I felt sick as I brought Elliot to Will's apartment on Monday morning. Will watched me with concern as I staggered to his room to drop the slumbering Elliot off into his bed. When I returned Will stopped me. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm feeling fine," I told him. "Besides the fact that I have to go face the guy who could either make or break my life in about half an hour."

Will smiled slightly. "Remember, if you need anyone to come beat him up..."

"Will, don't even joke. I don't want to do anything that could have me found out by the school. I've gotten myself into this mess. I don't want to go out with a lawsuit or something," I said. "Ugh, I don't even want to think about that."

"You can leave whenever, you know."

I shook my head. "No, I can't. And instead of worrying about me, I think you should be worrying about yourself a little more," I said, frowning at his still concerned gaze.

"Why?" he asked in surprise.

"It's Monday."

"And?"

"Your editor is coming today," I told him in a matter-of-fact tone.

Instantly Will paled. "Oh no..."

"Oh yes."

"I didn't finish my manuscript!" he told me in horror. "I'm going to have to ask for a deadline extension..."

"Good luck," I told Will with a laugh. "Sherry is such a bundle of joy when it comes to that."

"Will you ditch work and stay with me? She's nicer when you're around."

"I'm not skimping out on work. I'm not like you, Will."

"Low blow, Harley. Low blow."

I rolled my eyes, another laugh erupting from me. "I'm going to go now. Make sure Elliot eats some vegetables for lunch."

"Ay, ay, captain!" Will responded with a salute. "Have a great day."

"Try to survive," I said before I exited his apartment.

I arrived at the school a little later than usual. Students filled the halls, making it noisy and harder to get through. By the time I made it to the classroom, I decided I hated people. Especially people who walked at the pace of a turtle in the hallway.

"Ms. Allen!" a voice called from behind me.

I turned warily to see Zak coming toward me with a grin on his face. My eyes widened slightly when I saw he had a bleeding lip.

"What's wrong?" I asked in concern. "Did something—"

"Guess what?" he said, cutting me off. "I saw Tucker coming out of your room this morning."

"Again?"

"Again?" Zak echoed.

"Every day I catch him coming out of my room just as I arrive here," I told him, furrowing my eyebrows in confusion. "Nothing's ever missing... But wait, that's not the point. What happened to you?"

Zak grinned again. "Well, I saw Tucker coming out of your room, as I just said, and when I confronted him about it, he punched me."

"He punched you?"

"That's what I said..."

"Did you tell someone?" I asked in surprise, looking around. "You should tell a teacher!"

Zak raised an eyebrow at me. "Aren't you a teacher?"

I froze as I realized my mistake. My mind raced, trying to think of a way to play this out. "Uh, well yeah, but... I-I..."

"You're afraid Tucker will beat you up?"

"Huh?"

Zak laughed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Trust me. Tucker won't beat you up if that is what you are trying to say."

A small sigh escaped my lips. Well, I guess I could play along with it. It was better than him finding out I was actually seventeen. Though I'm sure Zak would do more good than bad if he knew... "Yeah, he's violent, so I'm afraid that he might..."

"Don't worry! Even the students here aren't that bad... well except maybe Oliver."

"What do you mean?" I questioned curiously.

Zak smiled mischievously. "Never mind."

A scowl came onto my face. I hated when people did that. Pushing my choice words for Zak away, I gestured him into my classroom. "Well, come on, let's get you cleaned up."

As soon as the words left my lips, a bell rang, signaling the start of homeroom. Zak's eyes widened in surprise, and he looked down the now empty hallway.

"Crap! I'm late again! I'm going to get detention! I've got to go, see you later Ms. Allen!"

"Hold up!" I called, grabbing his arm as he tried to walk away. "You have bloody lip. At least clean it and put disinfectant before you go so it doesn't get infected. I'llcall your homeroom teacher and tell them you're with me."

Relief flooded Zak's face and he nodded. "Thanks, I can't afford to get a detention these days."

"Why?" I asked, leading Zak to the supply room where the first aid kit was.

"I work after school," he informed me. "My parents don't give me money for anything, so I have to work for my gas money and car insurance and everything."

He didn't sound like that bad of a kid if he had a secure job. "Why do you go here?"

Zak chuckled. "I did one bad thing and my parents shipped me here. At my other school, I was the nerd."

"What'd you do?" I asked without thinking. Immediately, I regretted it and I cleared my throat. "Wait, no, sorry. That was rude of me. You don't have to tell me."

"It's fine," Zak assured me. "I didn't do anything much, really. I just stole a car."

"Oh, you just... what?" I cried, staring at him with wide eyes. "You stole a car?"

