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Chapter Text

Make no mistake. I am an alien.

Wait, hold on. I should probably explain before I sound like a crazy person!

I grew up on a small island called Patch just off the coast of Vale.

Living a simple life in a cabin just a little ways in the wood, real homie.

Just me, my sister and dad. No mom. If my dad flipped a coin for relationships, unfortunately he'd come up tails each time. Unfortunately. Luckily for me that first one is how he met my mom!

Anyways, I lived a good life, being raised in a Huntsman family, training from a young age how to kill monsters, a dream come true!

Sure, I didn't make many friends, but I was never really socialite like my sister.

That's fine though, because I had weapons! My Uncle, a sometimes I call him drunkle, hehe, he took up most of my free time.

Turns out, training with a giant scythe that could slice Grimm like butter and had the recoil to send me flying was not easy training.

I mean, everything was fine. I trained, I did good in my school, I even was able to do repairs on a motorcycle by fifteen, but something was missing. Ya know?

So, one inconspicuous day, I was out getting a new magazine and suddenly my life changed for real!

Some weird guy in a bowler hat comes in, robs a story, doesn't even take the money! I get held at gun point, not my first time but it still was weird! Anyways, I try to stop him and in hindsight I realize something.

I WAS SO STUPID!

I should've left it to the police! Or a real Huntsman!

I was just a student, sure armed with enough fire power to make the average joe cry mommy, but you get the point.

Regardless, the guy threw dust at me and just as I thought I was dead, an explosion happened. And I crashed into some weird lady's house.

It probably should be mentioned I was on top of an apartment.

It was so weird.

The air was different. The temperature felt a lot cooler as well.

And when I looked out of the hole in the roof I made, I was shocked.

No, I was seeing things!

THE MOON WAS FULL!

I somehow, in the span of getting a rather large crystal of fire dust thrown at me, had been transported to another world!

And it was named after dirt!

Anyways, I met this sorta nice lady while she was shouting about her roof. A totally fair thing to complain about. Lucky me she didn't call police or anything.

Thankfully, she wasn't some weird alien and we spoke the same language so I tried to tell her what was happening.

She didn't believe me at first, but then I went, "Wait, I can prove I'm an alien if you just give me a second!"

I grab Crescent Rose off the ground.

Hold it up and suddenly!

CLANK!

My baby was all unfolded! I also did a little trick with my semblance and then she passed out.

And she passed out!

I tried fixing what I could of the roof, and brought her to a couch.

And get this, she gave me a place to stay with her till I got home!

We shook hands and I made sure she wouldn't have to worry about any weird shenanigans while I was under her roof!

Oh, by the way, I'm Ruby, hi.

Probably should've led with that!

Despite the poor situation I am in, I like to think I was doing great for myself!

It's all about perspective!

I got this covered!

I have to...

I'm somewhere new, and I'll need to make it work.

Planet, country, region; I'm sure there is a reason.

Never thought of something like that till now.

I'm sure that this...

This will be a fun bump in the road.

February 2008

The sound of a motor starting up filled the rather empty garage.

All that filled it right now besides an assortment of boxes near the corner and a shelf near the back, and by the shelf was a tarp with a moped, a fresh coat of paint that seemed to emulate a rose on it. Standing right next to it was a single girl leaning by the shelf, a hot, still steaming, mug on it. On the bike, a girl with black hair and red tips revved the bike a few times before taking a note pad and checking something off.

Her head was tilted to the side, a phone resting between her shoulder and ears. Placing the notebook onto the shelf and grabbing her coffee.

"-and don't think about speeding home! I do not want you getting into some accident and have people poking around! And pay attention to the road, look both ways! I did not get you that bike just for you to crash it!"

"I mean... it was already busted when you brought it here," Ruby muttered as she held a Nokia phone close to her ear, taking a quick swig of coffee. "And I promise, I've looked at the requirements and besides my lack of a proper drivers license, this thing is street legal!, auntie Lynn!"

"Ruby," a voice from the other side of the phone, sounding a little tired, "you know you don't need to call me that when no one can hear us."

Shrugging and finishing her drink. "Think of it as practice! if people ask, I am your niece, so it'd be weird if I don't call you that!"

There was a small breath as "Auntie" Lynn was probably pinching her nose on the other side. "Fine, but please stop calling me that at home."

"Sure, sure, fine, I'll stop," Ruby giggled as she placed the mug back and placed one leg over the seat and got comfortable on her bike. "Bye, Auntie Lynn." Ruby jokingly said as she was about to hang up. Catching the sound of Lynn telling her not to bring any weapons. Like she would ever bring a gun to a normal civilian school! Besides, if she had to, she had better things that her Uncle Qrow taught her to use.

Phone? In the bag. Helmet? On her head. Shades? Also her on! Bag? On her back! Keys! In the ignition.

Looking back one more time, Ruby pulled out and as she drove from the garage onto the driveway and she looked back and closed the large door. Watching it all close, Ruby smiled once more as she finally drove away, her cute little moped humming along as she drove off. Today was going to be a good day! She had school! Sure, it was Lynn's idea to keep her busy by going to school, but it didn't hurt! When else would an alien get a chance to experience real culture of people her age on a new planet!

Sure, she's never been the most social person and she was the prime example of a fish out of water, but she had her story straight!

She was Ruby Rose, and had just moved to Virginia, USA, after her dad decided that a military life wasn't good for his daughter and sent her to live with her aunt, Lynn. No clear place she can say she settled down in, and all she had to do was keep things vague. Maybe say she lived on Guam or some other island! Like Rhode Island! That's an island!

Right?

At a red light, a Volkswagen Jetta sat behind a row of cars the refused to fucking move. It was like the light just did not want anyone to be on time. In fact, some guy in some beat up KIA cut off some chick on a bike, almost hitting her. That however wasn't important, if some bitch decided casually killing someone on the road was how they wanted to spend their morning, then so be it. More important conversations were happening.

"God fucking damnit," Nicole, long brown hair tied in a ponytail, blue shirt, general bitch, cussed as she finally broke the silence.

"What, forgot to bring money to pay Emily for some of her supply?" Jecka, blonde bitch who was as preppy as she was fucked up, asked as she looked at her passenger seat.

Shaking her head, Nicole placed her head on the window as she waited for the light to turn green. "No, but if I did and I was desperate enough I'd flirt with Kylar to get some of his Percocet."

"Wow, look at your muscles, you must be so strong~," Jecka put on a fake flirty voice as she fluttered her eye lashes as the light turned green.

A smirk crawled over her lips as she decided to join in the mocking, "You know, it'd be super hot if you beat the shit out of Jeffery," she chuckled at that. "Seriously though, we have some sort of experiment today in chemistry and if I'm going to pass it I'm probably going to have to flirt with Jeffery to do it."

Raising an eyebrow, Jecka looked at her best friend. "When did you start to care about grades?"

"Since my mom has been checking my shit and questions my school work. Bitch really thinks if I pass high school chemistry I'll be on the "road to success!" or something like that," Nicole said as she looked outside the window at the passing street. Huh, the KIA guy was break checking the chick on the moped. Shit, tough to be her. "You think if I complement his... ugh, I don't know, hand signs? Have I done those yet?"

"Fuck if I know, but I'm sure he definitely works on one specifically."

"Like every night or..."

