It had been a long week. The whole thing had started when Mr. Nolan fell down the stairs. Zelena had called an ambulance, which had taken him away to Storybrooke General Hospital for treatment. After that, she had been forced to give a statement to the local police, as well as several paramedics and the principal himself. Her story had been backed up by security camera footage of the incident, which made things a lot easier, but Zelena had never felt so much pressure over the span of only a few days.
"Have you heard anything about Mr. Nolan?" Zelena asked, as she sat before Mr. Spencer in his office on the last day of the week. "Is that why you called me up here?"
Mr. Spencer sat behind his desk, his blue eyes meeting her own. "As of right now, he's in a coma. It's not looking too good. The doctors have no idea when – or if – he'll wake up."
"Bloody hell," said Zelena, sighing as she slumped in her seat. "What about Mrs. Nolan? She... she doesn't blame me, does she?"
"I wouldn't know," replied Mr. Spencer. "I sent her some flowers and a note on behalf of the school, but she's been in the hospital as well. For a different reason, of course."
Zelena was confused for a few seconds, before it made sense. "The baby?"
"From what I've been told, she gave birth last night," the principal said. Zelena hadn't given any thought to the baby. In truth, in all the chaos that followed Mr. Nolan's trip down the stairs, she had forgotten that his wife was even pregnant. To Zelena's surprise, tears sprang in her eyes.
"What have I done?" she whispered, trying to wipe the tears away with the back of her hand.
Mr. Spencer handed her a box of tissues, his face blank and unsympathetic.
"According to the surveillance footage, you did nothing wrong," he said. "He came towards you, angry and confronting, and you reacted as any teenage girl would if they were threatened by a grown man. It's truly unfortunate what happened, but he shouldn't have come after you like that. It was... unprofessional."
"But... what if he dies?" asked Zelena, feeling more tears coming. "Their baby would never meet its father."
"Crying about the past won't change it," replied Mr. Spencer, "and I'm a principal, not a psychologist. If you feel that badly about it, I suggest you see the school counselor, but I asked you to come here to talk about something other than the Nolans."
Zelena sniffed, taking a tissue. Pull yourself together, she told herself. Now is not the time to show weakness.
"What did you want to discuss?" she said as soon as she knew that her voice would be steady. The principal leaned back in his seat.
"I'm taking into consideration the possibility of changing the class names," he said, pressing his fingers together.
"The... class names?" said Zelena, frowning slightly. "What do you mean?"
"Well, you know how we refer to the three senior groups as Gold, Silver, and general classes," Mr. Spencer explained. "Or, at least, that's what my predecessor was adamant they were called. I've never particularly liked the names. They sound elitist and snobbish, and I know they make the Silver and general class students feel... inadequate."
"I always assumed they were named as such so that students would aspire to work harder and join the Gold classes," Zelena replied. She didn't like where this was going.
"Well, we know that doesn't work," said the principal. "If anything, it discourages them from trying. It's common knowledge that the students in Gold classes are the ones with the richest and most popular parents in Storybrooke. The ones who can afford the best education for their children."
"That's not true," protested Zelena, now sitting up straight. "My dad is a dirt-poor alcoholic, but I still–"
"You got in by playing dirty," Mr. Spencer interrupted. "No, don't bother denying it. Some time after I took over Mr. Walsh's job, I found a strange little device under his desk. I had to look it up to find out it was a recording device for listening in on conversations. I'm not sure if it belonged to Walsh, or if Mrs. Mills put it there to make sure her vice principal was kept in check, but I manged to access the files it recorded. There were some... interesting conversations on there."
Zelena felt her face go white. "You... what? You mean..."
"Yes, Zelena. I know what went on between you and Walsh," said Mr. Spencer. "I know you blackmailed him, and then Mrs. Mills gave you a spot in the Gold classes. It was all very shady. So, that only proves my point. The only way to get into Gold classes is through blackmail and bribery. Well, I don't like it. There has been a social divide in this school for too long."
"So... what exactly what are suggesting?" asked Zelena, hiding her hands so he couldn't see them shaking.
"I think we should shake things up a little. Mix up the classes so that we have some Gold, some Silver, and some general class students in the same classrooms together. Encourage them to socialize with each other, rather than staying with their groups."
