Excited chatter filled the school halls as I trudged down them, tracking in slush from the latest snowstorm. As I turned a corner, someone coming from the other direction slammed into me, causing my face to meet a shoulder. I didn’t have to look up to know who it was.

            “Watch where you’re going, Ms. Evers.”

            “Sorry, Chris,” I muttered, feeling a blush spread across my face.

            He grinned down at me. “I really wonder why you blush so easily…”

            “Who cares? It makes her look cute.”

            I started, twisting my head around to see Jeremy giving me a goofy smile. He abruptly pulled me to his chest, pressing my face into his shirt roughly. Surprised, I allowed him to keep me there for a moment before trying to push away. He just held on tighter.

            “You’re like a cute little kitten, Holly,” he told me, twisting back and forth. “Chris is one lucky bastard.”

            Chris muttered a curse at Jeremy, who finally let me go. I gave him a reproachful look. “How many times did I say you couldn’t do that in school?”

            “Not enough,” he responded cheekily. “Now I’ve got to go hunt down Casey.”

            “Why?”

            He held up her Northface. “She forgot this in my car yesterday.”

            Chris furrowed his eyebrows in confusion while I tried my best not to grin. Maybe I didn’t need to help Jeremy and Casey get together after all. Just then, Casey decided it would be the perfect moment to round the corner. Jeremy immediately sprung at her, causing her to jump in fright. I laughed, watching as she smacked Jeremy upside the head.

            “Holly…”

            I turned back to Chris, my smile faltering. There was that Holly, don’t even think about it tone. “What?”

            “You have snow in your hair,” he told me, running his hand over the top of my head.

            I blinked at him. Well, that wasn’t what I expected. “W-well it was snowing,” I stuttered, running my own hand over my head.

            He grinned. “Oh really? I thought it was raining dandruff.”

            “Mr. Heywood!”

            Once more I started, my heart leaping into my throat as Lexi pushed by me, beaming at my boyfriend. I stepped back, trying my best not to slap her. It’s just her personality, I told myself firmly.

            “Morning Alexis,” Chris responded, smiling politely at her.

            “I didn’t know you roamed the halls in the morning,” she commented, tugging at a piece of her hair. “It’s refreshing to see you!”

            He chuckled. “Refreshing?”

            She nodded. “Yep!”

            “Then it’s unfortunate that I’m actually on my way to my classroom,” he continued, quickly glancing at me. “I need to set up for first period.”

            “Do you need any help?”

            I stared at Chris, trying to telepathically tell him to say no. When he shook his head, I almost sighed in relief. If there was one thing I didn’t want, it was Lexi in the same room as Chris. Even though I trusted him completely, I didn’t trust her at all.

            “I can handle it,” he told her.

            She pouted at him. “Are you sure?”

            “I’m positive. I’ll see you around, Alexis. You too, Ms. Evers.”

            I waved my hand in response, giving him a quick smile. Lexi glanced at me, a glum expression on her face. When Chris began walking away, she moved closer to me.

            “Do you think he has a girlfriend?”

            “Yes, he does!” I responded, more sharply than I’d meant to. Lexi stared at me. I forced myself to look sheepish. “See, you know how I have… Er, a crush on him?”

            She nodded.

            “At the mall I saw him walking around with his girlfriend and holding her hand…”

            Lexi put a comforting hand on my shoulder. “I’m sorry, Holly. I know how that feels.”

            “Oh, um…” I hesitated, unsure of what to say. She sounded so sincere. “Thank you…?”

            She grinned at me. “No problem! Ooh, look! It’s Mr. Ross!” she pointed behind me. “I’m going to talk to him!”

            I twisted around, watching as Lexi practically jumped on Jeremy, just as he had jumped on Casey. Luckily, Casey was gone now. I let out a little sigh of relief. If Casey liked Jeremy, I didn’t want her to be put off by Lexi… Especially since Lexi liked to hit on almost every guy. Another sigh left my lips.

            “Another one, Holly?”

            Was the world trying to give me a heart attack? Ignoring the sudden increase of my heart rate, I gave Aaron a flat look. “Another what?”

