Friday morning was a relief when it came. The good thing was, that after my little deal with the seniors, I hadn't had a major problem with them for the rest of the week. However, Oliver hadn't shown up for class again. He'd even stopped showing up sixth period when he was supposed to help prep. But that was really the only problem left for me to tackle.

As I was walking in the entrance to the school, I bumped into Emma Rose.

"Ms. Allen, right?" she greeted me with a smile.

Somehow her presence eased me. "Yep. Good morning."

"Morning, mind if I walk with you?"

"Sure."

She let out a soft sigh. "It's so nice in the morning before the students arrive, isn't it?"

"It's very quiet," I agreed.

"How have you been adjusting? I heard your first day was a bit rough," Emma said, giving me a sympathetic look.

I shrugged. "It's not bad now."

"You must get hassled about your young looks."

I grinned and nodded. "You got it."

"It's not so bad when you get used to it," she promised me. "The students aren't too horrible if you give them a chance. Of course, there are always a handful of troublemakers. But a lot of students come here because their parents freaked out on them for making one mistake. So don't label them all as bad."

Her words made an image of Melissa pop into my head. She really didn't seem like she fit in here. What was her case? I knew it was wrong to label all the students here as bad. Most of them probably weren't. "Yeah, you're right," I finally said. "Thanks."

She squeezed my shoulder. "No problem. If you every need anything, don't hesitate to come see me."

"Thanks," I said again, smiling at her.

"Well, I'm off this way," she said, taking a right down one of the hallways.

I stayed straight, going down the hallway that led to my classroom. As soon as it came into view, the door opened. Seconds later, Tucker appeared, rushing out of the room. He turned and stared directly at me, a scowl instantly appearing on his face.

I frowned at him. "What were you doing in—"

"None of your business!" he snapped, turning his back on me and storming down the hallway in the opposite direction.

Unimpressed, I walked into my classroom. What was his problem? This was the fourth day in a row I caught him leaving my classroom before I was even in it, and every time he'd leave before I could actually see what he was doing. He had no right to have that attitude with me.

On Tuesday he had left the floor wet, and yesterday one of the cabinet doors in the supply room was open and I had banged my head on it. Was he pulling pranks on me? With caution, I walked across the classroom, feeling for any slippery areas. None showed up. I checked to see if there was glue on my chair. Nope.

I frowned slightly, but shrugged it off. I would just have to catch Tucker in action to figure out what he was doing in my room so early every day. Sitting at my desk, I pulled out the old teacher's planner book and opened it, going over today's schedule. Another desert was on the menu for today. Frowning, I glanced down at my stomach. Whatever we made I always ended up eating... If this kept up I was going to gain two hundred pounds a month.

"I can't say if I like casual Friday or not..."

I looked up from my desk to see Arden walking into the room, his face pulled into an unsure expression. I glanced at the clock to realize homeroom had already ended. Arden was still staring at me when I returned my attention to him. For a minute I was confused... until I realized that he was checking me out. While doing my best not to blush, I gave him the harshest glare I could summon.

"Stop checking me out," I commanded.

"On one hand, you look great in those jeans," Arden commented thoughtfully. "But on the other hand, you look much younger than usual. Which wouldn't be a problem if you didn't have other classes."

"How many times do I have to tell you that you can't say that kind of stuff?" I snapped, the blush now appearing on my face. "You're going to get us both into trouble! I'm your teacher, you can't hit on me."

"Technically I'm not hitting on you," Arden commented with a wink. "And it's not my fault I like older women."

I smiled wryly. He only liked older women when he thought they were older than him. "I don't care, I'm still a teacher so please refrain from those kind of comments."

"But we are the only two in here, Harley," Arden said, coming closer to my desk. "No one will know..."

"I will though," I responded, eyeing him cautiously. "Take your playboy-ness somewhere else."

Arden chuckled. "You're so unexciting."

"Well I am a teacher," I responded with a grin.

Arden caught my eye and frowned slightly. "Seriously though, I'd be careful about what you wear. You look more like a student today than a teacher."

Frowning slightly, I looked down at my outfit: a pair of faded blue jeans and a plain black zip-up hoodie with a white tank top underneath. It was a simple outfit. Teachers wore this stuff all the time, didn't they? And it was casual Friday. I looked back at Arden and shrugged.

"Everyone looks younger in normal clothing compared to formal clothing."

"Very true," Arden commented. "You look cute too."

