Updated
The few weeks between the end of Thanksgiving break and winter break marked the time that both students and teachers alike dreaded; winter exams.
Being a brand new teacher and dorm supervisor Mary Margaret made exams a bigger deal than they were. She drilled the material that was going to be covered in the test in to her students and created a study schedule that was in effect the moment they arrived back on schools grounds till finals ended. She hid post-it notes all around the house and in her classroom. It was starting to get to a point where you couldn't even turn a corner in fear of running into one of Mary Margaret infamous post-it notes. Her notes were not just centered on English but all subjects; math, science, history, you name it she's done it.
To make it more interesting the post-it's that she placed around Neverland were colored coated, green for Tink, pink for Ruby, yellow for Mulan, and blue for Emma, and every day she would count the notes with correct answer's and tally how many answers that each girl answered. At the end of the week she would buy the girls a little something, a can or two of soda for Ruby, bear claw for Emma, IOU for Tink that she would buy the dirty blonde a small wooden figure that she loved so much, and some tea for Mulan. But with rewards and points aside, these notes showed the English teacher what the girls knew and what they struggled with, which was why she did what she did, to better her girls.
On the day of finals Mary Margaret woke up a whole hour early so that she could make pancakes for the girls. It was important to eat something that would keep you full, more so than the simple granola bar or fruit would. The scent of fluffy golden circles wafting throughout the house woke up the girls, even Tink, which made Mary Margaret smile. It was better if the teenagers got up on their own to reduce the chance of morning crankiness. With full warm bellies the girls of Neverland dorm walked out the door confident to face the day head on.
Finals at Storybrooke Academy lasted a week with two exams each day. Finals week was also the only time that the alternating schedule's would meet as students would take the finals with the same period, so they would have their 1st period classes on Monday, 2nd on Tuesday, and so forth, which meant that Emma had biology and theater.
Mr. Herman, like most teachers do, assigned the standard 50-100 question paper test which, in all honesty, Emma didn't mind; it was her theater exam that she was nervous about. Even though it was a theater class, Ms. D could just assign them the traditional paper test, which she did, but that was only part one, part two was to preform either a monologue or duet scene with a single partner, and obviously part two was worth more than part one.
Ms. D did not limit her students as to what monologue they could do but she did expect them to be off book and the monologue had to be 10 lines minimum. Sadly teenagers lacked imagination, seeing as she was sitting through 'to be or not to be' for the fifth time in that class period alone! Seriously, she was impartial to Shakespeare but there were other play writes to choose from. Next year she was going to monitor what her students selected because this was getting ridiculous. She called her next student with exhausted patience.
"Emma Swan." That was her cue. Taking a deep she, as they called it in theater, took the stage standing front and center on the small circle platform.
"I will be preforming Helena's monologue from Shakespeare's play All's well that ends well ACT I Scene iii." Ms. D nodded slightly and signaled for the student next to her to start recording.
"Then I confess, here on my knees." Emma lowered herself to knees hands, but kept her back straight on her lap.
"That before and next unto high heaven,
I love your son.
My friends were poor, but honest; so's my love:
Be not offended, for it hurts not him
That he is lov'd of me: I follow him not
By any token of presumptuous suit;
Nor would I have him till I do deserve him;
Yet never know how that desert should be." She paused and leaned back so that the back of her thighs met.
"I know I love in vain, strive against hope;
Yet, in this captious and intenible sieve
I still pour in the waters of my love,
And lack not to lose still." She rose again this time to her feet.
"Thus, Indian-like,
Religious in mine error, I adore
The sun, that looks upon his worshipper,
But knows of him no more. My dearest madam,
Let not your hate encounter with my love
For loving where you do: but, if yourself,
Whose aged honour cites a virtuous youth,
Did ever in so true a flame of liking
Wish chastely and love dearly, that your Dian
Was both herself and Love; O! then, give pity
To her." She opened her arms, not fully out but just so that there was space between her elbows and hip.
"Whose state is such that cannot choose
But lend and give where she is sure to lose;
That seeks not to find that her search implies,
But, riddle-like, lives sweetly where she dies."
