a/n: Whoa, an next day update? Go me. Please don't get comfortable with me updating every night, it probably won't happen too often :( Butttttttt, here we are.
I'm going to try and update three times a week or like whatever, but I can't promise anything next week because I'm on holiday in the British channel islands, weow!
If you'd like to talk to me, I do have tumblr. Feel free to chat to me at ant1ers. tumblr . com and my name is Emma!
"Mum, guess what!" Henry surged through the front door, his backpack swinging precariously from one shoulder. I looked over from the stove at my sweaty faced child.
"Good grief, what happened to you?" I stirred the spaghetti as Henry pulled off his shoes, not bothering with the laces.
"It's about Ms Mills, guess what?"
I rolled my eyes, "you can't tell me bad things about my new boss, Henry, and you know that,"
"It's not bad…it's like, interesting…"
"And what is considered interesting to a thirteen year old boy?"
"I totally saw her kissing another teacher,"
I stopped stirring and raised my eyebrows, "what?"
"Yeah Mum, it was so weird. Like, wow, Ms Mills,"
"She's allowed to kiss who she wants to kiss," I shrugged my shoulders,
"Yeah but Mum, she was kissing Ms Lucas,"
Now that got my attention. Regina Mills was gay? Oh boy, this could very, very interesting. Henry had clearly misinterpreted my raised eyebrows as a sign to continue,
"Like, Ms Lucas was taking my afternoon class because Ms Nova was away today, and Ms Mills came in after class. I remembered I left my pencil case on the desk and I went in and Ms Mills was totally kissing Ms Lucas,"
"Is that weird for you?" I slammed a frying pan down on the stove a little more aggressively than I intended,
"Nah, of course not Mum. I mean, you're gay so it doesn't bother me at all," Henry pulled his books from his bag and splayed them out on the table.
"Okay, good," I released a pent up breath and chunked chopped vegetables into the pan, "I raised you well,"
"Duh, I'm an angel,"
"Let's see about that tonight at the interviews, huh?" I poured tomato paste into the pan and stirred vigorously as Henry groaned. Finishing off my coffee, I glanced up at the clock; 3:47pm.
"We're going to have dinner when we get back okay," I took the pan off the heat and picked up some raw spaghetti with my fork, "it's too early to eat now." I stuck the fork into my mouth and yelped at the hot pasta.
"Okay, but I'm going to have a shower before we go,"
"I was really hoping that. And get changed; I won't have you there with a sweaty uniform. I need a good first impression,"
"Mum, all the teachers know me. It's you that needs to make the impression,"
"I know, trust me. I have the perfect outfit and don't laugh at me when I have to speak all prim and proper, okay?"
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Henry headed down the hallway to his bedroom. God knows I need to make a good first impression. I need as many teachers on my side as possible, and I needed to look the part and speak the part. I'll probably ease it off the longer I've worked there, but I didn't know what I was up against, like, was Story Brooke like one of those proper schools, or just relaxed and carefree?
"I'm in the shower," Henry yelled from down the hall before slamming the bathroom door closed. I really need to teach that boy how to close doors properly. I turned off the stove and drained the spaghetti in the sink. Combining the tomato paste and vegetables with the pasta, I tossed them together like the lettuce leaves in a salad before dumping it into a plastic container and sticking it precariously underneath last night's pizza.
"Awesome, time to get changed," I breathed as I headed into my own bedroom. I was glad my room had a bathroom of its own or I would have thrown Henry out and sprayed him with a hose. Not literally…maybe.
I stared at myself in the full length mirror, pulling a loose thread from my top. You couldn't get much more 'respectable parent who's also a teacher' than this. My hair was in a high pony tail and my old faithful black rimmed glasses sat on the bridge of my nose. I had stuck a small stud into my nose piercing, hoping that the little blue gem wouldn't bring too much attention. I wore my favourite blue blouse with the sleeves rolled up to my elbows, with it tucked into my black high waisted trousers. And of course, my black flats. Definitely respectful, definitely does not show the fact I am borderline unemployed.
"Mum, are you good to go? It's like 4:30,"
"Shit," I grabbed my purse and keys from my bed and exited the room. Henry was tying the laces of his red Converse sneakers as I grabbed a glass of water from the tap.
"Whoa Mum, you look nice,"
"Thanks kid, I'm trying to pull off the whole 'I'm actually a teacher, please hire me' look,"
"It's working. Let's just hope we run into Ms Mills tonight then hey? I'm sure she'll be happy to see you're totally eager to work,"
I grimaced as I tried to picture what this Ms Mills even looked like. Was she blonde? Was she a brunette? Was she tall or short? Fat or thin?
