Chapter One: The Woman In Red
The early morning sun's rays beat down harshly against the small town of Storybrooke, washing it in a delicate orange glow despite the feverish heat that it emanated. It was the beginning of September, autumn was generally on the rise by then, and yet the entire state of Maine seemed to be suddenly struck with a brutal heat wave. The temperature was debilitating, excruciatingly so, and left the citizens with raw, red cheeks, burning lungs, and the desire to stay inside pressed against their air conditioners. But, not everyone had such luxuries, namely Emma Swan, who was passed out in the backseat of her tiny, yellow bug, with sweat beading across her overheated flesh.
As the heat continued to rise while the minutes passed, the blonde groaned deeply within her chest, rousing from her sleep as she cautiously opened one green eye. Hissing as the bright, morning light burned her retina, Emma threw her sticky arm across her face and waited for a moment to pass before attempting again. The second time was more successful, so much so, that the blonde blinked open both, bleary eyes. Shifting her body from its awkward position, the girl cursed under her breath as she felt the dull pain of her heated flesh rip away from the leather of the seat. Once she was sitting, Emma wiped the sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand and fled the stuffy car, but once she was standing on the sidewalk, she quickly realized the heat was just as unbearable outside.
"Jesus," the blonde whispered under her breath, her throat dry and scratchy. Coughing from the slight irritation, Emma grabbed the outfit she had picked out for her first day of classes and slammed the door shut. Tucking the clothes under her arm, Emma made her way into Granny's, the homey little diner that made the girl curiously comfortable, and leaned against the counter, relishing in the cool air that seemed to flow easily throughout the establishment.
"Emma!" Came a high-pitched voice, somewhere between a shriek and a gasp. Chuckling lightly, the blonde nodded to the server who dashed over towards her. "Ready for your first day?"
"Not so much," Emma sighed, gripping the edge of the counter with shaky hands as she worried her bottom lip with her teeth. "Hey, Ruby, mind if I use your restroom for a minute?"
"Yeah, go for it," the brunette responded, her tone dialing back a bit as she acknowledged the other girl's current, deflated mood, "I'll make your coffee while you're doing your thing. Large black, right?"
"You got it," the blonde smiled stiffly, feeling her nerves tighten the muscles in her stomach, "and thanks, I really appreciate it."
Backing away from the counter, Emma headed towards the bathroom and quickly closed and locked the door. Resting her forehead on the cool wood, the blonde tried to settle her breathing, feeling the sudden spin of an anxiety attack flittering throughout her extremities. Focusing on taking deep, full breaths, the blonde felt her body slowly begin to wind down, and she turned away from the door, trying to distract herself with getting dressed.
She knew that she was going to be nervous that day, of course she did, but Emma had no idea that the notion of going back to school was going to throw her entire body into a fit of anxiety. Part of her wanted to back down and try again some other time, but the other, more determined part of herself begged her to go. Emma wanted to scream as she stripped off her clothes and threw them into a pile on the floor. She wasn't a kid anymore, the time for moments like these had passed her by years ago, and yet, there was still that aching, sobbing mess of a girl deep within her heart that just wanted to hide away from potential judgement and failure.
Would everyone know she was older than they were? Would they judge her for that? Would everyone be able to see how she wasn't intelligent, or equipped enough for an academic setting? Would they all think she would fail? The incessant questions ran through her brain wildly as she threw on her dark washed jeans, and white tank top. Taking a shaking breath, Emma slowly approached the sink, and looked up into the mirror. Groaning, she turned the faucet on and leaned forward, splashing cold water on her overheated, and exhausted face. Patting her skin dry with paper towel, the blonde paused as she looked into her own green eyes, noticing the fear that resided there. Sighing, Emma leaned forward, dropping the damp paper towel as she gripped the edge of the sink for balance. "You can do this, Swan," she whispered to her reflection softly, "fuck what anybody else thinks. You're doing this for you. You've got this."