She dropped her arms and lowered her head, signaling the end to her scene. In her bowed position she looked at her class. It was dead silent, faces frozen with either shock or disbelief. Ms. D slowly rose from her seat and broke the pregnant pause that fell on the room, hands slowly colliding together.
"Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. I want all of you to take note of what Emma did; she found the monologue that spoke to her. She stepped out of her comfort zone, took a risk, which is what acting is all about." The bell rang, ending the first round of winter finals. "Before you leave let me say this, when we prepare for summer finals I will be taking note of what scenes you will be preforming because I do not want a repeat of today, consider this your warning. You are dismissed." She turned to Emma and squeezed the teens shoulder. "Excellent job Emma that was a beautiful performance."
"Thank you Ms. D, and sorry about snapping at you before we went on break. I had a lot going on and I know that is no excuse for what I did." The frizzy blonde teacher gave her a smile that just said she understood.
"It is all right Emma, if this scene was anything to go by I can guess what was, or is still, going on with you." She winked and walked away just as a blush was forming on to adolescent cheeks. Was she that obvious? If she was then she was screwed.
Tink's heart was pounding so hard against her chest that she was sure you could see the skin rise and fall with every thump. Her whole body shook, and the pancakes that were in her stomach was forming a hard rock low in her belly and she felt like as though she needed to throw up. All in all she was suffering a bad case of nervousness. It was ridiculous is what it was, working herself up like this, her music finals have always been like this, nothing has changed. Wait, that was a lie, something had greatly change that would make this final much different from last years; Neráida was conducting finals this term.
Music classes at Storybrooke Academy were split into two different categories, orchestra and band. Despite the separation finals for both musical groups were conducted the same way; winter was individual and summer was a group. Both finals were important as they affected your grade, but the winter final decided where you sat in band or orchestra for the remainder of the year. First chair, second chair, third, for every instrument was open for the taking. It was rare for the person who previously held any of the three highest chairs to continue to hold them, they were held to a higher standard than the others. That was especially true for first chair, no one who was first chair last year was first the following year. The position of which chair you get was based on how well you did in this upcoming evaluation, it was more that than a test. The top four were pulled for an extra performance, of the conductor's choice, and from there you get chairs 1-4. Last year Tink was fourth chair.
Next to the strings, the violins, cellos, and violas, woodwinds make up the second largest section of the orchestra and therefor instruments like flutes are highly competitive for they are the only section next to the strings to hold any melodies or solos. In flutes alone there were eight of them, leaving very little wiggle room between chairs. Unlike with the violins which were split into three separate rows each with a first second and third chairs, with the first chair in the first row being the highest chair of all. Since Tink was fourth chair she was in the last group along with the other chairs. Nova skipped out of the music room, blue folder under one arm and violin case swinging slightly at her side.
"Tink hey!" She bounced in front of the dirty blonde with a very Nova like smile on her face.
"Hey, how did it go?"
"Like it does every year I guess but one of my strings snapped." She opened up the case and sure enough one of the strings popped upped, the severed ended curling away from each other.
"Ouch, what happened?" The curly brunette pouted and poked at the severed string. Honestly she was like a little kid playing with the new bruise they got, it hurt but they couldn't stop messing with it.
"I don't know, one minute I was playing and then it snapped. Luckily I played enough that they could grade me so I don't have to retake it."
"That's good news." Nova's smile returned and she closed the case with a defined 'snap'.
"Well, I have to get going, have a lot of packing to do you know."
"Oh are you and Neráida going home this winter break?" The curly brunette emulated a squeak that would make any rodent envious and the black case was pushed even harder against her chest. "Oh god I'm sorry Nova forget a mentioned it."
"No it's okay, I'm going home but Neráida is staying, she says she's taking a course over the winter so she will be staying here."
"Okay well good luck on the rest of your exams Nova and have a great break."