As I locked the door behind me, Henry took the passenger seat and tried to squash down his flyaway hair in the rear view mirror.
"Trying to impress someone are we?" I smirked as I hopped into the driver's seat; I flicked off my flats.
"No…" Henry blushed as he quickly paid attention to the tree next to the car.
"That's fine kid; you don't need to tell me" I started the car and reversed down the driveway, "just want to let you know that you have a toothpaste stain on your collar,"
I watched Henry in the corner of my eye as he pulled his collar away from his chest, spotted the stain and started rubbing it ferociously.
I kind of knew my way around the school but I let Henry guide the way. He constantly wiped his palms on his jeans as we neared the massive hall; the lights were illuminated in the fading light and there was a loud murmur coming from the open doors and windows. We ascended the steps and Henry took a deep breath as he pushed open the door.
It was the classic set up. The enormous hall was divided by departments and the teacher's lined up alphabetically, with two hard plastic chairs on the other side of their small table. I yanked the letter from my purse and scanned the appointment times.
"First up is Midas," I popped my lips loudly as I scanned the Maths section. Henry pointed to a pretty middle aged woman with dark blonde hair, who was talking animatedly with another student,
"Okay, she should be done soon with that dude, so where can I find Nolan?"
Henry pointed to a male teacher leaning back in his chair, staring into space, "that's Mr Nolan,"
"And what about Blanchard,"
My son stood on the tips of his toes as he searched the English bit, his eyebrows furrowing,
"I can't see her…wait," He pointed to Mr Nolan again and I realised he had been joined by a small pixie haired woman holding two cups of coffee.
"Sweet," I tucked the paper back into my pocket and I noticed that Henry was quite preoccupied with the Creative Arts department. I followed his gaze and noted he was staring intently at a young brunette teacher with bright red lips. I raised my eyebrows at him but he didn't seem to notice,
"Henry?"
"Yeah," but he didn't take his eyes off the other teacher,
"Who's the lady over there with the brown hair and super bright red lips?"
Henry whitened and stammered, "uh, I, um,"
I glanced back to the brunette and realised she was coming towards us. I frowned at my son as he stared at the floor.
"Ah Henry," she gushed, smiling brightly at Henry, but he simply avoided eye contact. She looked up at me and pouted, "He's usually quite happy to see me. I'm sorry, Hi I'm Ms Ruby Lucas, Henry's Creative Arts teacher," she shook my hand and I complimented her on her chunky wolf ring. So this was the lady who made out with Regina Mills and somehow captured my son's heart. I'd probably have to chat to her about that once I started working.
"Hello Ms Lucas," Henry mumbled, shuffling away slightly from myself and Ruby. I sighed and ruffled his hair,
"Hey, I'm Emma Swan"
"Wait; are you chick who's taking over Ashley Boyd's place next week?"
"Yeah, that's me," I smiled. All I knew was that Ashley was going on maternity leave.
"Awesome; Ash has some excellent classes and the kids here are a breeze," She grinned down at the still very red faced Henry, "such as your son Henry. Did he tell you he's got the second highest mark in my class?"
I was shocked. I never knew Henry had a thing for the Arts, "No? Henry why didn't you tell me,"
He shrugged, "I didn't think it was important,"
"It's pretty impressive as I have one of the biggest Creative Arts classes in the school,"
I snorted, "Let me guess, it's all boys,"
Ruby laughed and her eyes sparkled, "Ah Ms Swan, I see you know the problems faced by us pretty teachers," she nudged me in the side playfully and I knew that this lady was definitely going to help when I started work.
"I see there is a couple of us here," I jutted my chin over to the black pixie haired woman was mid laugh with Mr Nolan,
"Yeah, but you should see the Marine Biology teacher, good lord," Ruby fanned herself dramatically,
"I'm going to the toilet," Henry disappeared outside. I knew he found this conversation awkward. Ruby watched him leave before turning her full attention to me,
"I mean, damn he is so attractive. And he's single!" Ruby squeaked, her eyes searching the Science department, "ugh, good old Hook didn't come tonight," she pouted. I smiled weakly at her,
"Ah yeah, I probably wouldn't find him attractive," I mumbled nervously.
"Why? Come on, all the chicks drool over him and all the guys have constant boners around Regina. We have a bunch of hot staff here at Story Brooke,"
"Regina?" Oh hell yes, she was hot. This makes everything so much sweeter. Ruby eyed me suspiciously,
"Yeah, Regina; she runs the show," She pointed to an empty spot down the back of the room where a stack of files sat next to a fresh cup of coffee, "total babe,"
"Hope so," I cleared my throat.
