Ruby shifted in her seat. She didn't think it was possible for a chair to be more uncomfortable than the ones she occupied in high school. She chewed on her pen doing her best to concentrate on what the young professor was trying to teach, but she couldn't deny that her accent was extremely distracting. As were her beautiful blue eyes.

She felt Emma's leg nudge against hers, and she instantly turned her attention to the blonde. "What?" she mouthed, trying not to disturb the people around her.

Emma made a motion toward the front of the class. "She's super hot," she whispered, grinning as she nodded her head.

Ruby rolled her eyes and chuckled lightly. Even with only knowing Emma a few hours, she could tell that eye-rolling would become a permanent action. "She's very pretty." She turned her attention back to the front, shifting in her seat again.

"She's definitely going to make learning easier." Emma wiggled her eyebrows and leaned back in her seat.

Ruby released another small laugh before shaking her head. She agreed with everything Emma was saying, but thought it best to keep her it to herself. All she needed was to get thrown out of school for inappropriate thoughts about a professor. She ran her hand through her hair, leaning forward onto her desk as she did her best to pay attention to the lesson being taught.

After class had ended, Emma bounded down the stairs, dragging Ruby behind her. She was determined to make their presence known to their new professor no matter how hard Ruby protested the idea. Belle stood behind her desk, rearranging a few items to prepare for her next class. She raised her head at the sound of a throat clearing. She looked curiously at the two girls standing in front of her. The blonde was grinning from ear to ear. The darker haired girl was doing her best to avoid any and all eye contact.

Belle smiled. "Hello," she greeted, a bit of amusement lacing her tone.

"Hey, Professor. I'm Emma Swan," she introduced as she reached back and grabbed Ruby's arm pulling her forward. "And this is Ruby Lucas. We just wanted to say that we totally enjoyed your class today."

Belle crossed her arms against her chest. "Well, thank you. I appreciate the comment." She glanced at the taller girl who was still looking anywhere but at her. "Uh, since it was my first day, I'm glad to know I did something correctly."

Emma placed her palm into the desk, leaning in slightly. Her green eyes narrowed inquisitively. "Your first day? Really?" She smirked. "Well, you were a total pro."

Ruby closed her eyes, pinching the bridge of her nose. She leaned in, nudging Emma roughly. "We should go," she stated through gritted teeth. "We do have other classes."

Emma glanced at her, grinning at the redness on her friend's face. "You're right." She straightened up and smiled at Belle more broadly this time. "Well, again, we enjoyed your class very much."

Belle nodded. "I'm glad. It was very nice meeting you, Emma." She turned her blue eyes on Ruby. "And you as well, Ruby."

Ruby's mouth opened and closed several times before she finally spoke. "Y-you too, Professor," she replied as she grabbed Emma's shirt and pulled her from the classroom.

Belle watched them go. She shook her head and laughed as she went back to preparing for her next class.

Mary Margaret placed her book down and hopped from the bed at the sound of a knock on her dorm door. She opened it quickly to see Ruby standing on the other side, gripping her backpack in her hand. "Hey," Mary Margaret greeted, taking a step to the side. "Come in."

Ruby walked into her room, a distraught expression on her face. "Do you mind if I hang out here?" she asked, a disgusted look overtaking her previous expression. "Ashley has some guy ... Sean, I think his name was ... in the room and ... well ... you know..."

Mary Margaret made a disgusted face. "With you in the room?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, a lot of class that one has, let me tell you." She slumped down on Mary Margaret's bed. "Can't I just stay in here with you two? I can totally sleep on the floor."

Mary Margaret laughed and sat down next to her. "I wish you could, but unfortunately you are stuck with her."

Ruby grunted as she laid down on the bed and rested her arm over her eyes. At that moment, the door swung open and Emma entered laughing loudly. "Hey, I have returned," she announced, carrying in several bags of junk food. "Ruby! Good to see you with less red on your cheeks."

Ruby propped herself up on her elbows and shot her a look. "I still can't believe you did that today."

"Did what?" Mary Margaret inquired, looking from one girl to the other.

"Emma decided to have a conversation with our professor today," Ruby explained.

Emma held up her finger. "Our hot professor," she corrected, placing the bags down on the desk.

"Who's got a hot professor?" a random voice coming from the doorway chimed in.

The girls turned their attention to the door to see a tall, handsome young man standing there with a crooked smile on his lips. Emma rushed to him, wrapping her arms around her neck. "When did you get here?" she questioned, hugging him tightly.

He laughed and hugged her back. "This morning," he replied, pulling back to look at her. "I missed my first day of classes, but what else is new?"

Mary Margaret brought her hand to her mouth and cleared her throat, grabbing their attention. "Emma, aren't you going to introduce us?"

"Oh, damn, of course." She took his hand and brought him into the room. "This is my best friend, Graham. Graham, this is Mary Margaret, my roommate, and Ruby, my new running buddy."

Ruby found herself rolling her eyes again.

Graham placed his hand over his heart. "So, I've lost my spot?"

Emma punched him. "Shut up."

He laughed and turned to the girls. "It's a pleasure to meet you all." He raised a curious eyebrow. "So, about this hot professor..."

Emma grabbed his arm. "Take me to dinner and I'll tell you all about her."

"Deal." He pointed over his shoulder. "We just have to wait for August."

