Storybrook High
A/N: Hi, friends. Welcome to Storybrook high, where all of our favorite OUAT characters and ships are dwelling together with the same drama and intrigue, PLUS teenage hormones! Primarily OQ, of course, but not only. Enjoy.
Chapter 1
How had she let herself be roped into this, Regina Mills thought miserably to herself in the backseat of her mother's practical, midsize SUV. The first day back to school was a horrific and daunting enough thought, and kickstarting the day with
this tortured car ride with her mother and half-sister certainly was not going to help matters.
"Regina, for God's sake, stop slouching," Cora Mills, Regina's no-nonsense, endlessly brutal mother snapped from the front seat, disrupting Regina's dreary train of thought. Cora's hands were perched tightly on the steering wheel, in the preferred 10
and 2 driving position, her eyes fixated on the road in front of her. Regina, after hastily correcting her abysmal posture, quickly glanced at the clock on the front console, signaling that the time was 7:45. They had pulled out of their driveway
at 7:44. Within the first minute of the ride, Cora had already managed to find something to criticize Regina for. Regina considered that this had to be some kind of record. Naturally, at Cora's critique, Regina's half-sister, Zelena, let out a poorly
muffled snicker. How Regina despised both of them…
"Sorry, mother," Regina forced herself to get out in response, though gritted teeth. Cora offered no response, rather, she turned her attention to the radio station. Cora regularly expressed her dislike of the teenage generation's 'unmelodious noise making',
and more often than not, only permitted classical music to be played in her vehicle. Regina had long since grown accustomed to this, and never attempted to argue. At least, not about that.
After settling for her typical, classical music station, Cora took a deep breath before revealing her trademark, tight smile that rarely touched her eyes. Regina knew this look all too well. It signaled that the question that Cora was about to ask had
a very specific answer in mind, and anything other than the desired answer would not be tolerated. Regina took a moment to appreciate the irony that classical music was supposed to make people feel calm, whereas Regina couldn't recall ever feeling
any better than mildly uncomfortable while riding in her mother's car.
"So, girls, are you both excited for the beginning of another school year? I know I am," Cora asked Regina and Zelena, her voice steady and relaxed. Cora was the principle of the residential high school in Storybrook, Maine, creatively named Storybrook
High. Cora had been the principle there ever since Regina could remember, certainly since she'd been born. 'I bet you are,' Regina thought bitterly to herself, already imagining what sort of things Cora would find to roast Regina and her friends
for throughout the year.
Regina was about to start her junior year of high school, and to answer Cora's question, she could not have been less excited about it. Had Cora asked Regina this question two years ago, Regina would have been practically gushing with excitement. She
would've raved about what new things she had to tell Mary Margaret and Emma, her two best girl friends, and in what new ways she would joke around with her best guy friends, David, Killian, and Gold. Or perhaps she would have babbled about all of
the exciting AP classes she had filled her freshman schedule with, and the excitement of all the sports seasons about to begin. And at the very least, she would have been secretly fantasizing about how absolutely wonderful it would be to rule the
9th grade with her perfect boyfriend and first love, Daniel Stables. Had Cora asked Regina this question one year ago, her answer would have been much different. She still would be taking exciting new AP classes. Sports seasons would still be about
to be begin. And Regina still would have been anxious beyond belief to get back to her beloved friends and Daniel, but this time, for an entirely different reason. In the summer between her freshman and sophomore years… Regina's seemingly perfect
life had begun to crumble down around her.
Cora and Henry Mills had had everything but a typical and loving marriage. Regina, personally, could not fathom a couple less suited for one another and who showed less affection towards each other. And as evidence of this discord in their marriage, both
Cora and Henry had managed to conceive children as products of their affairs.
Zelena had come into Regina's life when Regina was five years old. Zelena was actually one year older than Regina, but the circumstances of her birth could not have been more different. Cora had never disclosed any of the particulars to Regina, but Regina
had postulated the details both from occasional slips of the tongue from Cora and Henry, as well as her own rather fine tuned guessing abilities. It seemed that Cora had indulged in a… certain liaison with a man named James, which, in turn, had resulted
in an unplanned and very unwanted pregnancy for Cora. Despite this, Cora and James decided that Cora would have the baby girl anyways, as James had agreed to raise her on his own, away from Cora and her family. As a result, Zelena had spent the first
five years of her life with her father as planned, and Cora and Henry had had their own daughter a year later, whom they named Regina. However, five years after taking Zelena in, James reentered Cora's life, insisting that he could not take care of
Zelena any longer and demanding that Cora should take her. Cora had been resistant initially, but it had been the insistence of Regina's father, Henry, that no child should suffer without a family that had gotten Cora to bring Zelena into the Mills
home as their own. And Zelena had been with them ever since.
