Mary Margaret opened her eyes and looked at her alarm clock, seeing it was a couple minutes after 7am. Though her 8am class that day was canceled (her teacher had told them during the last class he would be gone for a few days and was canceling classes for the rest of the week), she decided to get up anyway and go jogging. It was a bright sunny September morning, and since it would only be a matter of time before the cold winters of Maine came roaring in, Mary Margaret wanted to take advantage of the good weather while she could. Careful not to wake her still sleeping roommates she changed into an old t-shirt and a pair of sweat pants before setting off.

Once she was outside Mary Margaret decided to stop by the cafeteria to get a bottle of water before she began running. She walked through the campus center and entered the café when she saw someone getting a cup of coffee. Her eyes widened when she realized the person was David. She contemplated walking back outside when he spotted her. "Mary Margaret?"

"Charming. Hi."

"I told you, it's David," he said as he came over to her.

"Right," she replied, suddenly feeling self-conscious at being seen in a ratty t-shirt and sweats with holes in them. "How are you?"

"Good. You still stealing people's watches?"

"Nope," she replied with irritation. "Still trapping girls in stairwells?"

"Not as of late, since no one else has tried to steal from me. That and I'd like to avoid getting hit in the face with a wooden plank is again."

"I am sorry about that," she said as she looked at the healing cut on his chin.

"No you're not," he replied smugly.

"You're right, I'm not," she declared in annoyance. "Especially since it did nothing to deflate your ego." With that she grabbed a bottle of water and went over to pay for it.

"I take it you're not a morning person," he stated as he joined her at the register.

"I am. You just seem to bring out the irritated side of me," she said as they paid for their drinks. "And where are you off to?"

"Well since you asked, I have an 8am lab Tuesdays and Thursdays, so I always stop here at 7:15 to get coffee beforehand," he explained.

"If your lab is at 8am why do you get your coffee so early?" she asked.

"My professor said anyone who shows up a half hour early and helps set up equipment will get extra credit. So I actually get there at 7:30."

"I wish one of my professors gave us a chance to get extra credit. Well, I should get going," she said as she starting walking out of the cafeteria.

"Wait," he replied as he came over to her. "Do you maybe want to, what?" he asked as she picked up a copy of the newest issue of The Daily Mirror and looked at the cover with wide eyes. "What is it?"

"I have to go," she hurriedly said as she raced out of the café.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Emma groaned as she pulled herself out of bed. Why didn't I think having a 8am class through, she asked herself. True, it was only two days a week. But it was still a hassle to get up that early. Especially after staying up until 3am to watch a Witchblade marathon.

She grabbed her books and left for class, still wearing the pajama pants and tank top she'd slept in. From experience she knew she wouldn't be the only person showing up to class in their pajamas, especially one that was before noon. As she walked to the elevator she saw some people whispering in the hallway. For a moment she wondered if they were talking about her, especially since they stopped once she walked by. But she shrugged it off and chalked it up to paranoia.

Emma walked out of the building when she saw a few students laughing about something in the school paper. "There she is," one said as they pointed at her. "The school celebrity."

"More like delinquent," a girl snickered as she held up her hands mockingly. "Oh, please don't steal my stuff big bad Emma."

"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked.

"You're famous sister," one of the guys (who Emma recognized as Leroy) sneered as he thrust the paper in her hands. "Must be why you were so good at stealing stuff for that scavenger hunt."

Emma looked in shock as she saw her mug shot on the front page. She franticly read the article, feeling sick with each passing word.

Danger Hiding in Plain Sight, by Sidney Glass

We'd like to think those sitting in class next to us are honest trustworthy individuals. But sadly, a bad egg has somehow made it through the cracks. That bad egg is freshman Emma Swan, a delinquent and criminal who is not to be trusted. A ward of the state who has run from a string of group homes and foster care, Emma is no stranger to being on the wrong side of the law. A source has revealed that Emma Swam has committed several crimes in her young life, including shoplifting, contempt of cop, and destruction of property. The most damning of her crimes occurred when she was sixteen, where she and an accomplice acquired stolen watches and planned to sell them for money. Thankfully, when the time came to sell the stolen items police apprehended Emma, who were tipped off by none other than her partner in crime. Court reports state that due to Emma's age, a light sentence of four months in a juvenile detention center was issued, followed by six months probation. Though given that this was merely the latest and most severe of a series of brushes Emma Swan has had with the law, one wonders if a harsher sentence would have been more beneficial.

