Updated

Neverland was enclosed in a thick circle of large oak trees, hiding the simple wood house in a curtain of red and gold. Crisp fall leafs crunched underneath her yellow bugs tires as she pulled up to a house that was better suited for camping in the middle of the woods, but the smooth finish and splinter free wood gave the house a fighting chance against the other fancy dorms that Emma knew Storybrooke Academy was full of. The cabin was made of Australian Cypress with a pale olive green roof. The porch wrapped around the entire house with a balcony on the left side and the roof extended to cover the back porch. Small panes of window were spread out, light drapes hung from the front windows.

Sitting on the wood steps was a woman in her early thirties with short black hair that was parted to the left. It was the same woman that almost passed out on the granite floor of Cora's outer office earlier that afternoon. The light blue dress she wore was tucked in between her raised knees and the white cardigan was stretched thin across her breast. The ballet slippers matched her dress, little silver bows neatly tied on the seam. She jumped when a twig snapped under Emma's heavy boots.

"Hi!" Ms. Blanchard took hold of the railing to regain her balance on her numb legs.

"Hi." Emma gave her a wave, red leather on leather giving a faint squeak.

"I'm Mary Margaret, it's nice to meet you." Ms. Blanchard held out her hand for Emma to take.

"Emma Swan." They shook hands for a moment. Breaking apart the two ladies stood there for a moment, a thick awkward silence fell between them. "So…" Emma started, hands nervously swinging by her side. "What are you doing sitting out here, if you do not mind me asking?" Ms. Blanchard patted down an invisible strain of hair, her hand pressing down on the ends of the hair just on the base of her skull.

"Oh, um, you see I'm new here and I'm supposed to be this dorms new supervisor but after I dropped off all of my things in my new classroom I locked my keys in there and now I can't get in. I'm so stupid." The older woman fell heavily on the steps, forehead resting on her knees.

"It's not stupid." Emma sat next to her on the steps. "I'm sure you're not the first teacher to lock their keys somewhere." Not getting any response from the other woman Emma thought about what would make her feel better; it was one of her hidden talents. "When I was in third grade my teacher accidentally dropped her keys in a port a potty," the older woman slowly lifted her head from her knees, a mixed expression of horror and disgust on her face.

"You're joking?" Emma shook her head, gold curls bouncing. A fit of chuckles bubbled in Emma's belly.

"I wish I was. When she reported it they tried to give her her keys back covered in gods knows what." Emma took a breath because her laughter stated to take over her speech. "And… and they just… just dropped them right into her hand. The look on her face just clearly said that never had she been more disgusted in her life!" By this time both girls where laughing uncontrollably, Ms. Blanchard was feeling less stupid. She knew this job was not going to be easy and she was going to be looked down on for being the low man on the totem pole. This story was good for her, it reminded her that she was human and there forth allowed to imperfect, and she was anything but perfect.

When both girls stopped laughing they looked at each other, pale green eyes met emerald green ones. Mary Margaret quickly turned away, heart pounding so hard against her chest it hurt. Those eyes, and the smile, they were so familiar it frightened her. Emma's smile faltered as she saw the inner turmoil play across the older woman's face.

Just as Emma was going to reach out a comforting arm to the newly appointed teacher, they were saved by someone clearing their throat. Ruby, Mulan, and Tink stood there with the same look of confusion on their faces. Another pregnant pause fell on that secluded part in the small forest within Storybrooke Academy walls. The only sound was the light rustle of leafs as they were carried away by the wind and the occasional bird flying to or from their tree top home.

"Hey guys." Emma waved awkwardly at the three girls whom gave her the same wave back. "This is Mary Margaret she says she's this dorm's new supervisor."

"H-Hello girls." Mary Margaret got up on shaky legs, her left hand gripping the rail for dear life.

