When the next morning came, Evie groaned as she heard her phone ringing and buzzing. She thought maybe it was too early for this to be happening since she didn't hear her phone alarm go off as she always had it scheduled for 7:15 sharp so she could get up, wake up Henry, then they would both get ready for school, get some breakfast, be given some big sister duties from Regina, and then heading to school before 8:00. However, when Evie checked her phone, it was indeed 7:15. She then groaned and turned off her alarm before yawning and stretching and then looked around before feeling confused. "Wait... This isn't my room..." she then said as she looked flabberghasted at her surroundings and even more so as she smelled coffee brewing. "Mom...?"
"Oh... Good. You're awake." A new voice said, though she sounded nothing like Regina and then Evie looked over to see who it actually was.
"Ms. Blanchard?" Evie blinked as she looked over from lying down on the couch with a pillow and blanket before she looked around, feeling even more confused.
"Did you sleep all right, Evie?" Ms. Blanchard asked with a small smile.
"Uh... Yeah... I guess so..." Evie replied. "Uh... But can you tell me what I'm doing over here? ...This is your place, right?"
"Yes, it's my loft and you asked to come here last night, remember?" Ms. Blanchard nodded before reminding Evie.
"I did...?" Evie then asked as she put her hand to her head.
"...You don't remember?" Ms. Blanchard frowned. "You just ended up at my door late last night and you looked like you were going to be sick and looked so unhappy."
"I did?" Evie asked softly. "Why don't I remember doing that?"
"Hmm... Well, sometimes when we feel intense emotions, sometimes our brains can be put on auto-pilot like that," Ms. Blanchard then calmly explained. "I just wanted to help you out and I tried to ask you what happened, but you didn't seem to be in the mood."
"Oh... Yeah... Um... I had trouble with Mom and Henry last night," Evie explained calmly as she then remembered that at least. "It's a bit of a long story... I'm not sure who I could talk to about it... Mom's being impossible and not to mention Emma's in trouble with the town."
"Yes... I've heard and read the paper," Ms. Blanchard nodded. "Well, you could always talk to Dr. Hopper? He always tells others to let their conscience be their guide and he already talks to your brother."
"I guess... Maybe..." Evie shrugged before she pulled back the blanket and came to stand up from the couch. "Where's your bathroom?"
"Just right this way," Ms. Blanchard said as she decided to lead Evie to her bathroom. "You can freshen up and we'll have some breakfast together, then we'll get going to school."
"I just can't believe I don't remember coming over here." Evie said softly on the way to the bathroom.
"You seem to have been through a lot, which is natural for your age and you're a teenager after all," Ms. Blanchard said to her. "Also, your mother seems to be under a lot of stress over this Emma Swan person. What do you think of Emma anyway?" she then asked softly.
"She seems interesting, but I don't know," Evie shrugged. "I don't really believe in Henry's theory of the fairy tale curse, but I want him to be happy and now he probably hates me. He thinks that Emma and I think that he's crazy."
"Ah... I guess that was on Emma's mind last night too," Ms. Blanchard said softly. "She came over last night. I'm rather fond of her... Though, it's funny."
"What is?" Evie then asked curiously.
"Well... Ever since Emma came into town, I've had the strangest yet most wonderful feeling when we shared cookies together before you came around," Ms. Blanchard explained as calmly as she could. "I just feel like I've met her before... Somehow, I feel like I've known her all her life or something."
"So... You trust her?" Evie asked.
"Somehow, yes," Ms. Blanchard said with a small smile. "She might be a stranger, but she seems like a friendly stranger to me."
Evie shrugged, not sure what to say or feel about that and soon went to go to the bathroom to freshen up.
"I'll give you your privacy right now," Ms. Blanchard smiled. "You ever think about volunteering at the hospital?"
"I've thought about it, but I don't know about it sometimes," Evie said as she shut the door a bit and went to go into the bathroom to do her thing before meeting the woman outside for a quick breakfast and getting to school. "I'm not really fond of blood or dealing with a kid with a severe case of chicken pox."
"Well, I'm sure you wouldn't have to worry about that, but you could take a look at some of the patients and just make sure they're okay and comfortable," Ms. Blanchard suggested with a small smile. "Just something to think about, plus it might help you clear your mind about what's going on with your mom and brother for a little while."
