The next morning I woke up to Felicity yanking my blankets off and yelling "You're gonna be late!" At first, I had no idea what she was talking about. Then I remembered I have school. I got out of bed and ran to the kitchen. A bowl of Lucky Charms was sitting on the table. I scarfed down the food and ran upstairs to get dressed. I put on a simple white t-shirt and black jeans. I stuffed my backpack with: books, homework, pencils, pens, and a couple of candy bars for history class. I raced out the door right as the clock struck. I paused. The clock struck? I let the thought slip away and left right as the bus showed up.
Henry wasn't at school when I got there. I was about to look for him at his castle, but the school bell rang. I walked to class still keeping an eye out for Henry. I trudged into the classroom and sat down at my seat. The seat next to me -Henrys seat- was empty. I set my backpack down on the ground and pulled out my homework. I set it on my desk and smoothed it out. I thought about yesterday when I was talking to Henry. He was so cute sitting there and smiling.
"Hannah!" Henry was waving his hand in my face again.
"Oh, Henry, I didn't think you'd be here." I stumbled. He smiled.
"I said I'd see you at school, didn't I?"
"So anyway, what took you so long to get here?" I couldn't stop thinking about yesterday. I remembered him looking at me like I wasn't meant to be there. He shrugged.
"I don't know. Just late, I guess." I looked up Mary Margaret had just walked in the room and started writing on the chalkboard.
"So, Henry, there's this woman I found. Blond hair, leather jacket-"
"Oh, you mean Emma?"
"Yeah, do you know her?"
"Um, sort of, she's my mom." I stared at him. I was about to tell him that she was annoying, but she's his mom. He would never forgive me if I said something like that about her.
"Oh." I turned my gaze to my homework and waited for class to be over.
History was over and I didn't like pretending to use the bathroom to eat my candy bars. Anyway now we were all headed outside for our last class. We all sat down and Mary Margaret started reading to us. I didn't really listen to the story. I just stared off in a distance thinking of nothing.
Then Mary Margaret stood up and walked off. I snapped back to existence and saw her walking up to Regina. Regina called for Henry. When he came back he didn't seem too happy. I was tempted to ask him what she said, but I knew it wasn't my place. After school was over Henry ran up to me.
"Hannah, I found some stones that would be perfect for skipping. Here I thought you might like this one." He held up a black stone with hints of purple surrounding the edges and circling in the middle.
"Thanks, it's awesome." I say as I admire the stone.
"So, let's go." He gestured for me to follow him. So… you and henry are pretty close huh? I heard Felicity say in my mind.
"Um, Henry."
"Yeah?"
"I… I can't skip rocks with you today."
"What? We always skip rocks after school."
"I know but I have other things to do today."
"Is this about Emma?"
"What? No! I'm just saying-"
"You know what? It's ok Regina's expecting me anyway." He put his backpack on. "Goodbye, Hannah."
Sheesh, all that over a bunch of rocks. He didn't have to get all snooty about it. I thought as I walked into the woods. I walked to the toll bridge and sat on the edge. I pulled out the rock henry gave me. The purple in the middle seemed to glow and swirl. I thought about magic and how Henry believed everyone was a fairytale character. Then I started thinking out loud.
"Snow White, Prince Charmin.g, Jiminy Cricket, The Evil Queen? It all makes no sense!" My grip on the rock grew tighter. "There's one more. I just can't seem to remember… Oh it's Rumple… Rumples… Rumpleshtiltskin!"
"That's not how you say it, Dearie." And that was the last thing I heard before everything went black.