It was early on a Thursday morning when Emma decided to gain the guts to try Ruby's inane suggestion.
Since it had been so long, the waitress assumed that Emma had been right, and the crush hadn't lasted long, and nearly had an aneurysm from laughing so hard when the latter had asked for lunch about a month later.
Of course, Ruby had berated Emma with several questions, mostly consisting of why she hadn't called for the other assignments, but the blonde had promptly ignored them and urged her to shut up and agree before she gave up completely.
Emma barely heard the question Mary Margaret shouted after her as she rushed through the door; Why was she leaving so early? She managed to make an incoherent response about picking lunch up from Ruby and made haste to keep from further interrogation.
Ruby was waiting for her outside Granny's with a brown paper bag wearing a knowing smile as she handed it off. Emma stuffed it into her backpack with a scowl before rushing off toward the school, butterflies storming her insides.
The first three periods seemed agonizingly slow, and gym was no walk in the park. In fact, she had to run and boy, did she. She felt that if she ran fast enough, the period would end sooner. Mr. Hurst had caught her overexertion and sent her to walk around the track, letting her feel the sun's rays instead of the wind against her face.
By the time Emma had returned to the locker room, she found that she had no time to shower and muttered curses as she made her way over to the sink, recoiling when her own foul stench reached her nose.
Oh, great. This was her first impression and she smelled like something had crawled under her arms and died.
She tried her best to mask the stench with a few dampened paper towels and tons of deodorant as well as a strange body spray that Mary Margaret had gotten her for her birthday last year.
It was a few minutes into fourth period by the time she finished and cursed once again for losing track of time. With a pass from the gym teacher and one last spritz of her body spray, she was gone.
Ms. Mills was in her desk by the time she entered the quiet classroom and found that everyone had started on their paper. She wandered over to the teacher's desk and smiled sheepishly, offering the pass.
The teacher looked up, glasses slipping slightly back up the bridge of her nose as she scrutinized Emma. "I'm glad to see that you don't hold regard to anyone else's schedule but your own, Miss Swan." She took the pass and set it on her desk. "Now, if you feel so inclined to continue work on your assignment, feel free to take a seat," she quipped, looking back to her current work.
Emma nodded and took her seat, smiling to herself despite the rebuke. Being late gave her an advantage. Perhaps she would have more of an excuse to stay after class for lunch. Maybe, just maybe…
Emma took her sweet time writing, going back several times over certain sentences to refine them until she ended up changing the entirety of it. She wanted to get as little done as possible without looking like a slacker. It was hard, honestly. Her eyes were constantly on the teacher and each time Ms. Mills had looked up from her computer, she made sure to get back to the sentence she had edited several times prior.
She had written a paragraph and a half when the bell rang. Her stomach did small flips as she remained seated, the other students leaving in haste for lunch. Just like the first day, Ms. Mills didn't comment. She pulled out the same small container, Emma noted as she watched, and a fork that stabbed the contents.
Before the fork rose to full lips, Ms. Mills stared at Emma with a quirked brow. "You'll have time to work in class tomorrow, Emma. You have no excuses."
"I… uh…" Emma stuttered, feeling as if her brain were about to malfunction, if it hadn't already. She hadn't thought of a backup plan in case it didn't work. It was a surefire success, Ruby had said. Screw you, Emma thought.
Ms. Mills kept that brow lifted as she stared at Emma. Slowly, she brought the fork the rest of the way to her mouth and chewed slowly as she speculated. "Emma?"
"I-I don't… time… none. Nope." She tried, but the sentence didn't seem to form. Oh, Gods, how she wished she could die.
Ms. Mills only stared at her as if she were crazy, blinking slightly and tilting her head. "Well, I'm grateful that your writing is much more coherent than your speaking, dear."
"S-sorry." Emma quickly picked up her backpack, looking to make a swift exit, but Ruby's gifted lunch tumbled out instead. Ms. Mills' eyes fell to the fallen sack.
