I wasn't just in shock; I fainted. I promptly fell off my chair to the side and fainted on the ground. I heard squeals before my eyes fell shut. Someone was holding me up but I was too concussed to know who it was. Voices buzzed in my ear. But I was oblivious to what was said. Because only one thought filled my head before I passed out, Mr. Byrd's words rang in my mind—Pierce Hartman was the new TA in my class.

I couldn't believe it had been three years since Pierce Hartman walked through the halls of Bellfort... I had a million questions as to how and why exactly he was here when he should be in college. And to be TA to us high schoolers, to me? Wow. Mind-blowing.

When I came to, everything was fuzzy; my brain felt like it had just taken a rollercoaster ride. I blinked until the blurriness in my eyes sharpened back to focus. I looked around and found myself in the nurse's office. And then the clear, mesmerizing face of Pierce came into focus. He was sitting right next to me.

"Eek!" I squeaked on seeing him. I tried to sit up in a hurry but my head spun and I nearly fell back—but Pierce's arms were around me in a moment.

"Easy, troublemaker," he said softly, steadying me. I stared at him, wondering if I was dreaming. Having his arms around me sent my pulse into overdrive.

"What happened?" I asked, feeling heavily disoriented by Pierce's proximity. He gave a little smirk.

"Apparently, you skipped lunch from what your friends said. Yeah, I don't blame you, sometimes the cafeteria food sucks. But they do have vending machines around school, you know."

"Oh..." So Pierce put my fainting down due to hunger, not the shock of seeing him again. Phew, thank goodness for that.

"Here, have a sip," he said, handing me a glass of water. I drank it all down and handed it back to him.

"Shouldn't you get back to class?" I asked, staring at him. "I mean, you're the new TA and all..."

"And as the new TA, I should be looking out for my students," he said, gazing straight into my eyes. A weight fell in my stomach; was that all I was to Pierce now? Just one of his students?

"I'm kinda surprised you're not asking a ton of questions," Pierce said, crossing his knee over the other and folding his arms. Crud, if only he knew how damn hot he looked, doing that—like he was posing for a modeling magazine. My mouth watered at the sight and I had to swallow the extra saliva before answering.

"Oh, I have a ton of questions, I just didn't think now was the right time to ask them."

"Right about that," Pierce said with a trace of amusement. "Well then, why don't we get out of here and go answer those questions of yours someplace else? That way you won't be distracted by them in class tomorrow." Utter confusion filled me.

"Pierce, don't you have to get back to class now?" I asked again. Did he expect me to ditch class? Not that the idea of going someplace alone with him didn't greatly appeal to me...

"Classes ended ten minutes ago," he replied, showing me his watch. "You had a long nap, troublemaker." Despite everything, I couldn't help but smile at his nickname for me.

"Well then, I should get going..." I mumbled, putting my legs down to get up.

"Whoa, not on your own," Pierce said, protectively surrounding me. "I'll give you a ride, get some food in you, answer the questions I'm sure you wanna ask and drop you off." Wow, Pierce just took authority over me, it was so sexy...

"Um, really?" I asked, stunned but thrilled by his offer. I felt stoked to another level that he was taking such an interest in me and apparently cared about my wellbeing more than was necessary.

"Yeah. What do you say?" He asked.

"Yes!" I couldn't answer fast enough with an enthusiastic smile. My smile faded for a moment.

"Wait... I need to take my scooter home—"

"Don't worry, it'll fit in the trunk of my car," Pierce said. My smile returned.

"Then let's go!" I said with gusto, running out of the office. I bumped into a human wall outside though—a wall that made me grimace.

"There you are! How are you feeling?" It was Trey, suddenly looking all concerned about me. I scowled.

"Oh so you're talking to me again?" I asked coldly. He frowned.

"Look, Amb, whatever happened this morning doesn't mean I don't care about—what are you still doing here?" Trey cut off his sentence on seeing Pierce come out and scowled at him. I stepped in front of Pierce, shielding him from Trey angrily.

"Watch it, Trey, he's the TA, you can't talk to him like that," I defended Pierce. I felt Pierce pat my shoulder.

"It's alright, Amber," he said calmly. I turned to him in surprise. Pierce might have a heart of gold but I hoped he didn't tolerate disrespect too much—and I had a feeling Trey would give him a lot of that from now on.

"Tch, TA? What a joke," Trey scoffed. "What kinda TA kisses his students?!" Ahh, so that did bother Trey. Good.

"Technically, that was before I was your TA," Pierce said, keenly staring Trey down. "As of now, however, I'm part of the teaching faculty and expect us to get along as such." Pierce sure didn't need anyone to defend him, dang he was hot enough to do it himself. He practically shrank Trey with his icy, authoritative stare, making me swoon inside. What a man...

"Now if you'll excuse us, we'd better get going," Pierce said, slipping his hand behind my back and guiding me along—boy, that felt intimate. Trey hurriedly blocked my path.

"I'll take you home," Trey argued, looking at me. I rolled my eyes.

"No thanks," I said curtly and walked off with Pierce. Sweet marshmallows, that felt good, telling Trey off and having Pierce by my side. I sighed in relief once we were outside.

"You still up for answers to those questions?" Pierce asked me suddenly. I nodded vigorously.

"Of course," I replied. A tiny smirk played on Pierce's lips.

"Alright, then let's do it over a bite to eat." Wow, a chance to hang out and catch up with my long time crush, get lunch with him and avoid Trey? This day just got a thousand times better.

~

"So, what're you in the mood for?" Pierce asked me. He had taken me to a cute little cafe in the heart of the city, a place decorated with green leafy streamers and flower baskets. It was very woodsy.