"Hi." The three girls replied. It was Ruby who regains her composure, shaking her head to create a swooping curtain of red and light brown and fake coughing twice into her fist. "My name is Ruby and this is Mulan and Tink." She indicated to the two girls that were on both side of her, Mulan on her left and Tink on her right.

"Oh that's right, Mrs. Lucas did say that I was going to be supervising the dorm where her granddaughter and her friends live." Ruby rolled her eyes but the smile on her face was warm.

"Yeah, that sounds like Granny. Always bragging about her awesome granddaughter." Tink and Mulan snickered at Ruby's playful bragging about herself; it was nothing new to either one of them and had accepted that it was just a part of Ruby's playful nature. "Well, welcome to Neverland, our home away from all the rules and policies of Storybrooke Academy." Ruby climbed the stairs and lifted the sign on the door that was engraved with the dorms name in childlike writing, and pulled out a key to unlock the door, replacing it in its hiding spot once she unlocked the door.

The house was wood inside and out, but there were fancy rugs that probably cost more than the actual house. There was a living room area with a large plasma screen above a real stone fire place and a large curved black leather sofa, one of those fancy rugs covered the wood floor between the sofa and fire place in a fluffy mas of rich dark brown. The kitchen had a dark granite counter top, a large stainless steel double door refrigerator, and dark wood dining table with matching dinning and counter top chairs. Sun shined through the windows making the whole house warm and open.

With the door propped open with Tink and Mulan's backpacks, the small group of females helped the two new arrivals move into their new home at Storybrooke Academy. Mary Margaret's room was on the first floor next to the large wooden staircase. It was a decent size room that had a queen mahogany bed with matching vanity and dresser. She had her own bathroom that was attached to her room with a claw foot tub and shower head. There wasn't a shower curtain or bedding but that was okay she had her own that she has had since as long as she could remember.

Emma did not have her own room, which was something that she was very use to. In fact the whole second floor was one big room with four twin red oak beds at four corners of the room, a four drawer dresser was between each set of beds. Off to the side was a small sitting room with bean bag chairs and a small area rug. There was a large bathroom to the right of the stairs with two separate shower stalls, two toilets with two large walls and plastic curtains for some degree of privacy, and a large sink area with two sink basins in the center and open counter spaces on the outer sides of the sinks. Ruby placed Emma's things on the far left side, the only bed with stark white sheets.

"All right Emma, you can place your clothing in the top two drawers." She indicated to the dresser between her bed and the one covered in what looked like a real silk yellow comforter. "Oh, and a word of advice." Ruby approached Emma and wrapped her arm around red leather clad shoulders. "Unless you want your things tossed out the window by Mulan, keep your things on your side of the room and never touch hers." Though her voice was hushed it was completely serious, as was the hard look in her usually bright and playful brown eyes.

"S-sure okay thanks." Ruby smiled at her and playfully slapped her shoulder.

"So Emma." Ruby sat down on the bed across from hers, which was decked out with a red comforter and pillow cases. Emma was sensing a pattern with her new roommate. "What classes are you taking?" Emma started to take her new uniforms out of their plastic wrapping while thinking if she was going to keep the complete sets together or to group them by piece.

"Um, I don't know my exact schedule. When I picked up my uniforms the guy offered to turn my form in so now the only thing to do is wait for Cora's approval." Ruby cringe at the mention of Cora's name, it was more of a shiver like as though by just mentioning the headmistress' name made her skin crawl. "What?"

"Can we not call her C…Co… Cora, see I can barely say her name." Ruby shuddered and clenched her heart for good measure, which induced an eye roll from Emma, dramatic was quickly being added to Emma's mental list that she was keeping on her new roommate.

"Okay, fine whatever. So I have to wait for my official schedule from our headmistress, but I am taking that English class that was left blank and a history class with Mr. Gold. What's the deal with him anyway?" Ruby looked up from where she was separating brown and red strands in her ponytail, as though she was positively bored with the conversation even though Emma was answering her own question.