"Emma, tell me, why are you really in here? Because, clearly, you do not need the time to work. Every other student is capable of finishing it within class and I have seen you do it yourself and turn it in well before others."
"I…" Emma swallowed hard.
"Well?" Ms. Mills prompted her, eyes narrowed, as Emma sat with her jaw slack.
Then she just blurted her next words, "I don't have anyone to sit with at lunch there's just too many people and I don't have enough time to walk home and eat and come back and I hate school lunch?"
Ms. Mills looked at her, lips parted and eyes a bit larger than before. "I see," she said and sat quietly for a moment, chewing on her lip before sighing. "If you had this problem all you had to do was ask and I would have allowed you to sit in here. It is otherwise empty save for myself."
"R-really?" Emma looked at her with tingling cheeks. Gods, she hoped Ms. Mills couldn't see the inevitable blush.
"Certainly. I eat alone, anyways, as you see. I do quite enjoy the company from time to time." She offered a soft smile. "To tell you the truth, I'm not much of a people-person myself."
"Oh?" Emma slightly frowned.
She reached down and grabbed the paper bag out of her backpack before daring her next move - scooting her chair to close the distance between the two. The woman's scent was far stronger now, the spicy perfume filling Emma's senses, and she had to admit that it was nice. It reminded her of apple cider. But then again, that just might have been her own body spray that she drowned herself in earlier.
Her eyes roamed over the desk before her. Seeing it close up like this was strange and she could see what that container had. Just a little bit of salad. She sat back in her seat and opened the bag to see the tinfoil wrapped items that Ruby had given her. With a blink, she peered inside the bag.
Of course, Ruby would do that.
I made you a grilled cheese, girl, and I put in an extra in case your "friend's" hungry.
"What is it?" Ms. Mills looked up from her salad, brows knit together.
"Just a note my friend wrote for me. She packed me a lunch, but gave me an extra sandwich," Emma stated nonchalantly, hoping that it sounded innocent enough. She stopped and looked over to her teacher. "Hey, is that all you have?"
"Hm? This?" She nodded, then shrugged, nibbling on a leaf. "I've found that eating anything much heavier will upset my stomach. I try to maintain something light and simple."
"Yeah," Emma agreed, then bit her lip, eyes on the greens in the small container. "You should eat more than that," she mumbled, half hoping that the brunette hadn't heard the foodie side of her.
"I thought you were my student?" The rich laughter that came from Ms. Mills' lips made Emma's heart speed.
"Y-yeah… But…" She chewed on her lower lip and nudged the extra grilled cheese in front of Regina. "Eating too little makes you lightheaded and weak. I've learned that the hard way."
The lines in Ms. Mills' face tightened as she processed the words. "So, those stories, Emma, the ones you write-"
"Yeah." Emma looked to her lap to keep herself together, chastising herself for speaking at all. "Sometimes I base them off real things. People don't seem to believe them, either way, so why not make it into fiction?"
"Writing your feelings is relieving, but it is temporary. Sometimes we just need a listening ear," Ms. Mills said softly as she took Emma's hand. "And if you ever need to talk…"
Emma looked up, her arm tingling from the contact and shifting to a place where she quickly shied. Oh, Gods, she hoped that Ms. Mills couldn't hear her thundering heart because that thing was going like a drum, especially as she found herself gravitating closer to the older woman as if some magnetic force pulled her. Ms. Mills' brow had creased, no doubt expecting an answer, but Emma was frozen, stuck licking her lips and hoping that perhaps the teacher would close the distance.
But no further time was given when the two were startled by the toll of the bell. Her sandwich had somehow made it onto the floor and before Emma knew it, she was ducking down to snatch it up, promptly ignoring the view of Ms. Mills' bare legs that grazed her arm.
"Crap. I hate that bell," she muttered, taking her seat once again as she finally retrieved her lunch and unwrapped it with a lopsided grin. "You should eat the other one while it's still warm," she suggested to her teacher who stared blankly in return.