"It was pretty awesome. I kept the cops playing cat and mouse with me for like an hour."

"How'd you get caught?" I asked awkwardly, opening the medical cabinet.

"The car I stole ran out of gas," Zak told me with a laugh. "It was a pretty lame ending to an awesome chase."

"Why would you steal a car in the first place?"

"A dare."

"You must take truth or dare very seriously," I commented, rolling my eyes. "Purse your lips."

"Will you grant me a kiss?"

I gave him a flat look. "Who are you, Arden?"

"What about me?"

My heart jumped into my throat as I twisted around to see Arden peering into the supply room, his eyebrows raised. When his eyes landed on Zak, they narrowed slightly. "What are you two up to? Secret make-out session?" he said, wagging his eyebrows.

"No!" I denied, feeling my face heat up. "Don't be stupid."

"Why is he here?" Zak asked, narrowing his eyes back at Arden.

"Why not?" Arden responded, a smirk playing at his lips.

"He has to help me prepare for class, Zak," I said, frowning at him. Zak pursed his lips at me. I turned to Arden next. "Arden, aren't you here a little early?"

"I left homeroom early."

"Are you allowed to do that?"

"Nope," Zak responded, never taking his eyes off of Arden. "This guy just likes breaking the rules and feeling bad ass."

Arden laughed. "Oh, my fine feathered friend, you know me all too well."

"Your attitude is annoying."

"Your face is annoying."

"Mature," Zak snorted.

"Stop it!" I demanded, looking between the two men. "Stop fighting! Jeez! Arden, go wait in the classroom while I finish up with Zak."

"Why am I kicked out—" Arden started to protest, but I cut him off.

"Go!"

Arden scowled at me for a minute, before shooting one last glare at Zak and exiting the room. I turned back to the cabinet, pulling out the first aid kit. Luckily, the gauze and disinfectant were at the top. Zak watched me apprehensively as I pulled the disinfectant out.

"It better not hurt..."

"Don't be a baby," I teased, rolling my eyes. "Come over to the sink, I want to wash the blood off first."

"Yes, Ms. Allen."

As gently as I could, I began to wash away the blood on Zak's lips. When most of it was cleared I could see two small cuts on his bottom lip. I put some disinfectant on a new gauze ball and gently pressed it to the cut. Zak lurched away, hissing in pain.

"I thought you said it wouldn't hurt!"

"I never said that," I told him, rolling my eyes.

"Well be more gentle!"

Suddenly Arden's voice came drifting into the room in an amused tone. "That's what she said."

I ignored him. "I'm being as gentle as I can, Zak."

Zak pursed his lips as me before stepping close again. "Fine. Be quick."

"Do you want to hold my hand to ease the pain?" I asked teasingly, bringing the gauze back to his lip.

A low hiss of pain left his mouth again when the gauze came in contact, but he didn't pull away. I spread the disinfectant as quickly as I could, hoping to end Zak's discomfort as soon as possible. When I was satisfied, I chucked the used piece of gauze into the trash.

"That wasn't so bad was it?"

Zak frowned at me. "It still hurt..."

I laughed, clapping his back. "You're such a girl."

"You do realize you're insulting yourself, right?"

Before I could respond, the bell that signaled homeroom was over rang. Zak smirked as he tipped his head to me. "Make sure you call Mr. Wright and tell him I was in here during homeroom. I'm going to go to first period now."

Ugh. The last thing I wanted was to speak to another teacher. I did my best to avoid them. All the weird looks and the "are you really old enough to sub?" got annoying fast.

"Okay," I responded, following him out of the supply room. "See you later, Mr. Adler. Make sure you— Arden! What are you doing?"

The boy in question looked up at me in surprise, immediately shutting my desk's main drawer. I stared at him in horror, my mind racing frantically. Was there anything that could give away my age in my desk? My license was in my pocket and there was nothing else around that had my date of birth. I relaxed slightly, walking up to my desk as Zak left the room.

"Don't go through my stuff!" I scolded, frowning at Arden. "That's an invasion of privacy!"

"I was curious as to what was in there."

"Well next time ask first!"

Arden smirked. "Of course, Harley."

"Ms. Allen," I corrected him, but then remembered our deal. "Or... yeah."

Arden laughed, scooting away from my desk. "So what do we have to do today? Set up for cookies again?"

"No, I think we're switching to main course meals," I told him, going over to my desk and opening the big, black planner. I flipped a few pages until I came to today's schedule. "Hmm... chicken noodle soup."

"That's so easy!"

"It is," I agreed, looking at the recipe. "We really don't have anything to do except put out the ingredients. Want to do that now?"

"Your wish is my command."

