"I hope you have a good reason for calling me here. I have a sick two year old at home with his aunts in Maine, and, to be perfectly honest, I do not have time to be wasted."
The principal raised an eyebrow when the door opened and quickly slammed shut behind the woman with the clipped and cold voice. He looked between her and the sassy girl's parents, unsurprised and also somewhat startled. They seemed to, in some way, know each other. No, that's impossible, he tiredly rubbed his eyes, I'm probably just used to all of these parents being connected. Mills is from Maine anyways, and they keep to themselves. She and her family want nothing to do with big apple transplants to New Hampshire. It had been a long day. Some fifth years had gotten into something of a brawl in gym class, not unusual for eleven year old boys, of course, but it was still a problem. He was only relieved that he didn't have to deal with sixth through twelfth years; his brief work in secondary schools had been a headache. This brought back the same feeling. Both girls had refused to look at each other since they had been brought into his office, which, he supposed, was better than the alternative.
"Oh, look," The sassy girl shared a smirk with her parents when they turned to look at the woman who entered the office. "It's the evil queen."
Regina flinched despite herself, and set her hands protectively on her daughter's shoulders. There's no way the know the truth. Lynn is more clever than that. The father of the sassy girl was incredibly well dressed, as was his wife. For just a few seconds, Regina felt lesser. She had left Storybrooke in a rush, only pausing to touch up her makeup, drop her mobile and a portable charger in her purse with her car keys. She had forgotten her blazer, and her blouse sleeves were a bit wrinkled, as were her dress pants. These people…it was almost unbelievable. Why do they look…seem so familiar? She tried not to dwell on that. It made her feel sick. She focused on them beside that. They were almost certainly wealthier than her, and could easily sue her senseless. She set that thought aside. There would be skeletons in their closets, plenty of them. It wouldn't be too hard to find, at least with the people she could use. There was nothing they could truly do to hurt her, or her family. The sassy girl's mother looked furious at her, and there was serious contempt in her eyes. That was only heightened when she looked at Lynn.
"That's enough, Aria," The principal said, turning his gaze to the girl's parents. "Leah, Stephen, I apologise for Lynnetta's behaviour. It was completely unacceptable, and there will be consequences at school for them."
Regina nearly fell over, her hands briefly tightening around her daughter's shoulders. Lynn turned around for a moment, wincing when she adjusted her hand under the ice pack.
Fuck. I hadn't considered the people who would be dropped outside of Storybrooke…they must have been cursed someplace else, for a little. Did Henry…
She tried not to think about that. There was no way Henry's biological mother could have had anything to do with breaking curses on people, even weak ends of it.
"I would like to see her at least facing suspension," Leah sniffed. "Aria might have a broken nose! Lynnetta Mills attacked her completely unprovoked, and -"
"We don't need to go that far," The principal smoothly cut in. "But I do agree to an extent. There must be consequences for Lynnetta's actions."
"You won't consider suspension?" Stepehn exclaimed. "With all due respect, I have to take the same position as my wife! Lynnetta inflicted real, physical harm on our daughter, and for no reason!"
"It wasn't for no reason," Lynn muttered. "She was being a bitch."
"Lynnetta," Regina said sharply. "Don't say things like that."
Lynn slumped back but didn't protest.
"Thank you, Miss Mills," The principal said, shifting the pen in his hands. "Now," He sent a pointed look towards her, Leah, and Stephen. "This may take a little while, so take a seat."
Leah and Stephen both stared at Regina with contempt while they sat down. She scowled at them whilst she sat down, too, briefly wishing she had made the curse more potent, and more specific.
"I am deeply disappointed in you, Lynnetta," The principal began, setting down his pen. "You are an exceptional student, you are about five years ahead of your classmates in terms of academia, and you typically do well enough when working with and interacting with your classmates."
"Evidently not," Stephen's eyes narrowed. "No one who does well interacting with their classmates would act this way."
"That is not true. This is an anomaly in her behaviour," The principal shook his head. "That being said, unfortunately, this is definitive proof that we need to keep you in the year for your age while giving you the work for where you are academically."
"I don't disagree with that," Regina said primly. "Lynn needs as normal a life as possible, and I would push back if you sought to put her with people much older than her."
"She does need a normal school life," The principal agreed. "Which is why I am both disappointed and concerned by her behaviour today."
"We all are," Stephen said, helping his daughter keep the ice pack against her nose. "Again, as it seems I must remind you, she attacked my daughter completely unprovoked. That kind of behaviour cannot stand, and I hope you understand that."
"Yes, her behaviour cannot stand," The principal paused. "However, Lynnetta gave a different story for why she hit Aria than you and Leah seem to believe. It was also, naturally, a different story for why she hit Aria than Aria herself gave."
Leah's lips curled down into a frown. "And what story was that?" She looked darkly towards Lynn. "I find it hard to believe that Aria would ever lie. Someone who would attack her, however, I -"
"My daughter would never fabricate a story to justify hurting someone," Regina barely concealed her anger. "You would do well to keep your mouth shut."
Leah took in a sharp breath. "Why, you -"
"Enough," The principal stood up, and all of them fell utterly silent. "Now," He said calmly. "Lynnetta's story is that, while discussing fairy tales insofar as they pertained to upcoming book reports for them as third years, Aria insulted her mother. Furthermore, Lynnetta claims that Aria called her mother, and forgive me for this, 'a cruel, violent woman.'"
Stephen rolled his eyes. "That's ridiculous. Aria has never even met that woman. Though I would not be surprised if she is like that, given how Lynnetta acted."
"I did call her mother that," Aria admitted. "Only after she hit me. Because I was making fun of her for hitting me and being obsessed with the evil queen."
