Jaune and the Real Girl.

Chapter 14

Penny's knuckles rapped on the dorm room door and she stopped waiting for an answer. She heard light footsteps on the other side watched as the knob turned and it opened a crack. Silver eyes met hers.

"Oh, hey Penny," Ruby chirped, stepping back to open the door for her, "how's it going?" She asked as Penny stepped into the dormitory.

"Where is the rest of your team?" Penny asked her when she saw that indeed the rest of the room was vacant. A bit of relief passed through her helping to calm her nerves.

"Blake and Yang took a contract together and are still out," Ruby explained to her taking a seat on one of the bunks, "Weiss is currently training with her sister so I found myself with a bit of alone time."

That was good, Penny thought. "Uh Ruby... can we talk?" She asked her tentatively, turning her gaze towards the window showing the academy grounds, she idly wondered why her room didn't have a window and found herself wishing it did.

Ruby's brow furrowed with concern. "Yeah Penny of course we can talk," she assured her, "what do you want to talk about?" She asked cautiously.

Penny tried to meet Ruby's eyes but found herself too embarrassed to manage holding her gaze. She instead looked at the floor by Ruby's feed and crossed her arms sheepishly over her chest. "Boys," Penny quietly confessed.

Ruby was quiet for a long moment and Penny wondered if perhaps her friend had heard her. "Boys?" She finally answered, "you want to talk about boys?"

Penny nodded. She looked up to Ruby to find that her face was slightly pink from embarrassment. That helped ease a little more of Penny's tension.

"What about... boys?" Ruby asked her.

Penny steeled herself and looked up into her friend's silver eyes. She couldn't dance around this, and Ruby was her friend, her best friend, if she could talk to anyone about this it would be her. "How do you know if you like a boy?" She asked her.

Ruby's eyes widened at her, "Penny... Do you like someone? Like, like like?" She asked flabbergasted.

"I do not know," Penny answered her, "but I keep thinking about him and I want to see him more and every time he smiles at me I feel very happy."

Ruby nodded and released a sigh, "yeah that sounds like a crush to me," she agreed motioning to a chair for Penny to sit down in. She took her seat and folded her hands in her lap.

"How long has this been going on?" Ruby asked her.

"Not very long," Penny admitted, "I only started to suspect it last night when I was charging my power cells, I was reading one of Blake's books she leant me and I noticed a similarity to how the heroine was acting towards the hero and it made me think."

"I see," Ruby said, seeming to relax, "are you going to tell him how you feel?" She asked her.

The very idea sent a flood of embarrassment and apprehension though her. "I have not considered it," she explained to her. "I do not know if he feels the same way or what would happen if he did not share my feelings. Do crushes fade?"

Ruby sighed, "Some do, mine certainly have. But it can grow into something more if you let it, wouldn't you like to see if it does?"

The thought certainly had an undeniable appeal to it. Penny could only imagine being held and kissed like she was in one of Blake's books. Those experiences, along with others, had yet to come. "It sounds.... nice," Penny admitted, "but I do not want to risk changing how things are between us."

Ruby nodded, "who is this guy?" She asked her, "if you don't mind telling me."

Penny looked down at her hands in her lap embarrassed to confess his name. "You will not tell him right?" Penny asked her, voicing her fear, "you will not tell anyone?"