A/N: I have been having some crazy ideas lately and I started this one way back in the summer of 2018. I wanted to finish at least half of it before I started posting chapters and Though I am close to half, halfway seems to be getting farther and farther away so I hope to god I am at half by the time you get to read this. I have such great plans for this story and I hope you like it. Let me know what you think. If I am posting this, that means I have a plan to do weekly updates, but if I somehow catch up to myself, just know that I wanted to start this story along with the start of this semester because ...

This is a high school AU where a Life Skills class is the thing that brings our girls together. Emma moves to Storybrook in the mid-year of her Sophomore year. So right after Christmas break. Enjoy~sk


1- Welcome Back To School, Storybrooke Knights!


The moment Regina's eyes opened on January third, She knew her life was about to change. She was on her last stretch of high school in the small town of Storybrooke in very straightlaced Maine. Just 5 more months and Regina was going to be free to finally be herself.

For the past few years, she had been struggling with the reality that she was different from her sister, or even her friends who were boy crazy to distraction. Regina had just finally begun to accept she was as straight as cooked spaghetti. But she was okay because there was not a girl in the whole town of Storybrooke, other than Ruby, that she found attractive.

So, she could take the rest of the school year and keep pretending that she was happy with Robin; break Up with him just after prom, and then go off to college and live her gay life elsewhere.

She stretched languidly in her queen size bed and slid from her deep purple sheets heading to her ensuite. After getting herself ready for her day, she headed down the stairs to get some breakfast. "Good morning, Regina," Daddy said.

"Hi Daddy, " She said and kissed her father's cheek. "Mother," She said turning to her mother at the end of the table and sat down in her place. She began to eat her breakfast.

"Regina, Have you gotten all of your applications in? I know that all deadlines are fast approaching."

"Mother, believe me, I cannot wait to leave this town I will not be stuck at Storybrooke University like Zelena."

"Hey!" Her sister Zelena stated as she plopped down at the table. "There is nothing wrong with Storybrooke."

"Zelena, must you be such a slouch?" Cora stated.

Regina only looked at her sister, Zelena knew precisely why the younger girl wanted to leave. Zelena was the only one in the household that knew her proclivity toward the fairer sex. The older girl promised she wouldn't let on, and true to her word Zelena had kept her sister's secret.

"They don't have the program I am looking for here anyway," Regina said taking her last bite of breakfast. "I better go, I've got to pick Kathryn and Robin up." She hugged her sister and father loosely around their necks on her way out of the dining room. An act that did not go unnoticed by her mother. But the older woman stayed silent as her narrowed eyes followed her daughter out of the door.


At the other end of town, Mary Margaret Nolan shouts toward her little sister's loft bedroom in the small apartment she shares with her husband. She and David had been married a year when Mary and Emma's parents died in an accident while on vacation, leaving Emma in her custody at the age of 14.

Emma was her world, and she wanted to make her mother and father proud and raise her little sister well. David had gone through the police academy and got a job as the town sheriff in a small town in Maine called Storybrooke. Mary Margaret had just gotten her teaching degree and had gotten her first teaching Job at Storybrooke High.

"Come on, Emma lets get a move on I don't want to be late!" Mary shouted.

There was a thump overhead, and a soft fuck heard before a slim blonde girl made her way down the stairs. "Mary, I don't want to go into school with you. I don't want anyone knowing I am your sister."

"Why not?" Mary said.

"How did you like it when Everyone knew that the French teacher was your mom?" Emma said sitting at the bottom of the steps and pulling on her red converse. It was going to be bad enough that she was the new kid coming in at mid-semester after all friendships had already been formed. Let alone a queer new kid. Emma was aware of how lacking the dating scene would be for her as opposed to what it had been in Boston.

"Point taken," Mary said. "Still, school starts in an hour don't be late."

Why couldn't David get a job in Portland… or maybe Mary could have gotten a gig there, and she wouldn't be stuck in podunk, main having to hide who she was before the bigots got wind and slew her in the town square.

She had a vivid image of her hanging from the clock tower with the word dyke pinned to her. "Graphic…" she shuddered shaking her head to free herself of the visual.

