arms towards the tall brick walls of the Pi Theta house, which currently appeared dark from the street, but the loud music and multitude of co-eds wandering around the back didn't seem all that secretive.
"What's so secret about it?" Emma asked.
"Well, no freshmen allowed." Ruby lead Emma towards the back patio and up the steps of the deck which already contained a substantial line waiting at the back door. A line that Ruby completely ignored. "Your name also has to be already on a list."
"And mine name is?" Emma asked as she smiled apologetically to some of the people they were clearly skipping in line.
"Your brother is the VP and well…" Ruby nodded her head in the direction of the person with a clipboard who clearly was managing who came in the door.
Walsh.
"Oh," his eyes went comically wide when he looked up from his list and spotted her. "Uh.. um.. Emma. Hi."
"Hey Walsh," she turned on as polite of a smile she could manage. They hadn't dated per se (Emma didn't date anyone), but she had gone to dinner with him after David had pressured her to agree to be his date at the Pi Theta spring formal. She agreed to the formal, but Walsh had insisted they go out before hand to "get to know each other."
"You look…" he shook his head as if clearing it. "How was your summer?"
"Good," Emma said. "Have a good evening." She moved quickly away from the door wanting to get far enough away from the stilted conversation. Ruby, all the while, giggling at the awkward greetings, muttering something under her breath that sounded close to 'poor guy.' He really wasn't a bad guy… she guessed. A bit off beat with a layer of creepy? That was a pretty good description. She'd ended up spending the Pi Theta spring formal with David and Mary Margaret and a few of the other PT brothers she knew well, including...
"Emma." Ruby leaned in close to whisper in her ear. "12 o'clock."
Emma looked straight ahead but only saw a couple of sophomore girls looking like they had a few too many.
"I don't think you know what that means, there's no-" Emma trailed off when she saw him eyeing her (even though he was more to her 10 o'clock).
Killian Jones was in a circle of people, solo cups in hands, carrying on a lively discussion that he was clearly not paying attention to. Instead his eyes were glued on her. He shook his head in disbelief before recovering and shooting her his usual cocky wink her way.
"How have you not jumped on that?" Ruby asked.
"Don't be ridiculous," Emma said and grabbed Ruby's elbow to lead her to the kitchen. "I do believe you told me to drink a little."
"Yeah, girl, that's the spirit!"
He hadn't expected her to just appear like that. A vision in red. Legs… holy god, her legs. Her hair had that tousled almost 'bed head' look that had the blood in his brain leaving quickly and going south.
It wasn't the first time, Killian had seen her at a PT party. There had been many that she had appeared out of nowhere normally in her armor of jeans and leather jackets in the company of her brother and his girlfriend. He'd never forget that evening last spring when she thoroughly bested him in beer pong. Rosy cheeked and tipsy, she lorded her victory over him, and he couldn't find one reason to complain when he got to see Swan so free and happy.
"Was that Emma?"
Killian turned towards her brother, who was a little inebriated. Mary Margaret would never break Rush rules by attending a 'welcome back to school' secret party, but that clearly did not stop her boyfriend from partaking in the annual festivities.
"What did you say mate?" Killian asked trying to mask the fact that he had been staring at his friend's sister in a not so innocent way.
"I thought I saw…" David started to wander towards the kitchen, and Killian couldn't help but follow him. Every time Swan graced the PT house with her presence, Killian promised himself he wouldn't approach her and make a fool out of himself, but every time some excuse would generate in his head. He couldn't let the fair maiden deal with her less than sober, over protective brother alone. That would be bad form.
On the way towards his destination, Killian was constantly being held up by party goers, and by the time he got to the kitchen, he was presented with the image of a very angry Emma Swan facing off with her equally angry brother.
"This isn't like you," David hissed, while trying to grab at her elbow.
"What the hell does that mean?" She asked, forcefully knocking his hand away.
Killian noticed Ruby Lucas standing a few feet away from the confrontation watching the brother and sister like a tennis match. When she saw him standing in the doorway, she gave him an amused smile with a shrug of her shoulders before turning towards a keg to get some libations.
"Aww," he said loud enough be heard across the room. "Sibling love at its finest."
"Back off, Jones."
"Killian, shut up."
Sister and brother spoke simultaneously.
"Well, I can see I'm wanted." He continued towards them anyways.
"Tell her, it's time to go home." David turned his bloodshot eyes towards him.
"I'm not going to get in the middle of this." He'd learned the hard way of ever choosing sides between the two. The first few times he did, he found himself flipped over on his axis and had both of them united against him. Getting in between the two stubborn blondes never ended well for him.
"David," Emma said. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Emma," David all but begged. "Please."
"No." Emma turned towards the corner of the kitchen that had become the keg service station. In her haste and anger, she clumsily filled up a solo cup.
"What is she doing here?" David turned his anger on him. "How'd she get on the list."
"She's always on the list," Killian said carefully. "She's your sister."
"Yeah, well… she's normally not dressed like that." David waved a slightly uncoordinated hand towards the red dress that would, no doubt, take up precedence in Killian's less than PG dreams of his friend's sister.
"Nothing will happen to her, mate." Killian laid a steadying hand on David's shoulder. "All the lads know she's your sister and that they would have to answer not only to you, but to me and your girlfriend's wrath if they ever tried anything to her."
"I know." David grumbled while keeping a close eye on Emma and Ruby talking in the corner with drinks in hand.
"Not to mention," Killian said, "they would have to at least cross some of Swan's defenses that would make them go running for the hills."
With that statement in the air, David pondered for a moment before turning a serious eye towards Killian. "Keep an eye on her?"
"Of course."
A hiss from the corner distracted him from David's departure.
"Damn Emma." Ruby Lucas was holding Swan's free hand up close to her face. "Did you do that on the keg?"
There was indeed a nasty looking gash on her palm that Killian could see when he got closer to the two ladies.
"Need some help?" Killian asked.
"I'm fine."
"Let me see, Swan." Killian reached for the hand in question whistling low. "Looks like you need that tending too."
"I really don't." She rolled her eyes but didn't bother to even try to pull her hand away from his.
He tucked the arm of the injured hand carefully through his and glanced over at Emma's friend before pulling her with him. The wink and wicked grin that Ruby tossed his way was all the encouragement he needed to drag Swan towards the main hall with the staircase.
"C'mon along Swan." He guided her up the stairs. "Wouldn't want the wound to fester."
"Why the hell do you always talk like that?" Her laughter and the press of her body into his side filled him up with a strange feeling he had not felt in a long time.
Next up might just contain a hot hand bandaging scene. hint hint.