"Who Mr. Gold? Rumor has it he owns the town, and he used to own the school as well, but he lost it when his wife left him. According to Granny Mr. Gold's wife left in the middle of the night, took their son with her, and they were never seen again. Before she left she signed her shares to the school to Cora, giving her overall power, which was how she became headmistress. Before his wife left Mr. Gold was always a harsh teacher but he is unbearable now. You be lucky to leave his class with a 'C'. He's not even allowed to grade his own finals, not after he failed all of his classes two years in a row right after his wife left him."

"I thought your yellow marks meant 'good teacher but lots of work'?"

"They did, Mr. Gold is a brilliant teacher. He talks about history like he lived through it, connecting to it on deeper levels than I have ever seen, but he's hard to impress. You can do a project to the T of the rubric and he will give you a 'B' minus on an 'A' project. Not even Regina gets free appraisal."

"Yeah, I know, her mother threw a fit about her test grade from his class." This peaked Ruby's interest and she dropped her pony tail so hard it bounced off her shoulder, red and brown hair fanning out over her navy blue blazer.

"Regina was in the office with you? I need details now. What did she say?" By this time she was bouncing on her bed, a pillow fell to the floor unacknowledged by its owner.

"Nothing, she just didn't give Regina permission to leave campus Saturday." Emma felt uncomfortable talking about someone else's private life; even if she was supposed to dislike Regina it was none of her business what the class president did in her free time.

"Oh La la." Ruby rolled her shoulders, a mocking flirtatious smile on her lips. "Sounds like President Mills had a date with her boy toy." Emma opened her mouth to speak but heavy foot falls on the stairs interrupted her.

"Emma, Ruby." Mulan's raspy voice came from across the room. "Mary Margaret wants to have a meeting in the living room." And just like that she left. Thankful for the distraction Emma looked at Ruby, who just shrugged her shoulders and headed for the stairs. Emma followed her, leaving two stairs between them. Tink was already curled into the curve of the leather sofa and Mulan was next to her, arms crossed just below her breast but her back was stiff, it made Emma wonder if Mulan was uncomfortable in their company or if that was just how she always behaved. Ruby sat next to her and Emma took the end closes to Ruby. Mary Margaret came out of her room with a book between her hands.

"Okay." Ms. Blanchard started, it was evident in her voice she was nervous as it shook just a little. "So I called this meeting for us to not only get to know each other but to go over the rules as well." Tink raised her hand and she was acknowledge with a slight nod of the head.

"We already know the rules Mary Margaret."

"Yes, I am aware of that, but I do not and I would find it useful to look them over and go over them as a group." All four girls groaned. "Before we begin why don't we introduce ourselves? As you girls know I am Mary Margaret Blanchard and I will be teaching English here at Storybrooke Academy. Now you guys." She pointed to Tink to start. The dirty blonde rolled her eyes and leaned her left side more into the leather interior of the couch.

"My name is Tink. No, it is not my real name but it is the name I would like to be called."

"Okay Tink nice to meet you." She moved her hand to Mulan.

"My name is Mulan Fa. I am an exchange student from China."

"Thank you Mulan." She moved to Ruby next.

"Okay I'm Ruby Lucas, and my question is do we call you Ms. Blanchard or Mary Margaret?"

"Nice to meet you Ruby and you can call me whatever you are comfortable with, Ms. Blanchard, Ms. Mary Margaret, or just plain old Mary Margaret it's all fine by me." She nodded in Emma's direction.

"My name is Emma Swan and I'm new."