One might think that this was more than a suburban Maine family's fair share of household drama, but this was only the half of it. When Regina was nine years old, Henry himself decided to indulge in an extramarital affair as well, which also resulted
in the woman he slept with, Amanda, becoming pregnant (Cora and Henry were many things, but lucky, it seemed, they were not). In similar fashion to Cora's situation, Amanda agreed that she would raise her son on her own without Henry's help. Henry,
who had always prided himself on being a rather upstanding man, fully financially and emotionally supported Amanda during her pregnancy anyways, and wanted to be a part of his son's life. But when the time came for Amanda to give birth, things did
not go as planned, and Amanda passed away in childbirth. She'd had a rare genetic condition that predisposed her to complications in labor, the doctor had said. Furthermore, little had Henry known, but Amanda had already named their son, and she had
decided to name him Henry, after his father who had taken such good care of her. And so, of course, Henry Sr. took Henry Jr. into the Mills home as well. Regina had always suspected that Cora had allowed this not because she had any real sense of
justice in that she had done the same thing with Zelena, or because she cared about the new child who had just lost his mother, but because she couldn't bear the thought of Regina and Zelena thinking she was too weak to handle the situation gracefully.
Regina believed this to be the truth based on the complete lack of affection Cora demonstrated towards Henry Jr.. She'd always made him feel about as welcome as a disease, and did her best to just ignore him.
Regina Mills had always been a daddy's girl. Always had been, and always would be. At least she'd thought so. Regina and her father had been close beyond belief. Regina set time aside every weekend to spend time with her father rather than her friends,
and she told him everything. Every happiness, every sadness, every secret, every worry. Everything, she confided everything in him. And perhaps more than anything… Regina adored him for bringing Henry Jr. into her life. Regina would never be able
to accurately put into words the love she felt for her little brother, as it was unrivaled by any other love she'd ever felt in her life. She had taken him everywhere, let him hang out with her and her friends whenever he wished. He often slept in
her bed with her, she read stories to him whenever he asked (and boy, did he ask frequently. Henry had absolutely loved fairytales). Henry Sr. and Henry Jr. were the two most important people in Regina's life, and Regina would not have hesitated to
say as much to anyone who asked. So when both of them were killed in a car crash the summer between Regina's freshman and sophomore years, everything changed.
The memories of that awful summer were almost hazy to Regina. The weeks were filled with endless condolences, endless legal meetings of discussing her father's will, and endless emotional trauma for Regina. Cora and Zelena, of course, had managed to handle
the two losses just fine, primarily focused on handling their financial situation and pressing forward with their lives as quickly as possible with as little drama as necessary. Regina, on the other hand… had been utterly and completely crushed. She'd
bawled herself to sleep every single night, she couldn't see any boy under the age of 8 without crying… That summer had been a true nightmare for Regina. Of course, losing her father and Henry still plagued her, still haunted her regularly. She still
struggled to pass Henry's old room in her house. She still died a little inside every time she saw children, because she couldn't face the fact that they would get to grow up and be happy, and Henry wouldn't. Sometimes, as if by rote, she would walk
into her father's old study to tell him something, some trivial event that had occurred during her day, and she'd realize all over again that he wasn't there. But… at least she'd had her friends. At least she had her friends and Daniel to lean on,
to fall back on, to distract her and take care of her and make her feel better. But now… now everything was different.
"Regina?" Regina suddenly heard Cora asking her coolly, clearly annoyed that Regina hadn't answered her question yet.
"Oh, um, yes, ecstatic," Regina got out in response, gazing placidly out the side window, doing what she could to just ignore her mother and Zelena.
"Not that anyone would be able to tell. Some people actually put effort into their appearance for a special occasion," Cora said flippantly, briefly glancing up in the rear view mirror to make spiteful eye contact with Regina. Regina's face burned. Of
course, it wouldn't be a Mills family morning if Regina wasn't insulted for her appearance at least once.
"Honestly, Regina, if you needed help finding something to wear, all you had to do was ask!" Zelena interjected, her voice so falsely laced with cheer and kindness that Regina almost rolled the window down and hurled.
Zelena and Regina did not get along, to say the least. Zelena had always been unendingly bitter and jealous of Regina, because, for whatever reason, she blamed Regina for the miserable first few years of her life. It wasn't as though Regina had had any
say in the matter, seeing as she wasn't even born yet. She hated that Regina had been born into a stable and loving home, while she'd been cast aside to make room for her. And to make up for this resentment, Zelena made it her personal mission
in life to one up Regina in everything, in every possible way that she could. Whatever Regina did, Zelena attempted to do and do better. Regina truly did not understand Zelena's competitiveness, considering the fact that Cora so blatantly
preferred Zelena anyways. While Cora was constantly poking and prodding and nit picking at every single movement Regina made, Cora did nothing but fawn over Zelena and ask Regina why she couldn't just be more like her sister.
