CHAPTER 2 'The first week'

Saturday passed by quickly, Emma and Mary had spent all day walking around different stores, buying clothes, not a hard task since Emma's choice of clothes mostly consisted of ripped skinny jeans or shorter denim shorts during summer, a basic shirt or tank top often paired with a flannel shirt. Gotta live up to that lesbian stereotype, bar the short hair. No, her blond hair was long, really long, and naturally wavy and that was not something she was planning on changing any time soon. She had her moments of regret when her unruly hair tangled and wouldn't be tamed, but in the end that was something she was willing to live with. Nothing a messy bun couldn't solve.

As promised they had lunch at Granny's and Emma had to admit it truly was the best burger she'd ever had. Granny, as she insisted to be called, was an elderly woman with gray hair, thick glasses and a face that contradicted her rather sweet personality. Though Emma had a feeling that she wouldn't want to anger the woman. She also met her first classmate, Ruby Lucas, Grannys granddaughter who helped out at the diner sometimes after school or during the weekends. Ruby took a break and sat down to talk with Emma as Mary had gotten up to talk to a friend.

Emma found Ruby easy to talk to, she was a whirlwind of energy, talked nonstop, funny as hell and had absolutely no verbal filter, something Emma found refreshing. She found herself relaxed and comfortable in Ruby's company, something she hadn't realized until then how much she had missed. She found herself laughing at Ruby's stories, genuine belly laughs, and that hadn't happened in a long time. They talked mostly about Ruby and life here in Storybrooke but she asked about Emma who, in turn, gave the general story; foster home placement, that she's 18 but retaking her senior year (saying that the reason was because she had moved a lot and missed out on school which wasn't a complete lie) and that she's moved here from Tallahassee. That caught Ruby's attention, she had never been further away from Storybrooke more than a few towns over and was fascinated by the city-life. So she proceeded to ask a million questions about everything and nothing and Emma was happy to give her what she wanted but made sure she kept focus away from her own life there. Something Ruby didn't seem to notice.

"Hey Emma, so since we're friends and all now, why don't you come over to mine tomorrow and I'll introduce you to some of my friends?" Ruby suggested as Emma and Mary were leaving the diner.

Emma looked at Mary with a questioning look, not really knowing if she was expected to ask for permission or if she could come and go as she pleased. Experience had taught her that doing something without permission could lead to punishment, the severity of it depending on the parents. It didn't happen all the time but enough to have her wary and always, always ask. Not that it stopped her from sneaking out anyway but still, it's good to know how she had to go about things.

Mary just smiled at her "That sounds like a lovely idea Ruby! Emma you're more than welcome to go if you want but please be home before midnight, I wouldn't want you to turn into a pumpkin". Emma chuckled at the terrible joke and nodded her understanding. She walked over to Ruby who was holding out her phone waiting for Emma to enter her number. "Just text me a time and place and I'm sure I can find my way there" she grinned as Ruby took her phone back and departed with a wink, back to work.

{SQ}

Sunday morning was spent in the house with Mary and David. They had breakfast and David helped Emma fix some things in her room before she made her way to Rubys, who lived with her Granny in an apartment next to the diner so finding it wasn't an issue thankfully. Her sense of direction might not always be the best to be honest, thank god for google maps.

"Emma you came!" Ruby exclaimed as she opened the door.

Emma laughed "I told you I would, didn't I?" and she made her way into the apartment and was greeted by a group of people lounging in the living room talking, laughing and listening to music. They seemed so relaxed and comfortable with each other that it made Emma's anxious nerves vanish, meeting new people was always stressful. Especially coming as a new person into a tight knit group.

"Okay, listen up guys! This is Emma…" she turned to Emma with a questioning look.

"Swan" Emma filled her in.

"..exactly, Emma Swan, I knew that" she grinned sheepishly "and as you all know she's new here in town, just moved in with Mary and David Nolan and she's starting Storybrooke high next Monday. And as you're well aware I'm the champion of sniffing out awesome people so we're taking her in whether she likes it or not." she winked at Emma who was more than happy having Ruby around.

"Emma, let me introduce you to the idiots that are my family. This is Belle French, Ava Zimmer, August Booth and Jefferson Hatter" and Emma found herself on the receiving end of four bright smiles.

"Welcome to storybrooke Emma" August was the first to greet her "It's small and nothing really happens here, but most people here are chill". Emma laughed, "Well maybe I could use something small and boring for a change."

"Where are you from?" Belle, a cute brunette with a kind-looking smile, spoke next. "Tallahassee..well..kinda, it's the most recent place I lived at" Emma answered awkwardly as she took a seat on the couch next to Ruby.

Belle looked like she was about to ask a follow-up question to that but seemingly decided against it. Emma knew that they all were aware of the fact that Mary and David had taken her in as a foster, it's a small town after all, but was still relieved that Belle didn't push the subject. Knowledge is one thing, talking about it another. She didn't know these people, let alone trust them enough to start sharing the clusterfuck of a mess that is her life.

The night was spent talking, getting to know each other, and Emma felt comfortable around them. They were all welcoming and though extremely different personality-wise they somehow all fit together and complemented each other. Ruby was energetic, free spoken and confident while Belle somehow balanced her out by being calm, logical and sweet. Jefferson was quite the character with an odd sense of style, quirky in a funny way. He sometimes seemed to live in his own little philosophical world whereas August was a man of reason, incredibly smart and kind. Ava had a dark sense of humor that Emma found hilarious, sarcastic and had a quite pessimistic approach to things. But at the same time very warm and compassionate once you got to talking. After that night, in which Emma did in fact come home before midnight to Mary's delight, she went to bed feeling lighter than she had in a long time.

