Chapter Eight
When Emma woke up the following morning, she felt like she hadn't slept at all. In reality, she really hadn't, not more than a couple hours, at most. She groggily dragged herself to the shower, hoping the warm water would wake her up. It wasn't helping.
But this wasn't the first time she'd gone through her day like a zombie, and she was sure it certainly wouldn't be the last. She pulled her hair up high on her head, and went to work on her make-up: pink shimmery eye shadow under her eyes, topped with concealer, to erase the dark purple circles underneath, and she looked like a whole new woman, even if she still felt like crap.
She pulled on her tights and her leotard and threw the rest of her stuff back in her dance bag. The last thing she grabbed was her phone, and she immediately noticed it was blinking with a missed text message. She supposed she shouldn't have even been surprised at this point when she saw the message was from Regina.
Sorry about last night.
The message had come when Emma was in the shower, and she was conflicted on how to answer. She wasn't even sure why Regina was sorry.
It was fine, really.
Emma stared at her phone for a few minutes, half expecting Regina to text back right away as she had the night before, but no message came in.
"Emma! Hurry up!" Mary Margaret called from downstairs, and Emma threw her phone into her dance bag and headed down to meet her mother.
"You have your meeting with the nutritionist today, Emma, don't forget," Mary Margaret informed her, as they headed out to the car.
"Funny you mention that, Mom, because Ana thinks I'm not eating enough," Emma replied.
"Ana? The costume designer?" Mary Margaret asked, with a raised eyebrow. "I didn't realize she was such an expert."
"Mom! She said I'm way under the weight requirement," Emma whined.
"Well, unfortunately for you, your height hinders you, Emma. And because of that, you need to make sure you are perfect in every other aspect, since it's the one thing you can't do anything about," Mary Margaret explained, regurgitating the same information she had been fed throughout her own short-lived dancing career.
"I grew an inch," Emma offered.
"Good," Mary Margaret nodded. "Grow some more, and it won't be an issue."
Emma sighed and rolled her eyes, and reached for her phone again to see if Regina had messaged her back. To her relief, this time, she had.
Good. See you this afternoon.
It wasn't really anything, but Emma still had to grin at the message. It was from Regina, and therefore, it meant everything.
"Emma! Don't tell me you are going to become addicted to your phone now," Mary Margaret lamented. "You're seventeen! Act like a seventeen-year-old."
Emma bit her lip to resist the urge to tell her that this was exactly how a seventeen-year-old should act, because she knew her mother meant act like a professional seventeen-year-old adult who thought of nothing but dance.
"It's about the production," Emma shrugged. "It's from Regina."
"Oh," Mary Margaret said, smiling. "Are you two becoming friends?"
"I guess you could say that," Emma shrugged again.
"Good. She's a good friend to have, Emma. She's got a lot of connections and she could really help you out."
Emma stared at her mother in disbelief. On one hand, she guessed she should just take her mother's approval of her choice in friends without question, since Mary Margaret rarely approved of the people who Emma spent time with – not that there were many vying for a spot in her life anyway – but on the other hand, she couldn't believe that her mother would take something as simple and pure as friendship and try to use it to propel her career.
"Okay, well, I'm going to stay late at the studio tonight. Neal said he will help me go over some stuff for the production," Emma said. It was a complete lie. In reality, she wanted to hang out with Ruby tonight and tell her all about whatever the nutritionist said, which she was sure would be ridiculous, and she knew Neal would always cover for her anyway.
"Ok, Sweetheart," Mary Margaret smiled, as she pulled up in front of the studio. "Call me if you need a ride home."
"Thanks Mom," Emma said as she hopped out of the car.
"Wow. You look like shit," Ruby commented, as Emma approached her after her first class that morning.
"Wow, thanks! You always know how to make me feel better!" Emma laughed.
"What the hell happened?" Ruby asked, noting the grin on Emma's face.
Emma looked around, to make sure the hallway was deserted. "Okay, promise you won't tell anyone? Like anyone?"
"Duh," Ruby laughed. "You know I can keep a secret."
"I went out with Regina last night," Emma grinned.
"What? Shut up! You did not," Ruby said, slapping Emma playfully on the shoulder.
"Oh, I did. But I promised her I wouldn't tell anyone, so seriously, you can't tell anyone," Emma insisted.
"Yeah. Got it. What happened? Did you kiss her?"
"What? No! We just kind of hung out and talked. It wasn't like it was a date or anything. And I'm pretty sure she's not…."
"Not what? Gay? Engaged? The devil incarnate?"
"She is not the devil incarnate!" Emma cried, shaking her head. "She's nice. She's just misunderstood."
"Whatever Swan," Ruby laughed. "You coming to the diner tonight?"
"Yeah," Emma nodded. "After practice and my stupid meeting with the stupid nutritionist, I'll be there. I expect grilled cheese and extra onion rings, to make up for your obnoxiousness."
"As you wish," Ruby said, rolling her eyes.
"Damn right as I wish," Emma laughed.
"Diva!" Ruby scoffed, as they both headed off to their next class of the day.
Emma checked her phone between every class, and every time she was dismayed to find there were no new messages. She wasn't sure why she thought Regina was going to start suddenly texting her all day. She tried to remind herself that Regina probably had more important things to worry about, and that she was probably the furthest thing from her mind.
