'I don't like him like that,' I kept telling myself after he left. Part of the song we had been singing with each other ran through my head: 'And I know right now you got second thoughts..." I audibly laughed. I was definitely having second thoughts. Judging by past experiences other women had from being in an intimate relationship with him, all it would cause was pain. And that just happened to be the main reason I was never letting myself fall in love.

I will admit, he is extremely handsome. Almost too good looking to resist, actually. But I've resisted before, and my feelings have been spared. So why not resist this time? 'Because he's perfect and seems like he might truly care about me.' I thought to myself. But it didn't matter if he was the one. I was keeping my promise to myself, no matter what.

"Finally home?" My roommate Maryann questioned with a hint of a smile on her voice. I was an hour late compared to the usual half hour late thanks to another Humbert run in.

Against my own will, I smiled at the thought of the sheriff. "Yeah, sorry. The sheriff held me up."

Maryann's eyebrows rose and a smirk appeared on her face that seemed breathtaking compared to everyone else's in our town, including Regina. "Ooohhh. Finally got yourself a boyfriend, did you?"

I laughed. "Not at all." We both knew that wasn't the full truth. "What do you want for dinner?" I asked to change the subject.

"I was thinking something like Granny's...?" She suggested.

I rolled my eyes. She loved going to Granny's Diner; most likely because her boyfriend had a job there. "I guess." I answered. She grinned. Immediately after it was decided, we both grabbed our purses and raced out the door to the diner.

~~~

"That was the best dinner I have had in weeks," Maryann said once she had finished eating.

Ruby, the waitress, giggled. "It's exactly what you had two days ago. The last time you two came."

Maryann shrugged. That was always one thing I never seemed to be able to grasp about her. She never lost her cool. No matter what the situation was, she remained calm about everything. Despite how close we've become, I always seem to lose my cool and freak out. You'd think her calm collective attitude would rub off on me after all this time, but I let my anxiety get the best of me. Speaking of unbelievable amounts of calmness, another person who had that same trait walked into the diner.

"Gosh, I can't ever escape him, can I," I mumbled to myself under my breath.

Both Ruby and Maryann gave me odd looks. "What are you talking about?" Maryann questioned.

Ruby glanced at the door, apparently saw who had entered, and gave a slight laugh. She looked in my direction with an expression of understanding clouding her face. "Whatever the situation is, it's not my business." And with that, she walked away, her heeled boots clicking on the floor.

I returned my attention to Maryann. I saw her wave slightly at Graham, which caused Graham to wave at the both of us, his undeniably handsome smile spreading across his face. This is a perfect example of a situation where I might lose my cool. And I did.

I snapped my head back in my best friend's direction, too panicked to even glance in Graham's direction. Why did he always have to make me so nervous? Only one other guy had ever made me feel like this, and he was my first kiss. He was also the first person to break my heart. The fact that I was getting these feelings again made me freak out even more; it made me even more wary of the sheriff.

The sheriff whose eyes I couldn't help but getting lost in. Whose hair I couldn't help but want - no - need to run my fingers through.

No. I won't let this happen. Not again.

"Amelia," Maryann said. Her voice held more force than it usually did. Had I zoned out?

"Hmm?" I asked, still slightly out of it.

"I said I was going to say hi to Levi before I left and that you could go ahead and leave if you wanted to."

I smirked. Levi was her boyfriend and they had been dating for almost a year now, so they were practically inseparable. "Yeah, I'll go ahead and go."

As I started to get up to head to the door, I caught sight once again of Graham, but this time he wasn't standing alone. He was standing with Regina.

My heart started racing once more in my small-framed chest. "On second thought, I'll just stay here," I said and sat back down. Maryann followed my gaze.

"Is something wrong?" she asked.

I shook my head slightly, growing even more uneasy and troubled by the second. Then I had a realization: Regina must be here to talk to Graham about me. About firing me from the job that I loved so much. It made perfect sense, because the sheriff's approval was also needed to relieve a person from their career. Shoot, I thought. This'll give Graham even more of a reason to talk to me. And I really don't need that.

"Are you jealous?" Maryann asked in a teasing tone.

"What?" I could feel my face growing red. "No, it's just-" my words died on my lips. "I- he-" I sighed in frustration. I couldn't seem to get the words I needed to say out of my mouth. Mostly because I didn't know what it was that I needed to say in the first place.

"Then what is it, if you're not jealous?" she asked.

"It's nothing," I repeated, not wanting to admit to the situation that had a strong potential of forcing me out of my job. "I'm fine," I muttered, too troubled about why Regina might be taking the sheriff outside to be even partly consumed in the current conversation.

Maryann quickly glanced in Graham's direction again and her eyebrows rose. "Oh. She's taking him outside. But why would she be doing that?"

I shrugged, and went to stand up again. "I'm gonna go ahead and head back. Y'know, plan the rest of my lessons for tomorrow."

Maryann nodded, clearly concerned. "I guess I'll go talk to Levi, then."

~~~

I remained outside of Granny's Diner 15 minutes later, thinking about everything that had happened in just the past 24 hours. Adjusting my positioning on the cold, metal seats, my mind inevitably wandering to Sheriff Graham. He and Regina had both went separate ways a while ago. I shivered. It was unusually chilly in Storybrooke today, despite it being mid-September.

"What's the girl's name again?" I heard a husky voice say in the distance. I sat up straighter in an attempt to hear whatever this voice was saying better, as whoever it belonged to wasn't talking quite loud enough.

"Amy? Anabela maybe?" Another lighter voice guessed.

I frowned. They sounded suspicious, though I was probably being paranoid as usual.

"Oh wait!" The lighter voice exclaimed. "It was Amelia!"

Now that set me on edge. As far as I knew, there was only one Amelia in Storybrooke, and that was me. I hadn't done anything very wrong recently, except for - oh, right. My job.

"Yeah. Amelia Rogers." It was the huskier voice again this time.

What did Mayor Mills have up her sleeve this time? I had thought that you only needed confirmation from the sheriff, mayor, and principal of the town to get someone removed as a teacher of the school. Of course I might be wrong, but I highly doubted it.

My hands started shaking in my lap as I began to lose my cool once more. The men's voices sounded like they were getting closer but I couldn't be sure; they were so muffled.

I practically jumped to my feet once I could tell they were definitely right around the corner of Granny's, and began walking as quick as I could in the opposite direction. My brain began scrambling in multiple directions as it always does when I get this nervous. I tugged at the ends of my hair nervously while nearly tripping over my own feet in an attempt to escape the situation.

"Hey! Stop!" The sound of heavy boots stomping in my direction caused me to run faster if that was even possible.

Did Regina show them what I looked like when she had them search for me? Or were they people I already knew? And why would they be chasing me if they were only helping in the process of getting me fired? That's when I started to think that maybe that might not be the reason they had been talking to each other about me after all.