For the first time in years, Emma Swan just wanted to get back to school. The brunette teacher was in her thoughts for most the weekend and she couldn't wait to see that woman's smiling face in person instead of just staring at the frozen version on her cellphone.
David had caught her staring at the small screen as they were sitting down to watch one of their favorite television programs on Friday night. Of course, Emma figured he would confront her once again about texting and staring at that screen for too long, and that she usually left that damn device in her bedroom during this time.
She feared for a few minutes as he loomed over her, the cell screen now black. She hoped he wouldn't take her phone because she had Ms. Mills' picture on there and there was no way to exit away from it with him breathing down her neck.
And currently, David had her phone in his hand, but not once pressing the button to wake it up. Emma was silently screaming profanities in her head, hoping to whatever higher being that he wouldn't try to snoop through her phone because as soon as he would turn it on, he would see the screen, and the screen was nothing but the smiling face of her creative writing teacher.
She just hoped he never dared to snoop through the device. But he didn't. He just held it in his hand and gave her a stern look- or at least tried to. He never really mastered that.
"Emma, what have I told you about spending too much time on your phone? You could go blind from looking at this thing," he threatened, shaking Emma's phone in the air.
The blonde just watched his hand, glued to the black smartphone in it. "Sorry," she mumbled. "Graham was texting and I haven't heard from him in a while. He'll be coming down in a couple months as soon as he buys that car."
And that wasn't entirely a lie because, yeah, she had been texting Graham, and yes, he would be coming down in a couple of months. Then, as if to support her explanation, the phone buzzed.
"See?"
"Well," he sighed and gave in, handing the phone back to his daughter. "Just don't stay on it for too long. Mary Margaret will be back soon with dinner, and you know how she doesn't like technology at the table."
"I know." Emma nodded, swiping her finger over the screen to check the message.
"I'm going to the bathroom," he announced, leaning down to press a kiss to the top of her head.
Emma looked at him, her nose scrunching in disgust. "Thanks for the knowledge."
David chuckled and waltzed towards the bathroom, leaving Emma alone to her phone once again. She finally took the time to see the message that Graham had sent her and nearly lost her cool.
So, I talked to Belle. She seemed to have this little idea that you have the hots for the English teacher? ;)
This was going to be a long, long weekend.
By the time that Monday had finally rolled around, Emma could cry. She was dressed and groomed in record time that morning. Mary Margaret was surprised when she saw Emma climbing down the stairs a whole twenty minutes before she usually would.
"Emma! You're up early." She smiled and set her mug down. "Would you like me to make you breakfast?"
"You don't have to." Emma shrugged, not missing the look on her mother's face. She slumped her shoulders and took her seat at the counter. "Okay."
"Great! Do pancakes sound good?" She didn't give the blonde enough time to answer before she grabbed a frying pan from its spot and a box of pancake mix. "What's got you up so early?"
Emma watched the short-haired brunette bounce around the kitchen happily and it just made her heart expand in her chest.
"No reason, really. I was gonna go pick up lunch from Ruby again." Emma smiled when her mother looked over to her.
Then she asked, "don't you usually go later, though?"
"Yeah. I guess I…" Emma shrugged. She didn't want to tell the woman that she was too excited to get the day started just to see Ms. Mills again. "I wanted breakfast today. I know I haven't really been the best daughter, but I appreciate what you do for me," she said.
The smile that it earned melted Emma's heart. "Don't say that! You are a good daughter. You're just a teenager and I know they tend to forget to thank their parents."
"Yeah," she chuckled and licked her lips as the freshly made plate of pancakes had been sat in front of her. "Thanks, Mary Margaret." And with that, she shoved a forkful of the food into her mouth.
"You're welcome, Emma!" Mary Margaret smiled widely and moved forward to kiss her forehead. "I got to get to the school early to help a few students with their science projects," the brunette woman explained as she donned her coat and grabbed the purse hanging on the hook next to it.
Emma watched her and nodded, smiling slightly. "Oh, okay. Have a good day at work."
"I will, thank you. Enjoy your breakfast and have a good day at school. Love you!" she shouted, rushing out the door she managed to open.
"Uh, love you, too," Emma awkwardly called after her.
