Chapter 3

                                    

                                          
"She stole your boyfriend?"
                          
Emma looked in dismay at Ruby, who was sitting in the booth opposite her. The carelessness Ruby had used when she told Emma Regina had kissed her boyfriend surprised Emma.
                          
They were sitting at Granny's Diner, a nicely decorated cafe in the middle of town. Emma had learned over the past few days, that this was the place where people met up for appointments, dates or other occasions. It was the heart of the town and it was run by Ruby's grandmother.
                          
Ruby had been raised by her grandmother ever since she was a little child. It was clear to Emma that Ruby didn't enjoy talking about it a lot and she felt it was a sensitive topic, thus she never questioned the girl about it.
                          
However, Ruby loved living with her grandmother, or so she said, and Emma had been invited to come by the diner after her French class and that was exactly what she did.
                          
She'd been dying to talk about her weird conversation with Regina, but she hated that she was spending so much time thinking about the girl, so she'd tried not to lead the conversation to her. But somehow, all the conversations always led to Regina, so Emma found herself gossiping about the brunette yet again.
                          
"Well, she didn't really steal her. I mean, Peter, that's my ex-boyfriend's name, went along with it. If he can't be truthful in a relationship, I don't want it. But yes, they were spotted kissing. Someone even took a photo, but you can only see Regina's back," Ruby replied.
                          
Emma raised her eyebrows and shook her head in disbelief. "And you still like this girl? Why? Why does everyone like her so much?"
                          
She'd been thinking about that question ever since she met Regina, but she still didn't know the answer. What was it about her that other people found so likable? She just couldn't wrap her head around it.
                          
Ruby kept silent for quite some time as well, playing with the straw of her milkshake. Emma looked as her new classmate twirled the straw in her drink and Ruby looked down at the table as she looked for an answer.
                          
"There's just.. something alluring about her. She's pretty cool."
                          
"Why? She was so rude to you. The first thing she said to me what that you smell bad, in front of the entire class. How could you like someone like that?"
                          
Ruby looked embarrassed at Emma and clearly felt uncomfortable, but Emma really wanted to know the answers. Regina Mills was taking up too much of her thoughts and time and she wanted a valid explanation for that.
                          
"Because it did lead you to sitting next to me and now we're becoming friends. At least, I hope so. So, no matter how bad the action is that she's done, it still led to something good."
                          
Emma contemplated Ruby's words for a moment, but didn't find the answer good enough. Denigrating people couldn't have a good outcome and even if it did, it certainly wasn't Regina's intention.
                          
"And she's super loyal to her friends," Ruby added as a lame excuse for Regina's awful behavior.
                          
Emma squinted her eyes and shook her head. "So am I, but that doesn't make me queen of the world," she said with a blank tone, but smiled at Ruby. "Are you afraid of her?"
                          
Ruby took a sip of a milkshake, taking much more time than necessary and shrugged. "Regina knows everything about everyone. I don't know how she does it, but she can publicize your entire history if she'd like to. That's why it's better to stay friends with her. She's always got material to blackmail you with, though you have no idea how she got it."
                          
Emma swallowed and many thoughts ran through her head. She had always been quite good at reading people herself as well. Given the conversation she'd had earlier that day with Regina, she figured Regina would have a knack for it too. The only difference was that Emma would never use it to blackmail people. Regina apparently would.