Applying to grad school is waaaay more time consuming than I expected. Anyways, happy almost weekend! Enjoy!
Enchanted Forest:
Andrew leaned in suddenly, and when his lips met Elizabeth's, she backed up in surprise. She looked at him wide eyed, then step towards him, again. Her lips crashing against his, causing them both to topple over and down the small embankment next to them.
There was the crushing of fall leaves, mild screams, and laughs until they both reached the bottom. Andrew was breathless, but in good spirit. "I guess you could say that kiss swept us off our feet." He chuckled, but when Elizabeth didn't respond, he sat up slightly. "You okay?" Andrew asked, a smile on his face and leaves in his hair, but the amusement quickly left his face. "Elizabeth?" He questioned as he took in her sober face, and her holding something in her hands. He sat himself up further, and scooted his way next to her through the dirt and leaves.
Tentatively, he placed a hand on her elbow. Her eyes snapped to him. They were filled with anger, pain, and confusion, then they looked back down to her hands. There sat the locket. The clasp broken and the chain mangled from the fall. "I remember." Elizabeth whispered out, her eyes looking back up to him.
Storybrooke:
"Boston, huh?"
I looked up from my excel sheet, to see Mr. Nolan standing next me. I smiled slightly, "Yeah, it's not too far away." I said with a shrug.
"That the only school you've looked at?" Mr. Nolan asked kindly.
"Uh, well no. There's a school in New York, one in California, Oregon, New England, and even Arizona. I mean, obviously I haven't actually visited any of them, but they have really good programs." I said, scrolling up and down the excel sheet, to show him my list of schools.
"However, Boston is my best bet." I said, ending my scrolling back on Northeastern University.
"All over the place, huh?" He asked with a small laugh. "Ah, well, I hear you're a bright student. I'm sure you can go anywhere you put your mind to."
His kind words took me by surprise. "Thank you, Mr. Nolan."
"Please, call me David. Madelyn, right?"
"Please, call me Maddie." I said with a smile. David held out his hand, "You've been in my house, and my wife is friends with your mother, but I'm not sure we've formally met. It's nice to meet you, Maddie."
I took his hand and shook it. "It's nice to formally meet you, too, David."
At this time, Ruby handed him two coffees to go. He thanked her, then turned back to me. "Is you mom okay?" He asked gently.
It had been two weeks since Sheriff Graham had died unexpectedly.
I shrugged again, "She's as good as anyone, I guess."
"Well, Kathryn is there for her. This town lost a good man."
All I could do was nod.
David bid me a farewell, and I watched him walk out to his wife in the car. In all honesty, things had kind of been in limbo since the Sheriff died, but not wanting to think about it, I turned back to my excel sheet. College, I needed to focus on colleges and getting out of this town.
Enchanted Forest:
Regina had been gone a couple of days and Elizabeth was tired of being stuck in the palace. She was in her usual spot, on the balcony taking in the countryside, when something caught her attention. A boy, no, a man weaving in and out of the trees, and it looked like he had blood on him.
Elizabeth looked around, as if to reassure herself that this was happening. When her eyes scanned the edge of the forest, again, she could no longer see the mysterious man.
Her gut told her something wasn't right, but Elizabeth wasn't sure what to do. Mother was gone and grandfather had run to the market. The servants that were around made Elizabeth uneasy, and she didn't dare ask a guard, because that'd put the man at more risk.
No, she'd go see for herself. Elizabeth started down the corridor and then stopped. She wasn't to leave the palace. Letting out a frustrated sigh, she turned back to the balcony and peered to where she'd last seen the man. Movement further down the forest caught her attention. There he was, sitting against a tree. He was far away, and hard to see, but she was sure he was hurt.
Decision made, Elizabeth quickly ran to her room, changed into different clothing, and started down towards the dungeons. She'd have to sneak out. Luckily, when her mother was away, the palace tended to relax. The servants took time for themselves, and the guards always drank to pass the time.