"Hmm... Okay, Ms. Blanchard... I'll think about it." Evie replied as she paused thoughtfully, still not fully sure, but that did sound like a nice benefit at least.
"That's all I ask." Ms. Blanchard smiled warmly.
And soon, the two continued to get ready for their day. After Evie finished up in the bathroom, she washed her hands and then began to go in the other room so that Ms. Blanchard could use it next and then she went over to the couch and began to get her clothes out, finding them in her suitcase that she packed overnight even if she didn't really remember doing that last night. She then started to think more about last night until a random memory just flashed through her brain briefly.
Evie couldn't believe it, she had been under so much frustration and pressure, especially with what happened with Henry. Her mother had to have planned that: talking about Henry's obsession with Emma and his fairy tale theory that was spinning more and more out of control and not to mention Evie herself mentioning that Henry was probably going crazy. Regina had also changed quite a bit and Evie always did her best to defend the woman as she was her mother, after all, then she found herself heading to her room and going to sneak out and she packed a bag in her room for at least a couple of days. On her way out that night, she stopped as she hid behind the bushes a bit as she saw her mother having a chat with a certain someone.
"Huh? What's Ben's dad doing here?" Evie mumbled to herself as she saw the two adults around Regina's favorite apple tree which had been properly catered to by Emma who decided to go "apple picking".
"What a mess." Mr. Gold noted as he spotted the woman in control of the town even if he owned it as the landlord and pawnshop owner.
"Not for long," Regina huffed. "What can I do for you, Mr. Gold?"
"I was just in the neighborhood, thought I'd pop by," Mr. Gold informed calmly. "Lovely to see you in such high spirits."
"Well, it's been a good day," Regina said with a chuckle and smirk. "I just rid the town of an unwanted nuisance."
"Emma Swan? Really?" Mr. Gold then asked.
"Yes. I imagine she's halfway to Boston by now." Regina then replied.
Evie gasped and flinched as she didn't like the sound of that.
"Oh, I wouldn't bet on that," Mr. Gold said before picking an apple from the tree which in return got him a scowl from Regina. "I've just seen her strolling down the main street with your boy. Thick as thieves, they looked."
"What?" Regina asked, aslo Evie, though a bit more quiet, especially since she was hiding.
"Perhaps you should have come to me," Mr. Gold advised. "If Miss Swan is a problem you can't fix, I'm only too happy to help, for a price, of course."
"I'm not in the business of making deals with you anymore." Regina chuckled and shook her head before she turned away from him and went back to the tree.
"To which deal are you referring?" Mr. Gold pondered.
Regina huffed before she turned around at him. "You know what deal." she then reminded.
"What...?" Evie whispered to herself.
"Oh, right, yeah. The boy I procured for you. Henry," Mr. Gold chuckled and nodded. "Did I ever tell you what a lovely name that was? How ever did you pick it?"
"Did you want her to come to town?" Regina then asked as she seemed to have more meaning into what was going on lately. "You wanted all this to happen, didn't you? Your finding Henry wasn't an accident, was it?"
"Whatever do you mean?" Mr. Gold asked.
"Where did you get him?" Regina demanded as the man stayed quiet from her questions. "Do you know something?"
"I've no idea what you're implying." Mr. Gold retorted calmly before he seemed to smirk a bit.
"I think you do," Regina continued firmly. "Who is this woman, his mother, this... Emma Swan?"
"I would say you think you know exactly who she is and especially your daughter's true life and our true lives no one else remembers," Mr. Gold retorted before he decided to take his leaves. "I really must be going"
"Tell me what you know about her." Regina demanded.
"I'm not gonna answer you, dear, so I suggest you excuse me." Mr. Gold decided rather sternly.
Regina said nothing and decided not to move.
"Please." Mr. Gold then added which seemed to shake chills down Regina's spine.
Regina just turned, stunned, and watched Mr. Gold leave as he threw an apple over his shoulder after biting into it.
"True life...? Our true lives...? What could he mean?" Evie wondered out loud.
"Evie?" Regina's voice suddenly called which stunned Evie then right on the spot as she suddenly felt nervous of being caught by her mother.