"I'm sorry, I guess I just thought the first day of school stopped qualifying as a special occasion when we turned six," Regina was unable to resist responding sarcastically, knowing that she'd probably pay for it. Besides, there wasn't even anything
wrong with the way she was dressed, and she knew that. Regina was wearing her typical dark wash skinny jeans, which she rolled up at the bottoms, a thin white tank top, which she had loosely tucked into her jeans, the casual, long black blazer she
often wore, and her normal casual slip-on laceless black shoes. Her ebony hair had been left in its natural state, and fell to just below her breasts in dark, layered waves. She wore her usual, light amount of makeup: a bit of mascara, a bit of eyeliner
rimming her chocolate brown eyes, and a bit of red lip tint that made her already deeply red lips look even fuller. Essentially, she looked exactly like she always looked.
"And maybe that's why you don't have a boyfriend anymore," Zelena calmly snarked. Her sister's horribly rude audacity combined with the mention of Daniel in general made Regina's blood boil. Regina could just feel Zelena's complacent smirk from
the front seat. She lunged forward in her seat instinctively
"Did you have to?" Regina snarled furiously. Zelena whipped around as if to respond, before Cora intervened.
"Regina, please, can't we just have a calm morning, for once?" Cora interrupted irritably, rolling her eyes at her youngest daughter. How typical. Regina fought the urge to jump out of the moving car. She briefly considered how many times she had had
this urge in her life time… it had to be over a million, she reckoned.
The car ride couldn't have ended quickly enough. Regina practically leapt out of the car before it had come to a complete stop, unceremoniously yanking her black messenger back out of the seat after her. She stalked away from Cora and Zelena before they
had time to stop her and instinctively began to make her way towards her and her friends' usual morning meet up spot. Actually, on a normal day, they would all have gone to Granny's before school for coffee or breakfast, and then walked together.
But the first day of school was always an exception to their normal rules. And besides, today, it's not like Regina would have joined them anyways.
Regina quickly realized that she had nowhere to go. There was still about twenty minutes before the first bell rang, and she had nowhere to stand, no one to talk to. Well, this certainly was foreign territory for Regina Mills, once one of the most popular
girls in school. Regina stopped in her tracks and considered her options for a moment. It's not necessarily that she couldn't go stand with her real friends. Especially the guys, they wouldn't think anything of it and at least it would make
her feel normal. But… the thought of seeing Mary Margaret and Emma was just… too much, after everything that had happened. The thought of walking over to their normal spot, the lone wooden table by the entryway steps to the school, alone was just
horrifying. Regina knew that all she would be able to see was the absence of Daniel and the horrible events that had lead to his absence. As Regina grew closer to her friends' normal meeting place, and stared at that wooden table, she felt her mind
wander…
"Daniel!" Regina shouted furiously after him, as he stalked off down the steps in front of her. She had to run to catch up with him. She grabbed his arm and whirled him around to face her. He immediately yanked his arm away at the contact.
He hadn't even attempted to hide it. His normally warm, clear blue eyes were completely red and bloodshot. His hair was overall unkempt and his facial hair, which was normally clean shaven to begin with, was much longer than school regulation permitted. He just… looked strung out, nobody in their right mind would be able to ignore that he was on something. Cora certainly wouldn't have. If Killian hadn't happened to walk into that bathroom and warn Regina before a teacher had found him… Regina didn't even want to think about what would have happened.
"I don't want to do this right now, Regina," Daniel said, not dignifying the subject with near the seriousness it deserved.
"Does it look like I care what you want right now? Drugs, Daniel, seriously?! What were you thinking?" Regina asked, doing what she could to sound angry, but it honestly just sounded like she was pleading with him. Because she was. For the past six months, Regina had been watching Daniel, her first love, gradually slip away from her, and she had been powerless to stop it.
"God knows you don't care what I want, Regina," Daniel snapped angrily. Regina's blood boiled. Well, now she was angry. She couldn't believe Daniel had the audacity to say something like that, in this situation. She hated him for making her deal with him right now, and for the past six months. In the worst year of her life, after she lost her father and her little brother, Daniel felt that now was the ideal time to emotionally abandon her in exchange for drugs and partying. She couldn't stop the resentment she felt towards him from pouring into her voice now.
