Deadly Class

Class Two: Don't Mess With Me

"You're staying in her class?" Belle hisses when they're doing their homework in the library. It's the second week of classes and the drop deadline is approaching fast. "Are you crazy?"

Maybe Emma is crazy. Sticking to this class only because the professor is hot. Only an idiot would do that. But she can't help it. She's gone. Friday's class had only cemented that fact. She couldn't stop looking at the professor, failing yet again to take notes. She could barely recall what they had been learning about but she could remember Regina's outfit down to a T.

A blue chiffon shirt, unbuttoned down to the third button. Pressed slacks that were gray. Power heels, a nice watch, some silver bracelets on her wrist, and that tempting burgundy lipstick that Emma wanted to kiss off her face.

And she craved her professor's attention. But she wasn't brave enough to raise her hand and answer the questions because she knew that she had no idea what was going on in class. So she suffered in limbo.

"Maybe. But the class is interesting," Emma shrugged in answer to Belle.

"If it is, tell me what you've learned there that you can't learn in another psych 101 class," Belle demands and Emma blanks on coming up with something. Belle glowers. "Oh my god, don't tell me you're only staying with her because she's hot."

This causes Emma to flush. "No, I'm not-"

But Ruby is snorting with laughter, August is shaking his head, and Belle looks disappointed like Emma's mother.

"You've fallen for her. It's alright. You're not the first or last to do so," August assures, patting Emma on the back of her hand. He's a junior whose also taken Mills's class. Twice. "I too suffered from the exact same thing, but now I'm cured."

"Ah, Emma, you're a baby gay," Ruby laughs and Emma flushes and sinks down lower into her seat. She's not a baby gay. She's not even gay! She just admires both sexes, the girls just a little more than the boys. And as her mother likes to point out, Emma will eventually stop with her stupid celebrity crushes and find someone real to love. Because it's another point against her ordinary life that her parents found each other and true love at the age of sixteen while she hasn't even kissed someone yet.

"I'm not!" she protests. "I just happen to like the class!"

It's futile. They all know she's lying.

"Look, there's no hurt in thinking Mills is banging hot. But take it from me, it's better to think so from far away than close up. She's like a tiger. Pretty to look at but get inside it's cage and it'll eat you up. Drop her class, spare yourself the pain, and just go on with life," August advised.

Emma nodded her head. It made total sense, it really did. But how could she deal with it when her mind and heart were both screaming to stay in the class?

"How about this," Ruby said, clapping a hand onto Emma's shoulder. "Let's go to a bar this weekend. Find you some chick or dude and you fuck it all out of your system. You're probably just horny and once you get laid watch you drop the class."

Emma winced at this. She'd never slept with someone. And she wasn't sure she wanted to do it with some random stranger. "I'm good, I don't want to-"

"Nonsense. Go and do it. Have some fun," August added.

"For once I agree with Ruby's bad habits," Belle said, jotting something down in her notes. She was almost all done with her work while they had yet to start. "Get loose, forget the professor, and have fun."

Emma was getting a bit annoyed now. Everyone kept saying how bad Mills was, but Emma had yet to see it. She was stern, true, but she had been kind and caring to Emma. "She's not that bad. She asked me if I was comfortable in her class on our first day. She even took me out to coffee," she spoke up, with a tinge of irritation.

This got their attention, even Belle raising her head up to look at Emma with intrigue. "She what?" she questioned.

"She got me coffee and asked me if I was okay," Emma repeated, uncomfortable with their staring.

"Dude...that's weird," Ruby settled on at last. "She's never done that with a student."

"Why did she get you coffee?" August blinked in shock, like Mills getting coffee was something alien. Emma shrugged. "She wanted to talk. To me." She felt a small swell of pride inside her. It seemed the professor hadn't done this with anyone before. Why her?

"You have to stay in her class now," Ruby sat up from how she had been leaning back in her chair.

"What!" Belle squawked out. She set her pink pen down. That was how you knew she was getting serious, if she was focusing so much on conversation and not work. "Are you stupid?"

"But isn't that odd as hell for Mills to do?" August points out, rising to Ruby's defense. "Don't tell me it isn't interesting to see what's her game now?"

