The School Play

Chapter 36

Emma shifted back and forth on her feet. The sounds on the other side of the door indicated that someone was coming, and she felt a bit nervous. She hadn't been to Regina's house in what felt like forever, but the girl had suddenly invited her.

If Emma had remembered it correctly, Regina was still grounded for two more weeks, but she didn't want to pass on on the invitation, so she hadn't asked any questions.

She was very excited. Earlier that day, Emma had gotten a response from Boston University School of Law and she was accepted. It was something she really hadn't expected, though she'd always had good grades. An opportunity like this was insane. Her mind kept wandering off to next year and how different everything was going to be, but her thoughts were interrupted when the door opened.

Regina smiled broadly and tugged her arm. "Come in," she said, happily. She did seem extremely happy, in a way Emma hadn't seen before. "I didn't think I could come into your house, not for the next two weeks, at least. Is your mother okay with this?"

The brunette merely shrugged and smiled. "I just wanted to see you," she said. "Somewhere other than the school bathrooms or chaotic cafeteria's." She kept quiet for a moment. "Robin's here too, though. But especially now that things between him and Marian are evolving, he doesn't really mind what I'm doing."

Emma smiled. She was still slightly confused that Regina suddenly seemed so confident in having her over, but she cared so very little when she saw the girl swaying to the living room. She couldn't say anything else, because Regina had her lips firmly pressed against Emma's.

It was nice, having a change of scenery. Emma guided Regina to the couch and continued kissing her tenderly. "You're.." Regina tried to speak between kisses. "A great.." she captured Emma's lips again. "Kisser."

"Only because of you," Emma quickly said, not wanting to lose time kissing Regina. She pushed the girl on her back and straddled her thighs, before she kissed her lips passionately again.

Suddenly, the living room door opened, causing them both to abruptly stop. Emma turned around, expecting to see Robin, but instead, Cora Mills was standing in the doorway.

Regina's eyes widened and she crawled away from Emma. "Mother.. I thought you wouldn't be back home until next week."

Emma could see Regina's fingers starting to tremble and she had to fight the urge to grab the girl's hands and tell her everything was going to be okay. She wasn't even sure it was, though. Cora had a scowl on her face, but was evidently trying to find ways to express herself.

"I promise it's not like it seems," Regina said, her voice quavered. "Mother, please say something."

Cora squinted her eyes and threw a letter at Regina, before she turned around and left the living room. Regina furrowed her eyebrows, and gasped softly when she saw who the letter was from.

"It's the acting school I applied to," Regina said. "I hadn't told her about it. She thinks I applied to Harvard and Colombia and schools like that. She has high expectations, but I'm not that smart and I'm not willing to work for it."

Emma grabbed Regina's hand, Cora was not in the room anyway. "You're very smart, but you have to do what you want to do. Open it."

Regina swallowed. "It's a rejection anyway, this is from one of the best acting schools in America."

"So? It's better to know either way," Emma said. "Open it."

Regina looked concerned, but slowly opened the letter. Her eyes scanned across the paper, and Emma immediately could tell it was good news.