While some might say 'the past is in the past' and we should give this person the benefit of the doubt over an incident from their youth, others have a more realistic opinion on the matter of attending school with a felon. "This makes perfect sense," says freshman and roommate Regina Mills. "Ever since school started little things of mine keep going missing. Now I know why. Personally, I don't feel safe sharing a room or even going to school with this criminal. It would be in our best interest if she wasn't here."

The decision to accept Miss. Swan to Storybrook University in the first place questions the decision capabilities of the acceptance board and university president Albert Spencer. If they could allow such a dangerous element into this university, what other dangers are they overlooking? Hopefully unearthing Miss. Swan's past will bring to light other oversights our school board doesn't want revealed.

Emma's hands shook as she finished the article, shocked at what she had read. The arrest and jail time were supposed to be essentially blacked out. How was it possible that this reporter could obtain records that were sealed by court order?

"Can I have my paper back, or are you going to steal that too?" Leroy asked.

She forcefully shoved it into his hands before storming back inside, needing to get away from his daunting face. For once she had felt like she belonged someplace. But now her past had come back to ruin everything. As she ran the details of the article through her head Emma recalled the student that had been interviewed for the article, Regina. And suddenly it seemed too much of a coincidence that this article was written a little over a week after the princess's precious apples went missing.

Emma purposely got in the elevator and went to the 6th floor. But as she got off the elevator she saw Mary Margaret approaching their room. At seeing her roommate Emma almost choked up with apprehension. Being mocked by strangers over her past was bad enough. But having someone she was starting to consider a friend do that would be devastating. Before she could be seen Emma quickly turned around and walked/sprinted to the lounge at the end of the hall, throwing the door open and slamming it shut once she was inside.

"Easy there."

She spun around in apprehension, having expected the room to be empty. But instead she saw a handsome guy with light brown hair and a light bread standing a few feet from the dart board. "Haven't you heard it's not nice to scare people?"

"Well, I was in here already, so technically you scared me first when you burst in here," he replied

Her anger over the article was temporarily nullified as she heard the boy speak. "You're not from around here, are you?"

"Belfast Ireland, originally. But I moved to the states at fifteen when my father got relocated."

She walked over to him as he stood a few feet from a dart board and threw it at the edge of the bull's eye. "Not bad." It was then that she noticed a copy of the school paper on the floor near his feet.

"What?" he asked off the expression of disgust on her face. His eyes glanced down before he grasped the situation. "Oh that. I wouldn't put much stock on that rubbish. Just because some journalist writes something doesn't mean it's true."

"Hate to burst your optimism, but what's in the article is true. So go ahead and judge me like everyone else."

"I wasn't going to judge you," he replied. "So you made a few mistakes when you were younger. Everyone's done things they aren't proud of. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't get a second chance."

She looked at him, surprised at finding someone who wasn't judging or mocking her over going to juvie.
"What's your name?"

"Graham. What's yours?"

"Pretty sure you already know it," she said as she nodded towards the paper.

"Yeah, but I'd rather hear it from you then an article."

Despite her bad mood she couldn't help chuckling at that one. "Okay. My name's Emma."

"Okay Emma. Would you like to join me in a game of darts? Might help take your mind off things."

You're going to make a lot of people hot and bothered with that accent of yours, she thought before telling him she's love to play darts. She grabbed a few and began throwing them at the dart board, imagining each of them hitting Regina's face.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Regina practically skipped in joy as she entered Mifflin Hall with a large number of school papers under her arm. Right now Sidney's article was being read all over campus, and Emma was being seen as an untrustworthy delinquent. And it was only a matter of time before she was kicked out of school for her crimes. Until then Regina was going to make sure Emma remaining days here was miserable, starting with covering the walls of their dorm room with copies of the article. This will teach her not to mess with me, she thought.

