After class, Emma checked her phone for messages and found one from Ruby.

'So did you get some action with the sexy tutor last night, Romeo? Jess was pretty bummed when you left. I think she thought she was gonna get some. - Rubes'

'Nah. She got sick. I just stuck around to help out. - Em'

'Seriously? - Rubes'

'Yeah. What? Why? - Em'

'You're not really the nurturing type, Em. - Rubes'

'She needed help. She'd never been drunk before. - Em'

'Wow. You've gotta be kidding me. She's a senior in college and she'd never been drunk? - Rubes'

'Don't give her shit, Ruby. It's not funny. She's just more concerned about her academics than partying every night, which is more than I can say for myself. - Em'

Emma sighed and put the phone away, growing irritated with her friend and not caring to see the response. In the hallway before her next class - biology - she pulled out the notes she'd taken from her math class and reviewed them, trying to make sense of what she'd written as she attempted to push the thoughts of Regina from her mind. Eventually, though, they were too much to bear, and she caved in, pulling her cellphone back out of her pocket.

'What time you coming over tonight? - Em'

'Six sound okay? -Mills'

'Do you want to meet us for dinner at five? - Em'

'No thanks. I've got plans. - Mills'

'You don't like Belle and Ruby, do you? - Em'

'It's not that. I'm supposed to be eating with a few friends from my Brit lit class to talk about an upcoming paper. I'll see you after though. - Mills'

'You don't like them, though. I can tell. - Em'

'I like Belle... I just... Ruby's kind of rude, you know? - Mills'

'Yeah. She gets like that. Sorry. I'll see you tonight. - Em'

Emma sighed and threw the phone on top of her backpack. She looked back down at her notes and watched the numbers become a blur.

"No!" she cursed to herself. "Fucking focus."

Trying harder that time, she forced her mind to unscrambled the text to read it clearly. She spent the next hour deciphering the notes until the bell rang and she went into her next class. The two hour biology lab seemed more like five hours, and by the time class was over, her stomach was growling. She nearly ran to the dining hall as soon as she left the room, nearly forgetting her backpack in the rush of the moment.

At dinner, she sat between Belle and Ruby at the round table, as was customary, and sighed as she stared down at her uneaten food.

"I'm starving, but I don't feel like eating," Emma sighed.

"What's up, Em?" Belle asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"The one girl I want to fuck is totally uninterested in me."

"Ooohhh, so that's what this is about!" Ruby cried, laughing and putting her cup back down on the table. "You've got the hots for teacher."

"Shut up, Ruby. It's not funny."

"It is, kinda."

"No, it's not. God, I get so fucking turned on when she's around. I don't even know what to do with myself. It's so excruciating I want to go to the bathroom and masturbate every five minutes. I can't think, I can't focus..."

Ruby burst out laughing again, tears streaming down her cheeks as she wiped them away.

"Oh, sweet Jesus, that's rich," Ruby howled, holding her stomach. "You can't focus anyway."

"Shut UP, Ruby!" Emma screamed, shoving her.

"Yeah, Ruby," Belle chimed in, scowling at her friend. "Emma's trying to talk to us about this, and you're kind of being a jerk."

Ruby glared at both of them.

"Whatever. It is funny, though."

"Fuck off," Emma said angrily.

Ruby went silent and stared down at her food.

"Emma, honey," Belle started. "You should eat."

With a nod, Emma started to pick at her food. A half-hour later, she'd only eaten about a fourth of what was on the plate to begin with.

"I'll eat it," Ruby jumped in. "Give it here."

Emma pushed her plate over to Ruby without looking and let the girl finish her meal, not wanting to waste the food. Ruby was always as hungry as a wolf, so Emma could count on her to finish whatever she didn't want to eat.

"Have you tried to make a move yet?" Belle asked gently, trying to make some conversation to break the awkward silence.

"I mean, I've made jokes... She doesn't take them seriously, though. I guess I don't really take them seriously, either. I flirt with her a little, but mostly I just say some sexual stuff and leave it at that. I really need her to keep tutoring me. I don't want to make her uncomfortable and fuck this up. Besides, Regina's straight."

"Nobody's straight for you, Em."

The blonde rolled her eyes.

"That's bologna."

"It's not. You can have any girl in this school, and you know it. You've turned 'straight' girls gay plenty of times."

"You can't 'turn' somebody gay, Belle. You either are or you're not."

"Well, fine. But you at least bring the gay out of people who otherwise wouldn't have known they even had it."

With a roll of her eyes, Emma stood up and collected her plates.

"Gotta go, guys. I'm meeting her at six."

"Good luck, Em!" Belle called after her, but Ruby said nothing.

Emma walked back to the dorm slowly, thinking about what she'd told her friends. She definitely regretted opening her mouth, at least to Ruby. As good of a friend as she was, Ruby could be a real bitch. She didn't blame her though. Emma guessed that if she'd been in Ruby's shoes, she probably would have thought it was pretty funny, too. At least Belle had been receptive and understanding - she usually was - but that didn't stop Emma from feeling remorse for opening up. She thought about what Belle had said about making a move, but knew it was out of the question - especially when Regina was actually starting to become her friend.