She did meet up with Henry again. Emma met up with Henry every day for the next week in fact. She did not, however, consider Miss Blanchard's offer to join her class at recess. That just seemed to risky to her. She would just wait at the castle until Henry was done with school and then the two would cards, she would help him with his homework when it was something she could remember, or Henry would read stories from his storybook. He would offer to let her read, but she would always refuse, reading not being her strength. It wasn't that she couldn't read, it was that the words would jump around on the pages or she would find herself reading the same line more than once. She loved stories, loved to listen to them, and wanted to enjoy reading them, it just required more work for her than most. But she wasn't about to let her new friend know that. Henry didn't seem to mind that Emma never wanted to read.
Today they were reading about the story of Cinderella and when she met Rumpelstiltskin. Emma was noticing this guy pop up more and more throughout the stories. Before this book, the only thing she knew about Rumpelstiltskin was that he could spin straw into gold, liked to steal babies, and always wanted to make people guess his name. Now, she was finding him incredibly clever, opportunistic, and downright annoying. She couldn't imagine why anyone would want to make a deal with this guy. Henry continued reading, he was to the part where Cinderella and Prince Thomas conspired with Snow White and Prince Charming to capture the Dark One (the other name this guy went by) and break the deal Cinderella had made to give him her first born. About the time that Rumpelstiltskin signed with the squid ink, Emma noticed a black car pulling up to the playground. She had seen the car around town but never the driver. It was too late for her to run, they would have seen her with Henry by now, they weren't exactly out in the open but not incognito either. She would just have to hope and pray that whoever they were, their business was not with her or her friend.
No such luck it would seem for Emma. A tall woman, with dark hair, and a very sensible pant suit got out of the car and began walking to the playground with strong intent. Her eyes were fixed on Henry and he still had not noticed. "Henry Daniel Mills!", the woman raised her voice as she continued towards them. Henry's eyes snapped up and as he quickly closed the storybook.
"Mom", Henry muttered.
"Mom!", Emma exclaimed, "that's your mom?" Henry merely nodded, his eyes never leaving his mothers'
"Why are you not at Dr. Hopper's office? I went to pick you up and he said you never showed up for your appointment.", her voice was like ice to Emma. This woman looked like she could turn you to stone with one look. Definitely not someone she wanted to cross in a dark alley.
"I uh...I didn't want to go.", Henry finally answered his mother. He started to stand but as he did, he moved the storybook into Emma's lap.
"Henry we have talked about this, you go to Dr. Hopper because it is what's best for you. Now get in the car, I was able to reschedule your appointment.", Henry's mother turned her body to head back to the car but as she did her eyes landed on Emma. "And who are you?", she demanded more than asked.
"Emma", she stood her ground. She learned long ago that if you held yourself with confidence, adults were less likely to try and steamroll you.
"Is that so?", the mayor questioned, "Well Emma...I suggest that you run home to your mother. I'm sure she is wondering where you are."
"Emma doesn't...", Henry began but was cut off quickly by Emma.
"Yes ma'am, it's almost dinner time anyway", Emma stuffed the book into her backpack before looking back up at Henry, "I'll see you soon Henry, I'm sorry I got you in trouble with your mom.", she winked and then jumped from the castle to the ground. She walked a good ways before looking over her shoulder to see Henry, solemnly, getting into the front seat of his mom's car. After finally meeting the Mayor, she could see why Henry wanted to run away that night she met him, his mom was a real piece of work. At the same time, at least he had a mom to care enough about him to come find him.
Emma had gone to the little market on main street to grab some dinner, she had skipped lunch to save money since she was starting to run low, and now her stomach was rebelling. She had been in Storybrooke for over a week still waiting for August to get in touch with her. If she said she wasn't worried she would be lying. She was close to giving up altogether that she would ever hear from him. It was getting close to the point where she would have to resort to stealing for her to survive. Not to mention, the fall season was getting late and winter was on its way. She would need to find somewhere better than the yellow bug to live out of if she didn't want to turn into a popsicle. That was a problem for another day, right now, all she wanted to do was eat. As she was leaving the store, she started to dig through her bag, looking for the banana that she had bought, when she collided into a slightly bigger body. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't..."
"No no! It's ok!", a kind but familiar voice cut her off. It was nearly dark by this time and her eyes took a second to adjust to the lack of light, but when they did, she realized it was Mary Margaret she had run into. The teacher let her hands drop from Emma's shoulders and her eyes, which she realized were the same color as her own, were focused on hers. "Are you ok?", she asked.
"Um...ya, ya I'm good.", Emma went to continue on her way.
"You're out pretty late", Mary Margaret raised her voice enough to get the girls attention, causing her to stop.
'Stay cool', Emma thought and then turned around. "It's not that late", she shrugged. "I was at the library and lost track of time."
"Oh,", the teacher nodded and folded her arms against herself, "well I guess that's a good reason." She kept her eyes locked on Emma's, it felt like she was waiting for her to flinch or maybe come clean. Emma Swan was not about to break, especially not to the timid Mary Margaret.
"What about you?", Emma tried to turn the attention anywhere but herself.
"What about me?", Mary Margaret asked.
"Shouldn't you be at home grading papers or something?", Emma asked with a bit of snark.
Mary Margaret, to Emma's surprise, did not back down. She merely fixed her with a look, "If you must know, I was out to dinner."
