A/N: So I finished this story. and so I will post the rest of it now that I am done. I am so happy to have written the rest of this for you. Thank you so much guys for reading and reviewing. the reviews meant a lot to me. I read them all, even if I didn't respond because I just didn't have the time. I read them on the go on my phone. Thank you guys I really do love and appreciate all the word. I hope you remember the story in the future and share it when people ask for High school stories. There is this chapter and then an epilogue. Enjoy! S.K.


16- Final Paper


"Remember class, your final paper is a collection of all of your projects. You have got the next two weeks to get all of it put together." Mrs Nolan stated in front of class the next Friday.

Emma scooted her seat closer to her partner. The past few weeks they had been together had been the happiest she'd been in a long time. Regina seemed happier too. Not having to hide who she was, made her feel amazing.

The brunette took Emma's hand and the blonde lowered her head to the older girl's shoulder. "You know what this means…" Emma whispered.

Regina's eyebrow shot up. "What?'

"Since we've been planning for this the entire time, we can plan study dates, to just…" Emma whispered.

Regina's eyes shot up to the Blonde's sister then around the room. "Shhh…"

Emma laughed, "She's my sister, not my mom."

"I like our private relations to stay private." Regina stated in her own whisper. "I like applying nail polish in private."

Emma laughed at the new euphemism Regina had espoused when talking about sex where there were other's around. "Well I am due for a new application." Emma stated in her normal voice.

"I can't today, I have tryouts. I am the captain." Regina stated as Mary placed their group papers on the desk in front of Regina.

"After?" Emma stated.

"Mother wants me at dinner. I have been missing it way too often lately." Regina said, giving Emma a meaningful look. Emma deflated and sank back in her chair. "Do you want to come? She has been asking to speak to you since…"

Emma looked at Regina. Her anxiety is clear in her features. "Do you want me to come?" The blonde asked.

Regina swallowed hard, then nodded as if convincing herself that exposing Emma to her mother is ultimately the best decision even if she really didn't feel that. "Yeah, I don't want to hide you."

Emma smiled softly and leaned forward and kissed her girlfriend.

There was a knock on their desk as Mary passed by them. The two jumped away from each other and chuckled softly.


At lunch Emma watched as Regina and Kathryn raced out of the cafeteria with the rest of the cheer squad. "We should try out." Ruby stated putting Emma's lunch from her Granny's diner in front of the blonde.

"The Cheer squad?" Emma said, facing Ruby again. "Nah…"

"Think about it, we'll go there, surprise your girl, and just have fun for a couple of days…"

Surprised at Ruby's insistence, Ruby scrutinizes the girl. "You want to be a cheerleader?"

Ruby scoffs, "no… I don't want to be…" She sighed and pleaded with her friend "Okay, yes, it's how I met Dot. I didn't make it freshman year but she told me to try out again. I didn't do it last year because I was depressed because she broke up with me, but I want to try again."

"You should try out." Emma stated.

"I don't want to do it alone." Ruby said.

"I Don't know Rubes, I'm not cheer material."

"Of course you are, you are an athlete." Ruby stated.

Emma rolled her eyes at her friend. "Right… Not that kind of athlete."

"Please!?" Ruby insisted.

Emma sighed and groaned out a "fine."

Ruby yippied and threw her arms around her friend. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"


Regina nearly choked on her water, as the people trying out walked into the basketball court that afternoon. Her girlfriend and Ruby strolled hand in hand. Emma looked uncomfortable as she waited for Regina to acknowledge the group.

She was not surprised to see Ruby, but Emma was a treat. You couldn't stop the smile from coming to her face as she walked in. She debated whether to walk up to her, and kiss her like she wanted, or just stay impartial.

She opted to stay impartial as she could, allowing her eyes to stray to the blonde as she joked with Ruby, effectively calming the tall brunette's nerves. She knew Ruby could do this, and was kind of sad the brunette hadn't come back her sophomore year. This year she was sure Ruby would be able to join the squad.