"Mom!" Evie gasped and flinched suddenly.
"Evie, what are you doing out here and so late?" Regina asked as she approached her teenage daughter. "Shouldn't you be inside helping Henry with his homework?"
"I-I can't... I'm going." Evie said before narrowing her eyes then as bravely as she could.
"Going? Where are you going?" Regina replied with an eyebrow raise.
"Somewhere where I'd feel loved and more at home!" Evie hissed before suddenly storming away.
"Evie! Evie, get back here right now!" Regina demanded, though the girl continued to keep walking. "Evelyn Ingrid Mills!"
Evie flinched as her middle name being used was a bit frightening. She always theorized that parents used middle names as a weakness against their children whenever they wanted to get their attention as it's a name they don't hear very often and it can easily strike fear into them.
However, Evie didn't really remember much of what happened after that, but she must've somehow overpowered her mother because she ended up in Ms. Blanchard's loft and all. "True lives... What did Mr. Gold mean by that?" she then wondered to herself as she finished getting ready and soon sat at the breakfast counter as Ms. Blanchard was finishing up her coffee.
"You don't drink coffee, do you?" Ms. Blanchard's voice suddenly asked, pulling Evie right out of her reverie.
"Huh? What?" Evie blinked and looked around before looking at the woman. "Uh... No, thank you. Um... Do you have any apple juice actually?" she then responded as calmly as she could.
"Not normally... How about some white grape juice?" Ms. Blanchard then suggested.
"Well... Okay," Evie said with a small smile. "Better than nothing, right?"
"Exactly," Ms. Blanchard smiled back. "I just hope you don't mind cereal and toast for breakfast."
"That's just fine." Evie reassured before she looked down to see a bowl of Cheerios and soon began to eat them up.
Ms. Blanchard then decided to sit down and sip her coffee and share some cereal with the girl. "So... Are you coming back home with me after school or do you think you feel comfortable enough to go back home on your own by tonight?" she then asked calmly.
"Oh, gee... I don't know..." Evie said thoughtfully. "I like being here with you, you're very good company like when I was a little girl, could I maybe call or text you about it?"
"Hm... Teachers don't usually give students their phone numbers or contact information," Ms. Blanchard said cautiously. "I'd love to do that, but I'm not sure if I should."
"Oh..." Evie said softly.
"But... Maybe when you come to get Henry from school, we can talk about it then?" Ms. Blanchard then suggested before biting into her toast.
"Okay... That sounds fair enough..." Evie nodded. "By the way, Ms. Blanchard? Thank you for this... You didn't have to do this, but you did, so... Thanks a lot."
"No problem," Ms. Blanchard beamed. "I like to view you students all as my children since I don't have any of my own."
"I think you would be a wonderful mother." Evie smiled warmly.
"Oh... Thank you very much, Evie..." Ms. Blanchard smiled back as that made her heart flutter. "You don't know how much those words mean to me. Who knows? Maybe you'll make a good mother too someday."
"I'm not fully sure about that..." Evie blushed sheepishly. "Though, I wouldn't mind starting a family with Chad Herman."
"That boy..." Ms. Blanchard sighed and shook her head. "He was such a sweet kid, I don't know what happened to him. Plus, I like the name Charlie better anyway until he decided to go around and call himself Chad."
"Oh, but Ms. Blanchard, he's such a Prince Charming," Evie beamed warmly. "I'm gonna try to be his girlfriend before the end of the semester."
Ms. Blanchard just sighed and shook her head to that as she finished up her coffee. "Oh, speaking of boyfriends, if you spend the night tonight, you have my permission to order something in if you'd like." she then said as she suddenly remembered something.
"Oh... Uh... Thank you, Ms. Blanchard... I'll think about it," Evie replied. "What's wrong? You don't like to cook?"
Ms. Blanchard laughed a little. "I'm often happy to cook, it's just... I have a date tonight," she then explained. "I'm going to see Dr. Whale."
"Dr. Whale?" Evie asked before grimacing and shuddering.
"Yes... What's wrong with Dr. Whale...?" Ms. Blanchard replied, raising an eyebrow at her due to her reaction.