            He grinned. “Sigh. You know, it’s unlucky to sigh an odd number of times.”

            “That’s cool,” I responded snippily, still angry with him from yesterday. “I’m going to be late if I don’t go to homeroom—”

            “Actually there’s ten minutes,” Aaron interjected, placing a hand on my shoulder. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

            “No.”

            “Can I talk to you for a minute?” he repeated, lowering his voice. He narrowed his eyes at me.

            I returned his look with a hard one. “No.”

            “Then I’ll go to the principal’s right now—”

            “Fine,” I snapped. “What do you want?”

            He gently pushed on my shoulder, guiding me back the way I’d come. “Too many people here. You wouldn’t want someone over hearing us, would you?”

            I shook my head in response, allowing him to usher me down the hallway. As soon as we were out of the crowded main hallway and into the empty science hallway, he let me go. I stepped away from him, putting my hands on my hips.

            “Look, if you’re going to threaten me—”

            “How’d you know?”

            “What do you want?” I demanded angrily.

            He held up his hands in defense. “Nothing, nothing. I was kidding. I’m not here to threaten you, I just wanted to apologize.”

            “You… Wanted to apologize?”

            He nodded curtly. “I didn’t realize you were eighteen.”

            I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “What?”

            “My dad’s a cop,” he explained, giving me an uncomfortable look. “I’m going to become a cop one day too, so people breaking the law are not okay with me. As far as dating a teacher… That’s school policy, so there aren’t any legal issues.”

            “What about your sister?”

            He scowled. “She’s under aged. Still is.”

            “But…”

            “Don’t think you’re totally off the hook,” Aaron said before I could keep talking. “Dating a teacher will not work out, Holly.”

            I tensed. “That’s none of your business. Didn’t we go over this yesterday?”

            “I won’t tell anyone,” he continued, ignoring my question. “Yet.”

            “You—”

            He shook his head. “I won’t tell as long as you won’t tell.”

            “What is that even supposed to mean?”

            “You don’t tell you-know-who I know, and I won’t tell the principal I know,” he clarified.

            The corners of my lips turned down into a frown. “Why can’t I tell Chris you know?”

            “I don’t want any unnecessary trouble. And Chris? You call him by his first name in school?”

            “What do you mean by unnecessary trouble?”

            “I mean what I mean.”

            “Aaron.”

            “Look, your secret is safe with me as long as my secret is safe with you,” he snapped.

            I frowned at him. Would it really be okay not to tell Chris? The clear answer was no. But it was better to keep a secret rather than have Chris lose his job. Aaron cocked his head to the side, waiting for an answer. I chewed on my lip, his eyes never leaving mine. He seemed more civil than before…. And if he tried anything, I could easily just tell Chris about it. But it still wasn’t fair to keep a secret from him.

“I—”

“It’s your senior year. You wouldn’t want to be expelled four months before you graduate, would you?”

I made a face. He was right. I didn’t want to be expelled. For the fourth time that morning, I sighed.

            Aaron grinned, thumping me on my shoulder. “There you go, Holly! Now it’s even.”

             ~*~*~*~*~*~

            “I can’t believe her.”

            I looked up from my desk to see Lance hovering over me, an expression of annoyance on his face. “Believe who?”

            “Her.”

            I followed his gaze and my eyes landed on Lexi, who was working with James on our current biology assignment. Lance plopped in the seat next to me, muttering moodily under his breath. I didn’t know whether to be happy or not that Lexi was working with someone else today. On one hand it meant Lance would want to work with me. On the other hand, it meant Lance was only working with me because Lexi was preoccupied. Although, it was a little frustrating since it seemed like she was leading Lance on.

            “Why do you like her?”

            “She’s hot.”

            I jammed my elbow into Lance’s ribs. “You’re such a guy!”

            He winced, pushing my arm away. “I was kidding, Holly. She’s actually nice. Don’t be so quick to judge her.”

            “I didn’t judge her!” I defended myself, staring at Lance in disbelief. “I didn’t even say anything bad about her! Why are you so touchy?”

            He gave me dour look. “She definitely doesn’t like me.”

