Penny was confused. One moment, she was greeting Ruby, happy to spend time with her friend; the next moment, her friend had dragged her by the hand away from her teammates, saying only 'We need to talk'.

That would've been fine – Penny wanted to talk with Ruby anyway, as was the usual protocol when it came to interpersonal interactions – but Ruby's facial expression, body language, and tone and inflection, indicated it may not be a pleasant talk.

It was possible that it had something to do with the dazed heiress being helped out of some bushes by Yang and Blake.

"Penny," the serious tone in Ruby's voice took her by surprise, "What's going on?"

Penny blinked a few times. "What do you mean, Ruby?"

"Penny, you just shoved my partner into some bushes."

"Oh. Um. I suppose I was just a bit rough."

"She flew ten feet!"

Penny winced. "Are you mad at me?"

"Yes. No. Well… just a little bit? It's just," Ruby closed her eyes and let out a sigh, "I'm just worried, is all."

Penny cocked her head to the side. "What do you mean, Ruby? What are you worried about?"

"You!" Ruby blurted out. "For the past few days, you've been acting… weird, Penny. And not the usual 'still learning how to talk to people' weird. I mean, yesterday I was supposed to meet Yang and Uncle Qrow for lunch, but you stuffed them into a broom closet; a couple of days ago I went to the gym for a training session with my team, only to find out that someone – you – hacked their scrolls and changed their calendar dates, I missed out on my study time with Weiss when you hacked my scroll, and Blake couldn't make it to our book club last weekend because you snuck catnip into Yang's hair and Weiss had to restrain her while Professor Goodwitch restrained Yang."

Penny blinked, thinking. "What makes you think I did all that? Are you certain the culprits aren't Team CRDL?"

"Yang and Qrow told me about the broom closet; I was there when Professor Goodwitch and the General lectured you about hacking into other people's scrolls – both times – and you still had the bag of catnip when you met me after Blake and Yang went crazy." Ruby deadpanned.

"Um… No I didn't?" Penny ventured, and promptly hiccupped.

Ruby looked at her, her expression full of concern. "Penny, what's wrong? Why are you doing all this to my teammates? Aren't they your friends?"

"Yes, of course they are," Penny chirped happily, "And they're wonderful friends. I've learned so much about humor from your sister. It's just…" She went silent, looking at the ground sheepishly.

"… 'just' what?"

A few more seconds of silence passed. "…It's just, I've calculated that, out of your day, you spend sixty-eight percent of it with them, but only seventeen percent of it is spent with me." Penny looked up. "I know they're your teammates, and that you're supposed to spend most of your time with them, but I still don't like that you and I don't spend as much time with each other."

Ruby stared at her, a thoughtful look on her face. "Wait," she said after a short silence, "Penny, are you jealous?"

Penny looked at her friend, searching her memory for the definition of the word.

Jealous: feeling resentment against someone because of that person's rivalry, success, or advantages.

She thought about this. "I suppose I am?" she ventured, "My behavior seems to match the definition of the word 'jealous'."

Ruby blinked. "Oh." An awkward silence descended on the two girls. Penny wasn't sure what the proper protocol was for a situation like this, and Ruby seemed to be as confused as she felt.

After a few seconds, Ruby spoke up, "Well, I've got studying and training to do with my team, but I've got some free time in the afternoon tomorrow. Do you want to hang out them?"

Penny quickly checked her schedule for the next day, happily finding it free for the afternoon. "That would be wonderful, Ruby." She said, smiling.

Ruby grinned. "Great! Now, uh, I think we should get back and talk to my teammates," she said, peering around Penny, "I think you owe them an explanation."

Penny turned around to see Yang and Blake giving her disapproving looks, while Weiss's glare looked especially heated.

"… Yes." She said nervously.