Quickly, she finished up her breakfast and departed from the loft as well. It had cooled down incredibly outside, leaving a gentle nip in the morning air. Emma hugged herself, pressing the sweater's warm material closer against herself. At least it wasn't sweltering anymore, which had sucked trying to walk to school while swimming in sweat.
After coming to the agreement with Ms. Mills about eating lunch from then on in her room during fifth period, she had told Ruby to make her lunches every day without a call beforehand. The brunette had asked if she would be crazy enough to have grilled cheese every day. So, the waitress had decided she would surprise Emma with a different lunch every day, instead.
Emma had pestered her friend into telling her what she planned on making, but Ruby was reluctant to tell and said it would be a surprise. She also took it upon herself to leave more notes at the bottom of the bag, or so she said she would do that.
The blonde stopped by the diner, surprised to see that Ruby wasn't outside yet. Pulling out her phone from the kangaroo pocket, she checked the time, then quickly scrolled through to message her friend.
Here.
There was an immediate response, resulting in a scoff from Emma.
Someone excited to see her girlfriend this morning?
"Here." The blonde jumped upon seeing Ruby in front of her with a brown paper bag extended in her hand. "Don't peek until lunch, 'kay? It's a surprise."
Then she winked and gods only knows what she had planned.
"I won't," Emma groused. "Thanks again, Rubes, I appreciate it."
"Of course! You know I'd do anything for you, Em." Ruby gave her a wolfish grin before wrapping her lanky arms around Emma, pulling away seconds later. "Have a very good day." She winked once again before turning to head back into the diner.
Emma shook her head as she stuffed the lunch bag into her backpack, then turned to head off toward the school.
"Gods, Emma, what is that smell?" Killian wrinkled his nose when Emma had opened her backpack for the first time. She snorted and shrugged in response, pulling the notebook out that they needed for the questions on the board.
"Lunch," she simply stated, inhaling the scent that permeated from the bag. It was spicy and made her mouth water. What the hell did Ruby make?
That only made him quirk a brow. "Lunch? Are you eating spaghetti or something?"
"I don't know. Ruby made it." Emma shooed away the prodding finger. "She told me not to look at it."
"Why not?" He pouted. "And since when does Ruby make you lunch?"
She rolled her eyes. "Stop being so nosy and let me do the assignment. I hate homework."
"Fine. But remember that our gym classes are merging together today for those fitness test things."
Emma just wanted to wipe that smug look off his face with a dirty gym sock. Of course, he would be so happy that, that would happen so he could bug her for another hour. As if three hours in the same room with her weren't enough.
She looked up and narrowed her eyes. "Make it a habit to stay away from me."
"No promises," he chirped.
"Emma! Killian! No talking during work time," Mr. Booth's voice shouted from his desk.
The blonde shot the boy next to her a glare before hastily answering the questions.
After first period, Emma had headed off to Algebra, of course with Killian trailing behind her. Why he had to take the same classes as the blonde, she never knew. It was annoying sometimes, but she did enjoy having someone to talk to during class, even if he were just a pig half the time.
Usually, in Mr. Spencer's class, she got an hour away from him, which she would normally not mind, but she had to sit next to one of the chattier girls who ended up talking to her friend all class period. It made her wish Killian was next to her instead, at least then, she'd get some peace. Thank whatever higher being that they had a test today, she wouldn't be going deaf in her right ear.
After taking the test in second period and spending the last ten minutes trying to find a way to muffle the shrill voice next to her, Emma nearly sprinted to gym class. And, boy, by the time she was in the gym with the other students and Killian, she wanted it to be fourth period.
It felt odd, but she already missed hearing Ms. Mills' voice.
"Where are you at?" a masculine voice asked, causing her to jump and glare at the disturbance.
"The hell, dude?"
"Jim called your name like thrice now." Killian smirked, prodding Emma's shoulder. "You're making this gaga face at the wall, and we started to get scared."
"Shut up," Emma said before marching off to where her gym teacher stood.
Forty minutes later, Emma was on her way to paradise, walking through the halls with a smile on her face and not caring who saw.
She was there before she knew it, faced with an almost empty class. Upon further inspection of the clock, she discovered it to be way before the time she would normally come in. How the hell did she make it to the class so fast?
Emma shrugged that away and took her seat at the back of the classroom. Ms. Mills wasn't there. Where was she? Her coat was there, and so was the little paper cup she usually had on the corner of her desk.