As she walked into her room her foot skidded on some paper just inside the doorway. Looking down she saw two pieces of mail, one addressed to her and the other to Emma. She picked up and opened her piece, seeing from the stationary it was from the Office of the University President.

Dear Miss. Mills.

This summons is to inform you you are being called to a hearing with University President Albert Spencer on Wednesday Sept 21st at 11am, in regards to an article that recently appeared in the university paper the Daily Mirror. Failure to report to said meeting will result in swift and immediate disciplinary action against you.

Signed,

Meredith Harting

Secretary to the President

Regina's insides ran cold as she finished reading letter. Why the hell would the University President want to see me, she thought. I didn't do anything. Emma's the one who should be in trouble, not me. Was it because I saw Gold and got that file from him? But how would anyone even know about that?

With that she stormed out to try and get some answers.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Regina pounded on the door of Townhouse 35 before it opened. "Thank god," she exclaimed at the answering person being Sidney. "I need to talk to you-"

"Get in here," he hissed as he grabbed her by the arm and dragged her inside.

"What the hell?" she cried as he pulled her into his bedroom.

"I just got a summons from Albert Spencer for a meeting with him tomorrow morning," he explained.

Regina's face paled as she took in what he just said. "You got one also?"

"Also?"

"I got a letter for a meeting with him too. And from the other envelope I saw I'm guessing Emma got one to," she said.

"What the hell are we going to do?" he said as he paced.

"Just calm down, okay," she said, trying to mask her own nerves. "We didn't do anything wrong."

"I printed an article with info from official court records and police reports, which I'm sure was not obtained legally. Not to mention I basically insulted both the school president and administration board. I could get expelled for this. I never should have listened to you."

"Hey, don't place this on me," she exclaimed. "I didn't exactly twist your arm on this. You had no problem writing that article when you thought it would lead to a journalism award. Okay, let's think for a second," she said as she let out a breath. "If we have to we can tell him we got the info from Gold and use that as leverage-"

"No!" Sydney cried out. "Mentioning Gold is the last thing we want to do. We don't want to be on his bad side."

"Gold's just a student. Who do you fear more; him or the University President?" she asked.

"Honestly, I fear both of them."

Regina blinked at hearing that, unnerved at Gold bringing forth such fear, and over the fact that she still owed this guy a favor. "Okay fine, so bringing up Gold is out. Let's think about this. Isn't the identity of sources for stories supposed to be protected? Where Spencer can't make us say where we got the info on Emma from?"

"Normally. But you don't know him. He's extremely intimidating and pushes until he gets what he wants. And I'm sure what he wants if to punish me for questioning him and the school board in the article," Sidney explained.

"Alright!" she yelled. "What if we forget where the info came from and just focus on Emma and how she's a menace. We say we can across the info on her and published it to warn the school and you got carried away with questioning his decision making."

"Maybe," Sidney said uncertainly. "Although it would help if he thought Emma was a menace right now instead of just from before she came to school. You said she's been stealing from you?"

"Right, my apples," Regina replied in delight. "I'll tell him she stole my apples from me. Then he'll know she's the same as she was when she went to juvenile jail. I know he'll kick her out then."

"Yeah. Although it would help if we knew Emma would confess to what happened, so it's not just a she said/she said situation," Sydney reasoned.

"Yes," Regina replied as she thought about how to best make sure that happened. Maybe looking through that file again will help me with Emma and Spencer, she thought.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Emma stood just inside her room, her hands slightly shaking as she reread the letter that had been on the floor. This day keeps getting worse and worse, she thought. While she was playing a game of darts with Graham a few people came into the lounge room. And as soon as they saw her they started mocking her over her criminal past. Even though Graham defended her she ran away from the jeering, and ended up spending the rest of the day hiding and trying to avoid people, specifically Ruby and Mary Margaret. And now that she had finally risked returning to her room she learned she had to meet with the president of the school tomorrow regarding the article that was written about her.

