Chapter 4

Regina was nervous when she got up the next morning. Cora was waiting in the kitchen with a small breakfast. She knew that Regina never had much appetite. Regina came into the kitchen and kissed Cora's cheek. "Morning, mother." Regina said and Cora smiled saddened. "Good morning, darling. How are you?" Cora asked and kissed her head.

"Okay... Love you." Regina told her and Cora smiled. "I love you too, Regina. So much. I maybe am a bit rough from time to time but I just want to make sure that you have your best chance. You make Henry and me so happy." Cora told her and hugged her. Regina hugged her back and sighed. "I know, Mom." Regina answered and they sat down. "Thank you for keeping me although I have my ticks."

"You are a small cute girl. We loved you the second you stumbled in front of us." Cora said and Regina smiled slightly. "I remember how you were so hectic and then stumbled into us. You were so afraid when you spilled my coffee over my blouse and totally confused when we started laughing about it and I had to change. You even offered me your own shirt. We knew that you would be the perfect daughter for us."

Regina blushed and sipped on her apple juice. "I was scared that I ruined a chance again..." Regina answered. "It's alright. You didn't and that's all that matters." Cora told her and Regina nodded. They ate in silence until Henry entered the room dressed in a suit and sat down too. "Good morning, honey. You want to drive with me?" He asked and Regina nodded.

They continued eating and then cleaned their dishes. Regina got her things and they drove to school. They got out of the car and Regina hugged her father a last time before she walked to the school ground. Regina was stopped by a hand and she looked up. Emmet was standing in front of her. She slapped him and he gasped. "Regina..." He started but she shook her head. "No. Keep your meaningless apologies for you and leave me alone." Regina hissed and he followed her. "It wasn't like that, Regina. I didn't make a bet or something else with the others." Emmet said and stopped her again. He turned her around. "I never meant to hurt you. I... I like you, Regina. You are smart, beautiful and funny..." "Stop it! I won't let it happen that you hurt me!" Regina snapped and ripped her arm out of his grip.

"Please, Regina. Just listen and then decide." Emmet asked. "How can I be sure that this is not a trick? You could try anything to make this okay again just to be able to follow your first target again... No! I won't be anyone's 34! Especially not yours!" Regina snapped and left Emmet alone. He watched how she walked away and sighed saddened. Kathryn came next to him and followed his gaze. "She is pretty much hurt." She said and he nodded. "I never made a bet that I could lay her within a day... I never made any bet with the guys. I like Regina. She is really cute..." Emmet said and sighed. "Fight for her if you like her. She likes you a lot otherwise she wouldn't be that hurt by you." Kathryn said and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Kathy..." Emmet answered and suddenly Ruby came to them.

"Emmet." She said happily and kissed him hard. "Well, lover boy, how is your bet going?" "I have no bet running!" Emmet said and recoiled. "Sorry." Ruby said and cupped his cheek. She kissed him again and he sighed. Kathryn rolled her eyes. She knew that Ruby had the hots for Emmet and that Emmet was just too polite to stop Ruby. "Let's meet after maths." Ruby said and placed a hand on his chest. He sighed. "I..." "Sh. See you later." Ruby said and walked away. Emmet looked to Kathryn and then down. "You have two choices. Fight for the girl you want or hurt her and be the person you are." Kathryn said and he nodded. "Thank you, Kathy." "You are welcome, Em. See you later."

They parted and Emmet walked to his classroom when he noticed Regina leaning against a wall in a corner. She had her eyes closed and desperately tried to calm down. He walked over to her and softly tapped her shoulder. She flinched and opened her eyes. "Take deep breaths." He said and she looked at him angrily. She was becoming more upset again and he grabbed her shoulders softly. "Ignore whatever grudge you hold against me right now and just take deep breaths." He told her and she started to take deeper breaths. "Close your eyes." He whispered and she shook her head. "Trust me in this one, Regina. I know what it feels like to get panic attacks. Close your eyes and think of something you love or like very much." He told her and she hesitantly closed her eyes.

She took deep breaths and started to smile slightly. He was instantly in love with the small wrinkles she got when she started to smile. When she calmed down again she opened her eyes and looked up into his. "I...need to go." Regina quickly sat and slipped out of his grip and hastily walked to her classroom. He watched her and then entered his own classroom. He was staring at the clock most of the time. Hoping that the school was finally over and he could try to talk to Regina once again. "Mr. Swan? I know that not everyone likes my way of teaching but you obviously have problems to follow any of my lessons." Mr. Smith said. He was his English and literature teacher. "I'm sorry, Mr. Smith..." Emmet answered quietly and Mr. Smith sighed.

