Forget Me Not (OUAT: Pan. Sequel)

Chapter Three

It didn't take long for Lucy and Emma to work out their plan. Emma was an easy enough person to get along with and by the end of class they had a game plan for the project. "Okay seems to be in order." Lucy said.

"Cool." Emma said.

An awkward silence hung in the air as Lucy packed up her backpack under it's crushing weight, while an incredibly agreeable teammate Emma wasn't much for small talk.

"So uh, you're new here right?"

"Yeah." Emma nodded. "I've been here a few weeks but I just started school."

"Really? Getting settled in or-"

"Yeah settled in."

"Cool." Lucy said.

The bell rang.

Oh thank god.

Kids started getting up and the sounds of chairs and backpacks being moved filled the classroom.

Lucy turned to Emma. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah." Emma nodded..

"Awesome."

Lucy left the class with Neal quickly in tow. He hurried to catch up to her. "So how was the new girl?"

"Really hard to talk to but nice." As she mulled it over she went to add. "I mean, she's a great teammate but super bad at small talk."

"Like someone I know." Neal laughed as they neared their lockers.

Lucy scoffed. "Oh? I'm great at small talk."

Neal's mouth turned to a fine line and he shook his head slowly "No."

"What?" Lucy opened her locker, shoving her lunch box in and retrieving some text books. "I'm offended."

"Well you shouldn't be." Neal closed his locker. "Everyone has their weaknesses."

Lucy zipped her backpack closed. "But I'm great at talking to you."

"Yes, because we've been friends for years."

Lucy closed her locker. "Unbelievable." She said walking away from Neal.

"It's okay to be bad at things Lucy" He called after her.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." She called back.

---

The rest of the day flew on by with marginal interest. Math was meh and history was interesting. Lucy knew she'd been told it all before but somehow the thrilling tale of World War Two never ceased to be interesting. But then came lunch and as Neal and Lucy sat there eating their peanut butter sandwiches. Lucy sighed.

Neal looked up at her.

"You're right." She said. "I'm sorry for overreacting."

He chuckled. "It's okay."

Her brows furrowed as she picked a bit of sandwich crust into tiny pieces with her fingers. "I just don't like being bad at things. I don't know why that made me upset."

Neal laughed. "I really don't mind. It's appart your charm."

"My charm?" Lucy mused.

"Yeah." Neal said leaning back in his chair. "Just like how my charm is how I love to deeply analyze the hidden means in The Simpsons."

Lucy smiled. "Yeah, you do that, but I don't mind."

"And that's why we're friends." Neal smiled.

"Speaking of me being bad at small talk." Lucy whispered to Neal nudging him in Emma's direction. Emma stood in the mix of the tables, her lunch tray in hand all alone.

The tables stood as their own little niche's among the ecosystem of the high school. Lucy felt bad for her. Being bad at small talk didn't mean Emma should sit alone after all.

"Hey Emma over here!" Lucy called.

Emma looked over to them at their table in the far corner causing Lucy to gesture more.

"What are you doing?" Neal asked.

"I'm practicing small talk." Lucy said. "Besides all it takes is one good friend to make high school bearable, and I think she deserves a chance to open up more."

Emma approached the table, her body movements were stiff and she clutched her tray tightly. "Yes?" She asked.

"Do you want to sit with us?" Lucy asked "Because you can if you want."

Emma seemed taken aback but she nodded. "Yeah, okay." She pulled out a chair across from Lucy and Neal and sat down.

"So, Emma was it?" Neal asked.

She nodded.

"Do you like The Simpsons?"

---

Turns out, Emma did like The Simpsons or at least she was familiar enough to keep up with Neal. Lunch went pretty alright and by the end of the day they invited Emma to walk home with them.

As they exited the school Lucy felt the eyes of Jack and his friends from where they stood up ahead on the sidewalk. They stood as a group talking amongst themselves, but all the while Jack's eyes remained locked on hers. With each step they grew closer like a dangerous game of chicken but at the last second Jack's eyes flickered to the side and then away from them all together and in that instant Lucy passed by untouched. She blinked confused and looked in the direction Jack had earlier. She saw him.

It was Tom Macalison, he stood across the street from the school, just off the grounds. He'd saved them with one look, Lucy didn't know how to feel.

Their eyes met, his gaze was soft, he didn't look like a drop out or gang leader at that moment, but Lucy didn't forget those things either. She gave him a small nod and even smaller smile as a thank you. He might not have seen it.

But then Tom smiled a large lopsided grin and turned on his heels and left.

Lucy turned her head down blushing,embarrassed. How did he make her heart squirm like that? Was squirm the right word? Squirm sounds bad but it wasn't bad, just excited. But it must certainly be bad for Tom Macalison to make you feel excited. Isn't it?

AN/

So long time no see? A Christmas Present just of you! I revisited this story tonight and fell in love with it again and mapped out the rest of this book. So yay! I might change the title though because I don't like but I'm not sure what to change it to...