"Oh, er, I've never been here before so I'm not really sure what to order," I replied.

"Mind if I order for you then?" Pierce offered. I smiled at him.

"I'll trust your instincts," I said. He pulled out a chair for me to sit down—holy smokes, what a gentleman. He ordered a sandwich for me (he said he wasn't hungry) and a couple of cappuccinos and then turned to gaze at me over interlocked fingers with those outrageously alluring aquamarine eyes of his.

"So, Miss Amber Gardener. Been a while since I've seen you. What've you been up to?" He asked conversationally.

"Nothing much," I answered, feeling bashful under his smoldering gaze.

"Not getting into trouble these days?" He asked with a sly smile. I gave a nervous laugh.

"Hehe, no, not lately."

"You still skateboard?"

"Sometimes. What about you?"

"Haven't had much time in college, to be honest." College, right... A moment of silence passed between us and I felt like I had to ask.

"So what are you really doing at Bellfort, Pierce?" I asked, feeling my heart skip a beat at saying his name. "Did you graduate early from college too?"

"Nah, just took a year off," he answered with a careless shrug.

"You can do that?" I asked in surprise.

"Well, sometimes. I was a special case, they made an exception. Just needed a break from all that pressure—trust me, college is grueling." He sounded like he was warning me to be prepared. I raised my eyebrows.

"And you think being the TA at Bellfort isn't?" I asked.

"Definitely not as tough as college," Pierce said with wry smile. "Besides, having a little teaching experience under my belt looks good on my application."

"You haven't met my class yet," I said with a laugh. "We're a tough bunch."

"Oh really?" Pierce asked, leaning forward and sending flutters through my stomach. "You gonna make trouble for me, troublemaker?" The way he asked that felt like he was flirting with me again. My mouth salivated and my breathing rate sped up... How does he do that?

"For you? I'll be your star student," I answered earnestly, forgetting for a moment that it was chemistry (my worst subject) he'd be teaching. But the smile he gave me was worth it.

"Good girl," he said, looking satisfied. Freaking fruit loops, why did my stomach flip every time he said that to me?

The waiter brought my food just then—it was a large, well stuffed sandwich with a side of potato wedges.

"Mmm, smells delish," I said, lifting the sandwich and inhaling deeply. "What is it?"

"It's a pesto sandwich," Pierce replied, "best thing in the house in my opinion." I took a bite out of it—damn, Pierce had good opinions, it was more delicious than it smelled!

"Thanks for the recommendation," I said with a grateful smile as I tucked in with enthusiasm. I didn't realize I was starving till now.

"Any time," Pierce answered with a playful wink while he sipped his cappuccino. "Can't have you fainting in my arms again." I laughed at that.

"So, Pierce, you'll only be here for a year, huh?" I asked lightly.

"Yeah, then it's back to college for me," he replied. "What about you? Picked out the college of your dreams yet?"

"Not yet," I answered, drawing circles with my fingers on the napkin. I looked up and gave him a playful glance. "Maybe I'll follow you to Harvard." I meant it as a joke but Pierce smiled and gazed intently at me.

"That'd be nice, seeing a familiar face on campus while I do my post grad studies," he said. Whoa, I was not prepared for that. His willing acquiescence to everything I said really threw me off—I didn't expect us to tete-a-tete so well either. I mean, despite him being older than me and now being my teacher, I was surprised he took such an interest in me. Even earlier, it surprised me to see him in the nurse's office beside me—and now he was here, treating me with a special lunch. It felt like a date to me, unthinkable though it seemed.

Was he... possibly, unimaginably... into me?

After lunch, he dropped me off at home—I could get used to sitting beside him in his car—and even walked me to the door. I turned to him with a smile and stars in my eyes.

"Thanks for today, Pierce," I said, wishing our time together didn't have to end. "For everything."

"Don't mention it," Pierce shrugged, but he smiled back. "But hey, Amber, mind if I ask a favor?"

"Not at all, what?" I asked, eager to do whatever he suggested. After all, he did me a pretty big favor this morning, scandalous as it was. He looked wary for a moment though.

"I know it's no big deal when it's just us... I've known you for a while now so it's hard to think of you as my student..." he said gently before pausing. "But... now our roles have changed and I'd appreciate it if you addressed me as Mr. Hartman at school."

"Oh—oh. Of course," I agreed quickly, despite feeling disappointed that I won't be able to call him by his first name which I loved. But I could understand why he asked for it—it'd be way too awkward and unethical if I called him by his first name at school. And I didn't want to cause any problems for him.

"And er..." Pierce continued, looking hesitant. "About this morning..." Oh crud, he was gonna bring up our kiss.

"Don't worry about it," I reassured him, brushing off the lovelorn ache that filled my heart. "I won't let that make any trouble for you, I promise." Pierce smiled.

"Good girl. Although I can handle it, you know." He definitely looked at me with hooded eyes now. My heartbeat tripled and my cheeks felt too hot, especially at being called 'good girl'. He was doing that to me again!

"See you tomorrow, troublemaker," he said with a jaunty salute at me before turning on his heels and walking to his car. I watched him drive off and didn't take my eyes off the road till the red top of his car disappeared.

"See you tomorrow, Pierce," I whispered to myself before entering my house with a smile—I'd just been on my first date with Pierce Hartman.

And the best part was—I'd being seeing him for the rest of the year.

💜

AHHH first date with your precious Pierce! 😍🥰😄 I know many of y'all were heartbroken after book 2 and loved him on his date with Thea which ended in disaster... Hope this makes up for it 😊 and it's just the beginning... Who knows what more can happen with this golden boy...😏