Good, she's here today.
One minute before the bell and the teacher still wasn't there. Where was she? Now Emma's eyes were glued to the door, her stomach jumping every time it opened, only to fall when it was just another one of her classmates.
The bell then tolled and, still, Ms. Mills was not to be found. Emma frowned and slumped in her seat, quietly watching the door as the other students took advantage of the lack of their superior and talked.
Then the door opened and in came…
Oh fuck.
In stepped the principle, Mr. Gold.
What happened to Ms. Mills? Her things were here, but she wasn't, and the principal was.
Oh Gods, something bad happened.
Mr. Gold limped over to the podium, a slight smirk on his face as the students immediately quieted upon his presence. He cleared his throat and widened his smile. She waited for the inevitable, but her frazzled nerves were wasted for naught as he replied away her fears.
"Ms. Mills will not be here for this period. She is currently in a meeting. But do not fear." His voice just sounded devious, and she wondered why they let such a crocodile of a man become the principal of the school. "I am going to take her place for the hour. She has a study guide for you, so I do suggest you take out a writing utensil. Shall we get started?"
Then it hit her, as the man passed out a paper for today's notes, that Ms. Mills might not make it to lunch.
But the meeting really shouldn't last that long. She could always stay in here despite her absence and wait until she did show up.
That worked.
She would do that, Emma thought as she filled in the space below each question. The blonde allowed her thoughts to veer away from her teacher so she could quickly complete the study guide. Hopefully that would take her to the end of the period. She didn't like sitting too long in a room with Mr. Gold in it.
And it did take the entire period, finishing up all twenty questions.
Emma looked up from her spot to the clock, one minute before the bell rang. Her eyes skated around the room to find that everyone else was either still working on the sheet or packed up and ready to go. Then her eyes landed on Mr. Gold sitting in Ms. Mills' desk, one of her pens between his fingers as he tapped it against the hard surface.
She shuddered and shoved the study guide into her backpack which, upon opening, allowed the aroma of her lunch to hit her, eliciting a growl from her stomach.
Emma stayed in her spot like she usually did as every other student filed out of the room. She reached down as the last student left to pull out the paper bag when she noticed that Mr. Gold was still there, and he was standing beside her with a quirked brow.
"Isn't it time to go, Ms. Swan?" he asked, knuckles turning white as he gripped the knob of his cane.
"I have to ask Ms. Mills a question," Emma easily lied, eyes on the principal's face.
Mr. Gold nodded with a sound that barely acknowledged what she said, then he said, "She'll be a while. I recommend that you ask her in class tomorrow." And he continued to stare at her until she got up, sighing in defeat, and trudged to the door. There was no sense in arguing with this man.
"Have a good day, Ms. Swan," he murmured as he followed behind her.
Emma had stopped in the middle of the English hallway, her eyes on the man as he limped toward the opposite direction. He locked the door, so she was forced to sit outside, her back against the cold wood.
It felt like it had been hours when Ms. Mills had finally arrived about twenty minutes later, her pumps clicking on the tiled floor as she sashayed toward the classroom. She stopped before Emma, leaving her a view of those muscular olive legs.
Don't stare. Don't stare. Don't stare.
She kept repeating the mantra, trying to pry her eyes away from the skin that hadn't been covered by that skirt of hers. Emma met her astounded gaze and smiled so sheepishly she must have looked like a damned schoolgirl.
Oh, wait.
"You waited for me?" Ms. Mills finally asked.
Emma nodded and hoisted herself from the ground so she could move out of the way. "Yeah. Mr. Gold told me to leave, and he locked the door."
Once the door was open, she followed the brunette inside, her backpack slung over one shoulder. She instinctively went to her usual desk and moved the chair to sit next to Ms. Mills'. Then she took her own seat, finally removing the paper bag from her pack.
"What did you tell him?" There was a hint of worry in that husky voice of hers and that made Emma's heart drop.
She shook her head. "I figured you wouldn't want me to tell him about lunch, so I just said I needed to ask you a question."
"Thank you." Relief flooded over the teacher's visage. "I don't think he'd really allow us to eat lunch together casually. He has a very strict set of rules."
"I understand." Emma nodded.