Emma, too, stopped her motions and regarded Ms. Mills curiously. Okay, perhaps pretending whatever small moment that was didn't happen probably wasn't the best. When Ms. Mills still hadn't spoken, Emma shoved the extra grilled cheese into her hands.
"I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry," she muttered softly, eyes on the silver package in the brunette's hand.
Ms. Mills probably thought differently, for she took the grilled cheese and sat it on her desk. Soon, her piercing gaze was on Emma, sharp and sobering. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I am," Emma murmured, turning her gaze away.
"You know, it is not anything to be ashamed of," she said, a frown curving her perfect lips downward. "Keeping it bottled in can be damaging." It was then that Emma realized Ms. Mills hadn't been talking about her ridiculous want for a kiss - hell, she probably wasn't even aware! And here she was attempting to give her advice on the prior, prior topic, leaving her to shrink against her seat, frowning to herself as a weight dropped upon her.
In her silence, the teacher spoke, "You should eat that before it gets cold." She straightened in her chair, diverting from the prior topic.
Emma suddenly felt relieved for the change and took a generous bite out of her sandwich. She watched as the older woman carefully opened the tinfoil and picked the grilled cheese out of its wrapping, eyeing the sandwich.
"I hope you like grilled cheese. I never asked…" Emma bit her lip. "I-I mean- I don't want to force you to eat it. It was extra, after all. I could have just eaten it myself or-"
"It's delicious. Thank you for sharing it with me." Ms. Mills smiled carefully. "I must admit, though, that you're right. I should probably eat more than a salad."
"Why a salad?" Emma's curiosity got the better of her.
Ms. Mills' eyebrow quirked, dark eyes roaming over to the abandoned container. "I suppose it's just the quickest to throw together and I don't mind much when it comes to lunch."
"You like sleep, too, huh?" Emma chuckled and took another bite. "I usually skip breakfast to sleep in late. But I had to get up early and skip breakfast to pick this up from Ruby."
"Ruby?"
"Yeah. Ruby Lucas. She graduated last year. I think she took your class before, or so she told me." Emma shrugged and stuffed the rest of her grilled cheese into her mouth.
"Oh, yes, Ms. Lucas. I remember her. She had a mouth on her."
The teen laughed. "Really? I mean, I guess that sounds like her. But, damn, she makes one hell of a grilled cheese, right?"
"Why would she make you lunch?"
"Oh. I thought you knew that she worked at her grandmother's diner. She offered to make me lunch because… Uh… Yeah, she offered to make me lunches so I didn't have to walk all the way there." Emma shrugged nonchalantly.
"Send her my regards. She makes a lovely grilled cheese." The brunette smiled and Emma nearly sighed with relief.
"Maybe I can have her make an extra every day?" The words were out of Emma's mouth before she realized and as soon as she had realized it, her jaw was wired shut.
The words had caught Ms. Mills by surprise, but a pleasant smile crossed over her features. "Would you do that?"
"Yeah. Then you wouldn't have to worry about getting up those extra five minutes to throw rabbit food into a plastic container." She dared to further the implication, nodding tightly. "And it's no problem for me to get up ten minutes early to pick this up."
"You don't have to, Emma. It's not really appropriate." Ms. Mills' visage changed, her brows furrowing.
"Oh, come on, Ms. Mills. It's just lunch." Emma bit her lip and squished the aluminum foil into a ball before depositing it into the brown paper bag. "Look, I mean, I don't have to stay in here. It's fine, really. I could eat somewhere else. Outside isn't too bad or the hallway or something maybe."
"As you wish. It would probably be for the best." Her voice had lowered slightly, but Emma had noticed the change.
"Unless you want me to be in here?" Emma whispered softly and waited for some sort of negative comment.
But she was taken by surprise by what Ms. Mills had said next, "I do not mind the company."
"Oh?"
"Look, Emma. Feel free to do what you wish. If you decide that you do not want to eat in here, that's fine. I do not mind. If you do wish to, I will not be opposed." Her words were simple, but they made Emma turn to putty.
