Somewhere in Neverland

ƇӇƛƤƬЄƦ 2

**Next Day**

Scarlett's P.O.V.

I woke up and changed, smirking at my choice of sweater today. I grabbed my book bag and trudged down the stairs. Henry was already down here. "C'mon, Henry. We gotta get to school," I said walking to the door. "Hold up," our 'mom' said. "What?" I asked. She approached us with our story book and asked, "The missing pages... where are they?" "It's an old book. Stuff's missing. Why do you care?" I asked. "I care because you think I'm some evil queen. And that hurts me, Scarlett. I'm your mother," she said. "No you're not," Henry said, angrily. "Well, then, who is? That woman you brought here? I don't like what she or this book is doing to you. Thankfully, both are no longer an issue," she said. "What did you do?" I asked, angrily. "I did nothing. Now, go to school," she said and pushed us out the door.

Henry and I walked towards the bus to school. "Here goes another day of torture," I said, putting on my headphones and pressing shuffle on my Spotify playlist. The Ballad of Mona Lisa by "Panic! At The Disco" played first. I turned the volume all the way up and sat in the back of the bus next to my brother. I looked out the window the whole ride. When we got to school, I told Henry to go find a friend and to leave me alone for a bit. I'm usually alone at school. So is Henry. I'm known as weird because of my personality. It's not my fault everyone in this damn town is so bubblegum and rainbows about everything. So what if I like the darker, more punk, stuff? It's not like I'm emo... half the school seems to think that I am. I groaned as I entered my first class, Math. My teacher, Little Miss Sunshine, waved hello to me. I waved unenthusiastically back at her and took a seat in the back of the room. She saw my sweater and said, "Miss Mills, you cannot wear that sweater to school. It has profanity on it." "Good," I said. "Excuse me?" she said, laughing as if I were joking. "I said 'good'. I'm expressing myself through my clothes," I said. "Well, I will not allow you to express yourself with profanity. I suggest you take that sweater off or else," she said. "Or else what?" I tested. "Do not talk to me that way! I am your teacher!" she yelled. By then, half the class was in and staring at the two of us. "I'll talk to you however I want cuz you're not my teacher. Not anymore," I said and grabbed my stuff and left. I was done with school... I'm not sure why... It must've been this whole curse thing..."Miss Mills, you come back here right this instant!" she yelled after me. "Blah! Blah! Blah!" I said and kept walking.

I found myself outside of the school. I walked over to the window of Henry's class. I saw him staring off into space while everyone else was working. He was most probably thinking about Emma. Speaking of which, I should go find out where she is. When my mom finds out what I did, I'm gonna be grounded BIG TIME! I walked to Granny's diner. Emma was sitting alone. "Hey Ruby," I said as Ruby, Red Riding Hood, came up to me as I sat on a stool. I think she was my favorite person in this town. She's the only one who understood me. She had the same style and personality as me and not that much older than me. "What can I do for ya?" she asked me. "Can you get Emma a hot chocolate? She looks like she could use it," I said, handing her some money. "Sure," she smiled and took the money. Ruby gave her the mug and started talking to her for a second. Then, Emma turned to see Graham. Ugh, him. "I didn't send it," I heard Graham say. I jumped into to the conversation and said, "I did. I like cinnamon too. I practically dump the stuff on my hot chocolate." "Shouldn't you be in school?" she asked. "Yup. Now, c'mon. Let's walk and talk. I got something to say," I said and dragged her off her seat.

"So, kid, what's the deal with you and your mom?" Emma asked me. "I'm a teen, first of all. Second of all, it's not about us. It's about her curse. We have to break it. Luckily, I have a plan. Step One... identification. Henry calls it Operation Cobra," I said. "Cobra? That has nothing to do with fairy tales," Emma said. "Exactly. Henry thinks it will throw the queen off our trail," I said. "So everyone here is a fairy tale character... they just don't know it?" Emma asked. "That's the curse. Time's been frozen until you got here," I said. Emma pulled out an apple and went to take a bite when I asked, "Hey! Where'd you get that?" "Your mom," she said. I quickly grabbed it and tossed it far away. "Don't eat that," I warned. "Ooookay. Uh, all right, what about their pasts?" she asked. "They don't know. It's a haze to them. Ask anyone anything and you'll see," I said. "So for decades, people have been walking around in a haze, not aging, with screwed up memories, stuck in a cursed town that kept them oblivious," Emma summarized. "I knew you'd get it! That's why we need you! You're the only one who can stop her curse," I said. "Because I'm the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming?" she asked. "Yes, and right now we have the advantage. My mom doesn't know that. I took out the end, the part with you in it. See?" I said, pulling the pages out of my book bag, "Your mom is Snow White." "Oh, kid," she sighed. "Look, I get it. The hero never believes in themselves in the beginning. But, look at the pages! Look at the proof! Do whatever you need just... don't let my mom see them! She will kill you if she finds out." I saw Mary Margaret, Snow White, approaching us and I said, "I gotta go, but I'll find you. I knew you'd believe me!" "I never said I did," she said. "Why else would you be here?" I smiled and ran off in the opposite direction of Mary Margaret and off to the old castle playground to hide from my mom. Someone would find me at one point I guess, but hopefully it wouldn't be for a while and I hoped it wouldn't be my mom.

