Author's Note: Glad to hear so many of you are enjoying this! It's warming up, getting to the good stuff soon! Cya Friday :)
Disclaimer: Still no.
Chapter 3: A Pop Quiz
"It's already been two weeks and I still haven't been doing good. I can't retain any information, I just don't understand any of it."
"Emma Swan doesn't understand something?"
"Lily, this isn't funny. I need to keep my grades up and I can't do that if I don't know what we are learning."
"Don't stress over it, I'm sure the famous Emma Swan will figure something out. Now eat your salad."
"I guess."
Emma finished her salad and stood up, gathering her trash. She spun around and crashed into someone, tall, strong, and who smelt good.
"Aye, Miss Swan. Sorry for not looking ahead and bumping into you."
She swallowed loudly and stared at him. "Um yeah, it's uh no problem." He slid past her, smiling, as Lily stood from the table. She linked her arm in Emma's and dragged her into the hallway.
"Emma! You are totally into him!"
"I'm really not."
Lilly laughed out loud and they walked to their lockers in silence. The bell rang. Together they walked down the hallway to the art room, excited for their sculpture contest today in Mr. Locksley's class. Emma knew exactly what she wanted to build, and exactly how she would do it. Lily, on the other hand, had no idea this contest was even happening. They walked into the art room and collected the supplies they needed for their sculpture.
"And… GO!" Mr. Locksley yelled, as he started the timer.
The two girls molded a small body, one so thin, and so sculpted, that boys would drool over it. They shaped the details on the body, the hair, the eyes, the nose. They drew every freckle. With only one minute remaining, they put on their finishing touches and placed the sculpture on the showcasing spot.
"Time's up!" Mr. Locksley walked around, nodding at the amateur students' sculptures. He came up to Lily and Emma's and smiled big. "Very, very, very well done, girls! A+!" They clashed together, hugging themselves tightly, jumping up and down, yelling hooray. The rest of the class clapped for them, quietly and not enthusiastically. The bell rang as Emma and Lily finished cleaning their spot and ran out into the hallway very happy. They walked, laughing, to room 123, Mr. Jones' room, not very happy for history. The late bell rang as Emma and Lily took their seats in class.
"Alright, so today, a pop quiz. On everything we have been learning."
A loud groan from the class was heard. Emma's face went bright red, her mouth dropped, and her eyes shot right to Mr. Jones'. She gave him and are-you-kidding-me death stare and rolled her eyes. He gave her an apologetic look and started to pass out the quizzes.
"What the hell is this?" Emma whispered.
A couple 'shs' came from some students.
"SOS"
Another 'sh'.
"I cannot believe I don't know any of this."
One more 'sh'.
"Miss Swan? Is there a problem?" Mr. Jones said, after finally hearing the 'shs'. She shook her head no and continued to think, to try hard enough to remember any information he had been teaching for the past two weeks, but nothing. She couldn't remember anything. She sighed and stood up. Emma walked over to Mr. Jones' desk and handed him the quiz.
"This is blank. Nothing is filled in."
"I know. May I use the bathroom?"
He shook his head yes, unaware of how upset she looked. She ran out of the classroom and straight to the bathroom. Emma went into the last stall and sat in the corner, drowning in her own tears. She sobbed, and she sniffled, and she sobbed some more. She was so upset that her senior year was going to start with an F.
After a good ten minutes, Emma had not come back yet, and Mr. Jones was getting worried. He told the class ten more minutes for their quiz and he stepped outside the classroom. He looked around, down the hallways, and still no sign of Emma. He heard someone crying. He followed the noise around the corner and saw Emma sitting on the ground crying.
"Emma?"
She didn't answer.
"What is wrong? I can't help you if you don't tell me."
"Everything is wrong. Can't you see? I'm supposed to be the good girl. I'm supposed to be the role model. I am the one who is supposed to get the best grades and be accepted into the best college and, and-"
"Emma calm down."
"But I can't be that girl. I handed you that quiz empty, because I don't know any of it. I haven't been able to retain any information in your class, or any class for that matter. I don't know what's wrong with me Mr. Jones."
He sat down next to her.
"Nothing is wrong with you, Emma. You are that girl; The role model, the one who gets good grades, and who will get accepted into the best college, you just need a little push."
"But-"
"How about I tutor you? We can start after school on Friday?"
She nodded her head yes as she began to wipe away the tears. He stood up, and offered his hand to help her up. She took it and they stood together, only inches away. She was now nervous; Her hands were warming up, she could feel a slight chill in the air. She stared up at his deep blue eyes as he stared down to her emerald green ones. So much tension was building up.
"Thank you."
He smiled, taking a step back. He slowly began to back up and then came to a sudden stop. He saw how broken she was. He saw the look you see on a child's face when they lose their favorite toy, or when your favorite pet dies, or when your friend moves away. He took a deep breath and moved towards her, wrapping his arms around her body, embracing her. She was taken by surprise. She let her body sink into his for that one quick second. Then he backed up.
"I'm- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I just thought-"
"It's okay. I'm okay. Thank you Mr. Jones."
She offered him a sweet smile before he started to walk back to class, as she followed him.
Later that day…
"Lily! Stop calling me!" Emma yelled staring at her phone. She had been laying on her bed for the past two hours. She hadn't moved since she got home. She knew she had soccer practice and that she still had a social life, but she didn't feel like doing anything. Her phone rang again. She sighed loudly, walked over to it and picked it up.
"Hello?"
"Emma! Hey! What time should I pick you up for soccer?"
"I don't know? Ten minutes? Holy shit, ten minutes! Got to go! See you soon!"
Emma threw her phone on her bed and ran to her closet. She pulled out black shorts and a purple tank top, along with her shin guards and her cleats. She ran to her dresser and pulled out a sports bra and socks and threw it all on her bed. She than ran to the bathroom, putting her hair in a ponytail at the same time, and brushed her teeth. After that, Emma ran back and got dressed. She packed her bag and went outside onto the porch. Lily was already waiting in her driveway and was about to beep the horn. Emma smiled and ran into the car.
Upon arrival to the soccer fields, Emma and Lily ran to the practice area and began shooting. The two girls giggled at the idea that they were actually on time, as the other girls began to arrive. The team began to stretch and were suddenly interrupted. Multiple loud whistles were heard from across the field, followed by a view of five thousand girls gathering in a big group, screaming.
"What the hell are they freaking out about?" One girl said. Emma and Lily had started to shoot on each other.
"Holy shit! It's Mr. Jones!" Another girl said. Emma's head shot up like a lightning bolt at the sound of his name. The team ran over and joined the screaming group, as Emma watched Mr. Jones walk past them, ignoring them. She smiled at the fact that he had the courage to go through that all the time. He sipped the coffee he was holding and looked up, straight at Emma. He smiled and started to walk toward her and Lily.
"Aye, Miss Swan, how are you? And Miss Malef, what about you?"
Lily's mouth dropped. Emma noticed and hit Lily in the stomach.
"Fine, and you?"
"Now, I'm very good!"
"Now?"
"Yes, a little earlier I wasn't so good, but now-" He looked at Emma, "I'm great."
Emma blushed and looked down trying to hide her feelings.
"You girls have a nice practice, okay?"
They nodded and Emma walked away kicking the ball on the ground. The large group of girls were staring at her and Lily with eyes wide and mouths open. Lily laughed and Emma shrugged. They continued to practice and soon, the night was over.
I don't know what to do. She's magnificent, really- I can't keep my eyes off of her. I can't go after her, I see it going very down hill. What should I do?
He finished typing and stared at the computer screen. He placed his finger on the enter key and hit it.
"Now to wait for any responses."