I smiled at him. He was really different than Oliver. While Oliver was arrogant, cold, infuriating, obnoxious, and sarcastic, Arden had the arrogance and sarcasm, but he was also likable and funny. Their personalities contrasted with each other sharply. Maybe that was the reason they didn't get along? And if not, what was the reason?

Zak and Tucker were like this too. Except, their roles were swapped. Zak, friends with Oliver, had the good traits, while Tucker, friends with Arden, had the disagreeable ones. They balanced each other out well. I couldn't imagine having to deal with Tucker and Oliver together...

"Arden?"

"Yes, ma'am?"

A small smile played at my lips from his response, but it quickly returned to a frown when I remembered what I wanted to ask him. "Lately Tucker has been coming into my room before I get here. I catch him when he's leaving. Do you have any idea why he comes in here? Today Zak caught him and Tucker punched him..."

Arden's eyes lit up in amusement. "Tucker gave Zak the split lip?"

"Don't look so excited. Tucker could get in trouble."

"Well, Zak did have it coming to him."

I sighed. "Is that a yes or no?"

"To what?" Arden responded, tilting his head.

"To Tucker!"

"Oh, I don't know," Arden told me. "I don't know about everything he does. Why? Is he doing something he shouldn't?"

"Oh, um, well I guess not," I responded, frowning again. "I just want to know what he is doing and why he gets so offended when I catch him in the act. I mean punching Zak is a little extreme..."

"But he deserves it," Arden pointed out.

"No, he doesn't."

"You don't know him like I do," Arden responded, rolling his eyes. "You've known everyone for a week, I've known him since fourth grade."

"What could he have possibly done lately to be punched in the face for?" I questioned, narrowing my eyes. "Zak is possibly the nicest guy out of all my seniors."

Arden pretended to look hurt. "I'm not?"

"You were one of the instigators of the food fight..."

"So was Oliver."

I set my jaw, narrowing my eyes slightly. "I never said Oliver was nice."

Arden raised an eyebrow. "Do I sense a little hostility in your voice? Did something happen?"

"No," I lied quickly.

That was a stupid move. Arden would get suspicious if I randomly started hating Oliver. And I was a teacher, so I couldn't hate on a student anyway. I needed to be more careful. Even if he was the biggest, most irritating, jerk I've ever met... I shook my head suddenly. Why was I thinking about him again? Oh, that's right. Because he was the jerk who knew my biggest secret.

I gave Arden a longing look. Why couldn't it have been Arden who had found out? I was positive Arden wouldn't tell anyone, but I could see Oliver doing it if I did one thing that made him angry. My hands clenched into fists just thinking about it. Who did Oliver think he was?

"Is there something wrong?"

My attention snapped back to Arden who was gazing at me with a frown. It took me a minute to notice the concern in his eyes. I shook my head. "Nothing, I'm just thinking. Sorry."

"No need to apologize," Arden said with a laugh. "You just became quiet all of a sudden. I thought maybe I'd done something..."

I watched as some of Arden's hair fell into his face, covering part of his eyes. I smiled a little. He was very handsome...

"Take a picture, it'll last longer."

I snapped out of my trance and flushed a little, looking away immediately. "W-who needs one?" I muttered trying to sound annoyed. "I was just trying to figure out if you used... hair gel or not."

"Nope. This is all natural awesomeness," he responded, running a hand through his shaggy hair. "You want to feel?"

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "No, thanks."

Arden grinned at me. "I take pride in my hair."

"It looks good. It definitely makes you more..." I trailed off, stopping myself before I could say more. I couldn't tell him it made him look cuter! What was I doing?

"Makes me more what?"

"Nothing. More different than Oliver."

Arden immediately scowled. "Don't even compare me to him."

"Sorry," I apologized immediately, not knowing what else to say. "I was just saying... but if it helps, I don't think you two are alike at all."

"And that's how it should be."

"How long have you hated Oliver for?" I inquired.

"Since seventh grade," Arden told me. "We didn't go to the same school, but he lived on the same street as me. But I don't want to talk about him."

"Why?"

"Because I don't," Arden repeated with an air of finality.

I let it drop then, just nodding my head. However, I couldn't deny I was very curious as to why Arden hated Oliver so much and vice versa. Maybe eventually I could get Arden to spill... I just needed to get him to want to tell me first.

But I had to worry about one thing at a time. And right now, it was Oliver and his mouth.

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Sorry if the last chapters had typo, I don't know why my changes aren't saving when I copy and paste it from the document. I even exported it into a new file and yet the typos and scene changes didn't save? I don't get it. Anyway, I'm trying to figure it out. I tried to catch what it didn't change over but if something is weird let me know!