“Holly!”

I turned when I heard my name being called from across the boisterous cafeteria. My friend Tony was waving me over to him where he sat with a few of my friends. I clutched my tray and began to maneuver my way through the throng of students to get to him. He patted to a seat next to him. “Sit, sit!”

I smiled at him and shook my head. “Sorry. I’m going to sit with Casey and them. I already promised. See you guys later though.”

“Wait!” a girl named Allison stopped me. “Have you seen the biology teacher yet?”

I frowned slightly. What was up with everyone making a commotion about the new biology teacher? “Not yet…”

Allison clicked her tongue. “He’s very handsome.”

“So I’ve heard,” I responded wearily. “About one hundred times today. But I’m going to go eat now.”

“Have fun,” Tony said with a grin.

I made my way back across the cafeteria to where Casey, Lance, Willis, Sadie and my other friend, Katie, were. I took a seat next to Willis and set down my tray, sighing to myself.

“How’s your day been, Holly?” Willis asked, picking up his French bread pizza and sniffing it cautiously.

“Pretty normal,” I responded, grabbing my own piece of pizza and prodding it. A disgusting oil liquid drooled out from the edge. I made a face, setting the slice back down on my tray.

“That’s because she hasn’t had biology yet,” Casey interjected, absolutely glowing. “Just wait! Not only is he hot, he’s funny, nice and he has the most attractive voice. I don’t ever think I’ll be falling asleep in that class.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm. “Someone has a crush.”

“Hey,” Willis interrupted, frowning at me. “Boyfriend present.”

“For a boyfriend, you sure are calm about your girlfriend basically drooling over another guy,” Lance commented, shaking his head.

“She is drooling,” I muttered, taking a look at Casey, who was wiping her mouth with her sleeve.

Willis shrugged. “He’s a teacher. Teacher-student relationships can never happen. It’s basically illegal.”

“It is illegal,” Lance corrected him.

“I’d be a little jealous if I were you,” Sadie warned, smirking. “He’s one good-looking guy.”

“See!” Casey cried, pointing at Sadie. “Just wait!”

Lance snorted. “I really doubt Holly is interested in teachers, Casey.”

“Actually, I’m kind of interested,” I admitted. “He’s making such a commotion with the students.”

“No way,” Lance responded, frowning at me. “Don’t tell me you are going to fall head over heels for him when you see him.”

“Someone’s getting a little jealous,” Sadie teased, winking at Lance.

Lance sent a glare at her. “I am not!”

“It’s hard to take Lance seriously with his accent,” she commented, rolling her eyes.

“I’m sorry I can’t help it. American accents are too hard to copy.”

“Come on Sadie, leave Lance alone,” I said, laughing. “I like his British accent.”

“Same,” Casey and Katie agreed simultaneously.

“It’s sexy,” Lance mentioned with a wink.

“Now don’t be too modest,” I told him sarcastically, turning my attention back to my food. “But Casey, I’ve been meaning to tell you something.”

She cocked her head to the side. “What?”

“Remember mystery man?”

She nodded.

“He’s a new student here.”

Casey’s eyes widened significantly. “Serious?”

I nodded. “Completely.”

A grin spread across her face. “You have to point him out to me, okay? Is he in this lunch?”

“Nope,” I responded glumly. “I haven’t seen him since this morning.”

“I’m sure you’ll see him again,” Casey assured me.

“See who again?” Lance interjected quickly.

Casey pursed her lips at him. “Never mind. Eat your lunch, Lance.”

The rest of lunch passed by quickly. So quickly in fact, I didn’t bring up my tray before the bell rang. Lance laughed as I quickly jumped up, heading towards the front of the cafeteria.

“I’ll see you in bio!” he called after me.

I struggled to navigate my way around the swarm of students exiting the cafeteria. One kid bumped into me, sending my tray onto the ground. A groan of frustration escaped my lips, and I quickly picked up tray, retrieving the trash that had fallen off it. By now, the cafeteria was empty. I hurried to the trashcans and dumped my tray, handing it off to the lunch lady.

I clicked my tongue as I made my way out of the cafeteria. I had to get my backpack from my locker, which was on the other side of the school, and make it back to the science wing in time. Hastening down the hall, I avoided the other students who were also scurrying to get to class on time. By the time I got to my locker, I hazarded a guess that I had about a minute left to make it to the biology room on time. I pulled my backpack out of my locker and shut it, just as the bell rang.

“Crap,” I muttered, slinging my backpack over my shoulder and speeding down the hallway towards the science wing.

I was late to class on my first day of school. Not only that, but it was with a new teacher— a handsome new teacher, apparently. I cursed myself and rushed down the hallway and into the classroom.

“Sorry I’m late,” I apologized, my eyes on the floor. “My locker—”

My mind went blank when I looked up, making me forget my excuse. It felt like a boxer had kicked me in the stomach. Staring back at me was the same handsome brown-haired guy that had run into my locker early— my mystery man. I blinked as I stared at him in surprise.

So he really was a new student.

He glanced down at a paper in his hands, and once again a shocked look appeared on his face. Looking bewildered, he turned to me, then back to the paper, and back to me again. “You must be Miss Evers,” he finally stated. “Glad you managed to join us.”