I lied on the platform of the playground and looked up at the bright blue sky. I wonder how it would feel to be able to fly... My thoughts were cut off when I heard footsteps. Graham was coming towards me with my mom right behind him. "Shit!" I yelled and stood up. I jumped off the platform and ran as fast as I could to get away from them. I heard Graham's footsteps behind me and he yelled, "Scarlett! Stop running! We're not trying to hurt you. Your mom just wants to talk!" "She is evil! She has this whole town under her control! Don't you see that?!" I yelled as I ran. I looked back for a second to see nobody following me. I turn back around just as I trip over a rock and tumble down a hill. I heard footsteps coming near me and I opened my eyes to see Graham and my mom towering over me. "Scarlett? Are you okay?" my mom asked. "I'm fine," I spat and sat up. "So, what did you wanna talk about?" I asked. My mom sighed and sat beside me. "Scarlett, that woman you brought here... She.... She's been arrested... She stole some files from Archie. She's a con-woman. She's still here because she wants to know about our family to take advantage of us. I'm sorry, Scar," my mom said. "You're lying. You're not sorry and she didn't steal anything," I said, standing up. "I know you don't believe me, but it's true. I'm just trying to protect you, Scarlett," my mom said, following me as I made my way back into town. "Yeah... sure you are," I mumbled. "I am... and why aren't you in school? I got a call from your teacher, Miss Sunshine and she said that you were talking back to her and then you just walked out. What is wrong with you, Scarlett?!" my mom asked. "I'm not going to school anymore," I said, simply. "What? Yes you are. You can't just not go to school! You need an education so you can go to college!" my mom yelled. "I can't even leave this town! You know I can't! You created this curse and you know that no one can leave Storybrooke or bad things will happen! And even if I could... I wouldn't go to college anyways. That isn't what I wanna do with my life, mom," I yelled. "Well, what do you wanna do with your life then, Scarlett?!" my mom yelled. "I wanna travel! I wanna see the world and not be stuck in this god forsaken town! I wanna be somebody important! Hell, I don't even wanna grow up! I don't wanna end up like you who was so jealous of her step-daughter's happiness that she cursed an entire land!" I yelled. My mom just stared at me for a few seconds. I knew I hit her hard with that last sentence. "Scarlett, I don't have a step-daughter. I didn't curse an entire land. I am not an evil witch! Would you listen to yourself Scarlett?! You-you sound insane!" she yelled. "I'm not crazy, Regina. But, it seems like you're trying really hard to make me seem like I am. Me and Henry, both," I said, lowly, and walked away. This time, my mother didn't follow me.

I walked around the town until school was over. Then, I went to get Henry. I walked into Mary-Margaret's, Snow White's, classroom to see Henry talking to her. "Hey, Henry. Um, did mom come by and-" "Yeah... she did. But, Ms. Blanchard is gonna bail her out!" Henry said happily, cutting me off. "You are?" I asked, smiling. She nodded. "Then let's go," I said.

We arrived at the jail and saw Emma about to go in her cell. "Hey," Henry said as we approached Graham and Emma. "Henry. Scarlett. What are you two doing here?" Graham asked us. "Their mother told them what happened," Mary-Margaret said. "Of course she did. Guys, I don't know what she said-" "You're a genius!" Henry said, cutting Emma off. "What?" Emma asked. "I knew what you were up to. Gathering Intel... for Operation Cobra... Scarlett told you about it, right?" Henry said to which Emma nodded. "I'm sorry. I'm a bit lost," The annoying Graham said. "It's need-to-know, Graham. And all you need to know is that Ms. Blanchard is gonna bail Emma our," I said. "You are? Why?" Emma asked. "I, uh, trust you," Mary-Margaret said. "Well, if you can uncuff me, I have something to do," Emma said.

A while later, I was hiding out in Granny's. I decided to skip my 'therapy' session. I was talking to Ruby when I noticed Emma and Henry walk in. They looked like they were looking for someone. Henry spotted me and said something to Emma before they walked over to my booth. "Hey, Scarlett... Ruby," Emma said nodding at me and ruby. Ruby slowly slipped out of the conversation and Emma and Henry sat down with me. "Emma's in," Henry said. "Huh?" I asked. "Emma... she believes us... she is officially part of Operation Cobra. She burned the pages with her in it so mom wouldn't find out about her," Henry said, excitedly. I looked at Emma with wide eyes and asked, "You believe us? You're gonna help us?" She nodded. "Yes!" I said and gave my brother a high five. We got her... We can break this curse... all three of us.