Zelena's jaw nearly hit the floor. "Mr. Spencer, if I may... that makes no sense. The social aspects and the education aspects are very different. Especially so close to the end of the year, and the exams!"
Mr. Spencer held up a hand to silence her. "I assure you, the curriculum across the classes are more or less the same. The only differences are the resources, the teachers, and the amount of time each classes are given. Everyone will be given the opportunity to catch up."
Zelena wanted to scream. This is madness. "Okay, well... what will we call the classes? We can't call them Gold classes if we're just letting anyone in."
"Of course not," replied Mr. Spencer. "As I said, those terms are outdated. A relic of Mrs. Mills' time as principal. I suggest we rename the three classes as 12.1, 12.2, and 12.3."
"How creative," said Zelena, trying not to roll her eyes at him.
"This is... a courtesy," Mr. Spencer told her, looking stern. "The only reason I'm sharing this with you is because you're student council president. Speaking of which, the same rules will apply for the student council. For too long, the student council president has been allowed to pick who they want, and they always pick Gold class students. Not anymore. For this final term, I want you to hold an election of sorts. Those who wish to join the student council may announce that want to, and the students will pick their council. All of the students."
Zelena's shaking hands curled into fists. "Well, you are the principal, sir. If that's what you want... May I return to class now?"

"I can't fucking believe it!"
Zelena slammed her fist down on the kitchen bench. Regina gave her a scolding look.
"Shh!" she whispered. "You'll wake up the baby."
In the cradle beside the bench, Regina and Robin's baby slept peacefully. Zelena glanced down at her.
"Sorry, The Baby," said Zelena quietly. "When are you two going to give the poor thing a name?"
"We have until tomorrow to decide and write it down on the document, but I don't know," Regina said with a shrug as she continued preparing dinner. "I just can't think of anything that suits her, and Robin says that he needs to know her before he can name her."
"I still think you should name Zelena."
"That would just get confusing," replied Regina. "There are already enough Zelenas living in this house."
Zelena frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"Hmm? Oh, it wasn't meant to mean anything," Regina said. "Although... you know, you have been living here rent-free for almost a year now. With you, me, Robin, my Dad, and the baby... it is getting a bit crowded. Have you spoken to your dad recently?"
"You know I haven't," said Zelena. "I don't want to speak to him. Ever. Don't you remember what he did?"
"Of course I do, but I was talking to Glinda the other day, and she said your dad has gotten a job as a woodcutter, so... maybe he's decided to turn over a new leaf?"
Zelena's eyes narrowed. "How the hell would Glinda know what he's been doing?"
"Glinda's father owns the local woodcutting business, remember?"
"Oh," Zelena cast her eyes downwards. "Right. Well, I don't care. I'm never speaking to him again."
"Don't be like that," Regina said. "At the end of the day, he's still your father."
Without warning, Zelena scrunched her eyes shut. Cora's words were echoing through her mind. "No..."
"What? Zelena, are you okay?"
Zelena stood up. "What... what if he isn't? My father."
Regina gave her a frown. "But he is your dad. Right?"
It had been toiling in her thoughts for too long. I have to tell her, Zelena decided.
"Regina," she said. "There's... there's something that I need to come clean about."
"Oh god," Regina muttered, her voice dripping with cynicism. "What is it? Just tell me."
Zelena put a hand through her red hair. "Okay, uhh... so, I saw your mom the night she died..."
Regina's eyes widened, and she stopped what she was doing. "But she had been missing since the day before she was found dead... and on that night, you said that you were meeting with Chad."
"That was true!" said Zelena, knowing she was about to regret this. "I didn't know this until I met with him. Your mom was with him. She was trying to blackmail him, so..."
The looked on Regina's face was one of absolute fear. "He killed her?"
"Hm? Oh, no! No, no, no!" Zelena waved her hands, standing up. The baby stirred in her cradle. "He just... tied her up, and then I arrived and found out what happened. I untied her as soon as I got there, but she attacked Chad and stabbed him. That's why he was in hospital!"
"Zelena," said Regina, her voice sounding as though she was about to cry. "Do you know who killed my mother?"