Ruby eyed me as I blushed, "Ah lady's lady, then," she waved her hand, "nah, it's all good. I'm a fan of the odd lass too. Your secret is safe with me," she nudged me again and gasped, "shit; I've got a student waiting for me. Nice talking to you Emma, I'll see you next week," she waved again and skipped back to her seat.
I found Henry sitting on the stairs staring out into the empty school grounds. I sat down next to him, resting my chin on my knees,
"Hey,"
He glanced to me and crossed his arms, "hey,"
"So, Ms Lucas huh," Even in the dark I could see him blush, "she's a pretty lady, I'm not going to deny that,"
He glanced at me with wide eyes, "No, you're not going to take her away from me? You're not going to date her are you?"
"Whoa, calm down. No of course not. I don't even know the woman" I held my hands out in defence, "she's nice and I'm not that mean, honestly. She's all yours," He smiled as I wrapped my arm around his shoulders.
"She's so nice to me," he mumbled into my shirt,
"I know," Behind us, a loud bell rang and there was a sudden shuffle of chairs.
"Time to shine kid, get ready to impress me," I pulled him off the cement stairs and guided him inside, whispering encouraging words into his ear.
"All in all, I think Henry would do well with some more reading, but apart from that, Henry is above his target mark this year," Ms Blanchard smiled, scribbling some words down on the piece of paper in front of her. Blanchard was the final teacher of the evening and I was dying to spot this Regina. Ruby had said such promising words about her and I couldn't help but glance nervously around the hall. I didn't even know what she looked like and yet I was still looking for her.
"That's great news Henry, I'm proud of you," I planted a kiss on his head and Ms Blanchard smiled again.
"I don't mean to be rude, but do you mind if I speak to Henry alone for a couple of minutes? I have some boring school stuff I need to talk to him about,"
"Yeah sure," I got up and headed towards the door, watching my son interact with the black haired woman.
"See you next week Ms Swan," Ruby smirked as she exited the building, her work tucked under her arm.
"Yeah, see you later Ruby," I waved to the woman as she disappeared.
"So, you are the infamous Emma Swan?" A sinfully deep voice asked me from behind. I spun around and I'm pretty sure if my mouth wasn't already open from saying goodbye to Ruby, it would be on the floor. Dressed in a slate grey pantsuit with the jacket slung over her arm, the woman oozed authority...authority that I would kill someone to be under. Her black lace-clad breasts pressed against the sheer white top she had tucked into her trousers. Holy shit, the woman was gorgeous. There was no way in hell she was teacher. Or if she was one, these kids were the luckiest little fuckers in the world. She had to be a Mum or something. Good lord.
She smirked at my facial expression and I quickly shut my mouth, "yeah uh, hello". The woman offered a perfectly manicured hand to me and I shook it gingerly,
"Good evening Ms Swan, my name is Regina Mills".
Oh sweet Jesus. This was Regina Mills. Ruby was not lying; total babe, she was off the scales of hotness. I'm pretty sure she rewrote the laws of the hot scale.
Regina did not hide her appreciative gaze on my body and I swear I was shivering under her lustful glare.
"I daresay, I made an excellent choice in choosing you," her eyes lingered on my open blouse.
"Yeah, I hope so. I mean," I squeezed my eyes shut. Damn it I couldn't even talk sense, "I know so, because you picked me,"
Smooth as hell, Emma Swan.
Regina just smiled and her teeth were so white, like, blindingly white.
"Mum, I'm done!" Henry tapped me on the elbow and even though I loved Henry with all my heart, I just wanted to push him back and chat longer with angel in front of me.
"Hello Ms Mills, how are you tonight?" Henry asked politely,
"Much better now that I have chatted with your delightful Mother. Have a lovely evening Henry," Regina rearranged the paperwork in her hands and downed the last of her coffee, "Ms Swan, I will send your schedule via email and we will chat on Monday. Good night,"
The goddess left me, open mouthed and staring after her.
"Oh Mum, your face is priceless," Henry giggled as Ms Blanchard joined us.
"What's so funny Henry," she smiled,
"My Mum just met Ms Mills,"
Ms Blanchard rolled her eyes at me as I watched Regina pull out the parking lot in a black Mercedes. Regina glanced back up at me and I am definitely, positively sure she winked at me. Holy damn, she was so hot, how did this even happen.
"It's seems that Ms Mills has that impression on everyone, particularly the fathers here tonight. But none the less," Ms Blanchard sighed, "Each to their own. Goodnight Emma, goodnight Henry, make sure you bring your book in tomorrow for English,"
a/n: I fucking wish I had a teacher like Ms Mills when I was in high school...
Oh wait, I did ;)
