Chapter Four
Emma's passion for dance tended to wax and wane from day to day, sometimes hour to hour. This morning, she had be distracted and messing up on the simplest of combinations. This afternoon, she was spot on. Amazing. Perfect.
Those were the words that Neal used.
Emma was used to being singled out in his classes, and she barely noticed the looks the other girls gave her anymore. Lily was notably absent from this class, and so the biting comments and hushed whispers were to a minimum, at least.
The entire building was abuzz with talk about Swan Lake all afternoon. Emma heard rumours of how Kathryn Midas would be lead choreographer and would also be working with Emma one on one throughout the production. And rumours of how her own mother, Mary Margaret, was headlining all media coverage and orchestrating all social events tied in with the production. The rest were just petty little tidbits about so-and-so and such-and-such that didn't faze Emma in the slightest.
Except for two.
There were two rumours that were bothering Emma, and she couldn't decide which was worse.
The first was that she had slept with Neal to secure her position. That one didn't come as a surprise and also made no sense, since Neal had nothing to do with casting. It bothered her, however, because it had people believing that she didn't get in on talent alone.
The second was far more troubling. It was a generally accepted truth among all of the dancers that Cora and Regina had disagreed greatly on who to cast as Odette. About half the rumours Emma heard said that Cora wanted her, and Regina had vehemently refused, and that's why Cora took casting privileges away from her.
The other half swore that Regina had wanted Emma, and Cora thought she was an idiot, and then cast her anyway to prove a point – that point being, that Emma would crack under the pressure and the role would go to Lily.
Emma wasn't sure which side she believed or even which side she wanted to believe. One side would mean Regina didn't think she was good enough. The other would mean she did, but Cora, who was actually an expert, disagreed and was going to let Emma humiliate herself anyway, just to teach her daughter a lesson.
Emma had to ask herself what kind of mother would go to those lengths to hurt her own daughter. The answer was absolutely Cora.
Mary Margaret was beaming when she came to pick Emma up that day. Normally, Emma walked home with Ruby, but news spreads fast, and Mary Margaret wanted to congratulate her daughter.
Congratulate meaning live vicariously through, in this case.
"Emma!" she smiled, wrapping an arm around her daughter, "I knew you would get it."
"Really?" Emma asked, rolling her eyes. "I distinctly remember you telling me I didn't get it."
Mary Margaret shook her head. "Enough. You're on your way to becoming a ballerina. I'll not have you turning into a diva now."
"Mom! One role is hardly on my way to becoming a ballerina," Emma insisted, as they headed toward the door.
"Closer than you were yesterday, my darling," Mary Margaret said Emma rolled her eyes again as she got into her mother's car.
"So you're doing all the social and media stuff for this production?" Emma asked, as her mother started to drive.
"Yes, darling. I'll make sure you're always in the spotlight. This role is going to propel your career."
"And is Kathryn really doing choreography?"
This time, it was Mary Margaret who rolled her eyes. "Apparently."
"Can we get dinner out?" Emma asked, hoping to change the subject before her mother could start spouting off about Kathryn – again.
"No. I called to hire you a nutritionist today."
"What?! Why?" Emma asked, turning astonished eyes on her mother.
"Because your eating habits are atrocious. You need to learn to eat like a ballerina. You won't listen to me, maybe you'll listen to a professional."
"You won't be happy until I have a full-blown eating disorder like half the girls at that company!" Emma cried, crossing her arms in front of her and turning her head to look out the window.
"Emma, enough," Mary Margaret scoffed, but didn't say anymore.
After a light dinner of steamed chicken breast and salad, Emma changed into her running clothes to meet Ruby for a jog. Her mother still believed the old school notion that running was bad for dancers, but Emma adhered to the policy that it was good for her stamina. It had taken getting Neal to back her up for Mary Margaret to actually allow her to go out for a run, forty –five minutes tops, three times a week.
Emma jogged the two minutes to Ruby's house, where she found her waiting on the grass.
"Run with me to your grandma's diner. I'm starving!", Emma said, before taking off again. Ruby laughed and quickly caught up.
"Your mother is going to kill you," Ruby pointed out.
"I am literally too hungry to care," Emma laughed. "Three ounces of steamed chicken breast and romaine lettuce with lemon juice squeezed on top. How is that adequate food for someone who dances eight hours a day and then goes jogging?"
"It's not," Ruby agreed. Running to her grandmother's dinner only took about two minutes, and then they headed inside. Ruby led Emma into the back and started making her a milkshake, and asked one of the cooks to put on grilled cheese and onion rings.