Emma make a noise and rolled her eyes. "Can't you just pretend you forgot he was with you?"

Graham laughed. "I wish." He checked his watch. "Meet me downstairs in ten." He smiled brightly at the other two. "You're both more than welcome to join us."

Emma nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, come, please."

Mary Margaret look at Ruby. "It's better than sitting in here all night."

Ruby looked around the room. The fate of their evening was in her hands. She sighed. "Sure, why not?"

Graham and Emma slapped hands triumphantly. "See you all in downstairs." He held his hands up. "Ten minutes. And that's a normal time ten minutes, not a girl ten minutes." He laughed as Emma pushed him roughly and he exited the room.

"This is your idea of taking us out to dinner?" Emma crossed her arms as Graham stopped in front of the college cafeteria.

"What? The pub is always open, and they have awesome sandwiches," he shrugged, leading them forward with a broad smile on his face.

"Emma, this is Graham. What did you expect?" August asked as he followed his best friend inside, immediately heading to the lounge area and stealing the dark red leather couch. He put his feet up on the table, only to have Ruby shove them out of her way so she could sit next to him.

Mary Margaret sat delicately beside her, her hands on her lap. Emma took the arm chair next to the couch, and Graham sat on the arm.

"So how do you three know each other?" Ruby asked.

"We've been in the same school since kindergarten," answered Graham, "but there will be time for nostalgic stories later. Tell me about this hot professor of yours."

Ruby rolled her eyes and sunk back into the couch. Mary Margaret got up to get some food, and Ruby followed her immediately as Emma launched into a very vivid description of Professor French.

"So Graham's kind of cute," Mary Margaret whispered as soon as they were far enough away, glancing through the glass at the many candies, desserts, chips and sandwiches.

Ruby chuckled. "You think so? Are you going to give him some sugar later? Show him your secret garden?"

Mary Margaret's face cringed in disgust. "I don't even want to know what that means. But I wasn't talking about me. I was talking about you."

"Me?" Ruby glanced back over her shoulder to see Graham staring at her. When she met his eyes, he gave her a wink and turned back to Emma.

"He's been doing that for quite some time." Mary Margaret said, leaning against the vending machine, a look in her eyes that Ruby knew after all these years of being her best friend. Jealousy.

"Well, he's not my type," Ruby shrugged. "He's cute and all, but he seems a little too interested in my professor."

Mary Margaret gave a small laugh as she slid a dollar into the soda machine. Ruby bought three bags of licorice and they headed back over to their friends. They were almost there when out of nowhere, a large Dalmatian barreled through the door, long leash trailing behind it, and ran right in front of the two girls' path. They both toppled over immediately, soda spilling across the floor and licorice everywhere.

"Pongo!" A boy their age ran in through the almost-closed doors and grabbed the dog's leash firmly in his hand. "Archie's gonna kill me," he muttered as his head turned to see Ruby and Mary Margaret, his eyes falling on the latter first.

Ruby watched with curiosity as the fair-haired, burly boy knelt down beside her best friend and held out his hand. She took it wordlessly, both of them rising to their feet.

"Uh ... I'm so sorry..." he mumbled. "I was just walking Dr. Hopper's dog, and..." He didn't finish his sentence. Ruby blew the hair out of her mouth.

"It's okay," Mary Margaret whispered.

"You're in my third hour Zoology class, aren't you?" He thought for a minute. "Mary Margaret ... right?"

She nodded slowly, a look of surprise on her face. "Yeah. Uh - um - Mary Margaret - Blanchard. ... I'm sorry. I don't remember your name."

"It's - uh - David. David Nolan."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, David," she said, her cheeks pink.

Ruby cleared her throat. "I'm fine by the way."

Both David and Mary Margaret jumped, turning to Ruby, who was rising off the floor and pushing her hair back out of her eyes.

"Oh ... right..." Mary Margaret started picking up bags of licorice. "Sorry, Ruby."

"It's okay," the taller woman assured her friend. She was too amused to be upset, turning to David and holding out her hand. "I'm Ruby," she smiled, knowing that she would have to get used to this boy, whether in conversation or face-to-face.

"David," he smiled back, taking her hand and shaking it firmly. He was very cute, Ruby admitted to herself. And there was a boyish charm about him. Yeah, that was the word for him: charming.

"Well, it was nice meeting you. We're just..." She caught Mary Margaret's eyes, seeing the warning there. "I'm just gonna go back to my friends. I'll see you around."

She took the licorice from Mary Margaret's hands and took them back over to Emma, Graham and August.

"Who is that?" Emma asked as she opened one of the bags that Ruby had set on the table.

"His name's David Nolan," Ruby replied. "But other than that, I don't know." She watched her best friend and the charming boy talking. Mary Margaret kept tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her cheeks constantly pink. She spent a lot of time looking at her feet and laughing.

Ruby smiled to herself as she ate her licorice.

Finally, David left, pulling Pongo behind him, and Mary Margaret leaned against the soda machine, a hand over her heart and a large smile on her face before she rejoined everyone else, all staring at her with their eyebrows raised and broad smiles on her faces.

It took several minutes for Mary Margaret to notice how they were looking at her, and as soon as she did, she stopped smiling and said, "What?"

Ruby and Emma just laughed, but Graham whistled. "Well, well, well, Miss Blanchard, it looks like you just found yourself a boy toy."