Zelena shook her head. "No! We went to the hospital and left her behind! It was on the dodgy side of town, you know, near where that ice cream shop used to be. I don't know what happened to her afterwards, but... before we left, she told me something. Something I've been keeping to myself since the day she died."
She could see the tears in Regina's big brown eyes now as they looked at her. "What? What did she say?"
Zelena took a deep breath before speaking. "Cora said that she was my mother. She said that, before she married your dad, she got pregnant with someone else's baby. When she gave birth, she gave it to the man who I thought it was my dad, telling him that it was his wife's baby. His wife, meanwhile, had left him and faked her own death, so he– Regina? Where are you going?"
Regina had run out of the kitchen. Zelena followed her upstairs, and into Regina's bedroom, where she was staring at her sobbing reflection in the mirror.
"Regina?" Zelena said softly, approaching Regina. Then, without warning, Regina snapped.
"What the fuck are you talking about?!" she roared. "You're saying Cora was your mom?! What kind of fucked-up bullshit is that?! She was MY mom! Mine, not yours! Now you're saying that you and your creepy boyfriend were there when she died?!"
"Regina, please," said Zelena. "Please, I need you to listen–"
"Why?! So you can lie some more?!" Regina turned to face her, tears rolling down her face. "Get out... GET OUT!"
Zelena didn't need to be told twice. Calmly, she walked out of Regina's room, closing the door behind her, then went downstairs and returned to the kitchen, where the baby was crying loudly. She picked the baby and cradled her in her arms, rocking her gently.
"It's alright," Zelena whispered. "It's okay. You're okay. Everything is okay."
However, she didn't know whether she was talking to the baby, or to herself.

The next day at school didn't prove to be any less pleasant. When Zelena arrived at her first class of the day, she was dismayed to see faces that she either vaguely recognized from around the school or didn't recognize among those in the classroom she had been going to for almost a whole year.
Oh boy, she thought to herself as she looked around. Zelena couldn't see Seraphina – who she usually sat next to in class – anywhere, so she decided to sit at an empty desk near the front of the classroom. When she sat down and started fishing her textbook out of her bag, however, Zelena found herself being stared at by a boy sitting at the desk to her left. Eventually, she stopped and looked at him.
"Hello?" she said, looking annoyed. "Can I help you?"
"You don't know how I am?" he replied. Zelena arched an eyebrow.
"Should I know who you are?"
He shrugged. "Well, you did get my dad fired from this school. Name's Victor."
Zelena tensed. "You're, uhh... you're Mr. Whale's son?"
Victor nodded. "Dad's been trying to get me from Silver to Gold for the past three years."
"Oh," she murmured. "That's... great."
"Yeah, I'm loving this new arrangement," he said. "Oh, by the way, you should know that I don't hold you accountable for what my dad did. It was stupid of him to be doing that sort of stuff on school grounds, let alone with a married teacher."
Somehow, that made Zelena feel a little better. "Good to know."
"That being said," Victor added, with a slight smile. "I still think you're a tremendous piece of shit."
And just like that, Zelena felt as though she'd been punched in the stomach.
"Right..." she said quietly, before picking up her things and leaving. Zelena looked around the classroom for another place to sit, and found herself walking towards a spare seat beside a blonde girl who was busy texting.
"You don't mind if I sit here, do you?" she said. The blonde girl looked up from her phone at her.
"What?"
Zelena sighed. "You're not going to call me a piece of shit if I sit here, right?"
The blonde girl looked both confused and amused. "Why would I call you a piece of shit?"
"Oh, no reason." She sat down at the desk, putting down her bag and books.
"I'm Ashley," said the blonde girl, putting away her phone as Mr. Hyde entered the room. "Ashley Boyd."
"Zelena."
"No shit?" Ashley scoffed. "You're the student council president, right?"
"Uhh, yeah..." Zelena replied, bracing herself for another wave of insults. Ashley nodded.
"You must be pretty smart to be able to handle classes and be on the student council."
"Well," said Zelena with a shrug. "It's all about balancing, really. That, and I don't have much of a social life."
That made Ashley laugh. This is going pretty well, Zelena told herself. And she's not so bad for a Silver student.
As the class went on, Zelena found herself explaining things to Ashley, who seemed to benefit from the extra help. By the time class was over and Zelena had walked out of the classroom, she heard Ashley's voice behind her.