"Soon as he gets home, no doubt about-HOLY SHIT!" slamming on the break, Jecka and Nicole came to a quick stop as the KIA swerved into their lane. "Fucking asshole!" Jecka shouted as she slammed on the horn.

"Jesus, ow," Nicole rubbed on where the seatbelt was as she tried to regain herself. "Damn, this guy is either is showing why drivers license are really useful. You think I could drive better than that? I think I can."

"Shut up, Nicole. I'm not interested in using my fucking car insurance!" Jecka groaned.

Shrugging Nicole looked back out of the window. It wasn't like they were the ones going to get hurt. Even if this bitch break checked them, it was the word of two scared teen minors over some fat ass or some shit, they'd be clear. And that was if they got hit. It was pretty obvious the real thing going on was this ass trying to run the scooter off the road. Shame, the outfit was kinda cute, thigh highs, some sort of half skirt, and a black shirt. If it wasn't going to be covered in blood soon, it'd be pretty nice to snatch.

Just as the KIA was beginning to merge back into the lane as the red scooter was at, keeping pace with it, making obvious the car was defiantly going to catch a body, or at least try, the sound of a motorcycle began to fill the air. About four others and a convertible blasting music following close behind them, going about 20 miles faster then the speed limit of 35 miles per hour.

About two of the new motorcycles pulled up to the KIA, revving their engines as if to say, "Fuck off!" or "Get the hell away!"

It didn't work obviously, Nicole could tell you that if someone in a car was doing half this shit, a little revving would do jack shit. Then again, when that fails, Nicole noticed a trend that bikers usually followed, which was punching a mirror. Some guy in some leather greaser jacket punching the mirror before pulling away and signaling for the red scooter to follow him as the KIA slowed down again.

"BITCH! Get off the fucking road!" the blonde shouted as she moved to the next lane, leaving the KIA with a now broken mirror in the dust, not interested in getting involved anymore. "I swear to god, it's way to fucking early for this shit!"

Letting out a passive hum as she looked out of the window, Nicole listened to Jecka grumble and complain about the KIA as they continued towards the school. Looking one more time at the window, Nicole blew a whistle. Okay, maybe it was best they left that KIA behind as Jecka sped the hell away, because out of the the side of the convertible was some guy with a gun. It wasn't pointed at anyone but it was defiantly not holstered.

Maybe if shots did get fired they'd get the day off?

Fuck, they were not that lucky.

Driving was bad! Driving was scary! Drive was stressful!

Almost getting seriously hurt was normal for her! Monsters, giant wolves, gun fire! She knew how to handle that! Seven times out of ten, she was dealing with that in a controlled environment! Not this time though! Some jerk almost ran her off the road! Worse part was that she had to be saved! Sure, she was thankful but now here she was, in her school's bike parking lot, four really tall guys standing over her! Earth high schools were supposed to be from 14-18, right? The guy in front of her looked 20 at the youngest! No, she was being stupid, he wasn't a student! Maybe they probably were going to shake her down after they decide to follow her? Did they want money?! She didn't have much!

"Chica, eh! Chica," one of them snapped their fingers in front of her. Right, the guy was trying to talk to her! "Oi, you can you hear me? You not death or some shit, right?"

"It's deaf, Jose," a guy in a plaid shirt corrected.

"Bitch, did I ask," "Jose" shouted back at the person who corrected him. "Oi!" he snapped a few more times. "You hit your head or some shit?"

"Ah..." Ruby finally let out. Her voice slightly muffled by her helmet, which covered her face "N-no... Uh... can I help you?"

The guy who she picked to be leading them, the one talking to her, rolled his eyes. "'Can I help you?'" he mocked in her high voice, "You almost got ran off the fucking road, I'm just doing the right thing and making sure some kid didn't get hurt."

"R-really?" okay, so maybe this was not a shake down.

"Yeah! We're responsible drivers!" one in the back said. "Because people who drive that are fucking faa-aaaa..."

"Careful Jose, you say that word again, you'll make us all say 20 prayers to Our Fathers," a rather pointed tone was given to the other person called Jose, rather small compared to the other three but still rather tall. 

"Sorry," the second Jose lowered his head. "I almost did a homophobia."

"It's fine, Jose. We can talk about later." the main Jose said rather dismissively. "So, you're fine, no banged up or any shit?"

"N-no... thank you, uh... Jose?" Ruby said and the main Jose nodded. "Really wasn't expecting that though. I finally fixed this bad girl up and I almost had it get trashed on her maiden voyage with me," Ruby whined as she looked at her bike and patted the seat.

"Shiiit, you fixed that thing up?" one of the others asked.

Nodding, "Yep! I got her cheap from some guy who owned a car junk yard, the wheels where busted, the throttle gave out half the time, and don't get me started on the engine! But I did it! An entire month of work and I fixed this cutie from paint to an all clean and revamped engine!"

"Damn," the smaller Jose said. "Not often you see a girl get her hands all dirty."

"Eh, it's nothing..." Ruby replied rather bashfully, taking her back pack and opening a zipper and pulling out a pair of shades. Ruby turned around and took her helmet off, quickly replacing it with her shades to cover her eyes. "The worst part was getting the parts cheap, but I got it done! The internet, wohoo!"

"Wohoo!" one of them went before someone hit them upside the head, a "shut up Mikey," being whispered.

The larger Jose hummed as he looked at the bike. "Hmm, I see. So, are you new here, or something? Because it's half way through the school year and I don't imagine getting a parking spot for a bike is easy this late in the year."

Nodding as she turned around, her red and black hair a little messy from the helmet. "Family on staff, but that too. I just started. First day and all."

"Oh, well welcome to LHS. I'm sure you'll like plenty if you know where to go and what to do," Jose shrugged. "So you some Sophomore or some shit?:

"Not exactly," Ruby shook her head. "Home schooling and what not till now, so when I tested in, I was at about a Junior level, but I'm 15, turning 16 this year."

"Ah..." Mikey let out. "Impressive. Well, you better be off," he looked down at his wrist and down at a watch. "Classes are going to start soon, so you better start running."

"Shoot!" Ruby let out as she put her bag on her back. "I still need to pick up my schedule! Thank you so much! Bye!" the girl waved goodbye. She seemed nice.

As they watched the girl who rode a cute moped run as fast as her legs could carry her, which was actually quite fast, the four men who looked way older than they should be, all came to a consensus rather quickly.

"Está jodida," Jose muttered.

"Most defintily."

"Like a puppy amongst wolves."

"Hopefully she doesn't have Colby."

"He's the only gym teacher!"

"Screwed~!"

Chapter Text

Today was not a great day. The start was not pleasant. Things could be better.

Sure, the wake up was fine, things were great even. Some cinnamon toast crunch was a decent start, but after stepping foot out of the house things only went down hill.

Especially because of Dave.

Yes, Jeffery was not having a good day and he blamed Dave.

His step dad was still here. He was positive he would have left his mother or his mom would leave him by now, but no. One romantic gesture and breaking the bed returned things to the status quo at the Fitzgerald-Rodes house. He didn't understand it at all! His mom was undoubtably sexy. It was part of why he had her as his mommy, but even if that fantasy would only be in his mind, he could still say that she could do better.

Dave was one of the constant bullies of his life. The kind of guys who just came back from Iraq or Afghanistan and was obviously still thought he was tough shit. The thing that made Dave worse though was the fact he had to return to him at his home. He always judged him when he was watching anime on YouTube. He scrubbed his guns with his tooth brush because, "You sure don't use it!" he would say. He always acted like he was big dog!