"Then I'll stay tomorrow, and I may or may not have an extra grilled cheese again," Emma simply stated, trying to kill the smile from spreading across her lips.
"If you feel so inclined to." Ms. Mills gave her a short nod, although the slight lilt of her lips gave her away. "You'll want to get packed up. The bell is about to ring."
Emma immediately turned her head to confirm it with the clock.
"Yeah. I ought to… Uh, see you tomorrow, Ms. Mills." The blonde gave her a small smile as she flung her backpack over her shoulder and replaced the chair. She then quickly collected the garbage from their lunch and threw it into the bin on her way out.
"Have a good day, Emma."
"You too!"
Emma just made it to her government class as the bell rang. Belle looked up from her desk as the door clicked shut and Mr. Glass quirked a brow.
"Right in the nick of time, Emma," he clucked. "Have a seat. We're going to get started."
Emma nodded and quickly headed to her spot next to Belle, who had immediately started to berate her with whispered questions. One of which was asking where she had been.
"I had lunch in my fourth period class," she answered, a proud smirk on her lips.
"You actually took Ruby's advice?" Belle's eyebrows rose and she pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. "Seriously? How did it go?"
Emma shrugged and exhaled. "Ruby gave me an extra grilled cheese and a stupid note." With that memory, the blonde rolled her eyes.
"Really?" Her brunette friend laughed. "What did you do?"
"I offered Ms. Mills the grilled cheese and she ate it." Emma shrugged, looking up at the board for a moment to jot down a few notes.
Bell's eyes widened. "You got her to eat more than that salad?"
"Yeah? So?"
"Holy crap, Em."
"What's the big deal?"
"Everyone figures she's a health nut since all she does eat is that and some apple. We've never seen her with anything else besides coffee." Belle shook her head, feigning shock.
"Sometimes people don't have time in the morning to make an elaborate meal," she merely answered with another shrug.
"I guess. The one time someone questioned her she just said she they were the healthiest thing," Belle explained, eyeing Emma with a knowing smirk.
Emma hid her smile behind her hands. "I'm gonna bring more extras tomorrow and I don't think she minds."
Belle blinked. "Really? Are you sure that you're talking about the Ms. Mills or some impostor?"
"Yeah, it's the right one." She grinned smugly.
"Wow." An astonished chuckle forced its way past her lips. "I always figured she liked being alone."
Emma frowned, then paused and looked at Belle. "Do you know if she has a boyfriend, or something?"
"I don't know." Belle shrugged, froze, then shot Emma a smirk. "Are you going to… y'know?"
"What? No!" Emma was appalled that she would even suggest that, but, then again, wasn't that what she was trying to do? "I came up with a half-bullshit story that I don't have anywhere to eat lunch and no one to sit with and she let me stay."
"You're definitely not dining with the right Ms. Mills." Belle was in a state of disbelief now. "You're lucky, Em. I've known her for basically four years now and this is a first as far as I know."
"Just don't tell anyone, okay?"
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want them making fun of me or anything. I mean… I probably look like a teacher's pet or something, just staying in there like that." She frowned slightly.
"Can Ruby be an exception?" Belle pleaded, bouncing slightly in her seat.
"You tell her everything anyways." Emma glared at her friend, recalling the first day of school and Belle's inability to keep her trap shut.
"Good." Belle smirked and wrote something down into her notebook. "We have an assignment."
"What?"
"An as-si-gn-ment. You were distracted by her again."
"Shut up, Belle." Emma huffed and wrote down the assignment as well, given barely enough time before the bell rang, dismissing class. "Hey, what're we doing in art today?"
"Words, calligraphy, maybe," Belle explained as the two friends walked out of the government room. "I think it's your name, but I'm sure you can choose a random word, too."
"Oh…" Emma grinned to herself, an idea popping into her head. "Thanks."
"Uh, you're welcome?"
"Yeah, yeah…" And then Emma nearly sprinted to her next period class, leaving a Belle to chase behind her.