"He's just kinda... I dunno... Creepy..." Evie said to her with a nervous, but trying-to-be nice smile. "I mean, he was funny when I was a kid, but whenever I go to see him for a check-up with Henry nowadays, he seems... Just... Eww~"
"Oh, Evie..." Ms. Blanchard sighed and shook her head.
"Is that why you volunteer at the hospital?" Evie smirked slightly. "You just want his attention so you can score brownie points or something?"
Ms. Blanchard just shook her head with a small smile and soon went to keep drinking her coffee cup.
Eventually, after breakfast, Ms. Blanchard took Evie to school with her, making sure to go to the high school first before she would go to the elementary school to officially start her day. She just hoped that Regina wouldn't be too mad to find out her daughter had spent the night like that and that neither one of them would get into trouble. Evie found herself barely paying attention to the lesson however as she thought about the drama that was going on in her family right now.
"Miss Mills!" Mr. Deley's voice suddenly called, making the girl flinch suddenly.
"Erm... Yes, Mr. Deley?" Evie blinked as she answered a question she thought maybe that he had asked. "The atomic weight for silver is 107.9." she then quickly answered.
Some of the others in the classroom chuckled a bit.
"Hmm... Yes... Very good, Miss Mills, but that wasn't what I was going to talk to you about." Mr. Deley smirked slightly.
"Oh..." Evie smiled bashfully. "Sorry, Mr. Deley... What were you saying?"
"Could we talk out in the hallway, please?" Mr. Deley asked as he didn't want to say this out loud in front of the other students.
"Erm... Sure, Mr. Deley..." Evie said before nodding, though she felt a little nervous about being alone with him, though she did trust him not to do anything creepy or weird, unlike Dr. Whale who had a bad habit of flirting with uninterested females.
"Ooohhh~" Some of the students teased as Evie and Mr. Deley began to make their way over to the door.
Mr. Deley then flashed them all a look that startled some students before they instantly stopped and he cleared his throat at them. "Please take out your books and read from the last chapter from our last lesson and go ahead to the next chapter," he then suggested and requested. "The bell will be ringing soon and I have your homework to look over before I head back home myself."
"Yes, Mr. Deley." The students replied quickly before they went to do what was asked of them.
Mr. Deley nodded as he soon left his classroom with Evie and brought her outside of the room to talk.
"Mr. Deley, if I drifted away in class, I'm so sorry," Evie began to tell her teacher, though she feared what her mother was probably going to say if she had failed a very important test in school, especially one from one of the more strict teachers in school. "I know you don't tolerate excuses or bad behavior in your classroom, but I've just had a lot on my mind lately."
"It's all right, Miss Mills, I quite understand," Mr. Deley said as he put his hand up to make her stop rambling as quickly as possible. "But I promise, you're not in any sort of trouble."
"I'm not?" Evie blinked. "Oh... Then... What did you want to tell me?" she then asked.
"Well, if you must know, I was saying that you and Mr. Clark both scored the highest on your last tests... I'm pretty impressed with that, especially for you." Mr. Deley then said.
"Wait... What do you mean by that?" Evie asked, feeling nervous as that almost sounded condescending.
"Well, given what's been going on with you and at home lately, such as this mysterious Emma Swan dropping in on your family, especially your little brother, it's good to see that you were able to concentrate even after that family emergency you had when you had to skip the test." Mr. Deley explained.
"Oh... Um... Heh... Well, thank you, Mr. Deley," Evie chuckled and blushed sheepishly. "It was easy, really. At least for me."
"Which is why I think a reward is in order," Mr. Deley nodded and smirked warmly. "You and Mr. Clark are doing very well in my class, Miss Mills, this is almost like a child's play to you."
"No problem..." Evie smiled. "Erm... What sort of reward?"
"Well, I was planning on giving a video to the other students before our next lecture on our next unit, but since you and Mr. Clark are a couple of my best students that you deserve a treat for what you did," Mr. Deley replied. "So I volunteered you both to help out at the hospital where Ms. Blanchard's class will be visiting to help the patients there get well. I understand that you know someone in Ms. Blanchard's class?" he then prompted knowingly.