Just today when his mom couldn't drive him to school and he had to, he went on a tangent about being a real man. Honestly, thank goodness his phone could play the Sonic Adventure 2 sound track so he could drown him out. When would he take the hint that he was a brains type of person and not a brawn?  People like them, people who valued the physical side of things could never understand, especially someone like him.

Someone who actually valued personality! Someone who valued what was below the surface! An intellectual!

A full half hour of that was to much, honestly. How could someone talk and not get a clue? He did not like guns or sports! He like epic sword fights and tournament arcs!

Things also didn't get better when he got out of the car. His backpack hit a bump and he ended up dropping it in the middle of a cross walk, the light turned green and this guy honked at him! So embarrassing. It didn't make things better when Kylar tripped him. Again. How a brute like him could make it this far would've been a mystery if it wasn't obvious. He was a jock with objectively good looks and an endless supply of drugs. He was far above him in the social ladder of school.

Just 14 more months of him then the script with change!

And to make things better something was happening that would make a changing in his favor!

It was first period, only about a quarter of the way through the class and Mr. Burleday was on a tangent about his ugly wife and how she would not and could not cheat on him. Nothing new there, but what made things interesting was Miss Lynn walked in on their class. Uncommon but not unheard of, though you'd never see him complain seeing her, those high heels and the way they made contact with the ground, boy howdy! She however wasn't what got his eyes and mind wandering. No no.

It was her.

Some sort of shorts and a half skirt, a black shirt with some sort of outline of a flower, and black bracelets decorating her arms. With clear and healthy pale skin that looked flawless from the exposed parts of her legs to her slender arms. Even if her face was slightly obscured by sun glasses her most striking feature to him was her hair. It was like their principal's, dyed red at the tips making a slight gradient at the end of her hair.

She was breath taking and had an alien beauty to her.

There was no mistaking it, she was a new student and judging by her attire they'd be good friends! She had the kind of esthetic he knew someone who watched anime would wear!

Oh, he could see it now. The two of them, talking about the newest episode of One Piece episode or better yet Rosario + Vampire, oh how he wished he could meet a real life succubus like Kurumu! The two of them could go to his house and talk about all sorts of cool things! His mom and step-dad would finally get off his case about making real friends! MiniMukaMomo was a real person! He just lived in Australia!

And he could see it progressing! People seeing him hanging out with the new kid, having a real friend! Then he wouldn't be the but of the joke anymore! Even better, what if they began dating? Oh, yeah. He could see them in his room, his GameCube controllers left on the ground, Smash just casually playing as the two of them, on his bed, begin to...

"Excuse me!"

Ruby liked to think she was doing good so far! Sure, she did almost get run off the road, but who hasn't? Things were going nice, she met those nice guys at the school bike parking, she ran into "Auntie" Lynn, and she got her to escort her to her first class! Sure, the teacher was talking about some weird stuff, but her Uncle showed up to class with bombs and was drunk, this wasn't the weirdest thing she had heard!

Today they were doing a packet as a way to close off their unit on acids and bases, and along with a test, she wasn't expected to really do much today, so yay? A win for her she guessed. Can't look the gift Ursa in the mouth. Still, things were weird. Probably because she was some dork wearing sun glasses inside! Who unironically did that?! She must look like a try hard!

What was worse, and something she felt guilty about, was this guy looking at her. She had never experienced this feeling before but Yang described it to her once. That feeling of someone just ogling you like an object rather than a person. He was lanky, his shirt had one of those dumb jokes on it that no one actually thought was funny, and his skin was a pasty white. Which was funny since she would argue she wasn't that far off from his skin tone. Point was he was looking at her as she waited for proper instruction from the teacher. Her guilt over this weird "ick" feeling got worse as she walked and he just kept looking where she stood.

Was she worried over nothing? Maybe it was just her nerves talking? Whatever! Deep breaths and take her assigned seat.

Next to said guy she was not sure was staring at her. There was also a girl who looked like she wanted to be anywhere else but here, and honestly, if you asked Ruby? Relatable.

Walking past the girl, up to her seat. Right against the wall. Then she was at him, still looking at the front. He wasn't fully pushed in and his backpack was on the ground, one of those rolling ones with a tall handle like a suit case, and it's long handle was out, blocking the way. Great.

"Hello?" Ruby said kindly, waving gently as she looked at the kid. Was calling him a kid right? She was younger than him. "Excuse me?" she called out again. Nothing.

Okay, this was getting annoying. "Excuse me!" a little more firm and a tap on his shoulder and suddenly he seemed to catch up with reality. "Can you move your backpack?" she asked, pointing to the affair child between suit cases and back packs. "My seat is right there."

"O-oh! Sorry!" he stammered as he brought his backpack out and under the table. "Didn't see you there."

Raising an eyebrow, "I literally just walked from the... whatever," Ruby shook her head. "It's fine, we all get distracted," she did not have the social buffer of Yang to be rude at all! Sure if a misunderstanding ruined a first impression at Signal, oh well! She knew most people since she picked up her first shotgun! They knew what to expect! Not here! No! Sighing as she took her seat and placed her bag next to her and against the wall. "So, I'm Ruby. Nice to meet you two! I hear we're supposed to be doing a packet? Right?"

"That's right, but don't worry. Me and Nicole got this, since your new you don't need to worry about anything!" the nerdy kid said. "Oh, I'm Jeffery by the way, and this is Nicole, obviously."

"I don't know what you're talking about,," the girl, Nicole, said. The tone in her voice was nothing special but the general air about her and the way she only called him out did make hairs stand on end, scary. "I'm only here so my mom doesn't bitch at me for skipping again. So you can go ahead and continuing doing fuck all," Nicole said as she waved Jeffery off before her eyes landed on Ruby. Looking her up and down. "Didn't you almost get ran off the road by some drunk driver?"

Shoot, a quiet tongue click, "You... you saw that?"

"Hard to not when a KIA swerves into your lane because a bunch of Mexicans on bikes and a car showed up," Nicole said as she landed on Ruby's eyes, or more specifically the sun glasses she had on. "They fuck you up or some shit?"

"Huh?" Ruby raised an eyebrow. Maybe she thought she was slow on the up take, because Nicole tapped where the frames of her glasses would be on her own head. "Oh! No! No, nothing like that, uh... I have an eye thing that is easier to hide than just explain a bunch of times to people who won't believe it," Ruby said as if it was the most casual thing in the world. She gave her glasses a playful flick and gave a smile, shiny white and health teeth greeted Nicole. It was the kind smile that just screamed, "I've yet to experience real trauma and I still think people are good."

"So you got a dumb eye or something?"

Okay, so she was the blunt type! Good to know. Best case scenario for someone like them, do not be super extra.

Shoot.

"Nothing like that, just some weird coloration is all," Ruby said as she tried not to seem like she cared to much. "Last time I walked around without them some weird old lady was like, "Young lady, do you know how bad color contacts are for your eyes?" I wasn't talking to her! I was in a line!"

"Hmm," Nicole said as she leaned back in her seat.

His head popped between Ruby and Nicole, Jeffery smiling wide as he made himself known again. He gave a humph and a thumbs up. "Well, no worries, Ruby. I sure your eyes are nothing to worry about, and hey, maybe you might have a cool looking like Sasuke's Sharingan!"