"Okay, now that everyone knows each other shall we go over the rules?" Another groan came from all four girls. "Oh hush I'm sure that they are not that bad." Mary Margaret opened her book and folded it at the spine. "Rule number one: all students must be at their dorms by sundown, the exception being from the first Sunday of November to the second Sunday of March, and in which case students are allowed to be out until 7:00PM. During this time students are restricted to the lit paths and areas, if a student(s) is found in any unlit areas the student(s) will receive either a type 1 or type 2 warning. In case of school functions curfew is extended to an hour after the event has ended. Any student(s) found outside of their dorm during the night would be sent escorted back to their dorms with an automatic type 2 warning. Any student(s) found in a dorm that is not their own will be given either a type 2 or type 3 warning in regard to the offense." Ruby raised her hand. "Yes, Ruby?"

"Are you going to read us all the rules?" Ruby cringed half knowing the answer.

"Yes, I am. I think it's important for us to know this." Another groan, louder than the others. "Shush. Okay rule two: students are prohibited to leave school grounds without permission from their legal guardian/dorm supervisor. Any student(s) caught trying to leave school grounds or in Storybrooke without a sign permission slip will be escorted back to school with an automatic type 3 warming.

"Rule three: Students are in bed by no later than eleven during school nights (Sunday night-Thursday night); lights out is extended to midnight on Friday and Saturday nights. Any dorm caught with any bright lights and/or loud noises, the person(s) will be given a type 1 warning. If the guilty person(s) is not found or the whole dorm is at fault every person is given a type 2 warning no exceptions.

"Rule four: if a student(s) is caught smoking, gambling, defacing school property, caring a weapon, in possession of drugs or drug paraphernalia, or any items on the below list of ban items on school property that student(s) will receive an automatic warning corresponding to the offense. Do you want me to go over the-"

"NO!" Mary Margaret jumped at the force of the outburst, apparently the girls cooperation only went so far.

"Don't fret, I'm almost done. Rule five: during school hours students are only allowed to wear the school uniform; white button down with tie, sweater or blazer with vest, dark blue plaid skirt for girl's cream khakis for boys, dark socks, and dark brown loafers. Any student found wearing any clothing that is not the appropriate school attire will be escorted back to their dorm to change and be given a type 2 warning.

"Rule six: students are not allowed outside of their classrooms when class is in session without a pass signed by a teacher or administrator or in the company of a teacher. If a student is found without a pass then they will be escorted back to class by a hall monitor." She raised an eyebrow at the snickering coming from three of the four girls whom quickly stopped at her disapproving look. "And be given a type one warning.

"Rule seven: if a student(s) is caught violating the academic contract concerning plagiarism, or violating the computer usage contract the student(s) will be sent immediately to the administrators office and no warning is given," Mary Margaret paused and looked at the digital clock display hat was on the DVD player. "How about after I read the types of warnings I make you girl's dinner?" At the mention of food the girls perked right up leaning in close to pay extra attention. Mary Margaret gave an inward chuckle and a slight shake of her head, guess it didn't matter if the teens were boy or girl, they jump at the chance for food. "Okay let's finish this.

"A type 1 warning: student is given a half hour lunch or after school detention if the offense occurred during school hours with the teacher who gave them the detention. If the offense occurred after school hours the student is sent to their dorms for the rest of the evening or after their work duty.

"A type 2 warning: student is given an hour lunch detention if the offense occurred during school hours with the teacher who gave them the detention. If the offense occurred after school hours then the student is sent to their dorms for the weekend only leaving for their weekend work duty with escorts.

"A type 3 warning: student is sent to their dorm suspended for the appropriate amount of time, not even leaving for their work duty. This action is also followed by a private corporal session with the dorm's supervisor." Mary Margaret visibly paled at the last sentence. She reread the sentence five times, each time her eyes met the same set of words: Corporal session with dorm's supervisor. She would be responsible for administrating corporeal sessions. God help her.

"Ms. Blanchard!" Not even realizing how deep in thought she was she gave a mild yelp when her name was called, dropping her book in the process. Taking a few deep calm breaths Mary Margaret regained her composure and looked at the four girls who were staring at her as though she had two heads. "Are you okay?" Mary Margaret nodded, regaining her composure as she bent at the knee to retrieve the fallen book.