            “Yeah she does,” I muttered.

            “Really?”

            “Yeah. And Mr. Heywood, and Mr. Ross, and Tyler, and James.”

            Lance made a face. “I don’t want to share…”

            “Then don’t. Steal away her heart, Lance! Make her not such a… such a…”

            “Hussy?” a new voice offered, momentarily popping to my vision. Aaron gave me a cheeky grin. “See? I tried using a nicer word.”

            I pursed my lips at him. “Don’t—”

            “Don’t call Lexi that!” Lance snapped at him. “You’re her brother! Why don’t you try being a little more sensitive?”

            He gave Lance a sarcastic look. “Sensitive? What does that mean?”

            “I’ll show you what it means,” Lance responded, pushing up from the desk.

            I quickly put my hand on his shoulder, stopping him. “Lance, cut it out. You’re acting like a lovesick puppy.”

            “Woof,” Aaron added with a sly smile.

            Lance moved towards Aaron, but I held him back. “No, Lance!” He tried to shove me off him, but I held tight. “Lance! Lance! Stop!”

            “Holly, let go!”

            “No! You’re acting stupid, Lance!”

            He glowered at me. “What if I called your boyfriend a—”

            “A what?” I interjected, clenching my jaw at him. “Calm down, Lance. Everybody has opinions on people.”

            “Some of them are right, some of them are wrong,” Aaron added, examining the tips of his fingers.

            Lance made a move for him again, but I held onto him tighter. What was with Aaron? Why did he try to rile people up? Was he looking to be punched in the face? Half of me wanted to let Lance go and have him do it, but it’d be stupid.

            “Something wrong here?”

            Relief flooded through my chest when I turned my head up and saw Chris raising an eyebrow at Aaron.

            “Just boys being boys,” Aaron told him smoothly.

            “He called his sister a whore!” Lance added.

            Chris frowned. “Language, Lance.”

            “It’s true!”

            Aaron gave Lance another fleeting smirk before sauntering off to the back of the classroom. Lance sat back own in his seat, crossing his arms.

            “Those twins are trouble,” Chris muttered, shaking his head. “So much for a perfect year, Holly.”

            I blinked at him. “Mr. Heywood…”

            His eyes widened in surprise. “Did I say that out loud?” He quickly glanced around and I did the same, seeing if anybody caught his words. Luckily, it didn’t seem like anyone had heard.

            “That was inconspicuous,” Lance commented sarcastically.

            Chris crossed his arms. “Maybe not, but at least I’m not the one trying to beat someone up for just badmouthing a girl I hardly know.”

            “Real mature.”

            “No one can be mature all the time.”

            Lance gave him a flat look. “You’re an adult.”

            He smirked. “So are you.”

            “Oh yeah! Lexi is still under aged too, so you couldn’t date her anyway,” I said slyly, nudging Lance in the elbow. “Weren’t you the one all up in my grill about that a few months ago?”

            Lance pursed his lips at me. “It’s different with us.”

            “No it’s not,” Chris and I said simultaneously.

            “I’m not five years older than her.”

            “Four years and…” I trailed off, turning to Chris. “Wait. When’s your birthday?”

            He gave me an uncomfortable look. “You should work on your lab.”

            “No I want to know—”

            “I think Sarah needs some help,” he cut me off, glancing at the edge of the room.

            I rolled my eyes at him. “If you don’t tell me I’ll just ask Jeremy.”

            The corners of Chris’s mouth tugged up into a smirk. “Not if I tell him not to tell you first and threaten him. Remember, I can use my cell phone in school.”

            Lance snickered. “Sucks for you, Holly.”

            I scowled at the pair of boys. Leave it to Chris to use his authority as a teacher to overpower me.

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Sorry this isn't my best work guys. I have the stomach virus and I can barely keep my eyes open, let alone think straight... But I had to write today because tomorrow I'm going to Worcester for the Alesana concert... I feel bad for anyone around me if I puke in the crowd, haha. We're always in the front row because my friend's aunt lives five minutes away, and being slammed into the gate kind of hurts :s

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Today's song..... Guilty Pleasure by Cobra Starship!