"Uh...." Ruby was now stumped. Dang it, a compliment? Sure, she should feel happy she got one but she didn't get what a Sharingan was! "Is... is that a good thing? I don't know what that is."

"Huh? Have you not seen Naruto before? It's such a great anime!" Jeffery said as he seemed a little shocked. "I figured from your appearance you watched anime."

"Anime...?" she repeated. What was anime? You know what, maybe she was in over her head. Maybe she should've just gone to the forest and lived a life as a hermit and alien!

An annoyed sigh came from Nicole as Jeffery and Ruby turned back to her. "Jeffery, can't you see she doesn't know what your Chinese cartoons are? Lucky her. So can you shut the fuck up and just do the paper?"

"Ugh! It's Japanese!" Jeffery raised his voice, enough for Ruby to move back a little in shock. "I tell you people this all the time!"

"I-it's fine," Ruby said, trying to calm Jeffery down. "So, it's a cartoon. Cool. I might watch it later when I'm free."

"Anime, Ruby! An-im-e!" Jeffery said, growing more frustrated. Taking a deep breath, he seemed to calm himself down. "You should though, it's a very interesting show-" Jeffery began as he turned to the packet that he had yet to start. Meanwhile as he talked and Ruby and Nicole watched, they let the conversation go.

It seemed like Nicole was about to say but Ruby quickly used her hand to chop at her own neck. It was like quietly screaming at someone to not say anything. Jeffery was talking and Naru-something and while Nicole would rather be blowing her own brains out right now, Ruby could handle just listening. It did not take a genius to figure out that Nicole did not like him. He was the type of person who made someone viscerally angry, and Nicole was "someone."

As if responding to her, Nicole gave her a look, questioning what she was doing. To that Ruby shrugged. She had no idea. How could she?! She had never actually been in this sort of situation before! The worst she had was when Opal Verdigris kept squeaking her show after rain! Even then, it wasn't her that confronted her! It was Topaz Plum that told her to shut up! Doing her best, she decided to try and communicate with Nicole that she'll just try and keep him talking or on task, either worked.

Rolling her eyes, Nicole seemed to get the message and decided to just wave her hand, inviting her to try, she wasn't getting any more involved than this.

Taking a deep breath, maybe this will be how she makes friends. Jeffery seemed to be talkative so that was nice and Nicole seemed like the to cool for school type, so best to spread her eggs across a few baskets. See which crowd she jelled with the most.

"J-Jeff, you don't mind that right?"

"I do, actually," Jeffery said, pushing his glasses up. "My name is Jeffery, but yes, Ruby? I was just getting to the part where Naruto was showed how he mastered the Shadow Clone Jutsu."

Like a cloning semblance? "Uh... good to know, I was just wondering, what other anime stuff could tell me?" Gahhh! She sounded like robot on a script! "I'm sure you've talked Nicole's ears off, why not tell me about 'aname'." Ruby said, pretty sure she mispronounced the thing. She then looked at Nicole who was, indeed, ignoring them.

"Oh! Well if you must know... there is this newer anime out, and it's really good," Jeffery said as he seemed to slow down and a smile crept onto his face. "Ever heard of Rosario + Vampire?"

Was this what it was like to actually hate someone?

Sure, she "hated" Opal Verdigris, but that was mutual and friendly! The Signal Bake Sale even made sure that people  knew about the competition and people picked teams! Sure she threw toilet paper at her "shop" and sure Opal hid her ingredients, but neither of them actually disliked one another, it was bakers pride if anything.

But did it finally happen? Did she finally understand what it meant to hate a person? Grimm didn't count, she had vendetta but she would not say she hated anyone. Her dad and Uncle made it clear that "hate" was a special word, because Grimm loved hate. So you should use it wisely.

And you know what? She might hate him.

Jeffery was on her list.

Here she is, first day of school and what does she hear? Vampires and succubi? Shows about guys seeing panties? Ninjas and love triangles? Okay, maybe that last one was actually something up her alley, but the rest? It got sexual so fast! She tried to drive the conversation another way, but you know what? It went back to characters and their boobs! She did not want to talk about boobs! Who talked about this kind of stuff with someone they first met?! Who?! And who could not pick up the hint that someone was uncomfortable?! She tried to be nice, but man was first period a tough one!

She didn't want this friend! She knew it was mean to extend friendship and then immediately take it away but surely it made sense from an outside perspective! Ruby Rose was not meant to navigate the complex social world of her peers! She was born to kill monsters not kill her brain cells!

Aura did not protect against mental damage!

But perhaps the worst part of all this, it was that she didn't even get a "good job, champ!" from anyone for dealing with this. If she only had that, maybe she could deal with it if she did, but she didn't, but no. No head pats, no hang in there's, and no mind wipes!

With her bag on her back, Ruby, with fingers crossed, did not have him in any of her other classes. Maybe she should've taken a note out of Nicole's book and tried ignoring him. She surely had her stuff together!

Chapter Text

Classes have been shit, but what else is new?

Her dad and mom were yelling at each other again today, so nothing new there. Something about her buying heroin again or some shit. Not like she cared, she was able to sneak some of her mom's valium and no one else was the wiser.

School though was alright. Same shit, different day. Kylar calling every woman a bitch, Crispin not being sober from the pack of stems he smoked last night and was already high as hell before school started, the Latino kids hanging in the parking lot while small Jose sold hard drugs under the school's nose while people like Emily sold basic scripts.

And of course Nicole was here, actually going to class. That wasn't normal, but apparently those disciplinary tattoos made a good incentive to at least get her ass in a chair. Thank God for restroom breaks.

Also thank God for the broken smoke detector in the bathroom near the broken vending machine, because she honestly could not deal with hearing school security yelling at her today and she needed this!

"So she just flirted with him? How the hell did that lead to her getting a Rolex? That shit is expensive!" Jecka asked as she leaned on the stall door, cigarette between her fingers as she looked at Nicole, her best friend just across from her as she was sitting on the counter. "Did she flash him a titty or something?"

"No, that's the fucked up part! Kelly just gave the dude her number! Didn't even promise to do anything."

"Must be nice being the school bike, get free shit that way," Jecka sighed.

Shrugging her shoulders, Nicole thought for a second before giving the best advice she could give. "I mean... you could just fuck every guy like she does?"

"Ew, fuck no," and of course the advice was as useful as Jeffery. "If I wanted to hoe myself out, I'd get a job at Hooters, I'd get it no problem."

"Yeah, but then you'd actually have to do shit, blowing at least one of your customers is basically a requirement."

"How do you figure?" Jecka asked, taking a short drag of her smoke.

"My cousin works at one, can't go a day without some guy stalking her to the car," Nicole said as she got off the counter as she tapped the ashes away in the sink before turning on the faucet, letting the water run and washing away the remnants of her ashes.

This was what they had been talking about for the past half hour in the bathroom. Lunch was right around the corner and they were killing time till class let out for it. Not like either of them were missing much. Photography had been shit since they got a replacement for Mr. White, but then again photography was shit regardless. Him being a discount Neo-Nazi was just flavoring. At least they could talk shit about his casual racisms when he went on a tangent about purity. Still, at least he wouldn't get a bench or something at school. Not after bombing some Cuban or Mexican bingo night.