"By yourself? No offense but that dress doesn't exactly scream dinner for one.", wow she could be bold when she felt cornered. Her cheeks began to flush a bit and contemplated running. "I'm sorry, that was really rude of me.", Emma apologized, her eyes going to the ground and she began to pull at her jacket hoodie sleeve.
"It's ok", Mary Margaret smiled. "I was out with Dr. Whale."
"Like a date?"
"You could call it that", the older woman snorted, "I think he was a little more interested in Ruby's outfit than anything I had to say."
"I'm sorry", Emma honestly felt bad for her. She was a nice woman and didn't deserve to be treated like that. The teacher merely nodded and looked up the street. "I should probably get home now, my brother will be wondering where I am. It was nice to see you Miss Blanchard", Emma turned and continued on her way, not waiting for Mary Margaret to reply with her own 'goodbye'. She turned the corner on the next street and picked her pace up a bit, the last thing she needed was another adult to bump into her and question her about being out past sunset without supervision. She finally made it back to the bug and climbed inside. Settling into the back seat, she took out the rest of her dinner for the night, peanut butter crackers, the rest of the banana, and a water. It wasn't much but it would have to do.
She remembered that she had taken Henry's storybook with her before she left the park. He seemed almost worried that his mom would catch him with it. He didn't have to say anything, she had seen that look on countless kids she shared a foster home with. Out of habit, she had taken the book without question. Pulling it out of her backpack now, she opened it to a random page. On the page, was a picture of Snow White, standing against a doorway to a balcony on her castle. Emma could tell that she was pregnant as she was laying her hand across her swollen stomach and looking out to the water below. Emma wasn't sure why, but she was always drawn to Snow White and Prince Charming's story. Sure, she loved hearing Henry read about their adventures, but what she really liked, was listening to how much they loved each other. It was the truest love in all the realms. It didn't matter how many times they lost each other, Charming would always find her and her him.
She turned the flashlight app on her phone on so that she could attempt to read a page or two before falling asleep. Looking at the picture more, she began to see the Snow's features. Dark, midnight hair, that fell down her back in curls, green eyes, and fair skin. If Emma didn't know any better, she would almost say she looked like...
A tap on the window alerted her to a presence outside the car. Her heart stopped and her eyes were the size of saucers as she tried to hide her phone and dive down under the seats, praying that whatever it was would leave. Her lack of luck that day continued when she heard a more insistent knock on the window followed by a kind but serious sounding voice, "Emma. I know you're in there. Please come out so we can talk." Mary Margaret had found her, she was trapped with no where else to go. She could try to run when she got out of the car, but she highly doubted she would make it far before the teacher either ran her down (unlikely) or she called the Sheriff. Emma was just going to have to face the music, she had been careless on her way back to the bug and now she was about to be sent back to the group home.
She slowly climbed into the front seat, taking a breath, before she unrolled the driver side window. Looking up, she was met not with an angry or annoyed adult, but with a look of concern. "Hi.", she greeted softly.
"Hi", Mary Margaret replied. Her voice was even softer if that was possible. "Honey...have you been sleeping in this car?
"No", Emma tried.
"Emma don't lie to me", now her voice held a 'no nonsense' tone to it that made Emma's stomach drop again.
She simply looked away from the teacher, "Yes ma'am."
Mary Margaret took a deep breath before continuing. "You don't live with your big brother do you?"
Emma shook her head, "I was supposed to meet my foster brother, August, here last week." She waited for a response but the woman looked to be thinking to herself instead, so Emma continued. "We had this plan that he would get me out of the system when he was old enough, but no one would let him adopt me. He bought me a bus ticket and told me to meet him here and we would run away to somewhere no one knew us"
"Emma...", Mary Margaret started but Emma needed to make sure she knew she would be ok by herself.
"I've got money and I'm used to being on my own. I know he'll be here soon!", she pleaded.
It felt like an eternity before the woman said anything. "Why don't you grab your things and come out of the car sweetheart"
"Why? So you can take me to the Sherriff?", Emma tried to hide the panic in her voice, "I won't go back to the group home! You don't know what it's like there! No one cares about me there, I'm just another check, I'm better off on my own!"
"Emma please just..."
"No! Please don't make me go back Mary Margaret!", she was trying not to cry now but it was getting harder and harder. She tried to back away when the teacher opened the door and reached in to gently pull her out. Before she knew it, two arms were wrapped around her in a hug. She wanted to fight it, wanted to pull away and run, but the instant she was in Mary Margaret's arms, that warm feeling ran through her again and she let herself sink into the hug. She wrapped her arms around the older woman and the tears finally gave way. For those few seconds, Emma felt safe.
"Grab your things Emma", she whispered into the girls' ear. This time Emma listened, she reluctantly pulled back from the embrace and turned to climb back into the backseat. She quickly threw all her belongings and Henry's book into her backpack before climbing back out. Mary Margaret was waiting for her. Closing the door, she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "So, are you taking me to the Sheriff?"
"Not tonight", she smiled at Emma, "Tonight, you're going to eat, take a long hot shower, and get some rest in a proper bed. We'll worry about everything else tomorrow". Emma nodded before following Miss Blanchard back out the alley and eventually to her apartment building. She had been caught, there was nothing else to be said, she would take the teachers' offer for tonight and in the morning, she would more than likely be on her way back to Boston.