"Why do you all care so much about her anyways?" Belle grumbled out. "Would you seriously risk Emma staying in a class out of her league, just to see why she bought her coffee?"

From August's and Ruby's expressions, the answer was a definite yes.

Belle shook her head in disappointment and got back to work, refusing to engage in the rest of the conversation after that.

Wednesday approached and it was time for class once more. Annoyingly, Emma found herself wanting to dress more nicely to impress her professor though she knew there was no point to it. Her professor would barely notice.

"Where are you going?" Ruby asks when she sees the fancy clothing. She lifts her head up from the book she's reading on her bed. Before Emma can lie, Ruby answers her own question. "Right, you got class with Mills," she grins wolfishly and rolls onto her stomach, book forgotten for now. "You trying to seduce her?"

"I am not!" Emma gasps, flushing. "I can't look nice for myself?"

"You can, but we both know you're not doing it just for you. And I hate to break your heart, but that woman doesn't have one. Not with the way she grades," Ruby says.

"Why does everyone insists she's so terrible?" Emma huffs out, annoyed. She hasn't seen anything to indicate that yet.

"There's always a kernel of truth to every rumor," Ruby said casually before turning back to her book.

Emma showed up to class that day, foolishly hoping that her professor might somehow notice her new outfit. She didn't, of course, striding into the room in her heels and ordering students to open up their notebooks and take notes off of the presentation slides. Emma tried not to be disappointed but she knew it was going to happen despite all her hope. But she wanted a way to talk to her professor some more. She craved interactions. She knew this crush wasn't healthy, but there was no harm in just talking, right?

In one hand her professor had coffee and Emma suddenly got a crazy idea. Maybe she could invite her professor out for coffee, this time her treat? She could already picture it. Emma was already slipping into a golden daydream about impressing the professor with being articulate and smart and charming even though she knew she wasn't any of those things. And the professor would laugh and smile gently at Emma.

The idea made Emma giddy and she couldn't stop smiling, so wrapped in thoughts of Emma having a good conversation with her professor, not like last time, that she was very confused when she found students moving around in their seats.

Her blank look must have been obvious to everyone, because the girl sitting next to her, elbowed her softly. "We're doing partner work," she whispered and Emma turned to join her and one other student sitting in the front row.

"I'm Mulan," the girl who had elbowed Emma introduced herself. She had long straight hair and was dressed very sporty.

"And I'm Kristoff," said a blonde haired man with a big nose.

"Emma," Emma said after a beat when she realized they were looking at her.

"So, did any of you do the reading?" Mulan asked as she pulled out her work.

"Kinda," Kristoff admitted. "It was very dry."

Emma had done the reading but she couldn't remember much of it, beside the fact that she had doodled all over it, hearts with the initials E + R in it.

She took it out, but discreetly hid it from her classmates.

"What about you Emma. Got anything on it?" Mulan asked. The professor was going around the room, listening in on conversation. Emma had to admit she was distracted by it, because the professor was getting ever closer to her table.

"Uh, um. I read it but I forget what was in it," she admitted, biting her lower lip and feeling useless.

"Alright," Mulan sighed out, feeling put out by her useless classmates. "Let's take a moment to re-read and then dive right in. We don't want to look like idiots in front of Mills. She'll grade our participation scores like shit."

They started flipping through pages and Emma began to recall certain things she had read and soon she was ready to share. "I agree with the Tarasoff ruling," she started. "It's almost a no brainer really. If a patient threatens to kill someone, that person should be privy to that information so that in case their life is in danger, they can be aware and get the protection they need."

"I agree. It's a shame this didn't come about earlier though, would have saved some lives," Kristoff tacked on, just as Mills approached, standing right behind Emma. Emma didn't even have to turn around to know she was there. She could sense her professor's presence, commanding and big.

"Would you add any adjustments to the ruling?" she asked and they all froze up, Emma trying to slide her reading away, to hide the fact she had drawn on it from her professor. She wasn't fast enough.

She suddenly found her professor's arms boxing her into her seat, chest nearly touching Emma's back as she lowered herself down so her mouth was ear level on Emma. Emma's whole body froze up, her heart going into overdrive. "Miss Swan," her professor's voice, so low and close to Emma's ear, caused goose bumps to arise on her skin. The professor plucked at the paper hanging limply from Emma's hands. Her heat was radiating off of her body, making Emma feel like she was hot. And her scent came through strongly as well, spiced apples and something else, something darker. "Do my readings bore you?" she asked as she noticed the countless doodles and all Emma could do was swallow in part terror part arousal. Mulan and Kristoff were looking at her in sympathy.