"Ah... Um... Yes... Henry... My little brother..." Evie nodded. "It'll be nice to see him I suppose."
"Yes... Sounds like it," Mr. Deley replied. "That's all I wanted to talk to you about. Just don't brag to the other students that you'll be getting a day off with Mr. Clark though." he then requested.
"Oh, I wouldn't do that, Mr. Deley; I'm not the bragging type," Evie promised. "Thank you for telling me though."
"Of course," Mr. Deley replied before they made their way back into the classroom. "Now, let's get back inside so you can expand your cranium with your textbook."
"Yes, Mr. Deley." Evie mumbled slightly, rolling her eyes when his back was turned, though she followed him back inside of the classroom. Volunteering at the hospital sure sounded interesting, especially seeing her little brother there, though she just hoped there wouldn't be too much blood or sickness, especially if her pores would enlarge or she would get a huge pimple on her face just before Chad would have a chance to ask her out or something.
Evie decided to stay with Ms. Blanchard just a bit longer. She was going home to pick up a few things and would meet Ms. Blanchard back outside before she groaned as she saw a certain someone coming into her room.
"Knock-Knock."
"Graham, just knock on the door like a regular person before you walk in, saying 'Knock-Knock' is not the same as actually knocking." Evie complained and rolled her eyes.
"Well, I'm sorry, but I needed to talk to you right away." Graham defended as he came inside the girl's room.
"Oh, sure. Come on in. Don't wait for an invitation," Evie rolled her eyes before smirking a bit. "You know, say what you want about vampires, but at least they can't enter another one's domain without an invitation."
"Very humorous, Evie," Graham said with an amused smirk before he sat down on her bed. "Anyway, I just wanted to talk to you about going off to Ms. Blanchard's house without permission. You could've gotten into trouble with Regina."
"Well, I'm sorry, but Mom and I are having a rough time right now," Evie sighed and shook her head. "I'll come back once I clear my head and feel comfortable enough to come back home."
"So, do you trust Ms. Blanchard with anything now rather than your own mother?" Graham asked as he crossed his arms a bit. "You know, she's probably not the best secret keeper. I've heard quite a few things from your mother."
"Can we talk about this later, Graham?" Evie groaned. "I'm just going through a lot right now... I don't expect you or Mom to understand."
Graham flinched a bit, sighing at the teenage angst he was forced to deal with ever since he started dating Regina for as long as before he could even remember since Evie and Henry came with Regina and he had to keep them happy in order to keep Regina happy.
"Look, I gotta go, okay?" Evie told him then. "I promised Ms. Blanchard I'd be over with my things since I'm not ready to stay back home yet."
"...Very well, Evie," Graham said as he heaved a sharp sigh. "Off you go... I just hope you're still being a good girl and not turning... Erm... Rotten to the core..."
"Rotten to the core?" Evie repeated as she raised an eyebrow at him.
"You know... Turning into a bad girl..." Graham said. "And I hope your grades don't start slipping or anything like that."
"Hmph," Evie smirked at the school assumption. "Well, if you must know, I actually got one of the highest test scores in my chemistry class and Mr. Deley is rewarding me and Mr. Clark with a visit to the hospital with Henry's class to help cheer up some of the patients."
"Oh? Well, congratulations, and if I may know, I'd like to know who this Mr. Clark is in your class?" Graham then replied. "Do you think he's cute?"
"Ugh!" Evie groaned. "I'm not even sure I know who that is... I'll see you later, Graham. I better go and see Ms. Blanchard."
"...Well, very well," Graham said before sighing. "Off you go then."
Evie nodded firmly and she soon went to keep going and came to meet Ms. Blanchard as promised. She just wondered what sort of adventures she would have and to keep her mind off of the Emma Swan and fairy tale mystery case for a while.
A/N: I'm gonna try to do this from now on if I can, break certain chunks throughout episodes, so this would be like the first part of "Snow Falls" and the next chapter will be the rest of it and maybe go by different titles unless that's too confusing? Just let me know in the comments so it's not too much to read at once if it's a whole episode like what I did in the prologue and what my original plan was for the pilot which ended up being three different chapters. Again, please just let me know because I wanna make this as easy and fun to read as it is for me to work on for all of you following this story.