"How are you going to keep this up when you start working on Swan Lake?" Ruby asked.
"I have no idea," Emma admitted, through slurps on her milkshake. "My mother hired a nutritionist… my only hope is that she tells my mother she's actually starving me!"
Ruby laughed, and then looked at Emma with a more serious face. "So, have you heard the rumours?"
"What, that I'm sleeping with Neal? That's hardly news, is it? I sure do get around, for a virgin," Emma said, rolling her eyes.
"No, not that. The one about Regina and Daniel," Ruby laughed.
"What one about Regina and Daniel?" Emma asked, suddenly intrigued.
"Apparently they had a huge blow up the other night. Rumour is they're breaking up."
Emma's heart skipped a beat. "Who said that?"
"I heard it from Graham. He heard it from Astrid. I don't know where she heard it."
Emma suddenly felt sick. She wondered who else had heard them fighting that night. She prayed that Regina didn't think she had said anything.
"Emma? What is it? You look like you just saw a ghost or something?"
"I'm fine, just… I dunno, tired or whatever. It's been a crazy day."
"Yeah, no shit," Ruby laughed.
Emma downed her grilled cheese and onion rings in record time, and the pair headed back home. Emma made it in the door with moments to spare before her ridiculous curfew, and ran upstairs to her room, before her mother could stop her and tell her some other absurd thing she had done or person she had hired to help Emma live out her dream.
Emma sighed and flopped herself on her bed, trying to reconcile everything that had happened in the past two days. Yesterday, Regina was this elusive dark hair goddess that Emma was crushing on from afar, but was completely spoken for. Now, she was this completely different anomaly – someone who may or may not have specifically requested for Emma to be in this show, and someone who may or may not still be spoken for.
Emma had to laugh at herself, for thinking she stood a chance, even if Regina was about to be single again. Why would she think this girl had any interest in her?
But, was it really so preposterous of a thought?
She rolled over, and finally noticed the blinking light on her iPhone she had left behind during her run. She sighed, knowing that since she was with Ruby, the message was likely from Neal.
She swiped the screen and saw that it was actually a text message from an unknown number. She opened the message.
Good evening Miss Swan. This is Regina Mills. Please meet me in Studio C at 6:45 tomorrow morning.
Emma's heart skipped a beat. Momentarily, she thought about asking where she got her number, but realized that all the dancers' numbers, including cell phones, were on file in the main office. She then tried to think of something witty to say, but decided against it, since she had no idea what this meeting was for.
She simply texted back, Okay.
She clicked to add the number to her contacts, and put a little heart emoji next to Regina's name.
Moments later, her phone vibrated.
That hardly warranted a response.
Emma blinked down at the message for a moment. It seemed unnecessarily rude. She was pretty sure acknowledging that you got a message was common courtesy.
She could feel the anxiety starting to rise. What if Regina thought she did open her mouth and had started the rumour that she and Daniel were breaking up?
She fidgeted nervously with her phone, debating whether she should text back and say she really didn't tell anyone. She decided against it, however. If Regina had thought her first text didn't warrant a response, then surely the text pointing out that fact absolutely didn't warrant a response.
Emma's phone vibrated in her hand again. It was Regina, again.
Sorry. That wasn't meant for you. See you tomorrow. Please don't be late.
Emma breathed a sigh of relief, but then she wondered who Regina's rude message was actually intended for. Was she fighting with Daniel via text message?
Or, did she perhaps want Emma to think she was?
Emma sighed. She was letting everyone get to her. She didn't want to believe Regina was really playing games with her. It was making her second guess everything, and she didn't like it.
Absolutely. See you tomorrow.
Emma hesitated a moment, before hitting send. The moment she did, she regretted it. Maybe this message hadn't warranted a response.
Her phone vibrated again.
Good night, Miss Swan.
As much as she had regretted her choice in stage name when the company announced Swan Lake as this year's production, she loved hearing Regina say it. Oddly enough, she also liked seeing her type it.
"Dear God, Emma, get it together," she said out loud as she put her phone down and headed into the bathroom to shower.
She knew she should be nervous about whatever Regina wanted to discuss tomorrow morning, but she couldn't help but grin.
Yesterday, she wasn't sure Regina even knew who she was.
Today, she had her phone number.
She could be walking right into a trap, and she didn't even care.
She thought about what Neal had said, that Regina would destroy her, and she would let her do it. She now was suddenly very aware of how right he was.
And still, she didn't care.