Author's note: Yup, Griffin Murphy=Gaston from Beauty and the Beast!

Chapter 36

Emma could remember a time when English used to be her favorite subject. Reading interesting books and calling it schoolwork? Hell yeah. But once she'd hit high school, it was like someone had pressed "snoozer" on all of the assignments. She honestly had no idea why people found books like The Scarlet Letter so good. Overly complicated, stuffy language, whiny characters, and a plot that just dragged on and on? No thanks.

Honestly, if it wasn't for her extremely cute English teacher, she'd probably have a hard time forcing herself to go to class every day.

"And so," the teacher, Mr. Holmes, said as he paced around the room. "We know that all novels hold hidden meanings. Great Expectations, for starters, tells the downsides of high aspirations."

As they had just finished that book, Emma steeled herself for what came next-the dreaded essay.

"This time, instead of writing a paper, I am going to assign a project."

The class noticeably perked up, murmuring amongst themselves.

"This project will be done in pairs. I want you guys to pick a book, any book, and find what you think its hidden message is. And yes, Mr. Murphy, it has to be school appropriate."

Emma rolled her eyes; she knew that in the back row, Griffin and his other stupid friends were probably exchanging high fives or something equally cliché.

"Anyways," Mr. Holmes continued. "I want you guys to really dig in deep. Become detectives. Comb through your book of choice for any clues. And then you and your partner will present your findings in front of the class."

Emma looked diagonally behind her, to where Jasmine sat. She raised her eyebrows and Jasmine nodded in response, grinning. Emma smiled as she faced forwards again. With Jasmine as her partner, this project would be easy.

"There is, however, one caveat. I am going to choose your partners."

A groan swept across the room. Emma's heart sank. Aside from Jasmine, the rest of the class was mostly full of idiots.

Mr. Holmes began to read off a list of names. She glared at him as she listened for her name, no longer finding him as cute as she usually did.

"…Tina Bell and Jasmine Al-Hamed."

Emma stuck out her tongue at Jasmine, who shot her a look of commiseration and shrugged. Lucky ass. Tina was part of a group of girls they sat with at lunch, and she was pretty cool.

Her eyes swept across the room, searching out people whose names had not been read yet. Rachel, a girl who had been wearing her hair in the same long braid since fourth grade, wouldn't be so bad. Neither would Trina, a dark skinned girl. All Emma knew about her was that apparently she loved to cook, but as she spotted Griffin and his man eating smile, she thought that Trina would make a decent partner.

"And finally, Killian Jones and Emma Mills."

Emma was so busy staring around the room, she only heard her name and not her partner's. She turned to Jasmine, who had already dragged her desk over to Tina's. "Wasn't paying attention. Who's my partner?"

As she spoke, she noticed Killian Jones, perched in his chair with a lazy grin on his face. His eyes met hers and he shot her a lascivious smile.

"Looking forward to spending lots of quality time with you, love."

Wait. Why would he say that unless…

Jasmine's sympathetic smile confirmed it. "Sorry, Em. He's your partner."

Alarm bells rang in Emma's head as she processed her friend's words. "Killian Jones…p-partner?" She sputtered.

"It does have a nice ring to it, yeah?" He called out.

Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no. As Mr. Holmes talked about the project's requirements, Emma privately thought that she'd much rather work with Griffin Murphy, if it meant she could avoid Killian Jones.

After class, after exchanging numbers and email addresses with Killian (and ignoring at least three innuendos), she pushed her way into the crowded hallway.

"Hey," Said a voice at her side. Jasmine. "I never got a chance to ask where you disappeared off to Saturday night."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry bout that. Kind of had a crazy night, actually. I met this girl, Lily, and well I don't really remember what happened. It was insane. But good."

"Wait. Lily? As in Lily Page the new girl?"

"Yeah, so you know her too?"

"Yup." Jasmine pointed off up ahead to the left, where Emma could see a familiar dark ponytail. "That's her, right? She's only been here like a week or so."

"Oh, ok."

"You actually hung out with her?"

Emma could sense a dig in Jasmine's voice. "Yeah. So?"

"Nothing. I just heard…some stuff about her."

"Like what?"

"Well," Jasmine began. "She came from Boston or some other big city and apparently she's kind of…dangerous."

"Dangerous how?"

"Like she used to sell drugs and her boyfriend is this big kingpin. She's kind of wild."

As they walked down the hall to their next class, Emma could see the way the other kids threw odd looks at Lily's back as they passed her. Nobody stopped to talk to her, and she didn't speak as she slammed her locker door and walked away. "Just because she's new doesn't mean she's necessarily crazy."

