Regina returned back to the room with her boxes. She had run into two girls on her way there who had offered to help her. One was ridiculously nice and smiley, which made Regina a bit uneasy. The other was a blonde who seemed to be a bit stand-offish, but she had offered to help so she couldn't be that bad.
"Hi everyone!" The girl with the pixie haircut said. She put Regina's box down and waved. "I'm Mary Margaret. It's so nice to meet all of you." She beamed.
"It's great to meet you too Mary Margaret." Emma said, getting up from her bed. She didn't know why but she felt an instant connection with Mary Margaret. She felt like they were going to be the best of friends and that was odd for Emma. She didn't really gravitate towards people because she had trust issues, though she would never admit it. She usually preferred to fly solo.
"And you are?" Belle asked curiously, referring to the blond crossing her arms in the corner.
"Katherine." She said curtly.
"We're roommates." Snow explained, a little too perky for Regina's taste. Snow gasped as an idea suddenly hit her. "Maybe you all can come and visit our room sometime!" She exclaimed.
"Yeah, wouldn't that be great." Katherine muttered under her breath.
"I'm sorry, did you say something?" Ruby spoke up, not liking the attitude this girl was giving.
"Clearly no one was talking to you Ruby." Regina snapped.
"Listen, I just came to help Regina with her stuff so if you don't mind, I'll be going now." Katherine said with a bland tone in her voice.
"Oh yes." Ruby agreed. "The queen's slaves do need to take breaks. So Regina?" Ruby asked, turning her attention to the fuming brunette. "Do you just pick up servants from anywhere or do you have to flash your money in their faces first." Ruby asked slyly.
"You know what I'd like to know? Are you jealous of my money because you don't have enough to buy some decent clothes or do you dress like a whore on purpose?"
"What did you just say to me?!" Ruby stepped into her face, beginning to lose it.
"You heard me bitch." Regina snarled, not backing down.
"Woah, woah, woah!" Emma said, pushing the two apart. "This is not the right way to start out our first day!"
"I want a new roommate!" Ruby screamed and stomped out of the room to go find Robin.
"Yeah? Well I second that!" Regina screamed after her, but didn't follow."
"Are you sure?" Ruby whined as she walked beside Robin to the gathering hall. All of the girls were obligated to attend the code of conduct meeting, the same one that the boy's had attended earlier.
"Ruby, I'm fairly certain." Robin confirmed. "Your roommates are set. It would only be a long and complicated process that in the end, would most likely not work out."
"Well, I can't live with her!" Ruby said, getting angry again.
"Unfortunatly, you're going to have to." Robin said, stopping in front of the door. "But I do agree that she was way out of line. Rubbing her family's wealth in your face and attacking your clothing will not be tolerated." Robin said seriously. I'lll have a talk with her this afternoon."
"Thanks Robin." Ruby said, giving him an unnecessary hug. "You're the best RA anyone could have." She said, doing everything in her power to suck up to him. "After all we wouldn't want my grandmother getting involved into this, would we?" She asked him innocently.
"No, I suppose we wouldn't." Robin said, catching onto her indirect threat.
"Good day young people." The old woman said and the noise vanished into thin air. "I am Dean Lucas." She said, introducing herself. "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard by now that Hedrick hall was the source of a serious fire last year. Unfortunatly, this means that the residence hall is no longer livable. Hence, the double residencies in your current dorms. Hedrick hall will undergo renovation and be up and running in the future, but as of now your hall is co-ed."
"Is this really necessary?" Regina muttered to herself.
"Tell me about it." Katherine answered back.
"Let me make one thing clear." The old woman continued. "You are all adults now and we expect you all to act as such. There are twice as many of you than were meant to be in one building. We expect you all to continue to abide by the rules. This means no inappropriate conduct, especially with the opposite sex."
"Geeze, I feel like I'm having 'the talk' with my mother all over again." Mary Margaret said. Emma only nodded in agreement. She always got uncomfortable when others brought up their parents.
"Your RA's are here to help you and guide you. Might I remind you that relationships between RA's and their residents are strictly prohibited. We had an incident last year and we do not plan to repeat it." The Dean said seriously. "Now with that in mind, I wish you all an excellent school year and I encourage you all to stay focused on your academics."
Regina was putting her purple satin sheets on her bed when she heard her door open. She sighed, annoyed that her peace and quiet was over. The rest of the girls had said that they were going to check out the campus but she had decided to stay behind, not in the mood to go anywhere. She didn't think anyone would be back so soon so she had decided to let her emotions show. She had really thought college would be different, but clearly it was shaping up to be just like high school. At least she was away from her mother. Regina let out a soft laugh as she thought about it. Away was an understatement. California and Maine were on opposite ends of the country. A tear slid down Regina's cheek as she thought about it. All the hurt and pain that her mother had caused her began to flood back. All the abuse, physical and emotional, that she had endured for her entire life.
"Regina." Robin called. He had expected her to turn around when he had come in but she was just standing there, as if she were frozen.
"What?" She asked, snapping out of her gaze and quickly trying to wipe her tears but it was no use. Her eyes were puffy and her nose was red, a clear give away that she had been crying.
"Are you okay?" Robin asked concerned.
"I'm fine." Regina said, sniffling. She hated that he had seen her crying. No one ever saw her cry. It showed that she was weak and Regina Mills was most definitely not weak.
"No you're obviously not fine." Robin said, walking over to her. He had gone in there with a set mind that he was going to tell this rich and self-entitled girl off, but as soon as he had seen her face all of that melted away. He didn't know what it was about this girl but it was driving him crazy. All he wanted to do at the moment was make her feel better. "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked and waited for her response.
"No." Regina said, trying her hardest to hold back her tears. Why was he here? She wished he would just leave so she could do this alone. He just looked at her and she sighed, giving in. "I'm just having a hard day, okay?" She said, taking a seat on her bed.
"And why is that?" He asked, sitting down next to her.
"I'm not a snitch." She said proudly as she whipped her face with her hand. Robin reached into his pocket and handed her a napkin.
"I'm not asking you to snitch on anyone." Robin explained. "I just want to know what's wrong." Regina whipped her eyes with the napkin before she continued.
"Someone's just giving me a hard time." She said, defeated.
"Really?" Robin asked in shock. "Because a little birdie told me that you've been giving them a hard time." Regina scoffed at his comment before standing up.
"Of course she would tell you that." Regina said knowingly, digging in her bag for some Advil. She had a pounding headache.
"So do you want to tell me what's going on between you two?"
"I don't even care anymore." Regina said, chasing the two pills with water.
"You know, if you don't tell me your side of the story I'm gong to have to write you up." Robin said.
"You can do whatever you want." Regina said, feeling defeated. She clearly had already lost this fight so why even try. "But could you do it somewhere else? I just want to go to sleep." It was then that Robin really noticed the sadness in her eyes. She had such beautiful brown eyes. He didn't know what went on between her and Ruby but he could tell that she clearly wasn't the source of the fight.
"Get some rest." He said, rising from her bed. "I'll come check on you in the morning." He said, heeding towards the door.
"You really don't have to do that."
"It's my job." He smiled softly before closing the door.