"Good." Ms. Mills smiled and it made Emma's heart flutter. "Did you bring lunch?"
"Yeah! Ruby made something different. I don't know what it is, though," she answered, opening the bag with a dubious smile.
"It smells divine," the teacher commented, inhaling deeply, and making her chest strain against the tight jacket that she wore.
Emma took all her might to peel her eyes away from the bits of exposed cleavage and brought out two white Styrofoam containers. She quickly opened the top one to reveal…
"Lasagna?" Emma breathed incredulously. "What the hell, Rubes?"
Ms. Mills chuckled. "Well, she has certainly outdone herself this time."
Emma scowled slightly at the container before peering into the bag, her eyes immediately finding the infamous note.
Your girlfriend loves lasagna. Give her the labeled one. Trust me. ;)
Moving the top takeout box to look at the bottom one, she hoped to find whatever the label was. And there it was, no doubt, with a big heart on the top of it.
"Fuck you, Ruby." She thoughtlessly crumbled the bag up and tossed it into the garbage bin next to the teacher's desk. The actions caused Ms. Mills' brows to raise.
"Sorry," she sheepishly said, pushing the labeled container over to Ms. Mills who, yet again, raised her brows.
"She said to give you this one. I don't know."
She immediately opened it revealing another piece of lasagna that looked the same as Emma's.
Then a fork was taken to the square as Ms. Mills began to dig in. The slight groan of surprise that slipped from her lips had Emma grasping her chair as unwanted tingles shot straight to her center.
"What is it?" she quickly asked, trying to ignore the blush that would no doubt be noticeable to the English teacher.
Ms. Mills grinned and showed her the lasagna square. "It has pepper flakes in it. That's just how I like it. She must have remembered."
"Did she now?" Emma grit as she stabbed her own piece a little too violently. She wished she had known that Ms. Mills liked lasagna. She wished she knew she liked spicy things. That damn salad never told her anything. Stupid salads.
Then she spoke, and all bad thoughts about mauling Ruby dissipated, "How was your day, Emma?"
"It was boring. And annoying. Killian was being his usual perverted self again during gym," she muttered.
"Killian Jones?" Ms. Mills asked softly, her head tilted.
Emma nodded, but then froze. Oh yeah. Killian was the one that had touched her ass, or so he said, and her world just came crashing down around her.
"I'm sorry for what he did to you," she blurted.
That earned an eyebrow raise.
"He told me he touched your butt or something and you sent him to detention."
"Oh." She started to laugh. "He never did that, but he tells everyone he did. He actually touched a boat, but he was mocking the word from that Disney film. I do suppose it would be like him to go around gloating that he touched 'the' butt. That earned him time in detention - the lying."
"Oh." Emma had totally misinterpreted what he had said. But then he just readily agreed that he had sexually harassed her. "Goddamn him. He shouldn't be staring at your ass. No one should be."
Those words were out of her mouth before she could stop them. Because that was the second half of the little argument she had with him. He virtually said he had stared at her ass and that just angered Emma to no end.
"I…" Ms. Mills couldn't seem to find her words.
"Sorry. I-I mean… He was saying that and… I think he misinterpreted what I said and… George, shut me up." Emma slunk her head onto the desk. "I need music."
"M-Music?" Ms. Mills had finally sputtered.
"Mind if I play some while we eat?" she asked politely, pulling her phone out and setting it on the desk, desperate for distraction. Ms. Mills shook her head, in which Emma immediately woke her phone up to go to the music player. "Do you like rock?" Emma asked, scrolling through the media list, pausing on a title.
"I do, yes." The teacher nodded her head as the blonde pressed play on the song.
"I like you even more, Ms. Mills." Emma smirked and leaned back in her chair, consuming the cold lasagna.
A song started to play through the otherwise quiet room and Ms. Mills just stared at the cellular device.
"Do you not like it?"
"Oh, no. I've just… It's nice," she finally said, a tight smile on her lips. "I need it after that meeting. Music relaxes me."
"What was that about, anyways? If you don't mind my asking," the blonde said curiously. "I mean it was random to have during a class period."
"Oh. That. Well, they were discussing how my classes are, since I have had a few complaints and several drop-outs since the beginning of the semester. Also, they're trying to get me to be 'less intimidating' and 'more approachable.'"