"I said stop with the comments," I responded half-heartedly. "You'll get me in trouble."

"Que sera sera," Arden responded, waving his hand.

I rolled his eyes. "No, because I need this job more than you could ever know."

"Why?"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"How come?"

I sighed, turning to face Arden. "Just because. Have you seen Oliver lately?"

Immediately a scowl appeared on his face. "No. Why?"

"Well he's been skipping class all week, and he's been ditching me during sixth period when he's supposed to help me prep," I said, rubbing my forehead.

"Isn't it better this way?"

"What?"

"Without Oliver, the class is so much better," Arden told me. "Someone like him shouldn't be in it."

"What do you mean by 'someone like him'?"

"He's a cold, callous, son of a—"

"Watch your mouth," I snapped before he could finish.

He looked at me in surprise. "You're sticking up for him?" Arden snorted. "What? Did you fall for his English accent?"

"No, I just don't appreciate you swearing."

Arden blinked at me in surprise. "Oh, that... I swear all the time—"

"Well don't around me," I advised him. "I have a younger brother and I don't want to pick up habits that might be picked up by him."

"Don't your parents swear?"

My eyes widened slightly and I stared at him in surprise. He returned my look with a questioning one. That's right. He didn't know my parents were dead. Swallowing, I shook my head slowly.

"Um, no, my parents don't swear..."

"Really? That's rare nowadays," he commented with a shrug. "Oh well. I can't guarantee I won't slip up a few times."

"That's fine," I said quietly, returning my attention back to the planner on my desk.

Why couldn't I tell Arden my parents were dead? For some reason I didn't want anyone to know... But why? I drummed my fingers against my desk, frowning. Someone was going to find out sooner or later.

"What do you need me to do today?"

I glanced back up at Arden who was standing patiently by my desk. "Umm... I guess we could start melting the chocolate..."

Sixth period came quickly, and I waited as the bell rang for Oliver to enter the room. Fifteen minutes into the period, I figured he wasn't going to show up. A sigh of frustration left my lips as I headed to the supply closet to prep by myself. I debated whether to tell the principal or not. He was skipping class, which was against the rules... but why was he? Was it something I did? Something I said? I was slightly offended. What could I have done? I wracked my memories, but couldn't find anything. Had I said something accidentally? Or too offensively? Sure, he'd gotten in trouble for the food fight, but that was inevitable. There was no other reason for him to be angry.

My slump lasted until seventh period. Zak was the first one in the room. He came straight up to my desk with a large grin. "Morning Ms. Allen!"

"It's afternoon," I said flatly.

"Right, right," Zak responded, waving his hand. "I have some great news for you!"

"Do you?"

"Luke, Joey, bring him in!"

I turned my attention to the door. Three men came in. To my surprise, Oliver was being held between the boy with the rac  tails and one of the twins.

"Let me go," Oliver demanded, trying to pull himself free. "You guys, whose side are you on?"

"We made a promise to Zak," chirped Luke. "Besides, if you skip too much class you can be expelled."

I shot him a dirty look. "Nice of you to finally show, Mr. Fox."

"Whatever."

"As a reward, I say I get to leave early," Zak interjected, giving me a wide grin.

I grinned a little bit. "Not happening, sir. Take your seats."

Joey and Luke took Oliver to his seat before letting go of him. Scowling, Oliver sat down, glaring out the window. I narrowed my eyes at him slightly. What was his problem?

"Oh, look who decided to show up! The great Oli!"

My attention snapped to the door where Arden and Tucker were standing. Tucker glared at me for a moment and I grimaced. If they weren't in different school cliques, I had a feeling he and Oliver would be great buddies.

"Don't even start on me," Oliver said, narrowing his eyes at Arden.

"You decided to stop being a pansy and come to class for once?" Arden continued, walking into the classroom farther. "How wonderful."

"Arden," I warned.

"You should really learn to shut that hole on your face," Oliver responded, standing up from his desk.

"It's called a mouth, Oliver," Zak interjected. Oliver shot him a mean look and Zak just shrugged. "I'm just saying..."

"Oh, scary," Arden said mockingly. "Oli is getting mad..."

"Do you want to die?" Oliver asked, moving toward Arden threateningly.

"How come you haven't been showing up for class, Oli?"

"I have better things to do."

"Like what? Play in your sandbox?"

I raised an eyebrow. What kind of insult was that? Arden grinned smugly at Oliver as Oliver approached him. Oliver stopped a few feet away, glaring at him. Now it was my turn to cut in. I walked up to them, putting myself between their bodies.