She wasn't racist.

Still, shit was boring and with nothing actually interesting happening, she'd be doing this for about ten more minutes till she could head back and grab her bag from her class.

Or it would be boring until the door slammed open and some girl walked up to the sink. She looked like a sophomore. Small and shit.

Fuck, what if they snitched? Or worse, it was some overly excited chick who was a total poser? Not that she was one to talk, but dealing with someone who talked shit but didn't actually do it was such a pain. Was this what those eighth graders felt like?

"I can do this, I can do this, I can... sniff..." the girl was talking to herself and standing by the mirror for a few seconds before her nose seemed to register she wasn't alone.

With a slow turn, covered eyes met the two of theirs. Nicole and herself were looking as the little sophomore turned to them. Her eyes covered but she was probably darting between the two of them.

"Shit, uh... fuck," Nicole immediately tossed her cigarette by default.

"Uh... hey. Nicole, right?" the new girl said and was looking at Nicole. "Did I interrupt something?"

She knew Nicole? "You know her?" Jecka looked at Nicole. Probably high on some shit because if Jecka knew Nicole as well as she thought she did, then Nicole would not be attending every one of her classes without having her "blanket in a pill" so she could deal with teachers bitching at her.

"Shit, yeah, I do," Nicole confirmed. "Remember that KIA that almost hit us, she was on the bike it was trying to murder."

"Oh, shit," poor girl. Wait, could she drive? Could sophomores drive?

" Yeah, plus she's a new kid. Still wearing sunglasses indoors... uhh... I didn't put your name to memory."

"It's Ruby-"

"I don't care," Nicole interrupted.

There was a moment of silence at how quickly she got shut down, but Jecka wasn't going to let someone snitch on them because they were bitches. She didn't need another one of her skipping spots taken away from her.

"Ruby... Okay, so how're you enjoying the school?" Jecka offered a forced smile on her face as she got a death glare from Nicole but if she wanted to deal with the headache of someone telling on them, then so be it! "Make friends?"

"Eh," Ruby turned and turned on a faucet and rinsed her hands before rubbing her face with the water. "Not really... though I've so far had a class with the most annoying guy I've ever met."

"Annoying how? Talking weird shit annoying or won't stop pestering you?"

"Both...?" Ruby tilted her head as she shook her hands of the excess dripping water. "Know a guy named Jeffery? Same grade as us?"

"Ah...." Jecka let out, that was enough said. "Wait, you're a Junior?"

"Same grade, a year younger," she explained. "So you know him? Talks about anime with every other breath of air?"

Letting out an "oof," Jecka saw a rare look of concern from Nicole. Though maybe it was a pity she was mistaking that for, "You have him for more than science?" her best friend asked.

"For my math and English too. I'm only free from him in shop!" Ruby groaned out in utter pain and despair. "No, I do not want to talk about the ninja show I have not seen. No, I don't want to listen to the music from your favorite anime. No, I don't want to talk about an anime about finding a girl in strawberry panties!" to hammer her point home, the girl pushed to her wits end slammed her fist onto the counter, a strong thud made Nicole jump from her spot against the counter. "And no, I do not want to talk about which characters have the best boobs!"

With panting breath, Ruby seemed to calm down and looked at her fist for a second before letting her fist go. "Sorry... I-I needed a few minutes from him."

"Yeah... clearly," Jecka said as Ruby put her hands in her pockets. "You heading back to your class?"

"No other choice," the way her voice sounded so dead, it made Jecka forget for a second that Ruby had seen them smoking.

"Why don't you tell him to fuck off? Everyone else does that," Nicole offered, shrugging as she tried to get Ruby to leave by just solving her problem. "Hell, I got the lacrosse kid to beat the shit out of him on my first day."

Ruby raised her hand like she wanted to say something but stopped. Debating if that was something worth touching. She lowered it soon after. It was not. "Not exactly something I want to try... I'm new, I have nothing here. No friends, no social buffers, nothing. I cannot really derail that with being known as a jerk or being mean? Get what I mean?" Ruby tried to reason, and to some degree, Jecka could understand.

"Damn, being a new kid and not knowing how to take advantage of your grace period. First time moving?"

"That obvious?" Ruby asked weakly.

Nicole nodded. Was this some sort of new kid comradery Nicole was sharing? Maybe or maybe, again, she wanted Ruby to get the fuck out. Both were possible but the second was far more likely. "Fine, you don't want to tell the anime kid to fuck off, then just be with anyone else."

"Anyone else?" Ruby parroted.

"Yeah. Anyone else. Someone who knows to tell him to fuck off or even better, someone who he won't go near," Jecka chimed in. "So basically any guy who goes to the gym by choice, guys with girlfriends, those who are in the party scene, and any jock."

"Great... so no one I know. That's useful," Ruby groaned as she ran a hand through her hair as black and red flapped back down onto her head. "Well, thanks anyways."

"Yeah, no problem," Jecka said as she waved her a polite goodbye before asking, "And... you won't say anything about," she held her cigarette and gave it a light shake.

Ruby looked at it but gave a weak shrug. "Na, it's fine. You could be doing worse things, plus my Uncle drank on the job and you never heard a complaint from me," Ruby chuckled as she had fond memories of her and her classmates pranking her drunkle Qrow. "Just a heads up though, I heard they'd be installing a new smoke detector in here like... in a week, maybe less, so you might want to find a new spot. See ya~!"

And with that, the new kid opened the door and waved them goodbye. A pep in her step that wasn't there when she walked in suddenly there. Huh, that was kinda nice, plus the warning was also good. That said...

"Why the fuck did she wear sun glasses indoors? She got some sort of bum eye or some shit?"

"I think so, but she says it's some eye condition."

"Wah wah wah wah wah. Wah wah, wah wah."

"Waha ha haw wah wah wah wah."

"Wah wah wah, wah?"

Less than 10 minutes left of class and a bathroom break later and Ruby was still not ready for lunch. Not because she was worried about finding some place to sit, no. She could make due anywhere! Being a Huntress, and a sniper at that, finding quiet places to sit and stay uninterrupted wasn't a problem. Her biggest issue was the young man next to her, making her wish she could put her head into the jaws of an Ursa Major. Though if she did survive that, she might be in a paralyzed state and not be able to move away from this!

Her dad always said to accept new friends, and she could do that once she got past that awkward first meeting! The issue was that she wasn't making it awkward, he was! He was driving her crazy, she had tuned him out because just 20 minutes ago she tried talking about her other interests, like baking, but nope! Back to anime! Don't mistake Ruby, she loved cartoons, comics and other memorabilia! They're fun and some just look awesome, but he was the example Yang used when she explicitly told her to be careful of men if she ever wanted to date. Did she think that was mean at the time? Yes. Did she understand? Even more now!

Okay, maybe not entirely, she still hadn't met someone she would consider dating, but she got the principle!

And Jeffery... he was talking about eating lunch with her and she was not interested. She couldn't put herself through that for one more period!

"Wah wah wha, haw wa aw wha."

"Wah wah wah, wah wah."

"Wah ha ha wa-" RING!

The bell!

Snapping back to reality and seeing everything returning to normal, no more filler noise to replace voices, she saw people packing up and leaving the room immediately. Quick! She needed to think fast! Nicole said to be with anyone else he'd avoid, but who?! She didn't know anyone! Maybe she should make something up? Say she needs to go to Lynn? No, that was going to inconvenience her and how long could she do that for? Those guys on the bikes? Who knew where they were?! Uh... uh... THINK RUBY! THINK!