"Zelena!"
Zelena turned around. "Yeah?"
"I just wanted to say thank you," Ashley said, smiling. "I would have been screwed in there without you."
"Don't mention it," Zelena said with a shrug, before noticing a boy walking towards them. He hugged Ashley from behind and kissed her on the cheek, startling her.
"Jesus!" she gasped, before playfully smacking him on the arm. "Zelena, this is my boyfriend Sean. Sean, this is Zelena. She helped me loads today."
"Hey," said Sean, not even looking at Zelena, before whispering something in Ashley's ear, causing her to giggle.
"I gotta go," she said. "Thanks again, Zelena. You're pretty cool for a Gold student."
Zelena watched as Ashley and Sean walked away. She was feeling something strange. What is this feeling? Zelena wanted to know. It was the same feeling she experienced whenever Glinda would pick her up on their way to school. The same feeling when Regina and her mom let her stay at their house. Deciding that now wasn't the time to mull it over, Zelena made her way to her next class, but felt significantly less nervous.

Robin did not like waiting. Especially not when he was supposed to be in school. He had already been expelled from Storybrooke High, and did not intend to get kicked out of Sherwood High as well. Not when he was so close to graduating. A high school graduation meant that he'd be more qualified for a job.
A real job, Robin thought to himself. Not being a petty thief.
When Ruby arrived at their meeting spot, she was wearing a red hoodie that stood out like a sore thumb.
"I really don't like skipping school," said Robin, crossing his arms.
"That's alright," replied Ruby, lowering her hood. "This won't take long. I need you to do another job for me. Congratulations, by the way, on your new baby."
"Let's cut the bullshit, okay?" Robin muttered. "You want me to steal something else from Regina's house."
"You know, I was going through some old school photos," Ruby said, flicking through her phone, "when I came across this great picture of Mrs. Mills wearing a golden necklace with this big-ass diamond dangling from it. I mean, wow. You're just asking to get robbed if you wear shit like that around in public."
Robin sighed. "I can't, Ruby. The only reason I agreed to meet you was to tell you I'm done."
"You're... done?" Ruby scoffed. "I don't think so, buddy. You're done when I say so, otherwise I'll tell Regina and her dad to check Mrs. Mills' jewelry box."
"If you snitch on me, they'll get the police involved," said Robin. "If I go down, you come down with me. Goodbye, Ruby."
Robin turned around and walked away as the smirk disappeared from Ruby's face.
Fine, she thought as she watched him go. I guess I'll just have to do it myself.

When Zelena arrived at the Mills household that afternoon, she wasn't surprised to see her belongings packed away outside the front door. Regina was standing with them, holding her baby. When Zelena saw her, she let out a sigh.
"It doesn't have to be like this, you know," she said.
"Yes, I think it does," Regina replied. "I don't know if you were telling the truth or not. If you were, that doesn't mean Mother was telling the truth. I don't trust you, Zelena. I don't really think I ever did. I think, deep down, I always knew you were trouble. You really did sneak stuff in Robin's bag so he'd get in trouble for stealing, didn't you?"
Zelena picked up her bags. "Yes, I did. For you. Because I'm a good friend. A good... sister."
"No," said Regina. "We're not sisters. I don't know if you were telling the truth about not knowing what happened to my mom on the night she was shot. To be honest, I don't want to know. I just want to put all that shit behind me so I can move on and have a new life with Robin."
"Where am I going to stay, Regina?" Zelena asked. "Did you think about that before you decided to throw me out like trash?"
"You have a home," Regina answered. "You have a dad who you haven't seen in months. Or, you could stay with Chad or Hades or whatever he calls himself."
"Please," said Zelena. "Don't do this, Reg–"
"It's done," said Regina firmly. "I've already told my Dad that you're leaving today. I don't want to see you again, Zelena. At least not for a while. Maybe, if you get your act together and make a conscious decision to stop ruining peoples' lives, you can come and visit. Goodbye, Zelena."
Zelena looked down at her shoes, then nodded. "I'd give you a hug, but I wouldn't want to squish the baby."
And then, without another word, she turned and left the Mills household. She would never see it again.