She separated everyone into groups, making sure to keep Ruby with Emma comprehending what the purpose of her girlfriends joining tryouts was. Emma looked grateful, and Regina smiled to herself for having such a thoughtful girlfriend.

She assigned each group a cheerleader. Each of the ones vying for captain next year. She picked her favorite Junior for Emma and Ruby's group, because she was sure she was going to pick her. Okay she was biased, but she couldn't help it.

The groups each worked on a routine, and Regina watched each captain as they motivated their charges, and took notes. This decision would be made before she watched the groups. "So, Who do you think is succeeding?" Kathryn asked, coming up behind Regina.

"I'm torn between Arielle and Ashley." Regina said, already dismissing Lily as captain.

Kathryn nodded, "Yeah they are kinda kick ass. What about Tink?"

Regina looked over to the petite blonde and she shrugged. "I think that she's good, but she is super short, and they won't respect her."

Kathryn smirked. "Sure, and that's why you keep looking over there?"

"Emma's over there." Regina stated.

"And you wouldn't put Emma with the one that you wanted to keep?" Kathryn asked with a smirk.

"Shhh…" Regina said. "You should really stop knowing me that well."

Kathryn laughed hard and went to the rest of the Seniors on the squad who they were looking to replace and so there were 5 spots to fill.

"Time's up, time to show the performances. What did you newbies learn? We have 5 spots to fill and a captain. Let's go, Lily, Your group is up first."

Regina stated. The younger Latina paled, she already knew the first group was easily forgotten. Regina sat down at the table with her tablet. She smirked at the girl. She should have known better than to mess with her girlfriend if she wanted to be captain.

They started. Lily had some decent dancers in her group, Mainly, the lone guy that was trying out. She chose him from that group and wrote his name down on the list.

Ashley's group was next, and no one new came from it. The two newbies in that group were duds.

In Arielle's group, there were Two really good ones. They just happened to be twins and really hot. Regina felt a little hot and bothered then embarrassed because her girlfriend was right there. But she picked them anyway.

Then came Tink's group. She wrote Tink's name as captain and she watched Ruby closely. She had matured and was a much better cheerleader than before. She wrote her down and then looked at her girlfriend and couldn't stop staring. She realized she had to pick some alternates. Her girlfriend was good, but she didn't think Emma would want to make it . She wrote Emma's name down, and picked one of the girls from Ashley's group as an alternate.

She looked at the rest of the seniors. "Do you have your lists?"

They all nodded. And they put them side by side. She went through the names on all the lists. Both the boy, Samdi and Emma made all five lists. She wrote their names down, then Ruby was on four of the lists so she was in those where her top three were for the squad. There were two left. And chose who were on her list and three others got chosen and everyone looked happy with the list.

"I want Ella as an alternate…" Regina said.

"Why?" Kathryn asked.

Regina shrugged. "My girlfriend was only here for Ruby… If she doesn't want to be a cheerleader, we are still going to need another. Keep the alternate off the list but keep her in mind for if Emma decides not to come in."

The rest of the seniors say and nod to themselves. Regina looked out at all of the candidates, kind of milling around waiting for the squad decision. Emma was staring at her. She smiled and handed the list to Kathryn and signaled for Emma to get closer.

The blonde perked up and moved closer to her girlfriend, who stood up and leaned over the table. They met over it with a kiss that lingered. "I didn't think you'd be into this." Regina stated.

"It was fun and I got to ogle you." Emma stated with a blush.

"Well, you were pretty good at it." Regina stated.

"You think so?" Emma whispered.

"We all did." Regina stated as the whole group of people raced over to where Kathryn was posting the list. "There are rankings on the sheet, a star per vote," Regina whispered. "So that you know how many votes the seniors gave…"

"Whooo! Five Stars!" Samdi shouted and did a whole summersault.

