This is a happy story

Chapter 1: Ruby

"I first noticed there was something going on between Emma and Regina on my first day at Storybrooke High." Ruby sits across me on her couch and rubs her lap nervously. "Something like that?"

"Yes. It's totally up to you how you want to tell everything," I reply. The camera is showing a red light and I know it will be running for quite a while.

"Okay. Thank you," Ruby says. "It's a beautiful thing you're doing, Kathryn. I'm certain they're going to love it."

I offer her a sweet smile, but don't reply. I give her a confirming nod, urging her to continue. Ruby takes the hint and swallows before she clears her throat and straightens her posture.

~~

I first noticed there was something going on between Emma and Regina on my first day at Storybrooke High. It was mid-October. I'd enrolled later in the year and it was the last year of High School, so to say I was nervous would be an understatement. I was petrified. Genuinely.

The school was a lot smaller than my previous one. My parents had just gotten divorced and due to circumstances I was to live with my grandmother immediately. There was no way for me to commute between Storybrooke and the big city every single day, so I was obligated to finish my High School here.

My first class was biology from Mrs. Gardener. She could tell I was nervous, I was sure of that, but that didn't stop her from calling me to the front of the class to introduce me.

"Hi, I'm Ruby Lucas," I sheepishly said. I didn't know what else to say, but it was enough to satisfy Mrs. Gardener. She told me to take place in the front, which was another thing I hated, but I sat down without complaining.

She was just about to start her class when the door opened loudly. That was the first time I saw Emma. She had long, curly blonde hair and was wearing a leather jacket. She was laughing broadly whilst whispering to her friend Ashley.

"Ms. Swan and Ms. Boyd, this is getting out of hand," Mrs. Gardener said. "Can't I really have one class without you two barging in too late?"

Emma didn't reply. She just looked at the teacher and for some reason it was very clear Emma wasn't going to listen to her and there was nothing she could do about it.

"I don't want you two sitting next to one another. Ms. Swan, you can take place here next to our new classmate, whose introduction you rudely missed. Ms. Boyd, you can take the vacant seat in the back."

Emma looked at me. To this day, I have no clue what she thought the first time she looked at me, but I do know what I thought myself: she's amazing.

She sat down next to me and I immediately noticed there was something about her. She managed to appear very nonchalant and uninterested, but meanwhile notice every little detail. It was immediately clear to me that she was the type of person whose attention I, among others, craved.

"I'm Emma," she introduced herself. I smiled at her, my nerves still very much present. "Odd time to switch schools."

"It is," I replied. I'd anticipated on telling everyone the complicated story of my parents' divorce, but Emma didn't ask any further.

I remember nothing about the rest of that class, other than the first interaction between Emma and Regina. The subject Gardener had been talking about had something to do with evolution and the will of humans to elongating life.

"I don't get it. Why does everyone always want to get old? Being old sucks. Elongating people's life is literally postponing execution. I don't see the point," Emma said at one point during the class, loud enough for everyone to hear.