"Good luck to you as well Tink." With a wave the other girl skipped away as though nothing happened. It was for the best anyway, it was her time to go on. Tink entered the room where their conductor stood dead center in small raised circle platform where he always taught and conducted. He was not a necessarily tall man but what he lacked in height he made up in criticism, not once had he complemented his students, group or solo. From where she sat at the piano bench Neráida looked small in comparison to him. Monsieur Maurice didn't even acknowledge Tink as she set up her music and flute in preparation to playing.
Sonata in A minor was Tink's favorite piece. She heard it when she was young and instantly fell in love with it and the flute. It only be fair that she play the piece of music that persuaded her to start playing in the first place. She took her stands, straight but relaxed, and locked eyes with Neráida for a moment before she closed them and started to play. Her playing was soft yet crisped, almost like a bird. She swayed as she played the flow of her movements in time with the music.
Slowly her eyes started to open again, her brown eyes meting slightly darker brown as she did. Neráida's face had softened and her mouth fell open ever so slightly. Tink felt almost like a snake charmer for whenever she swayed Neráida's eyes followed her and she would lean ever so to match her, when she breathed so did Neráida, her chest quickly rose like it was constricted against the blue sweater the student teacher always wore. When she finished playing the reddish brunette snapped out of whatever trace she was in and turned in her seat so that she was facing the piano but didn't make a move to play it. Tink shifted her attention from Neráida to Monsieur Maurice, his stone face showed no cracks, which she was used to, and bowed to take her leave.
As she left her eyes locked onto Neráida's one last time, a blush was evident on the older woman's cheeks and her eyes had darkened several shades. When she fully exited the room Tink let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding, a warm feeling coursed through her body as she thought of the blush and desire that was on the young woman's face. Had she caused that? Perhaps what she was feeling not one sided after all. Only time would tell.
It was one thing to miss normal classes but finals was another thing entirely. Emma sat at her desk in the back of the third row in Mr. Gold's classroom, tapping her pencil against the wooden surface. Mr. Gold was the last final that they had so everyone was jumpy to finish finals as quickly as possible but that was not why the curly blonde teen was twitching. Regina had not shown up yet, which was unusual. Regina was always there before Emma, sitting at her desk with legs elegantly crossed at the knee and ready for the day's lesson. But so far the class president was nowhere to be seen and thus Emma's current state of distress. However, just before the bell rang Regina strutted into the room cool as a cucumber. Emma followed the brunette with her eyes and like an idiot she waved at the olive tone teen. But unlike what one might expect of Regina the class president returned Emma's wave with a small smile before taking her seat.
Small or otherwise that smile just made Emma's day and empowered her to take on Mr. Gold's test head on. She didn't even flinched when she heard the telltale signs of Mr. Gold himself, the normally dull thump of his cane synced with the second hand on the clock. When he announced that there were only five minutes left everyone scrambled to complete the essay that came with the test that is everyone but Emma. She was putting the final touches on the essay, checking for grammar and spelling mistakes, just making sure that everything was all in order before she put everything in the right order and ready to turn in. At the end of the exam she flagged down Regina who was slowly placing her limited school supplies into something that Emma could not identify as either a clutch or a pencil case.
"So how did you think you do?" Regina looked up at her and tucked some hair behind her ear.
"No idea, I want to say I did well but you can never know what kind of answers Mr. Gold expects from you." Even though Mr. Gold was not allowed to grade his finals he did make them and instead of the basic scan-tron test he gave them a short answer test, five questions, along with the essay.
"Yeah I know what you mean, he can give you this simple looking question but he can turn it into a huge deal."
"Precisely." Regina stood up from her seat, causing her to be in close proximity with the blonde in front of her.
"Any way I just wanted to how you are doing and to wish you a merry Christmas or whatever it is you celebrate."
"Thank you Emma, and happy holiday's to you as well." With another small smile Regina exited in her usual air of power and apples, but this time the air was a little less heavy than it normally was. Who knows maybe they were turning over a new leaf, even if they never became friends at least they were being civil, and for now that would be enough.
A/N: so obviously I do not own anything and that includes the brilliant work of William Shakespeare or Bach. Thanks for reading!
URL for a sample of Emma's performance: watch?v=WjButnVAUFM
URL for a sample of Tink's performance: watch?v=dTKtWEAyFd0