"No, I know. But she's also, like, a foster kid who-"

Emma coughed. "You do know that I was a foster kid too, right?"

Jasmine immediately paled. "That's not what I meant, Em. I meant that-"

"No, I think I got it."

"Emma…"

Emma stopped abruptly in front of the girls' bathroom. "I have to pee." She said, facing the door. "Don't wait up." Without waiting for a response, she pushed open the door.

Why was she feeling this way? So…defensive? Sure, she'd had tons of crazy fun with Lily, but she didn't even know her. Not in the way she knew Jasmine. Why did she care?

She pressed her palms against the sink and stared up at her reflection. Took in the features that were so different from her mother's.

Her mother. Unwittingly, an image flashed before her eyes. A couple walked with a small child between them. Regina, Robin, and Roland. So perfect it was sickening.

Clearly no room meant for anyone else.

No matter what, a little voice whispered insidiously inside, deep down inside you will always be the foster kid nobody wanted.

Her phone buzzed on her desk, and without bothering to look at the screen Regina pressed ignore.

That would make it the fifth, no wait the sixth, time.

Almost immediately, her phone rang again, vibrating loudly against the surface of her desk. She glared at the offending device; he couldn't take a hint, could he? Maybe it would be more efficient to just take the damn call and get it over with. So she threw her pen down and picked up her phone.

"This is Regina Mills."

"Why hello there."

At the very sound of his voice, goosebumps popped up on her arms although her office was kept at her usual preferred temperature of 72 degrees. In other words, there was really no rational reason she should be shivering.

"What do you want?"

Robin's voice instantly switched to one of concern. "Is something the matter?"

"No, why would you think that?"

"You haven't taken my calls all morning."

"Because I've been busy." Regina answered, her tone clipped. It was a thin excuse and she knew it.

Apparently, so did he. "You've never been too busy to answer your phone."

She sighed, hoping to convey just how overworked and stressed out she was. "That's because I have paperwork mountain staring at me in the face."

He chuckled. "Well, how bout I take you out to dinner tonight to help you relax?"

"Tonight's not really a good night."

"What about tomorrow then?"

"Actually," Regina closed her eyes and steeled herself for what was about to happen. "This week is going to be a busy one."

"How about this? What if I come over with takeout from Granny's and we just stay in? Roland would love to see you. Grilled cheese is still Emma's favorite food, right? I can bring that and maybe some onion rings too."

He really couldn't take a hint, could he? "Robin…"

Or maybe he could. "You talked to Emma, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"I see."

"It's not what you think." Regina said hurriedly. "I just need…more time."

He was silent.

"Emma just needs to get used to the idea. It's just been the two of us for so long…"

When there was no response, Regina took the phone away from her ear and stared at the screen. "Robin? Hello?"

"I'm still here."

"I'm sorry."

"I know."

"I mean, you have Roland."

"Roland loves you, and you know it."

"I know," Regina said heavily. "And it's not like Emma doesn't like you. It's just that she needs-"

"Time. I know, Regina. That's what you've been saying for months."

"I'd love for you to come over, but it's not really a good time right now. She's so busy with school and,"

"I get it." Robin responded. His voice was at least ten decibels lower and infinitely less warm than it'd been mere minutes ago. "I'll talk to you later, Regina."

"You're mad."

"No, I'm not. I'm just…disappointed. But I understand. I'd do the same for Roland."

They said their goodbyes, and Regina hung up the phone, listening to it clatter against her desk as she lowered her head into her hands, feeling as though she'd just made a huge mistake. Robin was the first man she'd dated since Daniel who made her feel like Regina, like herself.

But Emma comes first. She reminded herself. This is for the best, and you know it.

Why did the best always have to hurt?

And why did she continue to make excuses for Emma? She'd known, without a shadow of a doubt, that Emma arrived home drunk Saturday night. Why hadn't she called her out on it, grounding her like she deserved?

Because you love her.

No, it wasn't that. Cora had loved her in her own twisted way and she'd never let Regina get away with anything.

Regina picked up a framed picture of Emma, taken in her first week in Storybrooke. The little girl smiled warily at the camera, held by Granny, as she stood in front of the diner, Regina's arm around her shoulders. If Regina squinted, she could see the faint outline of a bruise on Emma's bare arm.

Because no matter what, you'll always see the hurt little girl who'd once sat crying in an alley because she thought no one wanted her.

Author's note: Yikes, poor Regina! And Killian working with Emma? That should be interesting...