Idea!

"Oh, look at the time," Jeffery said with glee. "Looks like it's lunch! You got your own stuff or are you buying lunch?" Looking over, Ruby cringed. Did she really want to go through with this? "Oh, maybe over lunch I can give you another recommendation about-" The answer was a resounding yes! She could go through with this.

"Hehe, sorry Jeffery!" Ruby pushed herself out of her desk and grabbed her lunch bag and stood up and made her way to the door. "Nicole and I talked and we have a personal project, so I gotta dash!"

"Really? Oh, then maybe I can-"

"Sorry, just us!" Ruby felt a twinge of guilt for cutting him off, but she had to act before her conscience made her feel too guilty. Stupid morals! Stupid "Doing the nice thing!"

Not even giving him a wave goodbye or saying anything Ruby made a mad dash to the school cafeteria, which actually was pretty slow for her. Usually she could use her semblance and be at Signal's cafeteria within a minute of the bell ringing, but now here she was, speed walking! The lamest form of moving with your legs!

It was, unfortunately, the price she'd pay to not be near him. You can only stand so much anime talk before you make a scene. Lucky she had yet to reach it.

Pushing past the lunch room doors, Ruby cringed at the wave of sound of people in the growing lunch line as well as the horrid seats. Sure there were some booth seats near the wall but a majority of them looked like uncomfortable and ugly purple stools attached to the table. Who let someone make such a monstrosity to tables? What did tables do to them?! Or, worse yet, what did teenagers do to the school to warrant getting these?!

Eyes wander before falling on a pair of two blondes and a brunette at a table. Bingo!

Moving and weaving through the crowd of people trying to get a seat. Ruby made a swift movement and walked up to the table, a girl with messy blonde hair in the middle with Nicole and her blonde friend.

"So, he just stabbed him. Like right in the hand. No bullshit."

"Romance of the century," Nicole's dry tone and her poking at her tray of pizza, peas, and a carton of milk with a spork showing her level of interest.

"Bitch, don't act like you wouldn't do the exact same if you could get whatever you wanted from a guy!" the new girl said.

"If it meant doing half the fucked up shit you do with your boyfriend? Yeah, no. Fuck that shit," Nicole cursed. Ruby winced. How many curses had she heard today? Too many to count, that's for sure.

Walking up and placing her lunch on the table, Ruby took a second and took a breath, not liking interrupting but it was either do it now or sit awkwardly till someone asked. "Hey, Nicole. Mind if I sit here?"

The conversation seemed to come to a halt as Nicole and the two blondes turned to her. Great, now she just sped up that weird feeling!

The new blonde girl looked at her, staring her up and down before looking at Nicole. "You... know her?"

"New kid," Nicole and Jecka said at the same time, which made Ruby just give a shy wave.

Turning her attention to her, "The fuck you doing here?"

"Following your advice," Ruby shrugged as she tried to put on a confident facade. Weird how she might be one of the physically strongest people here and yet she was struggling at social interactions. "I told Jeffery you and I were doing a personal project and sorta ditched him."

"And you came here because...?" Nicole asked, annoyance showing on her voice.

"Just need a break, I can try finding someone else later," Ruby responded with the remnants of her chipper tone that had been torn throughout the day, but as Nicole was about to deliver one snarky comment, Ruby beat her to the punch. A dead look behind sun glasses and an equally defeated tone following it,  "but if I have to listen to a single more minute of anime talk... I will throw him. I can bench 250 pounds, I know I can throw him really far if I actually try. My Uncle always said a little defenestration never hurt anyone."

A moment of silence and Nicole seemed to shut up.

That was just Nicole though.

"No way you bench 250," the messy blonde haired girl said and it seemed to snap Ruby out of her state of despair.

Shaking her head as she returned to reality. "Oh, I can. I can prove it if you want.. uh... sorry, what's your name?"

"Emily," Emily said with a shrug and a flip of the hair. "So you're avoiding the anime kid? Tough, why not just tell him to fuck off like everyone else?"

"New kid is scared of being a bitch," the other blonde said and Ruby had to sadly agree. "Which, by the way, you should. He is the worst. Since it's your first day, I can forgive you for not knowing, but he's... how do I say this... he's too socially oblivious to hang with normal people but not enough to hang with the special eddies."

"A little mean, don't you think?"

"No," Nicole said as she took her pizza and took a bite and swallowed. "He told me on the first day of school he wanted to be stepped on by 50 foot tall cat girls."

"Yeah, plus in freshman year the girls pranked him by putting confessions in his locker, went about saying, "Your girlfriend is in love with me now!" to everyone. He got his ass beat for that," Emily added. "Jecka, didn't he do that to Lisa?"

Jecka snorted. "Didn't she date a senior?" she asked and Emily confirmed with a laugh.

As the conversation continued, Ruby was still processing that first bit of information. Did she dodge a bullet? Sure she had done that physically a few times by now, but was this the first time she had done it for an actual person?! Crude, this place was weird!

With a shaky breath, Ruby took her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose for a second, placing it onto the table as she tried to adjust to the light and try and make the headache this school was causing her go away before it actually was a distraction.

"I have four more months of this!" Ruby groaned as she looked up. "This sucks! How does anyone live like this?!" she asked, looking at the older girls with pleading eyes.

"Mostly dissociating, " Jecka offered.

"Getting fucked up on any drugs I can get when I have class with him," Nicole shrugged.

"Just not being in the same room as him," Emily said as if it was like saying 1+1=2. "Anyways, I got to get going, Megan needs a study aid and she wants to fill up."

Jeez, that was helpful! "Helpful!" she said exasperatedly as she finally unpacked her lunch. Nothing fancy, just some left overs. Some spaghetti, a roll of bread, some soup from a thermos, and cookies. Though she might agree that her portion size was larger than most people, she made due just to keep up her normal calorie intake. Finding food that was as calorie dense as the stuff on Remnant and for Huntsmen was hard! It was easier to get cheaper and more food that took up more space. Not that it mattered, the food all tasted the same. She probably got all the necessary vitamins and minerals she needed for her diet.

Maybe not Dust though. What were the consequences of Dust deficiencies? Oh well, she can't worry about that!

She had forty minutes of freedom and she was going to savor it all she could!

Forty Jeffery free minutes!

Vum vum vum vum vum vum!

With a sound of her giving the stand a good whack with her foot and pulling her helmet off and placing it on her little corner of the garage, Ruby happily skipped inside. It was Thursday which meant Lynn would be home late, and that meant Ruby was on cooking duty!

She felt bad for her "auntie" and her job, but things could be worse she supposed. Staff meetings were important, and she understood Lynn had an important job.

With a skip in her step as she pulled out her little brick phone and took note of the time. It was about almost 4:00. Did she have enough time to rest or did she need to get started on dinner now? Maybe she could call, Lynn should still be getting ready, right?

Pushing open the door to her room, a nice full bed, a cute desk for her to do her work on, and an easy to access sliding closet for her stuff. Ruby loved the guest room turned bedroom for her! It beat sleeping on the street and it had some of her favorite stuff in it!