The principal looked between her and Lynn.
"That is just as unjustified as Lynnetta hitting you," The principal eventually said. "Given that you made a similar comment upon simply seeing Lynnetta's mother, I find both of your stories suspicious. I'm disappointed you exaggerated your innocence, Aria."
"Exaggerated?" Leah almost shouted. "How could you say that about my daughter? She is using humour to process this! What is wrong with you?"
"Please refrain from commenting on what I have to say," The principal crossed his arms. "I am appalled by the behaviour of both girls as it is appearing now. That being said, Lynnetta is most certainly the most in the wrong."
Lynn stared at him in shock. "But she was implying my mother kills people! Why else would she have made those comments after I hit her?"
"You are both acting incredibly childish," The principal said, rather sharpish. "You are both conflating fairy tales with reality, and you are both using them as a shield to justify such a ridiculous, uncalled for fight. It is rather shocking to see, for two girls who usually are both reasonably level headed and intelligent."
An almost deafening silence fell over them.
"I will be giving Lynnetta six weeks of after school detention, which will include cleaning the halls under supervision," The principal said once he was sure no one would interject further. "Miss Mills, please note that and tell her aunt to account for that when coming to pick her up from school."
Regina sighed. "Alright. I suppose that is reasonable."
The principal nodded. Then, he turned towards Leah, Stephen, and Aria.
"I will also be giving Aria two weeks of in school suspension," He raised a hand to silence them before they could protest. "Which will be used solely to provide her counselling. I'm most concerned she's facing underlying social anxiety and issues, which I suspect is part of what caused her and Lynn's…fight. I also will be moving Aria to a different class than Lynnetta, to keep them apart, and to prevent them from being around each other at recess or during any other time."
"At least she won't be around that child," Stephen said, standing up with Leah and Aria. "We will be taking her to the doctor to ensure she won't suffer any long term damage."
The three of them walked out of the room, and the door slammed shut behind them.
"Miss Mills, I understand Lynnetta is receiving outside counselling," The principal said once they were alone. "I strongly encourage you to mention this to them."
"Of course," Regina adjusted her purse on her shoulder, both hands dancing against the strap. "May we go now?"
The principal nodded, gesturing towards the door. "Yes," He said shortly. "Her after school detentions will begin next week."
Regina gently tapped a hand against her daughter's shoulder, and Lynn startled but quickly stood up, setting down the ice pack on the principal's desk and wincing when she started towards the door. Her mother pulled it open, lightly pushing her through, them both walking unusually slow. Her mother took her daughter's uninjured hand in her own, giving it an affectionate squeeze. Without saying a word, they walked down towards her classroom to pick up her things. Lynn stared at her mother for a moment, shaking a bit. Eventually, the two of them stepped into the classroom. To the relief of them both, neither Leah nor Stephen nor Aria were in the classroom, presumably having already taken Aria's things home. All of the kids in the room started whispering among themselves and taking looks at Lynn every so often. They didn't stop until their teacher shushed them with a sharp look, and when they saw the cold, almost frightening look on Lynn's mother's face. There was something about the way the woman from Maine stared at them which scared them. Still, they took another look at Lynn.
With her uninjured hand, Lynn grabbed her things off her desk and dropped them into her backpack. She zipped it up quickly, and shrugged it onto one shoulder. She then picked up her jacket, and winced when she tried to shrug her backpack on both shoulders. Her mother took it the second she was close enough, sending her daughter's classmates another dark look before the two of them walked out. Regina then took her daughter's jacket, and the two of them started out of the building. Lynn awkwardly looked down, and grasped onto one of her mother's hands with her uninjured hand. She only glanced up when she could see the Maine licence plate on her mother's Mercedes through her hair, which she had intentionally let fall in front of her face. Regina quickly unlocked the car and tossed her daughter's backpack and jacket in the backseat of the car. Lynn hesitated, and then slipped into the passenger seat. She quickly buckled herself in, and leaned back, trying to keep her injured hand as still as possible.
"Alright," Regina slammed the car door shut the second she got in. "You okay, Lynn?"
Lynn said nothing, too embarrassed to say anything.
"Lynn?" Regina shifted to lean over a little and brush the back of her hand against her daughter's cheek. "I am not angry with you. I promise."
The nine year old glanced towards her mother, pulling her hair back from her face. For just a moment, Regina could have sworn her daughter looked much younger.
"I almost let our secret out," Lynn started to cry. "I'm stupid!"
"No, no, you're not stupid," Regina sighed, affectionately pressing a kiss to her daughter's forehead. "And you didn't come even close to letting our secret out. But, Lynn, don't ever try to take on something that personal again. I don't want to see you this upset again, if it can be avoided."
Lynn stared at her for a few seconds, eventually weakly nodding.
"It felt too familiar, momma," Lynn whimpered. "Aria was nice to me at one point. I don't know why she got like that…"
Regina hesitated.
"Aria is not her real name."
Lynn tilted her head in confusion.
"Her real name is Aurora," Her mother's voice wavered. "And, I don't know how, but she and her parents…they cursed but not in Storybrooke…and they must have had their weak link of the curse broken about seven or eight years ago."
Lynn bit her lip. "So like how me and Henry grow?"
"No," Regina briefly embraced her daughter. "I don't know how or why either have happened, but we don't have to worry. The curse is perfectly stable at home, and that is not going to change."
Replies To Reviews:
barrattajennifer: glad you liked it! i hope this was a good follow up even if it was a little late.
Sammii16: of course! these two chapters have been especially fun to write!
jlecoq294: Regina is so interesting to write, and, well…we all know that she has spoken too soon.