A familiar beeping woke Belle from her slumber of home. She rolled over and turned off her phone's alarm and sat up, stretching out her limbs. There were still boxes cluttered around her room, only half of them unpacked. Even though they had moved to Storybrooke almost 2 months ago, she didn't have the heart to unpack. Getting out of bed, she tried to tame her messy hair, but eventually gave up, heading toward the shower. "Papa! I'm awake. And you had better be too!" Her father opened their flower shop early today, as they had just finished setting it up yesterday, including all the flowers delivered and displayed. Hearing an affirmation from downstairs, she stripped, and climbed under the hot water. She sighed as it washed over her, fully waking her up.
Climbing out twenty minutes later, she toweled herself off, brushing through her hair. She looked through her closet, choosing a dark blue blouse and light colored jeans, paired with black flats. She looked at herself in the mirror, shaking her drying hair out. Her natural curls fell over her shoulders, gleaming in the morning sun. "When will I start looking like a proper 20 year old?" She almost said out-loud, running her hands over her small hips. She picked up her messenger bag, slinging it over her shoulder.
She grabbed her phone from the dresser, checking the time. It was only 7:30, but she needed to be there by 8:15.
Finally deciding to pull her hair into a ponytail, she headed into the bathroom to put on her makeup. Simple eyeliner and mascara, nothing too bright. Finally happy with the way she looked, Belle smiled at herself in the mirror, turning around to head downstairs.
She greeted her father with a kiss on the cheek, reading over his shoulder for a moment about the local writing contest. "I think I'll enter that. I'll do a report on the animal shelter or something." She poured herself a cup of coffee, turning to her father before he spoke.
"I think you should. You do need a scholarship after all. I don't want to be too in debt when you finally do go to University."
Belle laughed at her father, shaking her head. "What do you mean when? I'm going in the fall, pappa. We discussed this."
Moe looked up from his paper, blinking for a moment. "Right. Forgot." He glanced down at his wrist watch. "Don't you need to get going?"
Belle almost gasped, noticing it was 7:45. "Shoot. I do." She quickly kissed him on the cheek again, smiling brightly as she grabbed her keys. "Oh! I've got work after classes. I'll bring you home some dinner."
She barely heard his response as she headed out the door to her first Summer Literary Class.
Belle ran into class, 10 minutes late. She silently cursed herself as she pushed open the door, her face bright red. "I'm so sorry I'm late." She said, quickly scanning for an empty seat. Spotting one, she sat down, looking up for the first time. Her eyes caught a girl in front of her, and she was almost shocked to see she was younger than her. Someone at the front cleared their throat, causing Belle to look up.
"I do not tolerate lateness in my class." The man said, his stare stone cold. Belle cringed watching him. She didn't want to be on his bad side already.
"I will be seeing you after class." He said, his accented words ringing through the classroom. Belle simply nodded at him, keeping her head down. Shit. First day of class and she was already on his bad side.
"As I was saying, I'm Professor Gold. You either call me Professor or Professor Gold. I do not tolerate childish behavior in my class. You are here to work, not muck about." He turned to the board and started writing down the lesson, snapping Belle into work mode as she furiously wrote down everything he was saying and getting absorbed in his lesson.
As soon as Professor Gold dismissed the class, Belle was out of her seat and headed toward the door, hoping he wouldn't stop her.
"I thought I told you to stay after." A voice rang out.
Belle silently cursed herself, turning around. "Sorry Professor. I had forgotten." She forced out.
He almost glared at her as she came toward the front of the classroom. "I do not appreciate students coming late into my class. What's your name?"
Belle looked up at him, really seeing him for practically the first time. The first thing she had noticed was his accent. It was beautiful, a thick Scottish accent. She paused for a moment, taking him in. He was tall, and older. Brown hair with a few grey strands that went down to his shoulders, defined cheekbones, and beautiful brown eyes with flecks of gold in-
"Your name?" He asked, his frown deepening.
Belle shook her head minutely, pulling herself back into reality. "Sorry. Belle French. I just moved here from Melbourne."
She watched as the corner of his mouth almost twitched into a smile. "I could tell by your accent. I hope that your time here in my class will not be wasted again. Don't be late." He said, picking up his cane. "I will not let you in the next time you're late." He limped past her, leaning on his cane.
Belle frowned after him, trying to figure a way to get on his good side. "Professor Gold, wait!" She called out, digging through her bag. "I was wondering if you'd look over my writing sometime? I want to be an author, but I can't really trust my father's judgement, for obvious reasons. Plus, you don't seem like someone who would sugar coat it." Where the hell did that come from? She thought, giving him a small smile.
He watched her for a moment, then shook his head. "I don't favor my students, Miss French, if that's what you're after." He had seen students like her before. Hard working and dedicated, but total suck ups. "I'll look over your writing for class." He abruptly turned, leaving Belle in shock as he left. Well that was rude. Something tugged in the back of her mind, but she left it alone, trying to calm her heart from beating so fast.
Trevor Gold regretted the moment those words came out of his mouth. Of course he favored certain students, ones like Belle. But he didn't want to let that on in the first class. Belle was different than most of the students in his class. She was young and eager, unlike the high school dead-beats he saw in this class hoping to make up credits for being lazy during the school year. He limped out of the classroom and to his car, completely lost in his thoughts. "Don't let her get to your head, Trevor." He said out loud, watching as she put her books in her car. He had to admit, she was beautiful. Perfectly curled auburn hair, and bright eager blue eyes. She had taken his breath away as soon as she walked in.
"Keep your mind out of there, Gold." He said to himself, clenching his teeth together. She was far too young for him, barely looking the legal age. He had to be at least 25 years her senior, barely looking 17 or 18.
He pulled out of the parking lot, heading for his home, about a 10 minute drive from the school he was teaching the summer courses out. Since summer had only just begun, most of the classes hadn't started. He of course, had an extra week at the beginning of the summer for his class, as it was one of the hardest summer classes to pass.
But there was only one thing on his mind at the time. He couldn't stop seeing her long, elegant legs as she strode to her car, or her perfectly shaped-
"Stop." He practically yelled at himself, feeling his cock twitch . This was so wrong. She was his student. Not some random woman he had met on the street. He felt the familiar pang of loneliness creep up, but pushed the feeling back down. He had fantasized so many times about some women, how they would feel pressed against him, their hot breath on his neck. It had been a few years since he had been with someone, not after his wife left him. He groaned as he parked his car, leaning his head against the back of the seat. This summer was going to be very hard if he didn't keep things professional. No one had ever gotten into his head the way Belle did, even after their short time of speaking. He couldn't get her voice out of his head, the way she pronounced things, the way her mouth formed when he shot her down. He shook his head again, trying to clear the images. He was already intrigued by her, and that never meant good things.