"Oh, so this is my fault? Really, Daniel, is that the best you can do?" Regina sneered back venomously.
"This is your fault!"
"You're telling me that it's my fault that in the past six months, your grades have tanked, you lost your place on the football team, your friends can't stand to look at you, and you've resorted to lighting up in the boys bathroom in the middle of the school day? I mean really, Daniel, did you have to?! In the school where my mother is the principal, did you absolutely need to smoke a joint in the middle of the day?" Regina responded viciously, letting the sarcasm flow thick. Daniel glowered at her.
"I'm surprised you even had time to notice, it's not like you have time for me anymore anyways," Daniel replied coldly, turning to walk away from her again. She grabbed his arm and turned him back around again.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Regina asked him, half angrily, half genuinely interested in what his answer would be.
"You haven't exactly been yourself this year, Regina," Daniel answered her, as though what he'd just said was some grand, justified insult. Regina had to work extremely hard not to let her jaw actually fall open. Was he seriously trying to blame Regina's emotional turmoil for his own life's rapid decline?
"My father and little brother died, Daniel! I'm sorry that I haven't exactly been as peppy and exciting as I might have been before. Are you sure that's the defense you want to go with?" Regina spit back in disgust. Daniel laughed coolly without any trace of humor, before he turned to walk away from her again. Regina didn't stop him this time.
"I don't give a shit about any of it anymore, Regina," Daniel called back to her without turning around, his voice empty, leaving Regina standing at the table alone, with no idea in hell what to do next.
And that was the night she'd caught him… Regina felt her whole body shiver in repulsion at remembering that awful night when she'd seen Daniel-
"REGINA!" Emma Swan's loud and bold voice suddenly called out to her, ripping her out of her horrible train of thought. Regina froze dead in her tracks, knowing she had nowhere to run.
Regina slowly turned around to see Emma and Mary Margaret rapidly approaching. She hadn't seen either of them since the last day of her sophomore year, and seeing Mary Margaret's face caused a most bizarre reaction inside of Regina. Part of her wanted
to punch Mary Margaret's annoyingly pure and beautiful face with every bit of strength and resentment that she had boiling inside of her, wanted to scream at her until she lost her voice. And, much to Regina's annoyance, a significantly larger part
of her suddenly wanted more than anything to run to her friend, throw her arms around her, sob her eyes out, and never let go.
Fortunately, Regina didn't have to make the choice, because Emma made the decision for her as the blonde eagerly embraced Regina and pulled her into the biggest hug Regina thought she'd ever been a part of.
The hug didn't last long, as Emma wasn't really much of a physical contact kind of person. Regina suspected that the hug she'd just received was truly from Mary Margaret, who was clearly smart enough to know that she really shouldn't attempt something
like that with Regina at this particular time.
"Hi, Regina," Mary Margaret said softly, her warm, green eyes frustratingly inviting and emotionally tempting to Regina.
Regina felt like she was literally being strangled to death by all of her feelings in this moment. What the hell was she supposed to do? It was as though seeing her friends was very quickly dissipating all the anger and resentment she'd been hanging onto
all summer, but at the same time she wasn't ready to let it go…
"Hey," Regina heard herself respond blankly, completely at a loss for words, her tone not betraying anything she was feeling.
"How are you?" Emma asked intensely, her smoky green eyes burning with intrigue. Wasn't that the million dollar question, Regina thought irritably to herself. Considering that in the moment, Regina herself had no idea how the hell she was doing.
"Regina… I haven't seen you all summer, I don't know what to say…" Mary Margaret trailed off uncertainly before Regina could respond to Emma's question, her eyes welling up with tears. Classic Snow, already crying, Regina thought to herself, internally
sighing.
Mary Margaret had inherited the nickname 'Snow White' from the fact that in elementary school, she, along with quite a few of Regina's friends, actually, had all been forced by their teacher to participate in a fairy tale play. Mary Margaret, who had
been cast as the lead heroine, Snow White, due to her adorably innocent and simplistically beautiful features, had absolutely relished her role. The nickname had began as something of a mockery (which Regina had started, haha, whoops), but eventually
morphed into more of a term of endearment within their friend group. More often than not, Regina referred to Mary Margaret as Snow. Regina herself, had been cast as the evil queen in that play. This casting job had also been a tragically accurate
one at the time, as Regina had spent most of her younger years being a completely evil bully and terrorizing the other kids in her grade. Especially Mary Margaret. Fortunately for Regina's social life, she'd grown out of the evil stage once middle
school started, but that rather unfortunate phase of her life had certainly lived on as an inside joke amongst her friends. Pretty much every time Regina said something snarky, sassy, or sarcastic (which was often), someone made some sort of reference
to her being the evil queen.