Down in the dungeon, Elizabeth tried to remember where the servants entrance was. It had been so long since she'd been down here. Finally, she found the door that led under the courtyard and straight to the forest. With the Queen gone, the servants would be using the main entrance today, so the girl wasn't worried about running into anyone down here.
Once outside, Elizabeth had to orient herself. The tunnel had let out at a different location than she'd expected. Turning around, and squinting in the bright sunshine, she tried to locate her mother's balcony. Once she did, she started walking towards the edge of the forest, and the direction she'd last spotted the man.
She was glad she'd taken the time to change into dark pants and a basic white tunic top. Maneuvering through the tall grass, and edge of the forest, was more difficult than it looked from afar. She remembered basically melting through these settings as a child, but now she watched every step she took.
After some time, she realized she was around the area the man last was. With a careful eye, Elizabeth noted that the tree in front of her definitely looked like the one he'd been sitting against, but no one was there. She crouched down next to the tree to investigate. The was a little blood on the bark, and what looked to be a couple of peach pits on the ground. Elizabeth was about to stand back up, but suddenly, a hand clamped on her mouth and she was yanked back.
Storybrooke:
"Hey, how'd meeting Emma go?" I asked, as I reached Henry and slowed my pace to match his. He'd told me they were meeting before school, but hadn't told me what about.
Henry simply shrugged. "Hey, what's wrong?" I reached out and grabbed his shoulder, turning him to look at me. He looked so sad and… defeated. "Henry…"
"Why did you put your locket back on?" He asked in a sad tone, but it also had an edge to it, almost as if he knew something.
My hand automatically went to my neck line, and fingered the charm around it. "What do you mean?" I asked, my mind going back to Ray's comment, when we had our fight a few weeks ago. Henry let out a sad sigh, "she got you, too."
I was trying to understand his comment, as he turned and continued towards school. "Henry, wait." But he didn't stop, he just kept walking, his head down. Something tugged at my chest. I'd seen Henry down, a lot, but this, this was gut wrenching.
"Hi there, beautiful." Came Derricks voice, and he turned me and kissed me on the cheek. "May I walk with my amazing girlfriend to school?"
A smile spread across my face as I took his hand in mine. My mind already forgetting my worry over Henry. Over my necklace. "I'd like that, but only if I can walk with my handsome, boyfriend."
Gagging noises came from behind us, and we turned to see Chris pretending to be bent over, throwing up. I rolled my eyes at him, but Derrick stuck his tongue out, as Chris walked up to us. Chris continued to give us a hard time as the three of us continued on to school.
As we approached the front doors, I noticed a guy locking up his bike. Derrick followed my gaze and said, "Ugh, look at that Andrew kid over there. Seriously, he thinks he's such a hot shot."
"Is he new?" I asked. He looked familiar, but I couldn't place him. "No, he's a year ahead of us." Derrick explained.
"Yeah, he's the TA for my biology class, and he refuses to help any of us. It's annoying. I think he also works at the market after school."
"Wait, the TA you tried to convince to steal the first exam for you?" I asked, scoffing at Chris. He just shrugged at me with a sly smile. We were walking into the building, but I couldn't help but look back at him one more time. My breath caught slightly, my eyes locking with his. They were a startling green, and... familiar. I knew those eyes.
"Come on, Maddie. We're going to be late for math." Derrick said, pulling on my arm, and ushering me into school.
That uneasy feeling from my conversation with Henry returned, but now instead of worried, I felt as if I were forgetting something. And trees, I could very faintly smell trees. I looked around for the source, but we were walking past the cafeteria. I should smell fake, plastic food, not the forest.
Shaking my head, I tried my best to suppress the uneasy feel rising up within me. College. School. Getting out of here. That's what I wanted. Not more drama. "No drama, Maddie." I told myself, as my hand went to my locket. I turned my attention to whatever Derrick and Chris were discussing, as we enter our pre-calc class. I smiled. This is what mattered I told myself, even though I couldn't get those green eyes out of the back of my head.