An A/U High school fic, written as a Christmas present for tonguemarksonmymirror. I was originally going to post it as a one-shot, but instead have decided for multi-chapter, that way she'll get to read some of it before next Christmas. *Rolls eyes*
The town of Storybrooke sits in Maine, USA, along the coast. Storybrooke is large, yet also small, in a way impossible to describe. It has only one school, that caters all ages. One hospital, that caters all sicknesses, all injuries, all worries. One fire service station. One sheriff station, with only two cells, one interrogation room, and no prison to be found within the town. Only one sheriff, with no-one under him, to keep the town in order. There is one bar, one pet shelter, and a seemingly never-ending expanse of forest surrounding the town, except the one road leading from Storybrooke that no-one ever seems to take, and the sea on the other end, full of boats that never leave the port.
It also has an extensive history of attracting the weird and wonderful.
"Detention" Blue announced, "is to be used productively. You will do work, or homework, or you will study. If you have no materials, well, you are in a library. However stupid you may like to make us think you are, I think you can work that one out. I will be back in three hours, nobody is to leave. Just to make sure..." Blue sends Jefferson a pointed glare, to which he merely returns a lazy grin and a wiggle of his fingers. "I will be locking the door behind me." Blue sweeps her eyes over the group of misfit teens one last time before turning on heel and leaving the library, doors clicking shut behind her.
She slides the a bolt lock shut behind her, fire safety be damned. There had never been a fire in Storybrooke anyway.
Blue Superior is the headmistress at the Storybrooke Educational Facility, or SEF as the lazy call it. Blue Superior, what a name. Damn my parents... bless their souls... but why would they name me that... irrelevant, they dedicated their life to raising me in a... oh forget it. Blue struggled through the what seemed daily argument, in her head, of why Storybrooke contained so many strange people with strange names and past times, including herself.
As she crosses the road, into the actual school building, she watches the people pass her by on this warm weekend morning, only able to name one face in a crowd of many. It's funny, she thinks, Storybrooke has a large population, but I could only name several dozen of the people living here. Out of the hundreds enrolled at the school, of the hundred I teach, I could only name, recognize, a handful.
Finally reaching her office and ending her short journey, she takes a seat behind her desk, placed conveniently next to the large window facing the Library. Peering out, she sighs, realizing that most of the students were not studying, instead doing everything but. Blue didn't expect anything different, especially from those students, but she had hoped. If they were going to study, they probably wouldn't be in detention in the first place... huh... Blue leans back, shaking her head at the revelation that it is only the students who frequent detention that she can actually remember.
Sitting back, she closes her eyes and lets the sunlight caress her face, as she thinks back to why they were in detention in the first place... this time anyway.
Sidney Glass. Sidney, he isn't the brightest of lads. Always looking for gossip, always looking for a rumour to spread. This time he made the mistake of getting caught talking about Ruby... by her mother. He did admit to me, that in hindsight, talking about Ruby in her family diner was probably a stupid idea. Thank the Lord he realizes his mistake. Unfortunately, Anita can be quite ruthless, especially where her family is involved, and demanded he pay time for it. I doubt he'll spend the time doing work, he is much more likely to be blogging on his laptop, or harassing Regina. I wish I could say it was a harmless crush, but I can't help but worry about him, Regina does tend to take advantage of his infatuation.
Jefferson Hatter. Jefferson, oh Jefferson. Quite the clown, quite the troublemaker. The boy tends to end up in the strangest of places. This time, it happened to be the girls locker room. He fell through the vent. Needless to say, it didn't go down too well with the girls, who were changing. I did question why he was in the vent system in the first place, but I never did get any answers. He'll probably be goofing off, possibly with Rumpel, they seem to be quite chummy.
Rumpelstiltskin Gold. Rumpelstiltskin... I can't help but feel sorry for the kid, he does tend to be picked on. His name is, as far as unique names go, quite the winner. His father owns the pawnbrokers, and he definitely picked up the knack to making deals. He just had the misfortune of being caught trading examination answers. I've no idea where or how he got them, and he certainly didn't give up his sources. He's a strange boy, not one to socialize, yet he seems familiar with most of the delinquents that detention frequently houses.
Belle French. Belle doesn't actually have detention, she's quite the model student. I suspect that she's actually there to keep her brother company. She was adopted by the Gold's after her father went missing, much to my surprise, seeing as Gold senior was the prime suspect. It is curious how Belle is so familiar with the delinquent students, as is her brother, yet she could not be classed one herself. I believe I've even heard her be called an "honorary delinquent", in those exact terms. Perhaps it is because she spends so much time in the library, she does love to read after all.
Regina Mills. Regina, the mayors daughter. A loner. I've even heard her be called an 'emo', whatever that is. I can't say I'm 'down' with the lingo the kids use today. Regina is often withdrawn, and engages in frequent antisocial and self-destructive behaviour, but any attempt to talk with her about it, or her parents, is shot down. I've tried sending her to Archie, but she just won't speak with him. I was forced to give her detention after she turned up to class drunk, I decided not to inform her parents, I stopped doing that years ago. In the back of my mind, I couldn't help but think that perhaps it would do more harm than good.
Emma Swan. Emma, another loner, yet more of a 'bad girl' than an 'emo'. Most would label Emma as a textbook case of orphan behaviour. I'm not so sure, but I have nothing to back it up with. Emma is the only person I know that doesn't actually come from Storybrooke... I don't think she does anyway, we'll never really know. She was found a little way outside of town by the mayor. I can't for the life of me remember why the mayor was out of town, but I remember that everyone was shocked when the mayor, Cora, adopted her. It was met with suspicion, and even to this day, 18 years later, Cora's intent is still masked in mystery. It would be easy to assume she just wanted to help an innocent, defenceless child, but anyone who knows Cora Mills, knows to be wary. Especially given that Emma was mostly unseen, unheard of for the majority of her growing up. Cora homeschooled her, until 4 months ago, when she suddenly enrolled her at SEF.
The more I try to work out the Mills', the more dodgy it appears. Emma and Regina barely talk, they don't communicate, it's as if they are strangers... yet they grew up in the same household. From what I've prized from Regina over the years, it seems that they had very little association with one another, they hardly ever crossed paths, that Emma was confined mostly to her room.
Not for the first time, I wonder if I should have done something, if anyone should have done something. Cora Mills is a dangerous person, and her husband is simply wallpaper, or so it seems. That house is no place to raise children, and given how they turned out, I wonder if they ever really raised them at all anyway.
Blue snaps her eyes open as a rhythmic beeping pulls her from her thoughts. 3 hours already?! "Time to let the kids out the can I suppose" she mumbles to herself.