"EM! I got four stars!" Ruby said celebrating and looking for her.

Regina signaled to Emma that she should look. "go on…"

Just then Tink walked up to Regina. "You picked me on your own?"

"There was never really a choice." Regina said.

"We've never done ranking before." Tink said.

"I couldn't remain objective, and when Emma was as good as she was, I needed it to be clear that it wasn't my doing that she had gotten into the squad. It was unanimous." Regina stated.

Tink smiled. "She is bloody fantastic!"

Regina laughed, her girlfriend is full of surprises.


After an intimate shower in the locker room the two girls headed for the mansion in 108 Mifflin. Emma stood behind Regina, and her stomach did flips as she waited for her girlfriend to let them inside.

The austere white entry made her shiver. It always did. The place didn't feel lived in for a house with two teenagers in it. Regina looked back at Emma and dropped her bag in the corner by the door near the coats and shoes as if she had read her mind.

The older girl took the blonde in her arms and drew her in. "Relax," she whispered and kissed her lips softly.

Emma took a deep breath. "Okay… " she paused and smirked. "She can't dislike me too much right? I mean you're dating a cheerleader."

Regina laughed. "Right."

Regina took Emma's hand and pulled her toward the dining room where Zelena was setting the table. "Is she staying for dinner?" the redhead asked

"Yeah," Regina stated and pulled her toward the kitchen. "Good evening Mother."

"Good evening," Her mother said, attempting to pull four shallow bowls from the cabinet.

"Here, mother, let me." Regina said heading toward the shorter woman. Emma quirked a brow, because she was taller than both of them she found it comical.

"Why didn't you ask Zee to help her with that?" Emma asked since Zelena was clearly the tallest one in the home, taller than herself.

Regina's mother startled and turned her head toward her daughter who had pulled the extra plate required for their guest. "Emma, good evening."

"Good evening Mrs. Mills, thanks for extending the invitation to dinner." Emma stated.

"You are quite welcome," Cora stated she already liked the girl because she made her daughter happy. But this didn't hurt at all. "I look forward to getting to know you better.

Emma smiled and nodded feeling more at ease.

Dinner was amicable. Emma felt more and more relaxed as she watched Regina's family interact. The blonde wondered why Regina felt like she needed to hide from her mother. The parents talked well after dinner, which to Regina's annoyance was far too long.

Regina cleared her throat. "Emma we should probably get to working on our paper so you can get home at a decent hour."

Emma furrowed her brows. "Oh… Um… Yeah."

"You girls run along." Cora stated.

Regina smiled and pulled at Emma's hand. "Come on Emma, I have a new nail polish I want to show you."

Emma smiled and hurried behind her girlfriend.


Emma got home just before curfew pleasantly sore, and still super tired. She had trouble driving herself home from Regina's house, but she knew that sleeping over at Regina's house would come with far too many questions.

Mary was sitting in the living room, and smiled up at her sister. "I heard you tried out for the Cheer squad."

Emma nodded and dropped on the couch next to her sister. She put her head on Mary's shoulder. "I did it for Ruby."

"Did you tell Regina you were a state all-star in Massachusetts?" Mary asked.

Emma laughed and shook her head. "I didn't want to go back to cheer… I don't feel particularly cheerful."

"You were good at it…" Mary stated softly. "Did you bomb it?"

Emma looked up at Mary; sad green eyes just like hers looked back at her. "I couldn't do that to mom."

The older sister laughed and relaxed. "This could be good for you. Are you going to join?"

"Regina was impressed." Emma stated putting her head back down.

"You should join."

"I might… for Ruby." Emma said and yawned. "Going to bed now. Good night Mary." Emma said standing up.

"You finished your final papers didn't you?" Mary asked. Emma smirked at her sister. "Just don't lie to me Emma, I'm not a prude."

Emma laughed at this. "Yeah you are… but that's okay. I love you anyway."