Of course, Snow would already be crying. But it just made it even worse for Regina, because it made it even more difficult not to just give in and forgive her. But… Daniel…
"You don't have to say anything, Snow," Regina said softly. The use of her nickname made Mary Margaret smile a little bit, as Regina only used it when she was being loving. She may not have been ready to kiss and makeup, but she at least didn't want Mary
Margaret thinking she was furious with her.
"I'm sorry, Regina," she said gently, reaching out for Regina's hand. Regina smiled shortly.
"You did the right thing," Regina found herself admitting, surprising even herself.
"I know. But I'm sorry for how my doing the right thing must have made you feel. And I'm sorry you felt like you had to spend the summer alone to deal with it. I can't imagine how you must be feeling today, being here without him, and not having your
friends around you to support you… I'm not sorry for what I did, but I'm sorry for the pain I'm sure it caused you," Mary Margaret said. It was a rather audacious thing for her to say, frankly, that she wasn't sorry for what she did. But it was actually
was exactly what she should have said. Because if Snow felt guilty for doing what she did to Daniel, it would mean that she hadn't been sure what she did was the right thing for Regina. But the fact that she was so sure somewhat put Regina at ease.
At least she'd gone through it for a reason, at least Snow had been watching out for her. Besides, Regina wasn't a fool. Of course she knew that her and Daniel's relationship was not worth fighting for anymore, not after what he'd done…
Regina knew that she was drunk, potentially a bit more than she should be. But to be completely honest, she'd earned it. After the fight she'd had with Daniel today, and the year she'd had in general… Alcohol had seemed like a stellar idea when Emma and Snow had suggested it. One of their closest friends, Killian Jones, was having a party, since his older brother, Liam, was gone for the weekend and probably would allow a party even if he were in town. Practically the whole grade was going to be there, according to Emma. And who was Regina to deny her two best friends such a tempting invitation?
Currently, Regina was sitting on one of the black leather couches in Killian's living room, comfortably wedged between David Nolan, Mary Margaret's forever boyfriend, and Gold, one of her closest male friends.
"Alright, Regina, if you can down this beer in 10 seconds, I will do all of your algebra homework for the rest of the school year," Gold offered slyly, pressing a cold can of beer into Regina's waiting hand. Regina certainly wouldn't pass up a deal involving less algebra.
"Deal," Regina shouted without any hesitation. Gold cheered, and David prepared his stopwatch.
"Okay, wait, I have to pee before I do this. Then I will make you sorry for ever being foolish enough to enter a bet with me," Regina responded, affectionally rumpling Gold's long shaggy brown hair, grinning from ear to ear.
"Long live the evil queen!" Killian suddenly shouted from behind her as he reentered the room. Everyone around cheered at that comment. Regina rolled her eyes, but offered a regal curtsy to her admirers, before she left the room to go to the bathroom.
Regina was too drunk to recall where the downstairs bathroom was, so she settled for the one she knew was in Killian's room upstairs. She slightly stumbled up the stairs, but she was having too good of a time relaxing with her friends to worry about her level of intoxication. Besides, she was a teenage girl, who had gone through more than any teenage girl should have to in the last year: why shouldn't she have a little fun with her friends?
Regina made her way down the hallway to Killian's room, but before she pushed open the door, she heard a muffled noise from inside the room. It was something like a nauseatingly feminine giggle. Against her better judgement, she pushed open the door anyways.
There, within the dimly lit room, in plain sight on the middle of the bed, was Daniel. And he was not alone. Regina had just walked in on Daniel Stables, her first and only love, right in the middle of having sex with Rose Green, the biggest slut in their grade.
Regina didn't think it was possible to sober up so quickly. The fog hazing her mind immediately dissipated. The spinning in her head slowed, so that her eyes were forced to zero in on the sight of the boy she loved having sex with someone else. Something he had never done with her. Regina felt as though the entire world quieted, like there was nothing else happening. All the noise and ruckus downstairs disappeared to her, and all she could focus on was the sudden aching in every part of her body. Especially her heart. Regina felt as though Daniel had literally just punched a hole straight through her chest, and it took all her strength not to collapse to the ground, curl up into a fetal position, and die.
When she entered the room, Daniel and Rose immediately shot away from each other. Regina tried to speak but it seemed that every word she'd ever learned had just evaporated from her vocabulary. Her mind was completely blank.
"Oh god, Regina-" Daniel began. But it was clear that even he didn't know what to say.