"Emma," Mary sighed aware of her younger sister's imagination. "Nothing bad will happen if you come out. If you are just out, to begin with, people just have to deal with your gayness. You can also keep all of it to yourself. It is your choice. I say, be yourself."

"Fine," Emma grumbled. Mary hugged her sister and kissed her forehead. "Don't be late. David is on his way back home from night shift."

"Later," Emma said as she reached for a banana.


Regina drove absentmindedly toward school, as Kathryn and Fred sat in her backseat making out. She gave Robin a side eye. "What?" Her boyfriend asked. "I didn't know they had hooked up over winter break. Did you?"

Regina sighed, "No…" She groaned and glanced back at the couple. "Would you two come up for air?"

"Regina lookout!" Robin said, and she pressed the brakes, as a blonde on a skateboard planted her hand on her hood. She frowned at them and flipped them the bird, but all Regina could think was, damn that was hot.

Regina stayed on the spot and watched as the blonde in her skinny jeans disappeared toward the school. "Who was that?" She heard Robin say just as a car behind her honked.

"I don't know, she's new," Kathryn said, and Regina resumed the drive to the parking lot. " I wonder if she'll try out for cheer? She is super cute?"

"She is not Cheer material," Regina said parking at her regular spot. "Just look at her in her skinny jeans and skater gear. Cheerleading is obviously not her thing."

"You're so judgemental," Robin said taking her bag for her. Then he took her hand. The four of them walked together to the board to pick up their new schedule.

Regina located her paper and pulled at it standing next to Kathryn to compare and contrast. "Ooh, we have homeroom together this semester," Kathryn said.

"And Study hall…" Regina said and trailed off once her eyes focused on the words on the page. "What the fuck?"

She said and took off to the guidance office. Once there, she saw the red-headed school counselor sat at his desk. He was on his phone, but Regina didn't care. "What the hell is this?"

"Eh… excuse me, I have a student to tend to. I will call you back as soon as possible." He said into the receiver then turned to Regina. "That is your schedule."

"I know this is my schedule. Why is this irrelevant class in here?"

"This is your final semester at Storybrooke High, and all the credits on your schedule are the ones you are required to finish in order to graduate." The counselor intoned.

"Mr. Hopper, there is no way! what do you mean I have to take Life skills?" She shouted. "That class is for underclassmen."

"Yet you never took it."

"Shit…" she says to herself, but it was clear to the adult in the room.

"Regina it is only one class."

She sighed and stood up to leave. "Fine…" She huffed and walked out of the door toward her waiting boyfriend and best friend. Down the hallway, she spotted her the blonde from before. She was looking for a locker and was heading straight toward the bank of lockers across from her own.

Regina bit her lip at the prospect of seeing that vision every morning. The golden hair blowing back as the blonde walked languidly down the hall. Her eyes drank in all of the blonde's beauty. "I gotta go, I have a thing with the football team," Robin said pecking Regina on the lips, and when he moved away from her, the blonde had disappeared into the crowd.

Get a hold of yourself Regina, you are almost out of this place. Do not get distracted by a pretty face.


Emma went to the office to receive her schedule and locker assignment. She had successfully found her locker, but now… the blonde had to find her way around the school. Maybe she should have come with Mary an hour before to learn how to navigate the massive building.

"Hey, you're new." Emma heard to her right. She turned to look and was stunned by a leggy brunette girl leaning against the bank of lockers across from her. Her eyes roamed from the Brunette's blue eyes down to her breasts which were in an excellent bra and not a regular old sports bra, as she imagined most teen girls wore. The girl's breasts seemed to want to spill over as they strained against the low v of her t-shirt.

She continued to let her eyes roam down, and this tee was tied at just below the ribcage, exposing the girl's belly button just above the tight mini skirt she sported over tights because of course, it was a warm day of winter in Maine. It was a miracle that there wasn't any snow in the ground, she was happy to ride her skateboard in, but she was freezing her ass off, and the black ice that kept her from stopping when she saw that bens coming that morning… she was almost roadkill. "Hey, eyes up here." she heard the girl say, and it snapped her out of her thoughts.