She flinched as the door opened and Mary Margaret stood in the doorway. "Emma! I've been looking for you all day."

"Why, so you could mock me," she replied, immediately on the defensive.

Mary Margaret looked at Emma, hurt over that accusation. "I was worried about you. After I saw that article-"

"Yeah, you know about my criminal past. Not everyone is a pampered goodie two shoes!"

"Emma, I'm not trying to make fun of you over this," Mary Margaret said with sincerity.

"Well don't worry, because I won't be around much longer."

"Wait, what? What's going on?" Mary Margaret asked her roommate.

"Apparently everyone thinks I'm a dangerous criminal, because I have a meeting with the university president tomorrow!" Emma yelled as she waved the summons around. "Because of that article I'm going to get kicked out or lose my scholarship or who knows what! So don't worry about me, because soon I'll be gone and won't have to deal with me!"

With that Emma stormed down the hallway, ignoring her roommate's calls as she took the stairs to the lobby and left the building. She walked briskly to the parking lot with her head down, thankful it was nighttime and not too many people were outside. Once she made it to the bug and got inside Emma realized she had been excessively hostel to Mary Margaret. But after years of being rejected and hurt she had developed an acute flight and flight response when she felt threatened. And she knew it would hurt less to strike at her roommate first then take a chance at being rejected by someone she had started to think of as an actual friend. It didn't always make sense, but it was how she'd learned how to cope growing up.

With that she got out of the front seat and laid down in the back, exhaustion taking over from the stressful events of the day. Images of people mocking her and smashing in Regina's face filled her head before sleep took hold of her.

When she came to sunlight was hitting her in the face. She sleepily looked at her watch before she sprang up at seeing it was 11:16am. I've got to get to the hearing, Emma thought as she franticly got out of her car and raced to the President's house. She franticly searched before finally locating it, racing inside and tearing through a hallway and then up a flight of stairs before arriving on the second floor. "Sorry I'm late," she gasped as she clutched her side. "I'm Emma Swan, here for a meeting with President Spencer."

"You're appointment was promptly at 11am Miss. Swan," a woman with greying brown hair (who Emma guessed was Secretary Meredith Harting) sternly stated. "Lucky for you there were two other students Mr. Spencer had to see so we were able to start without you. Otherwise you would be in a world of trouble. Take a seat and wait until it's your turn to be seen," she said as she gestured to a set of chairs outside of the president's office.

Emma sat down before seeing that Regina was sitting in a chair opposite her. At seeing her roommate Emma was filled with rage, and wanted nothing more than to attack the bitch. But she managed to keep her anger in check, afraid of what would happen if she started yelling.

As she looked at Regina's perfectly chic appearance she became aware at just how cruddy she had to look. She hadn't showered or combed her hair in over 48 hours, and was wearing the same tank top and pajama pants she'd slept in for the past two nights. She was sure she looked and smelled like hell, which was not how she wanted to present herself when she met with Spencer. But since there was no way she could do anything about her appearance, Emma just had to hope it wouldn't count that much against her.

"Well aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Regina whispered.

"Not now Regina," Emma practically growled.

"I'm sure your appearance will just endear yourself to President Spencer," Regina stated with a smirk. "Though it might not make that much of a difference. I made sure to dress up for my meeting and it didn't seem to make a difference in how he treated me."

"You already saw him?" Emma asked.

"Yup. Sydney's in there now. I'm just waiting for him." She sighed as she glanced at the door. "If you want my advice, I'd be honest with him about why you're here. He's good at sniffing out a lie."

"You mean how you somehow dug up sealed records from my past and published them?"

"Sydney wrote the article. All I did was provide a quote when he interviewed me," Regina replied innocently.

"Sure, that's all you did," Emma said sarcastically, guessing the brunette wasn't being entirely truthful. "I find it quite a coincidence that article came out right after I gave your precious apples away."