"Daniel, no," Regina heard herself whimper pathetically. Daniel, who had now stood up from the bed quickly shoved his legs back into his pants and pulled them up. Regina didn't think she'd ever seen him move so quickly. Daniel began to take a step towards her, his hand outstretched, as though he were approaching a wild beast that might attack at any time. To be perfectly honest, the analogy wasn't completely inaccurate. Regina didn't know what she was capable of right now.
"Daniel, you didn't, please, Daniel, you didn't," she whispered, her eyes squinting as though she were about to cry. But there were no tears.
"Regina, please, try and understand. I was angry, I was-" Daniel tried to respond. But that did it, that pathetic attempt at an excuse sent Regina's composure and vocal abilities rushing back to her.
"You were angry?! How could you do this to me?!" Regina practically screamed. Daniel vigorously shook his head and began walking towards her again. He tried to wrap his arms around her but Regina immediately withdrew from his grasp. She punched him in the chest about a million times in a row.
"Don't touch me!" She remembered screaming, just as Snow, Emma, and David came sprinting up the stairs to see what was happening. It didn't take much explaining, as soon as they saw Rose casually relaxing in the bed half clothed, and Daniel also half naked, they pretty much put the pieces together themselves.
"Aye! Bloody hell, mate, are you serious? In my bed?!" Regina remembers hearing Killian shout at Daniel, poised to punch him in the face, as David scooped Regina, who was now bawling her eyes out, into his arms and carried her out of the room and out of the house.
That was really all Regina could remember of that particular night. Not that she wanted to remember any more of it.
"Look, I, um, I appreciate you apologizing. And I'm sorry too, for disappearing all summer. I just… I just feel a little lost," Regina found herself responding to Snow after a very pregnant pause, during which Regina had relived the horrible memories
of the night she caught Daniel with Rose.
"Is there anything we can do?" Emma asked earnestly.
"I'm not sure what I want. I want to forgive you, Snow, I want to be okay with what happened, I want to move on. I just don't know know if I'm ready for everything to just go back to normal. I just… God, I just want high school to be over," Regina said,
making eye contact with Snow. Snow again took Regina's hand in hers.
"If it's time you need, you can have all of it that you want. I just… can't stand the thought of you feeling alone, even for a second," Snow said gently. Regina couldn't help but smile at that. She didn't know what she'd done to deserve such loving friends,
quite frankly. Even if sometimes they did overstep their boundaries.
"Do you want us to leave you alone now, or…?" Emma interrupted the tender moment, her usual bull-in-a-china-shop personality coming out to play. Regina chuckled a little at that.
"No. Let's give this a shot, if I'm suffering too much, I'll be sure to let you know," she responding, smiling at her two best friends. She could see the relief on both of their faces.
"Thank God. I never thought I'd admit this, so savor it, but I've actually missed your sarcastic jabs and insults. I guess spending all my time with sickly sweet over here is getting to me," Emma said playfully, casually poking Snow in the ribs.
Snow gasped in mock heartbreak.
"I'm wounded. Come on, let's go to class."
Much to Regina's disappointment, her first period class, AP Chemistry II, was severely lacking in the peer department. The class was filled with none of her friends, rather, contained all the people she did her best to avoid at all costs.
Regina managed to snag a seat near the back corner, where, hopefully, no one would disturb her and she would be able to daydream and scheme to her heart's content without fear of retribution from whoever was teaching the class.
However, Regina's pleasure with her seat selection was short lived, as Mallory Dragons and Ella Houndson came sauntering through the door. Mallory and Ella were two of Regina's least favorite people in school. Their constant air of thinking they were
better than everyone else when they so clearly were not was absolutely infuriating to Regina. Besides, Regina knew how much they wished they could be friends with her and her friends. They were constantly kissing up to her, and attempting to maneuver
the hottest gossip out of her, as if she would spill to them.
"Regina!" Mallory cooed in her obnoxious, fake saccharine laced voice. Regina fought the urge to roll her eyes. Mallory and Ella quickly wove through the rows of desks to take the seats on either side of Regina.
"Oh, lucky me," Regina said sarcastically, as Ella and Mallory sat down in their seats. The sarcasm, naturally, went right over both of their heads and they smiled as though she had just told them she wanted to get married.
"So, Regina, how was your summer?" Ella asked in her ridiculously overdone British accent.
"Spectacular, I'm thrilled to be back. What about you, ladies?" Regina replied, feigning over enthusiasm. Regina couldn't deny that she did, from time to time, enjoy messing with the two idiots.
"Fine, thanks. But I have to ask, I'm sure I didn't see you walking into school with Mary Margaret and Emma today? Surely not after all that… drama at the end of last year," Ella said complacently, smirking. Exhibit A of trying to extract
gossip. They were only about 45 seconds into their conversation, and already they were attempting to get something from her. People seemed to be setting all kinds of obnoxious records today, didn't they?