"Sorry," Emma said and walked away from the locker bay so that she could find where her homeroom was.

"I'm Ruby," The brunette said as she began to walk beside her.

"Emma," The blonde answered. She wasn't looking to fit in, she knew that she wasn't going to, and there were still two and a half years to go here. Maybe Emma could figure out a way to get Mary and David to move somewhere else.

She also knew that she had been very obviously staring at Ruby, and if that made the brunette nervous, then… let the dyke accusations begin. Maybe her guardians would rush to homeschool her.

Ruby was not uncomfortable, however. She craved that attention. Living with Her Granny had filled her with love, the familial kind, but she was 16 and horny, and she did not care who it was. Besides Emma was cute. "You need help finding your class?"

"Uh, yeah… Where is room 108?" She asked.

"You and I are going the same direction," Ruby said threading her arm between Emma's arm and her body and pulled the shorter girl along. "And later tonight you are going out with me."

"What?" Emma asked.

"I saw you looking, did you like what you saw? Because I like what I see and I get what I want." Ruby said.

Emma stopped short just before the two of them walked into the classroom. "Wait… you're gay?"

"You're not?" Ruby asked leaning closer.

"I… uh…" Emma stuttered. "Isn't that like taboo here or something?"

"Isn't it taboo everywhere?" Ruby asked. "Life is too short to spend any of it hiding in a closet."

"Oh…" was all Emma could say.

"So is that a yes?"

"To what?"

"Will you go out with me tonight?" Ruby asked.

"I have to ask permission," Emma stated. "But you are kind of cute, so why not?"

Ruby smiled. "Awesome.


The morning went well for both girls, but third period marked the dreaded moment for Regina. The older girl walked into the classroom and sat front and center. If she was going to be made to take the class, she was going to take it as seriously as all others. Plus, no one ever talked to the person that was front and center. Regina didn't want to be seen with anyone in this class.

She looked around the room. The teacher was at her desk speaking with another student. Her short black hair and matronly clothing made her look super sweet. Try hard, Regina thought as she placed her head in her hands.

A few minutes after she got settled, She walked in… The blonde that she had seen walking into the cafeteria earlier hand in hand with Ruby Lucas, who already had a reputation for being a very fast and lose girl.

Now, however, she was alone, and Regina tried not to make eye contact. But she couldn't help allowing her eyes to trail along the lithe form of the blonde. There was a rush of some sort of fluid raging all over her. She felt the flush on her cheeks, the rapid beating of her heart. She knew what this was. It was an immediate attraction. Their eyes met, and Regina licked her lips.

I'm so fucked.

Emma dropped the gaze and sat close to the girl everyone told her was Regina Mills, the mayor's daughter. The look Regina gave her was a cross between I want to fuck you hard and complete hate, and Emma was curious as to which one it was.

Mary Margaret introduced herself to the class and began to take Roll. "Emma Swan?" She said and looked up quickly as if she didn't know who she was. Emma rolled her eyes and leaned back in her seat.

"Here…" She said, and Regina snapped her eyes to her. Her eyebrows quirked as if now she had all the information she needed.

"Right, everyone, Welcome back to school. I am a brand new teacher here, and this class is Life Skills. Do you have any idea what you will be learning here?" Mary asked as ruby busted into the room.

"Sorry I'm late," Ruby said. "I was talking to Ms. Bell." Ruby handed Mary a pass.

The pixie-haired woman looked at her pass. "Alright Ms. Lucas, just have a seat."

Mary Margaret took the introduction times to try to gauge the atmosphere for her classroom. She wanted to pick good partners for what she had in mind. The teacher wanted to build a society within the walls of her its own economic structure government and even social media. So that she could incorporate all aspects of what the real world was like.

Then she saw it. The look Regina was giving Emma. Her eyes were hungry, and she knew that she was someone that wouldn't mind pairing up with a girl. And luckily the students were an uneven number with more girls than boys. She smiled to herself and made a note in her book.