When Emma continued to be unable to respond, Mills let out a soft breath of air in a disappointed sigh. "I'd like to talk to you after class." And then she dropped her paper and leaned away from Emma, moving on to another group.

Mulan raised her brows as she watched Emma suck in a breath of air. Shaky and pale faced. They decided not to comment on what had just happened, instead going back to talking about the reading. Partner work was done shortly, before the regular lesson moved on, though now Emma had a hard time concentrating on anything because she was worried about what would happen after class.

She was a jittery mess and when class ended she did not heave out a sigh of relief but sucked in a shaky breath. "Miss Swan, drop by my office in half an hour. I have a meeting right after," professor Mills said once Emma passed her desk. The blonde winced. She had been hoping that Regina would have forgotten.

"Sure," she managed out and slinked away. Great, now she would have to stress away for an additional half hour. Mulan over heard and saw Emma's pale face and shot her a sorry look.

Emma fiddled outside of professor Mills room for a good half hour, sitting on the bench outside, twiddling her thumbs, shifting her legs. Eventually, the voices on the other side of the door died down and a man left. Now it was Emma's turn. She swallowed heavily and slung her bag over her shoulder and went inside.

"Close the door behind you," Mills instructed and Emma did, sitting down in front of her professor's desk. The inside of the office was clean and organized. There was very few clutter on the desk and all the books on the shelves were organized alphabetically. No personal affects were in sight; it was all clinical.

Mills sat behind the desk, and was it just Emma, or did it seem like Regina had unbuttoned another button? Emma could make out the tips of a wine red bra and her ears flushed when she realized she was staring and had missed what Mills said.

"Excuse me?" she asked, trying to draw her focus up to Regina's face.

"Are you having trouble focusing in my class, Miss Swan? Given your childish doodling on your reading content, it seems to bore you," she asked, getting up and circling her desk to sit on the lip of it, right in front of Emma. She crossed her legs and Emma's attention was side tracked by them. They were toned and lean.

"Uh, no," she said quietly, forcing her eyes away. The professor was looking down disapprovingly at her. She had noticed Emma's lapse in attention and Emma felt her cheeks heating up.

"I think you should drop my class, Miss Swan," Mills said crossing her legs. This time, Emma was too focused on the possibilities of being kicked out of a class to focus on those tempting legs.

"No," came out of her mouth, so strongly and so randomly, that even Emma didn't know she was going to say it. Professor Mills looked taken aback by it.

"No?" she questioned and Emma had to find a way to get out of this without coming off as rude.

"Give me another chance. I want to do good. I know I can do good." She couldn't dare risk dropping Regina's class or getting kicked out of it. She was too far gone on the other woman and she wanted to prove to her she could do good in the class. She wanted to prove to her friends that this class wasn't a nightmare, and most of all she wanted to prove to her parents that she could do something challenging and come out victorious.

The side of Mills lip curled up, like she was getting ready to spit out a derisive comment. Instead she said something more mild. "You know I do not give special allowances, especially not to someone whose parents work in this school."

"I know," Emma affirmed.

"Then I hope to see an improvement in your concentration in class and in your work ethic, else I will have no choice but to request you to be transferred over," Professor Mills said in finality. "You can leave now. But know, that I will be watching you with extra scrutiny. Should I see you slip up, I will follow through on my threat."

Gone was the concerned professor from last week. She was cold now and watching Emma with a look like she couldn't quite decide what to do with her.

Emma nodded her head fervently. And then she gathered herself and left the office, heart hammering and determined to work hard.

That night when she went home, she dedicated hours to her psychology homework, making sure no detail went unnoticed. She was going to prove she could ace this class. She even started early on her essay which was due next week.

Emma had never been this determined to do her work properly. She usually did it passably, just to get it done. Not now. David had been right in assuming Emma would find her goal, her motivation in college.

Emma had found that elusive spark. It was Professor Regina Mills. She was the spark that was going to light up Emma's whole life.