The quick pep talk seemed to make all the difference, and Emma could instantly feel the weight on her chest start to lift. Closing her tired eyes, the blonde took a couple of steps back and looked at herself once more. She looked relatively put together, for once, she thought to herself as she ran her fingers through her tangled blonde hair, deciding to tie it back in a ponytail. Brushing errant, blonde strands of hair from her cheeks, she reached for the black and white plaid flannel that sat on the toilet. Pondering whether she could bear to wear it in the crippling heat. Shrugging, the blonde quickly grabbed it, and tied it around her waist. Slipping her boots back onto her feet, Emma gave herself one last glance in the mirror before she vacated the bathroom.
Once back out in the main area of the diner, Emma took a seat on one of the empty stools and collected her coffee from Ruby. Taking a sip of the bitter, scalding beverage, the blonde grimaced for a moment, realizing, too late that the choice of a hot drink probably wasn't the best idea in this weather. Ignoring her throat's anguished refusal, Emma quickly gulped it down, letting the caffeine infiltrate her blood stream. As she felt the coffee begin to work it's magic, she idly chatted with Ruby, making comfortable conversation as she finished off the last of her beverage. Scrounging for loose change once her mug was empty, Emma placed a meager tip on the counter and headed back to the bathroom to collect her dirty clothes. Gathering them in her arms, the blonde slowly left the diner and stalked back to her car.
Opening the door of the backseat, Emma placed the dirty garments in a large plastic bag of laundry. Sighing, she tried to force her body to adjust to the heat of the morning to no avail, instead, she merely shut the door and rounded the car before awkwardly collapsing into the driver's side. Pulling her keys out of her pocket, the blonde decided she would head to the school a bit earlier than everyone else so she could explore and become more comfortable with the layout. With this thought in mind, Emma put the key in the ignition and turned, the car started up immediately, but the blonde's grip on the steering wheel tightened as she heard the familiar, disappointing sound of a clinking, metallic noise in her engine. She needed oil. Again.
"For fuck sakes," the blonde grumbled to herself as she cut the engine and stretched her arm out towards the floor of the passenger seat. Finding what she was looking for, she gripped a full bottle of engine oil between her fingers, and huffed a final time before fleeing the car. Stomping to the back end of the unreliable vehicle, Emma lifted the trunk door and untwisted the cap to her oil reservoir. "Every fucking time," the blonde muttered under her breath, as she removed the safety seal from the bottle with her teeth. As the topper popped off and rolled underneath her car, green eyes narrowed in pure annoyance. But, the severe irritation didn't sit long before Emma was distracted by a beautiful, black Mercedes pulling up in front of her yellow piece of shit. "Damn…"
Green eyes slowly appreciated the polished exterior, and the pristine condition of such an old model. If Emma would have been the overenthusiastic type, she would have whistled, but she wasn't, so instead she just let her gaze eat up the pure beauty of it. That is, until the owner of the car stepped out, and came into Emma's line of sight. A breath got stuck in Emma's throat then, as she felt her entire body stiffen, and tense, almost as if she were paralyzed. The woman's black hair was glossy, and shone a dark shade of blue in the brilliant light of the sun. Her cheeks were angular, and defined, sun kissed and luminous like the rest of her olive skin seemed to be. Hooded green eyes greedily ate up the vision before her, noting full lips painted a deep red that matched the colour of the brunette's form fitting dress. The fabric hugged every inch of the dark woman's curvy body, ending a few delicious inches above her knees. Emma knew that if she had the ability to use her vocal chords she would have groaned in that moment.
Biting down on the inside of her cheek, Emma's eyes widened as she found the other woman's black eyes staring into her own, a small glimmer of amusement residing there. As the woman neared, the blonde could feel her body pulsating to the fervent beat of her heart, and she willed her eyes to look away from the stranger, and yet she couldn't. Licking her lips distractedly, she merely watched in awe as the brunette continued to move, her hips swaying the slightest bit, until there was only a couple of paces separating the two women.
"You're getting wet," the other woman purred, her voice rich and sultry as her dark eyes bore into the blonde's. Emma watched breathlessly as the brunette leaned forward, "…what?" the blonde asked quietly, her tongue feeling thick and weighed down in her mouth. Full red lips curled into the slightest hint of a smirk as the brunette slowly lowered her heavy gaze to Emma's clenched hands. Following the stranger's trail with her own eyes, the blonde looked down in horror as dark, thick oil gurgled from the opening, dripping down her fingers and wrist.