Regina's eyes narrowed slightly as she gestured her head towards the office. "Actually, that was the main point that came up during my meeting. He asked me about what I said in the article and I told him how you stole my apples and gave them away. He was more interested in that then in what you did in your past."

"Sure, that's what he was concerned with," Emma replied in disbelief.

"Fine, don't believe me. But if I were you I'd tell him the truth about what you did, because I guarantee he'll pull it out of you one way or another. That man's ruthless at sniffing out a lie, and treats you worse if he catches you in one. Trust me, it's better if you come clean on your own then if he grills you until you crack."

Emma scoffed at Regina's words, sure the girl was just trying to gloat her into incriminating herself. Though that didn't stop a splinter of doubt to creep into her thoughts as she wondered if Regina might just be right. Don't believe her, she thought. She's just trying to mess with you.

The two of them sat in tense silence before Regina looked at her watch. "I've got class in ten minutes," she said as she got up. "Tell Sydney I'll speak to him later."

"Tell him yourself, I'm not your secretary", Emma replied under her breath as Regina strode out of the room. She glanced at Spencer's office, wondering how much longer Sydney was going to be in there for. The suspense was killing her and she just wanted to get this meeting, and her eventual expulsion, over with.

What if she's right, she thought. What if he is just interested in me stealing those apples? On the one hand it seemed absurd that he'd care about that more than her going to juvie. But it was possible that he'd care more about something she did right now verses something she did when she was younger. And if that was the case, confessing to it could bring her some leniency.

It wouldn't be the first time being honest about her crimes worked out for her. When she had gone up in front of the judge regarding the stolen watches she confessed right away and showed remorse for her actions. She always suspected that was the reason the judge had showed leniency on her and only sentenced her to four months in juvenile hall instead of the typical length of six months to a year. So it was entirely possible that being upfront and honest about what had happened could keep her from being kicked out of school or losing her scholarship.

Just then the door opened and Sydney came out, looking visibly upset as he walked past her without even a glance. Before she could say a word she heard her name called from the room. Her nerves increasing tenfold she shakily got up and walked into the office.

"Close the door behind you," President Spencer stated. He waited until the door was closed and she took a seat in front of his desk before continuing. "I'm sure you're aware as to why I've called you in here."

"Yes sir," Emma replied as she looked at Spencer, the man reminding her of a bald eagle full of contempt instead of majesty. She took a breath as she instantly decided as to how to proceed. "I'm here because of the apples."

"What?"

"The apples Regina told you I stole from her. She had a crate of them and after we got into a fight I took them and gave them out to people on my floor. It was wrong of me to take them and I'm sorry for my actions."

She looked at Spencer hoping to see sympathy on his face, and instead felt dread at the sneer on his lips instead. "Actually, Ms. Mills made no mention of this. You were called in here based on the recent revelation that you were once in juvenile hall. But I'm glad this new info has been brought to my attention, as it proves that your criminal nature is not limited to actions of your past."

Emma tried to keep her face passive as inside she seethed, the realization that Regina tricked her into admitting she stole from her made her want to scream in rage. Shit, fucking shit, she thought.

"Obviously, this news that you stole watches and went to juvenile hall is quite concerning, and frankly an embarrassment to Storybrook University," Spencer continued. "We strive to accept students of good moral character, and because some bleeding heart judge hid these facts from the general public we not only accepted a criminal, but gave her a full scholarship. Given the nature of your past crimes, and the just learned fact that your criminal habits weren't quelled from being in juvenile hall, I would have no problem with throwing you out of this university immediately."

Tears began to form in Emma's eyes as she waited to officially be kicked out of school. But instead Spencer sighed in frustration as he continued. "However, it seems that before this meeting I was approached by your guidance counselor Tracy Blue early this morning, who reminded me that according to the school charter a student cannot be removed from school based on actions that occurred before their education tenure begins. Past actions can impact on whether they ultimately are accepted. But once they are accepted, they cannot be thrown out or lose academic accolades such as scholarships for something they did in their past."