"Yes, girls I'm fine. How about dinner? What's everyone in the mood for?" They agreed on grilled cheese, Emma's favorite. Emma decided to help Mary Margaret with dinner while the others started on their weekend homework at the table.

Emma was in charged with slicing the block of cheese and the loaf of bread into individual slices and the carrots into smaller circles. Mary Margaret started to warm the pan and grease the surface evenly with a teaspoon of butter. Emma handed her the completed sandwiches and then asked the young blonde to set the table when the other girls were done. Emma took out five glasses and left them in the center of the table along with five cloth place mats. When each girl was done with the assignment they started to make room for dinner.

Along with the grilled cheese's Mary Margaret served them a side of steam carrots and green grapes. She limited each girl to only one can of soda, a decision that got her a lot of back lash but she was firm about it. Soda issue aside, dinner was a pleasant affair and it was a learning experience for everyone.

Mulan was very reserved only taking small bites and sips at a time. Tink divided and conquered, cutting her sandwich into small squares. Ruby took large chunks at once, gulping it down with soda; it was no surprise she was the first to finish off her can. Emma took things very slowly taking her time to chew her food, almost savoring it. Mary Margaret, well she might go down as the first person ever to eat a grill cheese with a knife and fork.

When dinner was done, Ruby and Tink cleaned and put away the dishes while Mary Margaret and Emma finished unpacking and Mulan went out for her daily after dinner walk. When the last glass was put away a hard wood knock rang threw the otherwise silent house. Tink and Ruby looked at each other but they just gave each other the same 'I-do-not-know-anything' look. It was Ruby who was braved enough to approach the door and looked out the window next to it.

"Shit!" Ruby threw herself against the door her heart beating hard in her chest, back pressed hard against the wood as though she alone can keep the door from ever opening again.

"What?" Tink approached her friend with caution. This was new territory for her; she always thought Ruby had no fears. Guess she was wrong.

"It's her." Ruby said with a shaky voice, red painted lips trembling.

"Who Regina?"

"Worse." If it was possible the look of horror on Ruby's face grew. "It's her mother." It was Tink's eyes that widen this time. Never has the headmistress visited any of the dorms, especially one as small as Neverland. She didn't even visit her own daughter's dorm; it was always Regina going to her. Another knock made both girls jump and sent Tink running to Mary Margaret. Ms. Blanchard was in the middle of fixing her bedding when Tink burst into her room panting and in distress.

"Tink what's wrong?" she approached the frazzle girl calmly.

"Headmistress Mills is at our door." Mary Margaret raised an eyebrow at her and started to the door. She stopped when she noticed Ruby standing in front of the door looking petrified. Once more there was a knock harder and quicker than the others, apparently the person on the other side was losing patience.

"Ruby could you please move away from the door." The long hair brunette nodded stiffly and all but ran to her friend. They held each other as they witness their supervisor go to the door. It was a moment like this that reminded Tink when she, Ruby, and Mulan watched a horror movie last Halloween and they were yelling at the woman to not open the door for the killer was on the other side. It was the same thing she wanted to do at this very moment, to warn Ms. Blanchard of the terror behind the door. Despite the girls reaction Mary Margaret was not hesitant to open the door, a genuine smile on her face.

"Mrs. Mills, what a pleasure. Please come in." Mary Margaret stepped aside to allow her boss in.

"Thank you, and please call me Cora." She entered the house, stiletto heels clicking on the hard wood floors. She noticed the two huddled up girls and tilted her head ever so slightly, wavy brown hair gliding across designer shoulders. "Hello girls." She looked at Tink and then at Ruby. "You must be Mrs. Lucas' granddaughter yes?" Ruby was taken back. Like everyone else she has heard nothing but horror stories about the woman talking to her like she was an old friend. She realized she was asked a question and she heard her grandmother scalding in her head.