"Shit!" Emma shouted, loosening her hold on the bottle, and trying desperately to scoop some of the excess oil back into its container. Feeling the fluid ooze between her fingers, the blonde switched the bottle to the other hand and quickly started to pour it into her car. "Thanks for…" Emma trailed off as she realized the woman in red had vanished. Kicking herself mentally as she fumbled with the now empty container, the blonde stowed it away in the backseat of her car before hurrying back into the diner.
Bracing herself against the counter, Emma flagged down her friend, "Ruby, you got any napkins?" Lifting her hands in the air to show the slender brunette the black mess on her fingers. "It's an emergency!"
Gaping at the oil running down the blonde's wrists, Ruby quickly reached under the counter and pulled back with a handful of paper towel. "I'm sorry," she said in a stilted tone as she passed them to Emma, "they're all I have up front."
Quickly gathering the thin, disposable towels in her grasp, Emma shook her head as a way to try and reassure the helpful girl, "it's cool, don't sweat it, Ruby. Thank you!"
Eyeing the clock with worry creasing her fair brow, the blonde wrapped the layers of paper towels around her fingers, praying they would remove enough of the residue from her skin. As she noted the time, Emma felt herself start to panic, but, as her gaze fell upon a familiar form, her nerves seemed to flutter away instantaneously. The woman in red stood across the room, at the opposite end of the counter, waiting for her order. Grazing her teeth lightly against her bottom lip, Emma found herself slowly being pulled towards the brunette until she stood just behind her.
"Hi…" the blonde started, her voice coming out far too quiet to surpass the din of the diner, and she swallowed before attempting again with more volume. "Hey!" Slightly startled by the sudden voice behind her, the brunette cocked her head to the side and looked Emma over once again, her lips twitching as she slowly turned around to face the blonde.
"Hello," she nodded, her dark eyes rolling slightly as she watched Emma flounder within herself to find something to say. After a moment passed, the woman noted her order was ready, and she reached for it, but paused once the blonde finally stuttered out a sentence.
"Uh…thanks for, well—" Emma awkwardly motioned to her fingers as she continued sopping the oil off of her hands, chuckling with a tone of self-deprecation, "…letting me know about this."
"It was my pleasure," the brunette breathed, swiftly taking her iced coffee from the counter. "You seemed…" she stopped for a moment as she wrapped her full, red lips around her straw, dark eyes raking over Emma's body as she took a slow, deep drink, "…awfully distracted, after all."
Blood rushed to the blonde's cheeks instantly at the display, and the indirect callout from the other woman. Feeling the blush deepen as she continued to stare, Emma quietly cleared her throat, hoping to center herself enough to speak. "Do you have a name?" The blonde wondered, her new found sense of bravado saturating the question as she tried to lean against the counter coolly, which instead probably came across as clumsy.
"I do," the brunette nodded, her full lips parting in a breathtaking smile as she crept forward, her mouth only inches from Emma's ear, "it's not interested."
"You looked pretty interested." The blonde argued in jest, an endearing, lopsided grin gracing her lips as she watched the brunette pull back, her expression completely blank, except for her eyes, which still held a sliver of curiosity in their dark depths. Scoffing at the remark, the woman in red brushed past Emma and left the diner, the melodic jingle of the bell above the door announcing her departure.
Cursing under her breath, the blonde balled the paper towel between her hands as she raced outside after the brunette. The woman was idly standing beside Emma's car, as if she were waiting for the blonde to follow her. And, as soon as Emma approached her, the brunette looked up, an expression of knowing in her eyes as she started walking away towards her car.
"If I were interested," she started, as she rounded the Benz, her fingers poised on the handle of the door, "I would have told you my name's Regina."
"But, you just told me," Emma acknowledged, her heart hammering in her chest as she watched the woman in red open the door to her car.
Dark eyes flashed deviously in the blonde's direction, and Emma was sure she could see some kind of interest pique there. The flash of a tongue flicking over full lips almost made the blonde ignore the last words the brunette said before she got into her car and pulled away: "you're right, I did."