"I would like to speak to you after the lesson." He told Emmet who nodded. The rest of the lesson Mr. Smith kept an eye on Emmet. The bell rang and everyone walked out except for Emmet. He stood up slowly and stepped to Mr. Smith's desk. "What is bothering you?" Mr. Smith asked him and Emmet sighed. "It's private..." Emmet answered and Mr. Smith crossed his arms. "It has to do something with Regina. I like Regina. She is a smart young lady who had to suffer already more than a human should. I know of your reputation, Emmet, and I swear to you that if you break her heart you will definitely won't be able to go on a good college. At least not with scholarship." Mr. Smith said. Emmet sighed. "I never meant to... But she doesn't even want to listen to me." Emmet answered and Mr. Smith groaned.

"What the hell did you do?" "Nothing! Monday I invited her to my party. I really wanted her to be there and so she came with Kathryn... we had fun..." Emmet started and saw Mr. Smith's angry look. "Not that kind of fun! I would never do that. Everyone says I'm a womanizer... that I would take every girl which gets into my fingers but that is not true. I'm spending time with all the girls... I like them. I would never sleep with them after one night. I want to trust the person I sleep with. God, why am I even telling you that?" "Because you care about my opinion because you know that Regina likes me and looks up to me. You want me to be alright with what you do..." Mr. Smith answered and Emmet sighed.

"Anyway... After an incident with another student Regina was much too upset that anything could happen. Yes, we kissed but I never went further. I know that Regina is... inexperienced... She is careful and I never wanted to rush things with her. She is special..." "Is she still upset because of the incident?" Mr. Smith asked and Emmet shook his head. "Yesterday Regina was still at my place. Like most of the guests. I offered her to take a shower while I would make food when Jefferson came and started to boast about me laying Regina within a day... Regina thought and still thinks that she was just some bet... She wasn't...Everyone else thinks that... that's why the others started to stop teasing her on Monday in your lesson..." Emmet said and felt how Mr. Smith grabbed him. "You idiot." He hissed and Emmet nodded.

"I know! I never wanted to hurt Regina... I wanted to take it slow... slower than I ever did... I wanted a relationship..." Emmet closed his mouth when he finally realized it. Mr. Smith let go of him and watched how it sunk in. "Fuck..." Emmet cursed and ran a hand through his hair. Mr. Smith sighed and walked to his desk. He wrote something on a small paper and then took a second paper where he wrote a small note on it and then folded it. "This is an address where you can find Regina. And this is a note you will give her but won't read it. Regina will know if you did or didn't. Show her that she can trust you." Mr. Smith said and Emmet took the things. He put the note neatly in his pocked and then looked at the address. "Thank you." Emmet said and Mr. Smith nodded. "I'm doing that because I like Regina. She trusts you otherwise she wouldn't have come to your party. If you hurt her again I will make sure that you will be unhappy for the rest of your life."

"What do you know about her? What happened that she is so damaged?" Emmet asked quietly. "Her parents died in a car accident when she was 6. She blames herself for the accident. After that her ticks started and she shielded herself from others." Mr. Smith answered. "Why do you know so much about her?",Emmet asked. Mr. Smith looked down. "Because I was the other driver. I won't let it happen that she gets hurt again..." Emmet gasped and Mr. Smith looked up. "Does she know?" "No. And you can't tell her. It would break her completely..." "But..." "I just drove away...I...I was scared... I just got my driver license and I already was fault of killing two people..." "What happened? What did you do!" Emmet shouted and grabbed Mr. Smith by his collar.

"I was too fast and it was a simple country road. I tried to stop but it could never be at the right time... her father tried to avoid a crash with me but he got of the road and the car started to tumble down the slope...the front was completely smashed...the back was impaled by a tree...She could have died too if she hadn't slipped into the footwell...I was afraid and got into my car again and drove away..." Mr. Smith said and Emmet stared at him shocked. "She could have died in there too! Why the hell did you leave her there? You could have said that you were just a passing car and saw the accident! You risked her life!" Emmet shouted and Mr. Smith sighed. "I know! And I'm so ashamed... that's why I keep an eye on Regina. I won't let it happen that anyone makes the same mistake like I did." He freed himself and Emmet shook his head disappointed. "Thanks for the address but I better go now before I lose my temper." Emmet said and marched out of the room.

TBC...? (don't get any feedback so I don't really know if you still want it or not)