For starters, by just opening her closet and fishing out a certain article of clothing from the far right she got her favorite comfort clothing! Her cloak! Oh, how she loved this! The feel, the smell, the warmth! It reminded her of home! With methodical precision, Ruby returned the key component to her attire as a Huntress on her shoulders and back, right where it belonged.

With her phone still in hand, Ruby pulled her contacts up and pressed call. Letting the phone ring a few times before the other end picked up.

"A-ah, Ruby? What is it? Now isn't the best time..."

"Sorry, sorry!" Ruby apologized. "Just wanted to see if you'd be home at 8 like every other Thursday or...?"

"Oh, right. Dinner. Yes, Ruby, I'll be back," Ruby smiled at the confirmation doing a fist pump as she ignored the other end of the phone, missing talks about baby oil and someone named Bob.

"Sweet! Okay, "Auntie," I got just the thing in mind, so you do what you gotta do and I'll take care of everything else!"

"Thanks, dear. You have no idea how much I- I swear to God, Bob! No, you cannot! I hear so much as a peep about you from her, I will shove that thing in your hand and put it up your... Ahh, sorry Ruby, I need to go. Sorry I can't be home after your first day. Maybe we can talk about it when I get back?"

"Of course," Ruby gave a chipper giggle. "And don't worry, I'll even pack you some lunch if I have time! See ya!"

With a press of a button Ruby was home alone in a quiet house once more. Lynn back at the school and doing her job which meant Brothers knows what and she got to put on whatever she wanted on the T.V. before she had to make dinner! "Ooh! I wanna know if there are any fun movies on right now!" Ruby giggled as she hopped over to the couch and began browsing the menu of shows and movies that were going to start soon.

Oh, looks like a marathon was starting!

"Oh, what's Breaking Bad?"

Chapter Text

With winds blowing harsh and fast, trees that had just begun to grow leaves again had them blown and torn away. Not that the blizzard of snow hitting them allowed the leaves to fall far.

It was dark, impossible to see past a few feet. A rare boom of thunder rang out somewhere.

What was this? Number two? No, three. Three storms so far had rocked the East coast of the United States and each felt like one punch to the face after the other. No warning, no signs. One minute it was looking like a perfectly normal day and the next hour it was coming down hard.

Rain and snow, at least one a month. Luckily no other type of storm, but it wasn't easy to deal with. Especially for people or animals without shelter.

Like one unlucky squirrel.

Almost frozen to death, not able to get home or somewhere it can stay slightly warm before the storm hit.

With it laying in the small body, cruelled up in a last attempt to be warm, who knew what was going through its mind. Maybe praying to some divine acorn god? If it was, did it ever hear back? Maybe.

The storm hollowed loudly but one noise stood out of all of them. The one singular patter the storms had besides their sudden appearance. The growing crescendo it all had. Like a piece of musk, it always had a build up. Winds like a chorus, the rains and clumps of snow being thrown down from on high like drums, and of course, the thunder and lightning.

With each bolt of electricity shooting closer and closer, tiny little squirrel opened its eyes as bolt after bolt got closer and closer unit...

BOOM!

Little squirrel couldn't move. Not because they were dead, but because they were cold.

It landed close. Really close. How little squirrel wasn't dead, let alone burned, was the question of the hour. Though, little squirrel didn't know, and it didn't care. No, little squirrel felt heat.

With what little energy the squirrel could muster, the small animal moved to the warmth that was the sight of the boom. It was only a foot or two away, that was how close it was. And when they got there? Little squirrel wasn't sure what it saw.

Little sparks of electricity danced on the surface of something, not on the ground of the forest or on blades of grass or snow. No, on something black and weird.

This was a squirrel saying something was weird. Not weird like how humans thought something was off, but it was a type of weird that was like you heard or saw something nonsensical, something not real.

And little squirrel saw something not real.

The dancing sparks had subsided but the warmth did not. It actually didn't feel cold here, but like something was producing the heat. Getting closer, little squirrel popped closer to the weird black thing. He sniffed. Nothing? It did not smell back but also not good. Like pure nothing, if that made sense.

Little squirrel didn't know what to do, but the small rodent was cold, and it was warm. Maybe a little touch wouldn't hurt?

SQUEEK! 

Crack.

Maybe it would.

With a sudden grab, an arm extended out. The blackness taking form and with a disturbing crack and crackle, like bones being scraped together, the arm grabbed little squirrel and dragged it into the cold dark abyss.

Was that the end of the little squirrel? Who was to say, maybe big deer had a better shot?

BEEEP! BEEEEEP!

"GET OFF THE FUCKING ROAD!"

"Yeah, she's raging at the bitch who doesn't know how to drive."

"Does anyone when it snows?"

"Depends. Normal shit driving, yeah no one. Cutting through from the left lane to an exit only 50 feet away? That's just an accident waiting to happen," Nicole commented as she huddled up in the front seat of her mom's Camry. Heat blasting as she talked on the phone with the only bitch she would want to be with instead of this. It was another winter storm and that meant people forgetting how to drive, flying down the freeway at 90 miles per hour as if they could see more than 10 feet in front of them. 

Nicole couldn't complain too much, judging by how heavy it was coming down, they'd get another snow day or two. Last month, the snow got so harsh it caved in Kelly's indoor pool, so if this was anywhere as bad, they'd be locked inside for a while.

"Damn, you know that guy is going to be flying off a cliff."

"Do we even have any cliffs near here? I don't think so..."

"So, where are you going exactly? Not the ideal weather for a drive around town. Doubt the mall is open."

Sighing as Nicole looked at her mom, busy focusing on the slow ass traffic because some asshole already made friends with the divider wall on the left hand side of the highway. "Unfortunately, Mom forgot to go to the store yesterday before the storm hit and since we have a beluga whale in our basement, she felt it would be a smart idea to have me shovel the drive way and hop in while we go throw our little "winter wonderland" and try and see if the grocery store is open."

"Nicole, don't phrase our issues like that!" her mom groaned as she came to another stop. God, they were moving slower than the kids in the short bus.

"So you do know it's an issue?" Nicole commented as she took her ear from the phone.

"Wait, are you going to Aldi or Trader Joe's?"

"Aren't they the same fucking company?" Nicole questioned. "Aldi, it's closer, why?"

"Sweet, if you get there soon we might be able to meet. Mom's doomsday prepping and is dragging me with her to help."

"So... box wine?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Jecka confirmed, what was the point of withstanding the consequences of global warming sober? "Maybe we can  both stay over at one of our houses. Better dealing with a snow day than being alone. Plus my dad's out at work, so he's probably trapped there."

"I mean... it's better than just watching T.V. by my- OH MY GOD!"

BEEP!

"For fuck sake! What is with people!" Nicole's mom cried out as she honked her horn one more time at some asshole who almost hit them with hard they slammed on the break.

"There is barely anyone on the road! How the fuck does this keep happening!" Nicole shouted as she hung up her phone.

Aldi...

Ruby didn't like Aldi because it was a reminder that she always forgot her coins. Not that she forgot to have them on her, but just forgot their names. She knew a penny was a little brown coin, Remnant had pennies too, but they were an old outdated form of currency from a bygone era barely used anymore. Every other kind of coin? No idea! She constantly forgot which was a quarter, dime, and nickel. Apparently the small one was worth more than the medium sized one, yet by that logic the biggest of the three silver coins had the most value! At least their cash had the common sense to have the value printed on them!