"I can't speak for what you may or may not have seen, Ella," Regina replied flippantly, opening her red spiral notebook and sassily clicking her pen, as though she were actually going to take notes.
"I couldn't imagine that after what Mary Margaret did, you would ever speak to her again!" Mallory exclaimed, letting out a nasally laugh. Regina's hand clenched around her pen at the mention. How well aware she was of the repercussions of what Mary Margaret
had done…
"Excuse me, Mr. Archibald, but I need to extract Ms. Mills from class for a few minutes. She should be back before the end of the period," Cora Mills announced to all of Regina's AP biology class. Regina, who, up until this interruption, had been vigorously taking notes so that she wouldn't have to think about anything else, snapped her head up in surprise. Well, this certainly didn't bode well… Regina quickly attempted to exchange a panicked and puzzled glance with Snow, who was seated on her left, but was confused to see that Snow was doing what she could to avert her gaze from Regina's. Regina stood up in bewilderment, feeling every set of eyes in the class (except for Snow's, evidently) following her as she made her way to the door where Cora was waiting for her.
Cora held the door open, and Regina walked under her arm.
"Yes, Mother?" Regina asked, raising an eyebrow. She wondered what could possibly be so important that she felt the need to take Regina out of class. She couldn't imagine the news she was sure to receive would be good.
"We need to talk."
The walk to Cora's office was silent, with the exception of the clicking of Cora's sensible black heels on the solid floor of the high school's hallways. Regina tried not to think about what was sure to go down next, rather, attempted to remain focused on keeping her breathing steady.
Cora shut the door to her office behind her, and sat down her in black, leather, very official looking arm chair behind her desk. Regina mindlessly took a seat in one of the two wooden chairs on the opposite side of the desk.
"Regina… I have some… news," Cora began hesitantly, inhaling deeply.
"What kind of news?"
"Not the good kind… I really don't think there's a good way to tell you this-" Cora continued, sighing again.
"Then I wish you wouldn't stall so much, what happened?" Regina was unable to help interrupting, her voice shaking. If Regina hadn't been so obviously terrified, she was certain her mother would have rebuked her for her insolent interruption.
"Regina, I received a report from a reliable source that Daniel has been partaking in drug related activities on school campus. I'm afraid I have no choice but to expel him," Cora said matter of factly, all traces of her previous concern and empathy for her daughter having disappeared.
Regina's stomach plummeted, and she felt as though all the wind had been knocked out of her. Every bone in her body tensed, as though if she moved a muscle, it would break. She was at a loss for words.
This kind of reaction seemed to be happening to her rather often lately. It had only been a week since she'd caught Daniel with Rose. He'd tried to talk to her at school, he'd called her a thousand times, he'd come to her house, he'd done everything he possibly could. At first, it had been Regina that resisted him. But as the week wore on and her resolve to stay away from him weakened, her friends made absolutely sure that she didn't even have the chance to break down. Snow and Emma stayed with her wherever she was, to ensure that he didn't dare try and speak to her, while David, Killian and Gold practically stalked Daniel around campus to make sure that he didn't get any ideas about trying to approach Regina. Regina, as ashamed to admit it as she was, was a complete and utter wreck. She didn't know how to exist without him, he'd been by her side for four years… And even though their relationship had been horrific in the last six months, she'd never lost faith in them. She'd believed that it had just been a rough patch, and then the issue with Rose happened and she was at a complete loss… And now, it seemed, her relationship with Daniel was truly about to come to an end. Before she'd even had the chance to decide what she wanted to do. If there was one thing Regina hated more than anything, it was having control ripped away from her. Having other people make decisions for her…
"I'm sorry about this, I imagine this is a bit upsetting to you. But Daniel's grades have been atrocious this semester, he no longer participates in any sports, and everyone has noticed his poor appearance lately… In fact, my source tells me that Daniel has been doing drugs for several months now… Did you know about this?" Cora asked Regina impassively. Regina absolutely despised her mother right now, only Cora would ask these kinds of questions after telling her that she was going to expel her boyfriend.
"No," Regina replied quietly. Obviously, this was a complete lie but Regina would sooner cut off her own arm than give her mother the satisfaction of knowing that her daughter had knowingly allowed her boyfriend to spin so far out of control.
"I see. Either way, a one time offense of this kind is still grounds for expulsion. I just notified Daniel and his parents last period. I wanted to let you know before everyone else did," Cora said simply, as though she was doing Regina some huge favor by giving her the heads up. It was as though she was completely unaffected by what was going on. Who was she kidding, Regina would bet her life that Cora really was unaffected. In fact, she was probably delighted. Cora had always despised Daniel, and disapproved of his relationship with Regina. This was based on nothing other than the fact that Daniel's family was poorer than most people in Storybrook. Cora had always only had eyes for money and power. Always.
