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“I can’t believe you guys are actually making me do this,” Emma groans as she takes in the sign.
Ruby smirks. “You lost the bet. Come on, take it!”
“Who knows, maybe it’ll benefit you,” Lacey adds, less sincerely than her words imply. “Maybe you’ll meet someone.”
Emma scoffs. “Doubt it. But fine, whatever. I’ll hold up the damn sign.”
Ruby claps her hands a few time. “Come on, we should get going. It’s road trip time!”
Regina sighs as she throws yet another shirt into the reject pile.
“Seriously, do you even own a t-shirt?” Kathryn chides.
“You know my mother. ‘The clothes make the man’. She’d have me be a queen if we had one – and queens don’t wear t-shirts.”
Kathryn shakes her head. “You can borrow one of mine, then. Come on, there’s still time to stop at my place before the game.”
Regina frowns. “We’ll miss the tailgating.”
“Yeah, but at least you’ll be properly dressed. You can’t go to a baseball game in Valentino.”
“Fine, fine. But you’re explaining to Daniel why I missed it.”
“Deal.”
After a long drive full of corn and forest, Emma finally parks the bug in the parking lot of Storybrooke High. “How come they’re hosting anyway?” she grumbles. “Boston is way better.”
Ruby shrugs. “Probably couldn’t get a team bus. I hear this school has, like, a negative budget.”
Lacey snorts. “No kidding.” She glances around, taking in the baseball diamond and its near complete absence of seating. “No way we’re gonna get good seats.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Emma says, shutting the car door.
Ruby shakes her head, opening the backseat and yanking the sign out. “You forgot something.”
“Damn it Ruby, are you seriously gonna make me go through with this? What if I get some stalker?”
“Please. Look where you are, Emma. Do you really think this shithole actually has stalkers?”
“You guys suck.” Emma snatches the sign from Ruby’s hand, reading over it again. Ladies, check me out: 617-567-8490. It’s ridiculous. But, with friends as persistent as hers, she really doesn’t have a choice but to hold it up for the entire game.
They end up getting somewhat decent seats in the fourth row, directly across from the Storybrooke natives. Emma frowns. They’re pretty funny to look at, really. All of them look like Catholic schoolkids, in conservative dress and sitting politely in their seats. She nearly laughs out loud at the people who’ll be seeing her sign.
Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.
Regina and Kathryn run into the stands just as the announcer is reading the names of the opposing team, dropping breathlessly into the front row seats reserved for them. It took longer than expected to find a shirt in Kathryn’s closet that was nice enough to gain Regina’s approval, yet casual enough to gain Kathryn’s. Regina managed to squeeze on a pair of Kathryn’s jeans and get out the door just in time to make it before the game started.
When Daniel’s name is announced they both stand and cheer, and he turns his head and smiles directly at Regina as he steps forward to accept his applause.
“Oh my god,” Kathryn mutters when they sit back down. “Can you believe someone could be so desperate?”
“What?”
“Look.” She gestures across the field to the Boston side, and Regina catches sight of the sign Kathryn’s pointing to. Ladies, check me out: 617-567-8490. She tilts her head. “Why would anyone do that? They could get stalkers.”
“And it’s seriously tacky.”
Regina nods her agreement. She tries to focus on the game, but her attention keeps turning to the sign and the person holding it. It’s a girl, which surprises her, with blonde curls and a wide smile.
Before she can change her mind she takes out her phone and types the number into a new message, holding her phone up to take a picture of the sign.
“What are you doing?” Kathryn asks.
“Taking a picture to show Daniel later,” Regina lies smoothly. “He’s probably too focused on the game to see it.” She attaches the photo to the message and hits send, a small smile spreading across her face. I hope that satisfies her, she thinks to herself.
Emma’s phone chimes in her pocket, and she shifts the sign into one hand to check it. She frowns; she doesn’t recognize the number.
“Is it someone who saw the sign?” Ruby asks eagerly, trying to snatch the phone but failing, due to Emma’s expert blocking skills.
Ignoring Ruby’s advances, Emma opens the message and clicks on the photo they sent; it’s a picture of her sign. She smirks. “Yeah, it’s someone from the other side.”
“What are you going to say?” Lacey cuts in.
“Nothing. Hold this.” Emma passes the sign to Lacey and holds up her phone to snap a photo of the Storybrooke bleachers, sending it to whoever it is and pocketing her phone. “Gimme that.” She hoists the large sign up again, hoping her new companion won’t back out. This could actually be fun.
Regina smiles as she looks at the photo the blonde girl sent. “I’ll be right back,” she tells Kathryn, standing up. “Bathroom.” Once she’s successfully maneuvered her way out of the stands she makes her way to a secluded area near the concessions stand and switches her phone to the front camera. Smile, she thinks as she snaps the camera button and types out a simple message. I’m Regina.
Emma holds her phone at arm’s length, giving the camera her trademark smirk and sending Regina a reply. Emma.
Regina spends most of the game with her eyes on her phone rather than the field, drawing concerned glances from Kathryn, but for some reason Regina can’t resist typing a reply every time her phone notifies her of a new text from Emma. Somehow the other girl has captured her attention in just a few hours, and it’s impossible to stop talking to her.
Once the game ends, Regina practically catapults out of her seat and runs down to the parking lot, maneuvering her way through the thick crowd in search of golden hair and a big sign.
Finally, she spots Emma from behind, talking to another girl. “Emma!” she calls as she pushes her way through the people to approach her.
“Regina?” Emma turns to face her with a wide grin. “Hey.”
Regina smiles back. “Hi.”
Daniel chooses that exact moment to make an appearance, much to Regina’s disappointment. “Hey, babe,” he greets Regina, planting a firm kiss on her lips. “You have fun?”
“I did,” Regina replies. It’s not really a lie; she had a lot of fun talking to Emma. “Congratulations on your win.”
“Who’s this?” Daniel’s eyes narrow as he focuses in on the Kennedy High Swarm t-shirt Emma’s wearing. “Swarm kid?”
Emma rolls her eyes. “Relax. I couldn’t care less who won. I only came to have a good time.”
“We met during the game,” Regina adds.
“Cool. Hey, you coming to the after party at my place?”
“I don’t think my mother would take too kindly to that. I’ll see you in school, though.”
“Whatever.” After claiming another kiss, Daniel jogs back over to his teammates.
Emma watches him go. “Boyfriend?”
“I’m breaking up with him,” Regina says quickly. “I’m just… waiting for the right time.”
“Well, I hope the right time is soon.”
“Why?”
Emma smirks. “I’ll be waiting on you.” She leans forward on her toes and presses a soft kiss to Regina’s lips. “Let me know when he’s gone, yeah?”
Regina smiles weakly, nodding once. “You’ll be my first call.”
“And if you ever need anything…” Emma rocks back on her heels, meeting Regina’s eyes. “You’ve got my number.”