Emma waited on bated breath, a sliver of hope coming over her as the man kept speaking. "It would also seem that two students have come forward on your behalf, a Miss. Mary Margaret Blanchard and Miss. Ruby Lucas. Both freshman spoke highly of you, commenting on how you are a model student and overall decent person."

"So what are you saying?" Emma asked tentatively, not wanting to assume anything until she heard it officially from him.

"I'm saying that despite my personal feelings on the matter, I have no authority to throw you out of here based on actions you committed before your acceptance. So for the moment, both your place at this school and your scholarship are secured. Though I can assure you in the future I will make it my priority to check into the backgrounds of incoming students more closely."

"Thank you," Emma replied gratefully. "Thank you so much. You don't know how much this means-"

"I'm not finished," he said sternly as he cut her off. "While I may not be able to remove you from school because of your past, do not assume I'm going to forget it either. For the reminder of your time here I will make it my priority to keep a close eye on you. And if you should step out of line and embarrass both myself and this school again, I will make sure you are punished to the highest extent possible. Am I making myself clear?"

"Yes sir," she said meekly.

"Now onto the matter of the apples you stole and distributed."

Oh my god, we're still on those stupid apples, she thought.

"Normally such petty matters don't even reach me and my office. But since you so generously told me of your crime, I'll punish you myself. I'm assigning you 24 hours of janitorial service. You are to report to the custodial head of your dorm building who will assign your hours, and send a report to me stating you completed your hours. Failure on your part to complete the hours assigned will result in further, more severe punishment. In addition you are now on academic probation until the end of this semester. If you behave yourself and don't get into any additional trouble it will automatically be lifted at the beginning of next semester. Otherwise it will be extended until the end of the school year. Understood?"

"Yes," she said quietly.

"Good. Now get out of here Miss. Swan. For your sake, I hope we don't have to see each other again until graduation."

Emma nodded her head nervously as she scrambled out of the office. As she briskly walked out of the room several thoughts and feelings came over her. Relief that she wasn't being kicked out and was still able to keep her scholarship. Anger at Regina for tricking her into admitting to giving away the apples. But mostly she felt a sense of gratefulness to Miss. Blue, Mary Margaret and Ruby. They stood up for her when she needed someone the most. Rarely had she ever had people go to the mat for her like that. It made her feel that there really were people in her life now that truly cared about her.

She walked out the President's house when she saw Ruby get off a nearby bench and come over to her. "Emma! I came to your room earlier but Mary Margaret said you never came home last night. We were both waiting for you but she had to go to class, but she asked me to let her know what happened as soon as possible. Did Spencer say you could stay? If he kicked you out we can definitely fight it. My roommate Belle and I looked over the charter and there's no way he can throw you out because-"

Ruby stopped speaking as Emma engulfed her in a tight hug. "Thank you," she said emotionally. Generally she wasn't good as expressing herself, so she hoped her hug conveyed just how much she valued what Ruby had done for her. "What you and Mary Margaret did, I can't tell you what it means…"

"It wasn't a problem," Ruby replied. "That's what friends do for each other."

"But that's just it," Emma said as she pulled back. "I've never really had…I don't really have any friends."

"Oh," Ruby softly said, getting a better sense regarding Mary Margaret's recalling of Emma jumping down her throat the night before. "Well, I can tell you you now have two people who will stand by you. Now please tell me you're still going to school here."

"No, Spencer didn't kick me out," Emma said as Ruby let out a loud sigh of relief. "Though he definitely wanted to. I did get probation and community service because of taking Miss. Bitch's apples. But I'm still here."

"Thank god," Ruby replied. "I knew he couldn't do it, but that guy's a real hard ass. We checked things thoroughly, but I was still afraid he's find some loophole or something."

"No, it worked out. Okay, I'm going to see Miss. Blue and thank her for also standing up for me."

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"You're off the paper?" Regina repeated in disbelief. "But we looked into it and the charter says the president can't dictate editorial policy."