"Y-yes m-ma'am I am one and the same." She released a nervous chuckle.

"It's nice to finally meet you. Your grandmother speaks highly of you."

"T-thank you ma'am." If it was possible she was shaking even more. It was Mary Margaret that saved both teens' anymore awkward moments with the most powerful woman on campus.

"Girls, why don't you run up stairs so that Mrs. Mills and I can talk in private." She barely finished before both girls ran up the stairs like their life's depended on it. Emma looked up from where she was organizing her clothes when she heard her roommate's crash into their room. Before she could say anything they shushed her and looked over the railing to see if they can hear anything. With the girls gone Mary Margaret turned her attention to the older woman.

Even with age Cora was a beautiful woman. Her hair fell in soft light brown waves that just touched her shoulder blades. The suit that she wore was probably worth more than what Mary Margaret earns in a year, a soft white button down under a black tailored suit jacket with matching slacks. Cora was a walking symbol for power and class.

"I am so sorry about that, I have no idea what came over them." Cora chuckled lightly, the same hard to read smile was on her face.

"It's quite all right I needed to talk to you any way."

"Oh, can I get you anything?" Mary Margaret took a half step to the kitchen.

"No, I'm fine I just came here to give you these." Cora reached into her silk lined pants pocket and pulled out a set of keys that had a little red M&M key chain on it. At the sight of her keys Mary Margaret relaxed slightly then tightened, for all she knew she was in trouble.

"Thank you so much for returning my keys to me Cora." Cora took one of her hands, which caused her to blush and gently placed them into her open palm.

"Please make sure you keep better track of them, we wouldn't want them falling in the wrong hands now do we?" The young woman shook her head. "Good." Cora slid her fingers up slim snow white fingers, pushing each one with her own to form a fist around the recovered item in discussion. Mary Margaret stopped breathing for a moment and her palms started to feel clammy. It was a foreign but also intimate feeling. When she looked up back at Cora, her milk chocolate brown eyes have darkened to a shade of dark chocolate brown. The two women slowly broke apart and they stood there in a thick awkward silence. The alarm to the back porch door went off, making both women jump. Mulan walked in white sneakers in her hand. Noticing her mistake Mulan bowed deeply in apology.

"My apologies Ms. Blanchard, Headmistress Mills." With another bow she headed up stairs with no objection. Cora took this opportunity to look at her watch.

"I as well must offer my apologies Ms. Blanchard I didn't know how late it was getting and you probably still have some unpacking to do." Mary Margaret nodded and walked Cora to the door. When she reached the door she remembered something that was bothering her.

"Oh Cora?" The older woman turned, the setting sun shining behind her.

"Yes, Ms. Blanchard?"

"Mary Margaret please. You said I can come to you if I had a problem." Cora nodded and waited for the younger woman to continue. "I have a problem with something in the type 3 warning. If I can talk to you more privately about it that would be great," her face was stone but on the inside Cora was smirking.

"Of course Mary Margaret. How about we met up next week Friday in my office and we can discuss it then. Will that do?" Mary Margaret nodded and ran a thumb under her bang.

"That will do thank you. Have a good night Cora." She waved the woman off and Cora gave a small wave back.

"And a goodnight to you as well Mary Margaret." The young teacher watch her boss drive away in a black Benz and stood there long after the dust settled. It was the change of lighting that snapped her out of her trance and she went back inside to fulfill her duties as dorm supervisor.

Night was silent and peaceful within the walls of Storybrooke Academy; everyone was nestled in their own bed soundlessly asleep, except for three. One was a woman who was absently looking at her hand wondering what her body was telling her. Another was just staring at the ceiling, the sounds of the other sleeping bodies creating a calming effect, wondering what she was doing at the place she was currently residing in. The third was not even in a bed but in a tree, looking out into the darkness for something. She found what she was looking for and ran to it, engulfed in a familiar sense of warmth and safety. A feeling she wished she never had to leave.