Disclaimer : I do not own OUAT.
Author's Note : So, I have a thing for smart guys, and in this fanfiction, Regina will too. I will perhaps incorporate other pairings, but it's probably going to end up being a GoldenQueen-centered fic. I will try to update it as soon as possible. Hope you enjoy it!
Regina Mills was pacing through her tiny rented flat. She was starting university today and was very nervous and insecure. What if she wasn't good enough? She was always on top of her class in high school and was used to everything being easy. She basically got into university without any effort. Now, everything felt different and she was panicking. Storybrooke Uni was one of the very best in astrophysics and was very respected by experts and very feared by students. Rumor had it the professors were strict and unforgiving and that barely 50% of students usually made it through the first year. While Regina never was the insecure kind of girl, she still felt intimidated for the very first time in her life.
She shook her raven head, trying to chase the fear away. Walking up to her closet, Regina took her time deciding what to wear. She wanted to appear professional, yet not too serious. In the end, she chose dark jeans and a white shirt. She put just her signature crimson lipstick on and headed out.
Arriving to the front university gate made her feel uneasy. She didn't know anyone, and she wasn't a very open person, so she anticipated that making friends would be harder than passing exams. But, deep in her thoughts, she slammed into a blonde wearing a red leather jacket
"Hey, watch it!", said the blonde and Regina apologized.
"Don't sweat it, I'm fine", the blonde answered. "I'm Emma, by the way. Are you a freshman too?"
"Yes, I am .Actually, I was just looking for Calculus, do you have any idea where it is?"
"Not really, but I'm heading there too, we can look together" , Emma said, with relief. She was bored when she was all by herself.
"Sure. We girls should stick together", said Regina.
It was a well known fact that there weren't many girls in their field. So many jokes were made about it it wasn't even funny.
"So" , said Emma,"have you seen some cute guys here?"
Regina choked a bit, she was fairly inexperienced with guys. Not a single one ever caught her attention. They all were too immature and lacked ambition. She also wasn't used to typical "girl talk", so she answered :
"I think I saw one. Blue eyes and bad boy charm, everything a teenage woman wants."
She didn't think he was hot, but Emma seemed like a typical teenage girl, so she just might.
Suddenly, they bumped into a large group of students who looked petrified. Emma decided to check what's going on.
"Hey, guys, what's up?", she asked curiously.
"Have you seen the schedule? We have Gold for Introduction Course in Modern Astrophysics! Gold! The famous "you are a bunch of idiots who will never pass my subject" professor. Sure, he's a genius, but I also heard he's a mean old fart" ,answered a tall handsome guy with bluest eyes Emma has ever seen.
Regina saw Emma's jaw drop and smiled. This was the guy she told her about.
"I'm Killian, by the way. What's a gorgeous girl like you doing here?", he said, immediately turning his flirt mode on.
"The same as you. Women are just as smart as men. And some women are much smarter than some men". Emma wasn't in the mood for "women can't do science" today.
"Am I right, is this a challenge? Because I will not spare you just because you're a girl".
"And I will not spare you just because you're conceited and your big chauvinistic ego is going to suffer a punch when you see me doing math. Oh, I'm Emma, Emma Swan."
"Can't wait to see you again, preferably doing math, Swan", Killian said with a smile that was, Emma hated to admit, nothing short of dashing.
Regina sighed. Coming to the university, she expected heated discussions and group projects. People with similar interests and ambition. Instead, it seemed just like high school, girls thinking about guys, guys chasing girls. Emma interrupted her thoughts with a question.
"So, what do you know about this Gold guy?", she asked.
"Please, tell me you are kidding me. He is probably the biggest expert on modern astrophysics at the moment. You can read his work in every respectable science magazine. Last year, he published a book on his work. I devoured it with enjoyment."
"Ease up on the fangirling, please. Plus, didn't Killian just say he's a mean old fart?"
"If he's mean, he probably has the right to be. I can't believe we even get to be in the same room with that man". Emma just exhaled loudly. She was here because her parents made her, since it was the top university. She didn't care much for astrophysics.
Soon they were in front of the Calculus classroom. They rushed to their seats, because class was starting any minute. The professor was a grumpy old man called Leroy, who actually seemed drunk. Regina felt another wave of disappointment. She came here to learn and expected professors to be on top of their game.
She left the class feeling down and exhausted. The professor barely taught them anything, but he gave them a test sheet they were supposed to solve by tomorrow. Regina went through the material and realized it wasn't extremely hard. She decided to relax first, so she cooked herself a cup of coffee and took a science magazine. She flipped it until she found what she wanted to read.
"Galactic structure" by professor Aidan I. Gold.