"Regina," Emma whispered to herself as she took a moment to watch the mysterious woman vanish away down the street. She reveled in the way the name felt against her tongue. Humming with bemused bliss, the blonde slowly fell back into reality when her phone jingled in her pocket. Pulling it out in a daze, Emma nearly shrieked as she noticed the alarm going off. It was ten minutes to eight; she had ten minutes before the first bell, and fifteen minutes before the final bell. "Fuck!" She hissed under her breath, racing around to the other side of her car, praying the extra oil would give it the boost it needed.
Clenching her jaw tightly as she pushed the key into the ignition and started the engine. The blonde released a loud sigh of relief as she noted the noise hadn't returned. Peeling out of her parking space, Emma sped down the street, going as much over the speed limit as she could without it being acknowledged. Luckily, the traffic was slim, and it only took several minutes for Emma to find herself in the parking lot of Storybrooke Regional High.
Shutting the yellow bug down, the blonde threw herself out of the car, nearly forgetting her messenger bag in the passenger seat in her haste. Throwing her bag over her shoulder, Emma broke out into a run as she noticed no one idling in the courtyard. "Fuck, fuck, fuck," the blonde growled quietly as she picked up her speed as she ran up the entrance stairs.
Flinging open the large, glass door, Emma hurried inside, being met with a gracious whip of cool air against her face. Noticing a couple of straggling students shuffling through the atrium, the blonde raced towards them, hoping desperately that one of them could point her in the right direction.
"Hey!" Emma shouted to the small group of teenagers, all of their eyes falling on her as she jogged towards them. "Any of you wanna tell me how to get to the English wing?" Their faces were blank, and bored, and the blonde would have pummeled all of them for their listless apathy if she had more time, but she was running thin on minutes, and she needed their help.
"Up the stairs and hang a left," a short, dark haired girl mumbled as she passed by the small group, her eyes glued to her phone.
"Thank you," Emma called over her shoulder as she dashed for the stairs, clumsily tripping up them a couple of times as she hurried. Her breath was stuttering in her throat and her lungs were burning, but the blonde swallowed against the pain as she threw open the red doors of, what she assumed was, the English wing.
As the blonde slowed down the slightest bit, she couldn't seem to fathom how she remembered she had AP English first. Making herself nervous as she gazed upon the numbered doors, Emma quickly pulled her phone out to check her schedule. Yes. She was right. Finally something was going her way. Stashing her phone in her pocket, Emma jogged down the long red and white hallway until her gaze fell upon the classroom number she was looking for: 223. Almost crying in relief, the blonde sprinted the last few yards towards the room, her boots pounding loudly against the tiled floor. Skidding to a halt as she reached the classroom, her breath coming out in hot bursts and she pressed the half closed door open.
The very tips of Emma's boots just barely skidded over the threshold to the classroom as the final bell signaled loudly through the halls. Taking a deep, steadying breath as her eyes gazed at the staring faces of her fellow classmates, Emma smiled sheepishly before heading further into the room. Seeing an available seat near the back, the blonde hurried down the aisle trying not to disturb any of the other students who were all already seated.
"Ms. Swan, I presume?" The familiar voice made Emma's body instantly stop its movements as she felt something in her lower abdomen clench viciously. Swallowing hard, Emma slowly turned and sat at her desk before allowing her green eyed gaze to fall towards the front of the classroom where the voice had come from. Biting down hard on her bottom lip, Emma visibly shivered as she saw the woman in red from earlier standing in front of the room, her hands poised on her hips in warning.
"Do try and be more punctual next time, dear," the brunette drawled, her lips curling into a devious smirk as her black eyes simmered with a fire Emma couldn't quite comprehend, "or face the consequences."
A/N: Hello everyone! So, after that Swan Queen one-shot I recently uploaded, I've been bombarded with ideas for more Swan Queen fics, because clearly I'm falling back into this ship with a vengeance, haha. But, I wanted to try my hand at a Swan Queen student/teacher AU. So, here it is, PLEASE let me know how you feel about it so far. I have a couple other chapters I'm finishing up, but I want to keep myself ahead of the game, so I may wait a bit before I upload more. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this, and please let me know your thoughts in the form of a review!