The Coward's Daughter [An OUAT Fanfic]

The Mayor's Kid

Y/N and Mr. Gold said their goodbyes outside of the diner, the morning was warmer than usual and Storybrooke Elementary's youngest teacher felt like things might finally be turning around.

She headed to her car and started the drive to work, no parking tickets today!

As she pulled in she saw only a few early arrivals filing in, and Mary-Margaret outside, greeting them as usual. Even her morning classes with the younger kids went surprisingly smooth!

The lesson plan was simple; human anatomy. Y/N made a game of it by disassembling the class skeleton and allowing the class to put it together like a puzzle, explaining each bone as they did so.

The room was filled with giggling and jokes about the sillier terms like 'phalanges' and 'maxilla', as the children tried to distinguish each bone from another.

By the time the bell rang, letting the children out for recess, Y/N felt a sense of fulfillment as she tidied up the bones into a pile, she was doing what she loved and for once she was succeeding!

Once the classroom was tidy, she grabbed her lunch and headed to the teachers lounge, a room on the upper floor of the school.

But as soon as she sat down and began eating her sandwich, her mood began to sour.

No one was sitting with her. As usual.

Her co-workers sat at different tables, on couches or even on the kitchenette counter. Avoiding her as if she had a deadly disease.

She didn't eat lunch in the break room very often, usually she was still grading papers or cleaning up a failed experiment, but it still hurt, watching the other teacher distance themselves from her like Saturn's rings.

She tried not to cry as she ate her sandwich, she couldn't even taste it at this point.

She decided to just go eat in her classroom and began gathering the remainder of her lunch. But then she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Miss Gold!" Mary-Margaret exclaimed cheerfully. "You're eating lunch in here today!"

Y/N quickly brushed any crumbs off her face.

"Miss Blanchard! It's so good to see you!" Y/N said a little too eagerly.

"Is it okay if I sit? Everywhere else is pretty packed."

"Go right ahead! Thank you for yesterday. I probably would have forgotten otherwise."

Mary Margaret sat down, taking out a pink fabric lunch box

"Oh it's no problem really." Mary Margaret assured her, "Gosh, what a week this has been. And it's not even half over yet!"

"What happened?" Y/N asked.

"Oh, well I really shouldn't gossip... it's not very professional."

"No, please tell me! I'm a vault, I won't say a word."

"Well... okay. Do you know Henry Millis?"

"The mayor's kid? Yeah he's in my Wednesday class, real sweet."

"Well, he stole my credit card."

Y/N almost choked on her sandwich.

"Are you serious? The mayor's son stole your credit card? That's insane!"

"Oh well, he didn't do anything bad don't worry!"

"Oh, that's good. So he didn't actually spend
anything?"

"No, he used it to track down his birth mother online."

Y/N actually choked this time, Mary Margaret had to slap her on the back to get air flowing.

"What?" Y/N wheezed, still coughing. "What did you say?"

"Well, he... took my credit card and used it to find his birth mother. Then, from what I gathered he made his way to Boston somehow and she drove him back here."

"Henry did all this?"

Mary Margaret nodded. "I'm worried about him lately. I wish I hadn't given him that book."

"Which book?"

"I gave him a book of fairytales and I think it may have warped his perspective somehow. He has a very active imagination- which is a wonderful thing don't get me wrong-  but he's concocted this strange theory about a curse."

"What kind of curse?"

"He thinks everyone's a..." The brunette lowered her voice to a whisper. "He thinks everyone's a fairytale character, trapped in some kind of time loop."

Y/N tried to fight it but couldn't help giggling.

"I'm sorry Mary-Margaret, I know this isn't funny but it's just so... absurd?"

"Absurd is a very good word for it Miss Gold. I just hope Henry's okay, his mother's very upset with him; as well as me and Emma."

"Emma Swan? What does she have to do with this?"

"Have you two met before?"

"Yes we met just yesterday."

"Emma Swan is Henry's birth mother."

A switch flicked on in Y/N's brain. That's why she'd come to Storybrooke! She'd been brought here by Henry!

"Tell me more." She said instantly.

"Oh, well there's not that much to tell. Emma's very nice, works as a bail bonds person."

"That's all you know about her?"

"Well, that and Regina seems to have it out for her."

"Who doesn't Regina have it out for?"

"That's a great question Miss Gold!"

The two teachers laughed and kept eating; talking about work schedules and lesson plans and the upcoming Miner's Day celebration.

Y/N smiled, it was nice having someone to eat lunch with.