But what Emma didn't know was that the small match would turn into a raging conflagration in mere weeks.

Emma put extreme effort into her psychology 101 class. She often put her other homework to last minute, while spending inordinate amounts on simple readings. In class she would force herself to pay attention to the slides, pinching herself whenever she would let her eyes linger on her professor for too long. And it worked. It hurt to hold back from staring at the brunette, but Emma could do it. And when she handed in her essay she felt accomplished, sure she would get a good grade for it.

That was why when it came back with a big fat F on it, she felt like there had to be some joke. She stared at it, with wide eyes and disappointment filling her chest. How, how had she done so badly? Did anyone else get this grade?

She discreetly tried to look over at Mulan's grade and saw it had a C minus on it. That wasn't any better but at least it wasn't a fucking F! So then why had Emma done so bad?

Professor Mills was up by the front of the room, seeming to almost relish in the groans of disapproval coming from the class. "I must say I am disappointed in the quality of the essays. There will be no rewrites for better grades, however, my office door is open if anyone has any questions on how to improve their writing for next time," she said, before launching into her lesson.

Emma had to shake herself free. She'd hurt over her essay score later. She sure as hell was going to confront her professor on this after class. Emma had never gotten an F before. Something had to be wrong. Especially since she'd put so much work into it.

There was no way she was going to tell her friends about this because they would only tell her 'told you so'. She couldn't stand them rubbing it into her face. It was too late to drop the class now. Emma would have to grin and bear it.

After class, she let her feet take her over to Regina's office. The door was open and she knocked on it, Regina lifting her head up from her work. She had been reading something, crossing out every other word with red pen. She looked up to see Emma. "Miss Swan. I assume you are here for your essay. Let me tell you this," she looked back down, entirely dismissive. "I have never read a sorrier essay. It makes me question how you got accepted into this school. Storybrooke demands excellence and from what I've seen you do not have those qualities."

Emma winced at this. Mills couldn't know, could she? That Emma had been let in only because of her father pulling strings.

"I just want to know what I did wrong so I can fix my essay," Emma said in a small voice, feeling like shit. "I spent a lot of time on it and I don't know what I did wrong."

Regina heaved out a sigh and gestured to the seat in front of her. "Sit." Emma did.

Regina jotted one last thing down on the paper before putting it away. This close up Emma could see that Regina's shirt had once again been unbuttoned low. Did she always let loose the fourth button in her office?

Emma averted her eyes. She needed to focus. She held her paper in front of herself, the pages crumpled with worry. Before she could pass it to her professor, the woman stood up and walked around to sit on the lip of her desk again, taking the paper only then. Why did she have to do that? Emma wondered in distracted thought as Regina crossed smooth thighs. It made Emma hot, even as she was torn between being annoyed with her professor for giving her such a grade.

Regina scanned it over, letting out a quick hum. "I gave you an F because you didn't follow the prompt."

"But I did. It said to construct an argument on the merits and draw backs of a widely distributed adaption of all mental diseases. And I did just that. I argued against it and provided evidence of my reasoning."

"Your answer was broad. I need specifics. And frankly, your examples were weak, something that clearly was found with two seconds of research and not dedication. Your writing is childish, and your grammar abysmal," Regina snapped back in a second.

"So I did nothing correctly?" Emma couldn't help but whine out.

"Don't be such a child about this. I issued a warning at the beginning of class; I even spoke to you about dropping out. You didn't take the suggestion."

Emma wanted to say she had no idea it would be this tough. But she couldn't quit now. She had too much pride riding on this.

"Then give me advice on how I can fix this. On how I can write a better second essay." Emma pulled out the second essay prompt they had been given. They had essay's every two weeks in this class.

"I already gave you advice. Implement it."

"With all due respect, all you did was point out what was wrong and not how to fix that," Emma grit out, starting to feel just a bit annoyed. Mills noticed Emma's terser tone and quirked up her brow, like it amused her.

"Go to the writing center. They will teach you how to write basic English."

Well that was rude.

But Emma didn't want to push her professor more. She got up, taking the essay from her professor and mustered up some determination. "I'll come back, when my essay is all written and ask for advice then."

Mills didn't say anything to that, just let Emma leave her office.