Ms Mills

Chapter 1

Emma wakes abruptly to the sound of her alarm piercing through her deep sleep.
Jolting awake, she reaches out her arm to automatically turn off the noise pounding aggressively in her head. Her eyes stay closed as her body begins to wake, exhaling deeply, slowly remembering that it's her first day back at school.
The very last year.
She surprisingly feels a sense of excitement as she finally lifts herself from the bed. The young blonde pulls on a jumper to keep from feeling the morning chill that's settled throughout her home.

Giving a small smile to her parents, Mary-Margaret and David, she passes them drinking their coffee at the kitchen and grabs the coffee pot to prepare her own.
"Good Morning, Emma!" David bellows obnoxiously loud as he gives her an overbearing hug.
He knows she hates mornings.
Emma winces at the volume as she turns to give him a scowl to quieten him down.
He simply grins in response.
"Are you excited to go back, sweetheart?" MM adds softly as she rubs the back of her daughter's arms fondly.
"I don't know." Is all Emma can mutter in response, causing them both to roll their eyes lightheartedly.
"Got it. Talk later." David adds with a playful nod and a thumbs up as he backs away.
MM laughs lovingly in response to her husband.
"I hope you have a wonderful day." MM says as she kisses Emma's cheek from behind before swiftly going about cleaning up.
"Thanks." She says as she grabs her coffee to head upstairs.
Emma begins by doing her makeup. It's the first day back so she thinks it's fitting to try a little more than usual.
It's not like there's ever anyone to impress at school, anyways.
Well... Ruby and Belle seem to think there's Neal. Neal has been a mutual friend of Emma's for a while but Ruby and Belle have taken a great delight and humour at informing her on this new and growing crush he's developed.

She puts on light makeup, highlighting her features, before brushing out her blonde hair. She leaves it natural, extra aware that her friends might tease her for trying a little more today.
As cliche as it sounds- make up and Emma Swan are two things that never really go together.
She's always been happy with the loose waves that drift down her hair, never really doing anything different to it.
So she leaves it.
Emma brushes her teeth & checks the time for the first time since getting up.
8:30.
"Shit." She mutters as she grabs some black jeans, a tee and a jacket to throw on.
"Bye!" She calls out as she pushes her shoes on & reaches for her keys.
Emma's thoughts are interrupted by the sudden appearance of an apple being pushed into her point of view. She looks up to see her mother looking at her with a raised brow.
"You forgot to eat." She says as she pushes the apple into Emma's hands.
"Thanks Mom." She replies with a warm smile as she steps out to her car. "Love you!"

She gets to school, suddenly feeling a little nervous and exposed without the comfort of her friends around. So she parks up and decides to call Ruby.
"Hey! Where are you?" She ask into the phone as she begins to gather some spare books and pens into a bag.
"I'm literally just around the corner. Wait for me?" She asks "I'm with Belle. She doesn't have her car right now cause her dad needs it for the business."
"Oh- yeah, that's cool. I'm parked in the usual." Emma replies, staring out the window aimlessly.
That is until someone catches her eye; a brunette. She's strutting across the car park with a coffee in her hand and a bag of books under her arm. Her heels give away the fact that she's a teacher, but Emma doesn't care, she tilts her head without even realising, taking in a few more details. The woman's hair is cascading across the side of her face, hiding her features, much to Emma's disappointment.

"Heeeelllllllooo?"
Emma suddenly hears Ruby's voice through the phone which alerts her back to what she was doing.
"Yeah? Ya. I'm listening." She replies distantly
"No. You're not. We're parked behind you and we can see you staring at the new teacher." Ruby deadpans as she waves through her windscreen. Emma blushes as she waves back sheepishly. "Come on we're gonna be late, Swan." She says before she ends the call abruptly.

Emma catches up with both friends before she sees Neal approaching them in the corridor.
"Hello, ladies!" Neal calls as he catches up
"Belle, Ruby." He nods toward them. "Princess Emma, a pleasure as always." He plays as he takes her hand and bows in front of her. She laughs as she swats his arm away from her playfully. "Hey!" He laughs as he grabs it as if he's in pain, he pouts, "I would never hurt you like that!"
She laughs again, playing dumb and dismissing whatever he might have meant by that comment after the information Ruby and Belle, so kindly, divulged to her.
Each of them collect their schedules and scan across the classes and teachers listed.
"What do you have first?" Belle asks
"English. It says... R.M?" Emma questions as she looks to Belle.
"Me too." She says happily as she takes her arm to walk to the class. "We need to hurry, we're a little late." She worries as she checks her watch tentatively.

They arrive to a closed door.
"Great." Emma mutters as Belle begins to panic, she knocks softly but quickly as she shifts under the nerves of being late.
Emma watches her friend for a moment, sticking her thumbs in her back pockets and waiting for the wrath of whoever this is with a small smile.
"Yes?" She hears an annoyance in the voice as she sees the teacher peer her head into the entryway, an eyebrow raise and a pursed lip showing just how annoyed she is.
Emma's drawn to the scar above her lip, her unblemished skin & then her eyes.
The coldness within them that she's met with reminds her that she's been stood silently taking this woman's features.
Belle watches her feet in fear, but the teacher's eyes never wander from Emma's. The young blonde takes this as an expectancy to speak for the both of them.
"Hi, we're in this class. Sorry we're late, we just-" She begins to explain before she cuts her off.
"Lateness is never a good first impression, ladies. I won't be forgetting this any time soon." She scolds as she opens the door for them to enter. "You now have the privilege of these seats." Her arm gestures to the two seats directly in front of her desk.
A sarcastic smile finds it's way upon Emma's lips as she makes her way across the classroom. Both girls sit and Emma glances at Belle to see how she's doing, she's bright red from all the anxiety of the situation.
Emma gives her a slight rub on the shoulder.
"I suggest you get your supplies out."
The blonde turns her attention to see this woman stood firmly in front of her desk, the same coldness in her eyes from before.
She feels a shudder as she maintains eye contact, bringing her notes out all the while. The teacher breaks first, making her feel a little proud of standing her ground.
"So. As I was saying... my name is Ms Mills, and I will be your English teacher for the next year." She announces firmly to the class, Emma rolls her eyes casually, dreading the year that's to come with this beautiful, cold woman.