Hello, new writer here.
I had an idea, and I thought why not give the writing thing a go. This chapter is a bit messy and shorter than I wanted it to be, but I needed to set some things up before the story really gets going.
I'd love to hear any thoughts you might have, as I mentioned, I'm new to this game so any advice would be much appreciated.
Hope you Enjoy Xx
In Storybrooke, Maine, there lived a lady with an impish smile, and bright eyes, and a voice that enthralled all who listened to her. At least, that was how she seemed to her wife. Perfect, but with imperfections. Bright, but with a little darkness. Just enough of a tainted soul to have intrigued her in the first place, and more than enough goodness to send her stumbling head over heels into the other woman's life.
She was, for all intensive purposes, her true love. For that's how Emma saw the world. She saw it for the fairytale it was. She believed that everyone had to have a happy ending. She had craved hers. And, now she had it. An elegant silver band on her left hand, and the beautiful woman speaking to the crowd was hers. The perfect happy ever after. With the most traditional of beginnings.
It had all begun with once upon a time…
...
"Once upon a time, in the Enchanted Forest, there lived a misunderstood and not at all evil queen by the name of..."
The words could be heard echoing down the corridor as Emma hurried towards the classroom. Late, on her first day on the job. Not that it had been her fault. Public transport as always had proven an unmitigated failure. A broken down bus, hurriedly arranged taxi and a lot of traffic later had resulted in her being more than half an hour overdue for her first day of school. Yes school. And someone was in there entertaining her kid...kids, well her class, thank God. At least this school cared enough to put in a replacement rather than leaving some poor teaching assistant to control the terrors. Assuming that voice wasn't an assistant. But, it sounded far too confident.
In her eagerness to get into the classroom she crashed into the door, spotting a moment too late the pull sign placed all too obviously above the handle. She could feel the eyes of twenty children turn to stare at her through the glass panel. With a little more timidness this time, she pulled open the door and stepped inside. The reader, she noticed with horror, was none other than the woman who had hired her. And she had a wonderful feeling that the awful start to her day had only just begun.
The woman rose silently from her chair, her heels clicking on the wooden floor as she crossed the room to Emma.
"My office, break" She hissed at her and she shoved the book into her hands.
As she left Emma found herself holding a curiously heavy and clearly old book in her hands.
Surely these kids were too old for something titled Once Upon A Time?
...
Two hours later had the children tearing around the playground happily, enjoying their first break of the day in the Autumn sunshine. Emma wished she could be out with them, soaking up the last few warm rays before the week's rain set in, but instead she found herself sat on a chair too small for her, opposite the headmistress of Storybrooke Junior School.
"Late on your first day" the woman said, with a cruel kind of amusement.
"Should I be giving you a detention?"
Emma found herself thrown by the words. What? Was that, what?
"I..well you see Regina.." she began
"Its Miss Mills. No one refers to each other by first name here."
Well okay, someone clearly had a short temper. Emma made a mental note for later. This lady had problems, best to keep that in mind.
"Yes, of course. Sorry. Miss Mills, you see, it was the bus, it broke down."
"The bus?" She questioned, a wicked glint in her eye. If the blonde didn't know any better she'd say Regina knew all about the bus, heck she looked as if she'd had a a hand in its smoking engine. But that was impossible.
"Are you so incompetent that you cannot drive Miss Swan?" She continued, breaking her train of thought.
Biting back a snappy retort she replied coolly "I haven't found the time to learn yet."
The brunette regarded her with bitter brown eyes for a moment before snatching up a piece of paper and scribbling a number on it. She pushed it across the table.
"You will need to input that into your phone. I will pick you up from now on, as...a favour. I will not have the teacher of my son be late again"
The already uneasy feeling in Emma's stomach consolidated at those words.
"Your son?"
The words echoed around her head, they felt wrong. Her son? What could be wrong with that. Nothing. Nothing could be wrong with that. She was just being silly. She was nervous. She didn't want to lose another job.
"Yes Miss Swan, my son. And I expect the highest quality teaching from the person in caring for him"
"Yes, yes of course. It won't happen again." she replied quickly, too avoid being cut off again.
"Well obviously not." She replied coolly, looking pointedly to the piece of paper.
"Yes, right of course." Emma replied, a blush beginning to colour her cheeks as she picked the paper up and pocked it.
She made to stand, getting the feeling that their meeting was over.
"And Miss Swan."
She turned with a kind of dread.
"Tomorrow, try to wear something more...refined"
That night the number went into Emma's phone under the name The Evil Queen.