Chapter Text
Emma was never one for school much.
Floating around foster homes didn’t give her much time to get settled in at a school so she just didn’t bother. What was the point in worrying about grades when she knew she was going to have to start over in a completely different school within a year or so?
That attitude had carried over into college for the most part. She did enough to scrape by because she actually had to earn her financial aid but that’s where her achievements ended. Until she got put into Miss Mill’s class.
Emma never paid more attention or put more effort into her work than she did in that class. She wasn’t even that great in English but she sure tried her hardest to impress Miss Mills in the only way she was sure would at least get her to notice.
In class, Emma found that she had no interest in dozing off or daydreaming as she normally did. All of her attention was on the beautiful woman pacing back and forth in front of the class. Miss Mills’ commanding attitude demanded attention and respect and Emma was far from immune. She struggled to focus on what her teacher was saying instead of getting lost staring at her lips and wondering what it would feel like to press those lips to her own.
She was looking down at her paper taking notes- she quickly found that it was easier to pay attention while not looking at Miss Mills- when she heard the two guys sitting behind her start to whisper.
“I bet she’s fucking awesome in bed,” one of them sniggered. Righteous anger flared up in Emma. She bit down on the side of her cheek to keep from saying anything.
“I wonder if she would pass me if I offered to fuck her,” the other contributed.
“Bitch is so uptight she would probably beg for it.”
All thoughts of sitting there quietly flew out of the window at the last comment.
“As if anyone would ever go for misogynistic pigs like you two?” she sneered at them. Apparently her comment was a bit louder than she had thought because it earned her a sharp…
“Miss Swan!”
Emma cringed and the two boys smirked at her as she turned around to face her teacher. “Yes Miss Mills?” Behind her back she flipped the two idiots off.
“Do you have something you would like to share with the class?” Despite being in trouble she couldn’t keep the thought about how hot Miss Mills looked when she was mad.
“No ma’am.” She responded after a moment.
“Very well then,” Miss Mills said, giving her a strangely knowing look. “See me after class.”
The rest of the class was spent with a growing mixture of dread at being reprimanded by her favorite teacher and excitement and spending a few moments alone with said teacher.
By the time the class ended Emma had gotten a pretty good grasp on her emotions. She wasn’t going to apologize for what she said because those two had deserved every word. She just hoped Miss Mills understood that.
When the last person shuffled out of the door, Emma stood up from her seat. Miss Mills was watching her carefully. She did her best not to fidget under the intensity of her gaze.
Emma opened her mouth to speak but her teacher beat her to it. “Thank you,” she said simply.
The snap of her jaw was audible as she shut it in surprise. “You’re welcome?” she asked, a bit confused as to what she was being thanked for exactly. “Why are you thanking me? Aren’t you mad I disrupted class or whatever?”
“I heard what the two boys behind you were saying. I was not going to draw attention to it but you intervened,” she explained. “I appreciate it.”
“Yeah it’s no problem, Miss Mills,” Emma shrugged, unable to come up with anything better as her mind sung happily. ‘She appreciates it!’ she was cheering in her head.
“It is after class hours,” Miss Mills reminded her. “Please, call me Regina.”
If it were possible, Emma might have just exploded from happiness. She wasn’t entirely sure but being on a first-name basis was probably more than 99% of the class could say.
“Okay, Mi- Regina.” Emma was grinning but she honestly didn’t care. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?”
Regina gave her a small smile and shook her head. “Nothing comes to mind, Miss Swan.”
“It’s after class hours, right? Call me Emma.” She parroted the words back to Regina. If she hadn’t been watching as closely as she was, she might have missed the way the corners of her teacher’s mouth quirked up.
“Of course. Have a wonderful rest of your day, Emma.” Regina smiled at her before retreating back into her office. Emma watched Regina walk away with an avid interest fixated somewhere it probably shouldn’t be. Regina turned around quickly and quirked an eyebrow, knowing exactly what Emma was looking at.
Emma blushed furiously and managed a strangled, “Bye!” before rushing out the door. Even with the embarrassment, the meeting left her feeling lighter than she had in a long time.