"Less intimidating?" Emma snorted. "You're not intimidating at all."
That caused Ms. Mills to blink. "You don't think so?"
"No, of course not! They're just scared that they won't pass your class because of the rumors and the whole Evil Queen thing. I mean, I've got an A in this class, so I don't know what they're worried about." She shrugged. "And, besides, you're only doing your job. It's everyone else's fault for not paying attention."
She smiled. It was a soft, tentative one, but she smiled.
"I'll just have to ease up a bit on my grading scale, I suppose." Ms. Mills sighed. "I've been doing this for over five years and just now they decide to change my methods. It'll be difficult."
Emma smiled. "You'll do great. I'll give you free advertising if you want. Tell 'em that you're a pretty cool teacher, but everyone else's 'bad' attitudes were getting in the way."
"You'd do that?"
"Mhm!" Emma nodded. "I wish I could have you as a teacher next semester, too. I mean, this sucks… only one semester. Yours is the only class that I don't fall asleep in."
"How flattering." Ms. Mills chuckled. "I am certainly glad that you think so."
The blonde shrugged and grinned in return. "And you're the only one that I find inviting enough to eat lunch with. I don't know why everyone finds you so intimidating. Look at Mr. Spencer. Now he's intimidating."
"Now, that's my colleague." The teacher laughed anyways.
"Sorry." Emma laughed as well. She had to learn to use a filter around Ms. Mills. She kept forgetting that she was talking to her teacher and not just some friend. It was weird, but she also suspected that the brunette had felt the same while talking to her.
With a soft and content sigh, she leaned back against her chair once again. Then the inevitable came. The bell rang.
"Shit- aki mushrooms." Emma popped out of her seat, quickly gathering the trash, only to be stopped by an olive hand.
"I'll get it. You go. I know how far your government class is." Then she flashed a reassuring smile that had Emma quickly shove her phone into her pocket and grab her bag so she could leave.
"Thanks," she murmured, speed-walking toward the door.
"Have a good day, Emma, and thank you for lunch." She heard her call out and responded with something incoherent.
Emma reached the government classroom just in time to hear the announcement about a test. She had forgotten over the weekend and her impatience to see Ms. Mills again. That meant she'd just have to wing it and probably get a low grade.
It wasn't until art class, about an hour later, that Belle spoke to Emma.
"How was the lasagna?"
"You knew?" Emma narrowed her eyes at the brunette next to her, a scowl on her face, because of course she would know. It seemed that she'd been hanging out with Ruby more often than not anymore.
The usually quiet girl nodded in response to the question, her eyes focused on the papers in front of her.
"So, how was it?" she asked again.
"Good-"
"Did Ms. Mills like her special slice?" And there was a knowing twinkle in her eyes.
"Why did you two do that?"
"What?"
"The special piece and the heart and shit?"
"Because we know you nearly choked the last time you tried the spicy kind and every time Ms. Mills comes into the diner, she orders that." Belle shrugged as if it were simple.
"But why the heart?" She didn't answer that question and Emma knew why. "I thought I told you to not play matchmaker?"
"We aren't. It was just a label."
"It was a heart."
"So? Did she say anything?"
"No. But that does-"
"Then you're fine. Leave it alone."
"You two are annoying." Emma rolled her eyes but allowed a playful smile on her lips.
"We know." Belle chuckled. "Did she like it?"
"Yeah. You know what she did?"
"What?"
Just thinking about that noise that Ms. Mills had made upon tasting the lasagna caused her to blush. "Nothing. Never mind..."
"Oh, come on!"
"Just… never mind. Leave it alone."
"My God, Em, you're blushing!"
"Shhhh!" Emma shrunk against her chair and poked at the paper with an ebony pencil.
"Sorry." But she really wasn't.
"Whatever." Emma rolled her eyes, staring at the paper in front of her. "I thought we were drawing faces. What the fuck is this shit?" She pointed to the paper between her and Belle that had a picture of a boy sitting in a chair on it.
"We're doing scaling and proportions. It's supposed to help with the project." Belle shrugged and held up a piece of paper. "Haven't you been paying attention?"
"Well, yes. No?"
"Thought so." Belle chuckled. "Now, shut up. We need to get this done. You're already behind."
"Yeah, yeah…" Emma sighed and began to do the assignment.