Now it felt like a freight train had ran into my gut. A quiet, startled gasp escaped my lips. This man wasn’t a student. He was a teacher, the new handsome biology teacher that everyone had been talking about all day.

I felt my face grow hot and I looked at the floor. “Ah… Sorry.”

The man chuckled. “It’s quite alright. The first day can be hectic. But let’s not make this a habit, alright?”

“Y-yeah,” I stammered, willing the blush from my face to go away.

“Why don’t you take a seat?”

I looked around the classroom to see Lance sitting in the back, frowning at me. All spots around him were taken. And so were the spots around the spots around him. I slowly realized the only spot available was the front seat in the middle row. Front and center. I bit my lip and made my way over to the desk, slinking into it. The teacher’s name was written on the board. Mr. Heywood. I repeated the name in my head in a few times. It was an unusual last name.

“So as I was saying, this is my first year as a teacher, so I don’t know much about teaching a class full of high school students,” Mr. Heywood started, standing right in front of me, his hand resting on the edge of my desk. “And obviously you guys don’t know me, so let’s get to know each other a bit today.”

Sarah, the girl who sat next to me, shot her hand up quickly. “Can we ask you questions?”

Mr. Heywood looked surprised, but shrugged. “If you want.”

“How old are you?” she asked quickly, causing Mr. Heywood to smile.

“Twenty-two,” he told her.

I stared at him in surprise. The other youngest teacher here was thirty. But this guy was only twenty-two? Did that mean that he got a job fresh out of college? How lucky was that?

“I got this job just as I finished up college this year,” he continued with a laugh, as if he was reading my thoughts. “It was a lucky break.”

“Are you single?” a guy from the back asked, making the class erupt into laughter.

Mr. Heywood blanked for a minute, but quickly rearranged his features into a grin. “In fact I am,” he told the class. “However, I’m not interested in men.”

He winked and the class erupted into laughter again. I chuckled slightly, glancing up at him. Our gazes met and he froze for a minute, staring at me with the same expression as earlier on. I blinked at him, and he quickly looked away. Confused I lowered my gaze to the floor, frowning.

“What’s your first name?” another person asked.

“Chris, but none of you can call me that.”

“Favorite color?”

“Black and blue.”

I smiled slightly. “Like a bruise.”

The class laughed and I looked up again, seeing Mr. Heywood staring at me with another startled expression. I narrowed my eyes at him in confusion. What was so surprising about my statement? Finally he seemed to realize he was staring and he quickly cleared his throat.

“Someone said the exact same thing to me a while back,” he told me, scratching the back of his head. “You surprised me.”

“Sorry?” I apologized, still confused.

Mr. Heywood shook his head. “Um, next question?”

“Are you lactose intolerant?”

The class continued to have a question and answer session with Mr. Heywood. It was pretty entertaining. Mr. Heywood had a good sense of humor, and seemed like an easy person to get along with. After the questions ran out he handed out course expectations and a list of materials we would need for the year, and then left us to chat amongst ourselves. A flock of students went up to his desk and gathered around it, talking to him animatedly. Lance came up to me and sat down in an evacuated seat to my right. I turned to face him and stretched out my legs, sighing deeply.

“Good job coming to class late,” he said, shaking his head. “Now you’re stuck with the front and center seat.”

I shrugged. “Whatever. I don’t really mind.”

Lance raised an eyebrow and lowered his voice. “It can’t be because you too have fallen for Mr. Heywood’s good looks, can it?”

I snorted, feeling my face heat up the slightest bit. Hopefully Lance wouldn’t notice. “Of course not.”

Lance let out a breathy chuckle. “Just checking. He seems to be very popular.”

I nodded, looking at the crowd of students at the desk. Mr. Heywood seemed to be enjoying talking to all of them. He had to be only four or five years older than most of them. I quickly counted on my fingers to see how much older than he was than me, only five years, and in about two months, only four. I was right the other day thinking he wasn’t that much older than me.

My shoulder sagged. Why did my mystery man have to be a teacher? That ruined any fantasies I had about meeting him and falling in love. Lance raised an eyebrow curiously at my change of expression. I shook my head at him, trying not to scowl. It wasn’t fair.

Soon the period ended, and the class began filing out of the classroom. I quickly zipped open my backpack, stuffing my newly acquired papers into it as fast as I could.

“I’m going ahead,” Lance told me, standing up. “I don’t want to be late.”

“Wait!” I demanded, shoving the course expectation further into my bag. “Lance!”

Lance ignored me and kept walking as I fought with the stupid piece of paper. When it was finally in, I quickly zipped my bag back up. In a rush, I stood up and flung myself after Lance, only to trip over my desk leg. I landed flat of my face with a weird sounding smack.

“Are you okay?” Mr. Heywood asked, sounding slightly amused and slightly concerned.

Red-faced, I pushed myself off the ground and nodded to him stiffly before trudging towards the exit. If that wasn’t the definition of embarrassing, I didn’t know what was. I heard him chuckle to himself as I exited, my face still burning.

“Don’t be late tomorrow, Holly.”