"No he can't. But my editor can," Sydney bitterly said. "And all it took was one call from Spencer to get him to drop me. Do you know what happens to a second year journalism major who can't write? It means my portfolio will hardly have any articles in it. And my chances in getting a job after graduating are now next to nil. I never should have listened to a freshman, even if she's a hot piece of ass."

"What?" Regina said dangerously. "I will not be spoken to that way, no matter what happened to you."

"I don't care, alright! My livelihood is over!"

"You were right there with me," Regina reminded him. "You were the one who suggested going to Gold. You were the one who agreed to write that article. Don't act like you're an innocent victim just because this whole thing blew up in our faces."

"Our faces!" he yelled. "What happened to you? You said all he did was grill you on where I got the info for the article from. You got off clean."

"It's not my fault he just thought you quoted me because I'm Emma's roommate," Regina explained as she kept the guilt inside her from showing itself. She knew how lucky she was to have escaped her meeting without getting into trouble, though it was mostly the result of being that as far as Spencer knew, her involvement in the article was just providing a quote. He had suspected she knew more than she was letting on and grilled her pretty hard. But she kept her cool and was able to get out of there unscathed.

"Exactly!" Sydney yelled. "You caused all this and I'm the only one who got punished. How is that fair?" He continued to rant as Regina tuned him out, pissed with how this had all gone down. She hoped that after all this Emma was still going to be kicked out, because otherwise this was all for nothing.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Hello?" Emma said as she stuck her head into Miss. Blue's office.

"Yes?" The woman stiffly asked. "Hello Emma."

"Hi," she replied, too happy to notice the woman's stern demeanor. "I wanted to thank you for standing up for me with President Spencer. You kept me from getting kicked out of school."

"If I had known the whole story, I wouldn't have bothered," the guidance counselor replied.

"What?" Emma said, her smile quickly leaving her face. "What's going on? Why are you mad at me?"

"I just got a call from Albert Spencer, who told me about you stealing apples from your roommate and selling them to students."

Are you fucking kidding me? This again, Emma thought. "That's what you're so angry about? It was just a stupid prank I pulled."

"Maybe it's a prank to you, but to others it was a crime. I stuck my neck out for you, stating that watch incident was a mistake from your past and you were a model student. And now I find out you're fencing stolen items. I looked like a fool."

"I'm sorry," Emma meekly replied. "I didn't mean to humiliate you."

"Well you did. So don't expect any more favors from me. I only help students who deserve it. Now if you'll excuse me." With that she came out of the room and locked the door, glaring at Emma before briskly walking away.

Emma stood in the hallway, fighting back tears. For a belief moment she truly thought this woman was someone who cared for her and would help her out. And now she hated her, all because of what happened with Regina's stupid apples.

Suddenly Emma's feelings of pain were replaced with anger. This whole thing went back to Regina. With that Emma stormed off for a long overdue confrontation with her roommate.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Regina didn't look up from her laptop when the door to her room opened. She continued typing when the screen was suddenly slammed shut. "What the hell!"

"We need to talk," Emma said.

"Okay. How did your meeting go?" she asked snidely.

"I'm wasn't kicked out, if that's what you were hoping for. I'm stuck doing community service because of your precious apples. But I'm still here."

"I'm so glad to hear," Regina said, barely able to mask her surprise and anger over the news. "I can't tell you-"

"Shut up, I'm speaking now," Emma said as she got right in Regina's face. "I have no idea how you and that reporter found those court records. But do not think I'm going to just let this go. You tried to get me kicked out of school. I hope it was worth it, because now this is war. And trust me, that apple stunt is nothing compared to what I'm going to do with you."

Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I wasn't completely motivated to write it, especially since I'm more looking forward to what comes later on. For those who are wondering why Emma couldn't tell Regina was lying outside of Spencer's office, her 'superpower' will be downplayed in this story. Also as a heads up, even though Emma declared war on Regina at the end of this chapter, don't expect a huge blowout to come. Things will be happening to them in school that will be more important than their feud.