The bell rang loudly and shrilly through the halls of Storybrooke High, signaling fifth period, and lunchtime for most of the upperclassman. A chestnut haired girl, dressed in a maroon skirt and a crème sweater, moved quickly through the students, stopping only to throw her books in her locker and to grab her bagged lunch. Her locker was decorated with quotes from her favorite novels, and a few pictures of her and her friends, but the girl barely spared it a glance as she hurriedly caught a few falling papers and shoved them back inside before slamming it shut. Belle French made her way to the cafeteria with expert precision, cerulean eyes scanning the crowd of students as she went. Suddenly she felt a long nailed hand grab her arm,

"Jesus, what's the rush? We've sat at the same table for the past two years, I don't think anyone is going to overthrow us for it now!" exclaimed Ruby Lucas, smiling as she attempted to keep up with her friend. It wasn't exactly hard given she had a good foot on Belle, and her black leather covered legs were much longer, but she had always had a flair for the dramatic.

"Mary Margaret said she had news, and she sounded excited, so it must be important!" Belle answered her friend as they entered the cafeteria and headed toward their usual table. Mary Margret was already seated, and was carefully unpacking her neatly made lunch when the two other girls approached and sat down. The three had been best friends since elementary school, having grown up in their small town together. Although they had different interests, Belle loved her books, Ruby was a fashion and pop culture obsessive, and Mary Margret was passionate about animal rights and cheerleading, they remained as close as ever because their friendship stretched so far back. They knew each other better then anyone, and they refused to believe anything could separate them.

"You have to tell us what's going on," Belle said, smiling as she sat down and began unpacking her sandwich, "I've been dying ever since I got your text this morning!"

"Hold your horses!" laughed Mary Margret, brushing a stray piece of raven colored hair from her face, "We have to wait for Emma. I want to tell all of you at once!"

Emma had joined their group two years ago, at the start of high school. She had moved to Storybrooke with her adoptive parents, and quickly befriended the kind trio of girls. Her cleverness and wry sense of humor made her a welcome addition to the group, and soon they couldn't remember life without her in their group. Less then a minute after Mary Margret finished speaking, the blonde herself appeared with a tray of food.

"Hey, I'm here! You said something about big news, Mary Margret?" Emma asked, setting her tray down and sitting next to Ruby.

"Yeah, please give us the reveal, or I think we'll all go crazy." Ruby said with a smirk, taking a large bite out of her sandwich.

"Alright, here it is" grinned Mary Margret, smoothing the skirt of her cheerleading uniform before looking at them all, "I won class president!"

"OH MY GOD!"
"YES! YOU DID IT? CONGRATS!"

"THAT"S AMAZING!"

The girls cries could be heard over the normal din of the cafeteria, carrying throughout the room. Belle hugged Mary Margret tightly.

"I'm so happy for you, you deserve this" she told her friend sincerely. Ruby reached across the table for Mary Margret's hands.

"I agree! I knew you could do this!" she exclaimed, giving her friend's hand a squeeze.

"Thanks guys, you're the best! I mean it, your support means everything, and now I finally have a chance to make a difference at this school." Mary Margret said, looking between her three closest friends.

"This is great new, I'm so happy for you Mary Margret," Emma said with a genuine smile at her friend "But what about.. you know who?"

"You mean Regina?" asked Ruby, "It's about time the Queen Bitch got overthrown."

"You won fair and square, you shouldn't be afraid of her," Belle pointed out.

"Oh I'm not." Mary Margret answered, "She's still the cheer captain, so I have to deal with her, but I'm going to act normally. I'll respect her if she respects me."

"Very mature of you" Belle said with a nod of her head.

"Yeah but do you think she'll treat you with the same respect? I don't think she'll take getting ousted as calmly as you think. She may still be head cheerleader but now she only controls that one group. I don't think she'll take that lying down." Emma said, stabbing a stray carrot on her plate with more force then necessary, as if it was the queen bee's head.

"I can handle her, don't you worry" Mary Margret stated confidently.

"Oh you can?" a new voice said. The girls looked up and saw Regina Mills standing over them, her cheerleading uniform impeccably clean, and her dark hair tied in a high ponytail. She allowed her dark eyes to pass over each girl before lingering on Mary Margret.

"I need you to be at practice early. The mats need to be rolled out, and the other girls have too much to do, you'll be fine doing it by yourself right? You wouldn't want to be seen as not a team player." Regina said menacingly, leaning forward with her hands on the edge of the table.

"I think I can manage that" Mary Margret responded, meeting the taller girl's gaze. Regina straightened, crossing her arms before declaring,

"Fine, see you at three." And with that she turned on her heel and strode away. The girls left at the table shared worrying glances.

"What was that about her not being angry or bitter?" Ruby asked, warily watching Regina walk back towards another gaggle of cheerleaders.
"I won't let her get to me." Mary Margret stated, "If she wants to try to force me off the team, she's going to have to try better then that."

With that the short haired cheerleader stood up and collected the trash from her meal, throwing it in the trash can near the exit, and departing the cafeteria.

"Well, lunch is almost over anyway. I'll see where she went off to, I have next period with her anyway." Emma said with a sigh, clearing her tray. Ruby followed her, leaving Belle to pack up the rest of her half eaten apple slices.

Regina could be a force to be reckoned with, and Belle knew that Mary Margret should be wary. She remembered the time back in middle school when Regina had mocked her on the bus, calling Belle "Reading Girl" because she preferred to read on the bus instead of interacting with the shouting classmates that shared her route. The name had stuck all the way through eighth grade, Regina's influence causing it to spread throughout the whole school. Now that she was almost an adult, Belle didn't let the childish antics from middle school bother her much anymore, she was fairly popular now, and a friend to many. However she worried for Mary Margret because she knew that Regina's power had only grown stronger in high school, making her queen of the rumor mill.

Belle was so absorbed in her thoughts that she failed to notice that she was about to run in to another person on her way out the door. Suddenly she felt her body collide with another, stronger body, almost knocking her to the ground. She sensed leather clad arms around her, and looked up to meet dark brown eyes framed by long, wavy hair. She had just run in to Adam Gold, and she was still standing in his arms, gawking at him.

Belle quickly pulled away, her eyes going wide.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean… I didn't see you, I-"

"It's fine" he answered, his voice deep and with the hint of an old accent, "I didn't see you either. It takes two people to run into each other you know."

"Right. Well… I best be going, I have… class" Belle stuttered, attempting to smile as she backed away. Adam chuckled,

"Alright then. Nice running into you," he said with a smirk.