So why was it that Emma could literally not stop thinking about Regina?
As the day progressed, she got increasingly more and more excited for the moment when she would finally see Regina at rehearsal. To her dismay, however, her afternoon consisted of doing blocking and learning choreography with Kathryn, Daniel and Frederick, while Regina spent most of the time in the office with Cora.
Emma wasn't really sure why she expected anything different to happen. It wasn't like she and Regina would just hang out every afternoon and evening until the production was done. There was work to do and unfortunately for Emma, having the starring dual role meant that she would be doing most of the work.
A small part of her still hoped that Regina would at least come out and watch her dance, but it occurred to her that was likely never to happen, since it would mean she also had to watch Daniel dance.
So Emma forced herself to get into the right headspace, and focused all her effort and energy on learning the section they were working on. Before she knew it, Kathryn was telling her they were done for the day, and Emma headed off to meet the nutritionist, who was to be waiting for her in one of the offices. Mary Margaret had secured the space for her daughter's meeting.
Emma strolled into the room, and was surprised to find not a female but a male waiting for her, who introduced himself as Dr. Whale.
"I thought I was meeting with Dr. Kavanaugh?" Emma asked, mildly confused.
"She was out sick today," Dr. Whale shrugged. "Now, let's get started, shall we?"
Emma half-listened as he rattled on about protein and carbs and BMRs and TDEEs. She found it hard to concentrate on learning about food when she was starving. All she could think about was the meal Ruby would have waiting for her when she got to the diner.
Dr. Whale had brought a scale and a tape measure, and he weighed and measured Emma, but didn't comment on her weight at all, just jotted it down on the pad he had brought with him. He then produced a binder that he told her contained her meal plan for the duration of the production. Emma was confused at how he (or Dr. Kavanaugh) had come up with this without meeting her or speaking to her first.
"I'm under the weight requirement for this company," Emma said, as he handed her the binder. "I know my mom is paying you, but I really don't think I need this."
Dr. Whale looked unfazed. "I see," he said. "Well, Dr. Kavanaugh and myself are professionals, Emma."
Emma sighed and took the binder, rolling her eyes as she got up to leave. She thanked Dr. Whale, even if she didn't mean it, and headed back to the studio to pick up her dance bag.
"Hey." Emma looked up at the familiar voice, and couldn't help but smile when she saw Regina there.
"Hey," Emma said back.
"Why are you still here?"
Emma held up the binder. "My mom made me meet with a nutritionist. I think this guy's a quack."
"Who was it?" Regina asked, stepping closer.
"Dr. Whale?"
Regina rolled her eyes. "He's an idiot. If he gave you that, I'd toss it, to be honest."
Emma smirked. "I would, but my mother will insist on seeing it," she explained, as she stuffed the binder into her dance bag.
"I see. So what are you doing now? Private?" Regina asked, referring to a private session with one of the teachers.
"Nope. Now I am going to Ruby's grandmother's diner to eat some greasy food," Emma grinned. "Dance makes me hungry. Crazy how that works, right?"
Regina smiled. "I suppose as long as you're not eating in the studio again."
Emma picked up her dance bag and hesitated for a moment, wondering if she was going to regret what she was about to do. "Do you… maybe wanna come with me?"
Regina gaped at Emma for a moment. "Come with you to the diner?" she asked.
Emma could feel her cheeks flushing. "Yeah, I mean, if you want to. We could like, I dunno, hang out or something? Ruby will be there too. I was just thinking, you know, if you want to hang out and have some girl time, maybe?"
"Girl time?" Regina repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Can't say I've ever done that."
"Well, you should," Emma insisted. "I mean, if you want to. You don't have to, I just… um…"
Regina smiled and shook her head. "Do you always get flustered this easily? Or do I just have this effect on you?"
Emma could feel the blush deepening in her cheeks, and she was pretty sure that was all the answer that Regina needed. She might not be the most poised person, but when Regina was around, it was like her brain practically short-circuited.
Regina glanced toward the open office door, where Cora was still working on some sort of paper work. "One second," she said, holding up a finger to indicate that Emma should wait. Regina entered the office and said something to Cora that Emma couldn't hear. She saw Cora roll her eyes, then look at her, and then smile and say something back to Regina.
Regina came back out of the office and rejoined Emma. "The dictator has deemed me worthy of leaving early," Regina said, smiling.
"So… does that mean yes, you're coming?" Emma asked, still unsure.
"Yes," Regina nodded. "Want me to drive?"
"Well, it's either that, or we walk, and you're in heels, so…"
"If I didn't know any better, Miss Swan, I would swear you are using me for my car," Regina said, as they headed out of the building.
"No! I'm not, I'm-" Emma stammered.
"Emma! I was joking," Regina said, shaking her head as she unlocked the car. "You should really learn to relax."
Emma let out a long breath and shook her head as she got into the passenger side of the car. On one hand, she was happy to be in this car with Regina again, but on the other hand, she wondered if she was getting in way over her head with this unpredictable girl who seemed to make her more and more flustered by the moment.
At least they'd be at the diner in two minutes. She wondered if she should shoot Ruby a text, and warn her that she was bringing Regina, but she knew that might look suspicious. She only hoped Ruby would be cool and not say anything to embarrass her or blow her cover.
Emma suddenly realized this might be a very bad idea.
To Be Continued….