{SQ}

The rest of the week went by in a flash. Mary worked during the days and so did David most of the time, some odd night here and there. He sometimes dropped by the house when he was out on patrol to check on Emma if she was home. Something she at first thought was to keep an eye on her and what she did but soon realized he did it to make sure she was alright and nothing else. Twice he dropped by and they had lunch together, spending time alone talking and she found herself enjoying his company. Most of the days were spent with Ruby, Belle, Ava, August and Jefferson though, enjoying their last week of freedom before school started. Emma quickly became a part of their little group and it all felt so natural and easy.

The last night before school they sat in Emma's room listening to music and talking, a lot of it being about school. Emma found out that there had been some changes in the classes and the schedules so she would only have Ruby in hers. Ruby was ecstatic when she found that out.

"Oh my god Emma! Do you know how pissed I was when I found out that I was gonna have to fly fucking solo in my class?! Thank you for saving me and my sanity" she said, looking genuinely happy about it which honestly felt good.

The rest of their group were also split between two separate classes. Of course Emma also got some intel on the teachers. The good ones and the bad, what to expect and how to survive their classes.

"I'd say that the one you have to worry about the least is Mr. Glass, he teaches history and I honestly don't know how he got the job or why he even became a teacher in the first place. He seems to suffer the classes more than we do. You're basically guaranteed a C for just showing up" Jefferson said as he munched on some chips.

"Right?!" Ava agreed before she continued, "Mr. Hopper teaches psychology and he's actually a really great teacher. He's kind and knows what he's talking about. He used to work as a psychologist but reschooled and became a teacher. Ms. West teaches general chemistry and environmental science, she's somewhat…eccentric but not stupid and she's fair in her grades".

"Mr. Humbert is our gym teacher, once you get the hang of the accent you'll be fine" August continues with a laugh.

"Yeah it took me a whole semester trying to figure out what he was saying to me" Ruby laughs, "but yeah, just make sure to participate in his lessons and you're good. As for maths you got Mrs. Boyd, she's married to Mr. Herman who teaches biology. Nothing really to say about them. Mrs. Boyd is really sweet and Mr. Herman too but he's kind of a push-over..doesn't really have much control over his classes" Ruby mused before she suddenly sat up straight on the couch as if she had just remembered something, "Oh! I guess we saved the best for last guys. And probably the most important teacher to remember.." she did a dramatic pause before continuing "Ms. Mills! aka The evil queen".

"The evil queen?" Emma snorted as she looked around at the others, thinking it was a joke but seeing their faces her own fell slightly "are you serious?"

"Yep! Regina Mills, our English lit teacher." Ruby says "She's tough as hell, impossible to impress and I've never seen anyone measuring up to her expectations. You'd be lucky to get a C, as opposed to Mr. Glass. She's intimidating as fuck and most of the students are scared of her. I think the only reason people still show up to her class is to just look at her". Emma raises an eyebrow at this and August jumps in.

"She's drop dead gorgeous, in her mid thirties I think.. But as our dear Ruby here said, intimidating. She lives up to her nickname, queen as her name suggests and scary as hell". The rest of the group just nods in agreement before Belle chips in "Well, I agree to a certain extent. She is intimidating, she is strict and has incredibly high expectations on us as students. But I do truly like her, even though she scares me." Belle smiles as she seems to ponder on what to say next "She's smart as hell, well educated and knows her subject better than any other teacher in school if you ask me. And if you actually pay attention and put some effort into the discussions and assignments it will pay off".

She turns to the rest of the group before she continues "I don't know if you guys have noticed but she basically always chooses female authors and usually the literature she makes us work with has a feministic or some kind of diversity themed undertone. And I feel like what she chooses is more often than not still quite relevant, which also is the common theme of her discussions and assignments. Don't you agree?" Belle asked the others that seemed to be lost in thought for a while, as if contemplating what Belle just said. Emma herself felt ecstatic over Belle's revelation, she had always loved literature and books. She loved discussing equality and human rights, politics and so on. And even though she felt some apprehension based on the description of the woman herself she also felt satisfied knowing that this class seemed to be right up her alley.

"Well now that you mention it I agree, I haven't really thought about it before" Ava said and the rest hummed in agreement "But I totally agree with August though, she's literally sex on legs and I'm not even gay" she laughed.

"Oh I just realized that's something we haven't asked about you Emma! Any preferences?"

Emma snapped her head up at the question, eyes widening a bit. The question caught her off guard, not expecting it at all. And it took her a moment to answer, not because she was hiding anything but because Lily's face flashed before her eyes and her heart clenched for a second. Ava must have taken her silence as a sign of unwillingness to answer because she quickly said

"Not that it matters of course, you don't have to answer that if you don't want to. Sorry if I made you uncomfortable or offended you".

Emma shook her head and chuckled, giving them a lopsided grin "Nah don't worry about it, you didn't offend me or made me uncomfortable. You just caught me off guard that's all. But to answer your question; I'm gay, 100% lesbian, no doubt"

Ruby cackled before looking Emma dead in the eyes "Dude, you're fucked." And somehow Emma believed her, suddenly feeling both nervous and curious to find out who this infamous Ms. Mills really was. Can't be that bad can it?

As Emma layed in bed that night she realized that the days since arriving in Storybrooke had been the best she'd had in a very, very long time. The first and last time she ever remembered feeling genuinely happy was with Lily before it all crashed and burned. Snuffing out the last remaining light in her life. She pushed those thoughts away again, not wanting to ruin the day she'd had and instead she focused on tomorrow with both excitement and trepidation. Hoping she wouldn't fuck it up. She made a promise to herself right there and then to truly try this time, this was her one chance to prove herself and show everyone what she was capable of.