Regina remained in her seat, completely frozen, completely unsure of what to do next. There was no other high school in Storybrook, because it was so isolated. Daniel would most likely have to move away to find another school he could attend. And his family had always struggled with the high rent prices in Storybook anyways, they now had no reason to stay. Especially since Daniel and Regina's relationship had seemingly fallen apart, there was nothing keeping him here… Regina felt panic rising in her as she tried to imagine her life without Daniel in it and couldn't.
"Regina, you can go back to class now," Cora's voice suddenly interrupted her. Regina, as though in the middle of a nightmare, mindlessly rose from her chair and turned to leave. She felt like a zombie, like she had no control over her body's movements.
All Regina wanted was to get back to Snow, so she could completely break down and let out of all of the awful feelings she'd been experiencing in the past week. And then, a horrible, horrible thought drifted into to her mind as she recalled the way that Snow had been unable to look at her, minutes ago…
"Mother?" Regina heard herself ask, her voice empty and quiet.
"Yes, dear?"
"Who told you that Daniel was doing drugs? Who was your 'reliable source'?" Regina asked, terrified for her mother's answer, because she suddenly knew exactly what it would be.
"Mary Margaret Blanchard."
Naturally, a horrible confrontation followed; largely, involving Regina screaming at Mary Margaret, asking how she could have betrayed her so horribly. Mary Margaret mostly just took it, standing silently while Regina yelled at her, tears silently streaming
down her face. When Regina had finished, Mary Margaret had explained calmly that she'd done it because she couldn't stand watching Daniel treat Regina so horribly anymore, that he had made her already unbearable year that much worse, and was only
going to cause her more grief. That what he had done with Rose was the last straw and was unforgivable. That the only thing she could think of to do was to take the reins out of Regina's hands, and hand them to Cora.
Regina had hated her so much in that moment, she'd felt as though she would never speak to her again. And the worst part of it was that, all along, she knew that Mary Margaret was right.
The rest of Regina's classes before lunch period passed without anything truly interesting to report. Luckily, she'd had better fortune in the peer department. She had AP English with Snow, Emma, and David. She had AP Latin with Gold and Killian. She
had AP US History with Emma, Killian, Gold, and David. All and all, her schedule was pretty decent so far.
Regina was walking to lunch with Mary Margaret and David now. Naturally, they were holding hands and shooting each other nauseating, romantic looks every so often. Ah, Snow and Charming. The school's most notoriously enviable couple. David hadn't been
so unfortunate as to have been in the elementary school play with the others, but he had inherited his nickname 'Charming' just by dating Mary Margaret. He was called Charming only when he was being discussed in relativity to Snow, or when someone
was making a mockery of him.
"So, the usual table, ladies?" David asked facetiously, smiling at both of them. Not that she'd ever admit it, as he was such an annoying goody-goody and basic high school guy, Regina secretly adored David. He was one of her favorite and most trusted
people.
"Actually, we'll be sitting at the usual table. You'll be sitting alone," Regina joked, grinning and playfully punching his shoulder.
"Lovely to see the evil queen rearing her gorgeous head," David replied, smiling and rolling his eyes as he swiftly kissed Snow's cheek. He headed off off towards their usual table in the far right corner of the cafeteria, the one closest to the windows.
It was the only round top in the entire cafeteria, all the others were rectangular. Regina and Emma had claimed it as theirs on the very first day of freshman year. Ever since, it had unfailingly been occupied by Regina, Emma, Mary Margaret, David,
Killian, and Gold, with a few occasional drop ins.
"You know… as much as I want you to, you don't have to sit with us today if it's too much too soon. We would all understand. Besides, there's no rush. Your chair will always be there for you, Regina," Mary Margaret said suddenly to Regina, smiling at
her earnestly. Regina's heart warmed a little bit, much to her chagrin. She secretly loved being such an adored member of a group, it made her feel like… home.
"I thought that I would never be ready to come back. And I won't say nothing has changed, and that I'm over it. I'll never really be over it, and things will never be the same, but I'm not going to force myself to remain in isolation, it's only made me
more miserable. So I think I'll… Reclaim my throne, if it's alright with you," Regina responded after a moment, smirking.
Even though she heavily felt the hole in heart that Daniel had once filled, and was very aware that something was missing from her life now, and quite frankly, just wished that high school would be over so she could move on…At the sound of Snow's wholehearted
laughter, Regina felt the pieces of her world slowly beginning to realign