It was embarrassing how she had to grab a cart and the employee told her to put a quarter in! She forgot what a quarter was! She missed Lien!

It got resolved but the pain was eternal! However, it didn't end there!

"No, Ruby."

"But this is our chance, Auntie Lynn! I can smell it!" Ruby protested, pleading with the older woman.

Stopping as she went to look at the produce, comparing the semi-rotten tomato and then the ripe one that had just turned good enough to eat, Lynn let out a sigh. "And I said no. Driving in weather like this is dangerous enough already."

"B-but..." Ruby tried to plead, but one glance from the woman and Ruby knew enough was enough. "Fine..."

Placing the food into a bag, Lynn looked at her "niece." She had been vibrating since midnight and had slumped down into... this. Why was she up since midnight? Not for lack of trying, Ruby was a good girl, she followed rules, didn't push boundaries beyond what was acceptable, and tried to be considerate. Yet, she seemed ready to jump once a month. Why?

Cinnamon. Or at least the smell. She claimed it reeked of cinnamon once a month, and usually that time period would line up with the day she arrived. Each time it has happened prior she either didn't know what was going on, snowed in, or in cases like now, wasn't getting a ride to Lord knows where.

"Okay, Ruby. I'm sure we can do "cinnamon" chasing next month," Lynn offered. "Just... not in a blizzard, who knows how clear the roads are right now and I'm not risking any serious damage to my car, myself, or you because we go on a wild goose chase. It's getting warmer, so I imagine it'll be raining next time."

God, this was why she hated the idea of having kids! Her ex-husband was so persistent on them, and while she didn't mind the idea, something she always feared was this exact moment. She knew what it was like to want something but not be able to do it, a feeling made much worse when it was something needed instead of wanted. Yet here she was! A teen girl plopped in her care and now she was making her sad for a very reasonable ask for herself.

"Ruby..." Lynn called to a sad looking Ruby, the girl resting her head on her folded arms which were on the cart, rocking it slowly back and forth. "Why don't you go pick out some hot chocolate? It's a snow day, so you might as well enjoy the day off from school and a three day weekend?"

"And my second day of school," Ruby moped. Ah, yeah. She did want some normalcy, didn't she? She had been kinda lonely since arriving. It's hard to make friends with your peers when you have none, huh? "Can I get popcorn too...? I'd like to watch a movie if I'm trapped inside all day."

"Sure, Ruby," Lynn said as she watched Ruby sulk off. Poor girl. Sure, her own relationship with most of her family was... strenuous, especially after getting caught with her neighbor Gene, but Ruby didn't get a choice in her separation.

Pushing the cart over to the alcohol aisle, Lynn began searching for something.

"Maybe getting a little loose will help me take care of a teenager," Lynn muttered as she looked at the many bottles on the shelves.

"Trust me, as much as I've tried, it's yet to help take care of one," a voice called as a shopping cart rolled on over. Filled with a couple frozen dinners, a few bags of vegetables, and a case of diet soda.
"Principal Lynn, don't tell me you're considering drinking on the job?"

"Miss Yu," Lynn replied as she turned and saw Nicole's mom and quickly following behind her was another familiar face, "Miss Anderson, good to see you both again so soon, and not in my office."

Letting out a giggle as she moved on through, the woman who looked at least a decade younger than them thanks to hardly needing to lift a finger and make up, made a mad dash for the box wine. "Oh, it's only been a week since you called us in. Jecka's been behaving since then, I hope."

"Nothing's been reported," Lynn commented before she grabbed a bottle and placed it into her. "And no, not yet anyways. Just realizing how personally knowing a single kid gives me more stress than a school full of hundreds of kids and staff."

"Oh, are you seeing someone?!" Jecka's mother asked. "Because I didn't take you for the step mom type. Personally, I would never, my daughter is enough for me, but you go girl."

"I've had a few step kids, it's a hit or miss thing," Nicole's mom commented as she also looked around. "Honestly though, the two I have are already enough of a head ache."

"Tell me about it, Jecka was such a good girl but recently her acting outs have been giving me grays! David's already enough of an issue!" the blonde cried, her puffy neon pink sweaty rubbing against itself as she moved around. "Not that I'm blaming her recent activity on your daughter, Cynthia."

"No, you'd be in the right, I know how Nicole is," Cynthia groaned. "So, what flavor of stress are you dealing with? Pessimistic? A little deranged? Lazy?"

"Or maybe one of those kids that you cannot understand. I heard one of my coworkers talk about a meme, no idea what that is?"

Shaking her head. "Nothing like that. Actually she's my niece, but she is living with me and attending school in the same grade with your daughters for the foreseeable future."

Both women let out a long "Oh," before looking at one another. A girl near their daughter's age? Well, one thing did come to mind.

"Does she sneak out of class and smoke?"

"Steal from your medicine cabinet?"

"Take from your liquor when she thinks you're not looking?"

Very eye opening comments about their home, but Lynn wasn't at work right now and she wasn't in the mood to make a problem out of that. Instead she let out a groan as she let all those statements hit. "No! She doesn't do any of that, actually I'd say she's a really nice girl!"

Raising an eyebrow. Jecka's mom looked confused. "Wait... so what's the issue then? Sounds like you hit the jackpot if you got a kid strapped to you."

"It's because she's a nice girl that I feel bad!" Lynn let out. "I've never had to deal with someone so personally before, and Ruby's a good girl, but recently she's been needing to go somewhere but it keeps happening on storms like this. The damn blizzard makes it impossible for me to drive there but the place I need to get it is always only open during the storms!"

"And you can't go any other day?"

"No! That's the worse part! She's missed three of these already and I feel bad I can't help her!" Lynn complained as she looked at her cart. "Wish someone told me having kids sucked for more reasons than them annoying you."

Letting out a small chuckle, Cynthia placed a reassuring hand on Lynn's shoulder. "I remember when I was that hopeful and concerned for my kids. I sometimes wish it stayed like that. Word of advice, don't blame things you can't control on yourself."

"Yeah, besides, I'm willing to bet you're just trying to keep her from becoming a popsicle," Jecka's mom commented. Looking at the box wine she had and how the two others had similar products, an idea flashed in the blonde woman's brain filled with ways to manipulate her husband to go along with what she wanted and how to get the best designer deals. "Say, you wouldn't be interested in having a little blizzard party? Would you?"

"A what?" Cynthia questioned and Lynn looked just as confused. "Janice, is that sort of hurricane party?"

"Pretty much, yes!" Janice nodded. "I mean... clearly we were going to do our own snowed-in thing, but..." tapping her box, "I imagine we'd be doing the same thing. Besides, I have Jecka with me right now and I know Nicole's here somewhere, so she can make some friends! We can even give you some helpful tips and tricks on having to actually raise someone instead of dealing with parents on the other side of a desk."

"Are you sure?" Lynn asked, wondering if she would be too forward to ask such a thing. When Cynthia and Janice gave her a confirmation, Lynn thought for a moment. "Well... it would be good for Ruby to make some friends, and we do live just down the street."

"Great! Because honestly, I am afraid to get on the road again," Janice said. "Some douchebag in a KIA almost ran me off the road."

"Beat up red KIA with some dumb 2nd amendment quote?" Cynthia asked, and when Janice harped on how fucking irritated she was about it, Lynn let out a low and painful groan of annoyance.

Because of-fucking-course it was Bob.