"There won't be any fighting in my classroom," I warned them both, looking over my shoulder meaningfully at Arden. "Oliver, go sit back down."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"I'm your teacher, I can tell you what to do if I want to!" I said confidently. "Go sit now."

Oliver scowled at me for a few minutes before turning around. I turned to Arden who was pouting.

"You sit down too," I ordered.

"You ruin my fun," Arden responded, trudging to his seat.

Letting out a sigh, I turned my attention back to the whole class. "Let's try to get through class without fighting, okay? Recipes are on your tables, so you can get started whenever. Oliver, can I speak to you in the hall?"

Oliver rolled his eyes, but stood up nonetheless. He followed me into the hallway and I shut the door behind us. "Why have you been skipping?" I asked, short and to the point.

"Waste of time," he answered simply, looking bored.

"You do realize you need this class to graduate, right?"

"Point?"

I did my best to keep my face straight, even though I kind of wanted to punch him. "So, technically I can kick you out since you've been skipping it so much. One word to the principal..."

Oliver's jaw tightened and he stared moodily at the wall. "Go ahead."

"Oliver, please," I said, exasperated. "All I'm asking you to do is show up for class. You need to take this class. Make an effort to come to it. Even if you think it's stupid."

Oliver's gaze shifted onto me, eyes sharp and blue. "Why do you want me to show up so bad?"

Taken aback, it took me a second to respond. "Because..." I hesitated, thinking of a reason. Why did I want him to show up so bad? I shouldn't care if he wanted to be in class or not. Yet I did. 

Oliver gave me a curious look before shrugging his shoulders. "I'll think about it," he replied before slipping back into the classroom.

I stared after him for a moment before sighing. At least he decided to stay today. Hopefully this was be progress.

After entering the classroom again, I went to my desk. "Today we're going to be learning about meat temperatures, how to check them, and the risks of uncooked meats. It's pretty basic. You guys might already know a lot of these. For example, what do you have a chance of catching if you eat raw chicken?"

Twelve pairs of eyes blinked at me. No one raised his hand.

"Come on. It's simple," I prompted.

Finally, Zak raised his hand. "Salmonella?"

"Correct," I said nodding. "Some uncooked meat has this bacterium in it. It basically causes food poisoning. You need to cook chicken thoroughly to kill the bacterium. Unlike with red meat, you can't eat it at a medium rare state."

"I thought that salmonella kills you?" Luke asked.

I shook my head. "The chances of it killing you really isn't that high. I mean, like in all cases of any bacterial disease it can kill you, but mainly it just makes you really sick."

"So it does kill you."

"It can."

"But I was kind of right."

I rolled my eyes, but smiled nonetheless. This was going to be a long lesson.

I trudged into Will's apartment after school, letting out a wide yawn. It had started to rain as soon as I'd left school, which made me both irritated and a little on edge. Rain usually led to bad things. Will appeared in the living room seconds later, a pleading look on his face. I didn't like that look.

"Could you do me a favor?" he asked.

"Depends," I muttered.

"Just run to the grocery store so we can have dinner tonight?" he requested, sending me a boyish grin.

"Pig?" Elliot appeared in the living room, looking at me with big eyes. "I want to go to the grocery store with Pig too!"

"It's already four, I wanted to take a nap," I complained, glancing at the clock. "And it's raining."

"I want to go!" Elliot complained, pulling on my shirt. "Please, Pig!"

"Yeah, please Pig?"

I glowered at Will. He laughed sheepishly, scratching his head. Elliot looked at me imploringly and I sighed. "Okay, fine. But it'll be quick. Get your shoes on, Eli."

"Okay!" Elliot cried excitedly.

"Thank you," Will said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"You watch Elliot all the time, so it's the least I can do," I responded, waving my hand in dismissal.

Elliot reappeared, wearing one blue sneaker and one white one. "I'm ready Pig!"

I grimaced. "Elliot... You know, wearing matching shoes isn't a crime."

He just grinned at me. "I like my shoes."

Rolling my eyes, I nodded toward the door. "Whatever, let's just go."

The worst thing about going to the grocery store with Elliot, was that he wanted everything. And when I say everything, I really mean everything.

"Pig, can we get this?"

I glanced down to see him holding up a can of potatoes. "Elliot, we have regular potatoes."

"Can we get this?" he asked, now holding up a can of cat food.

"We don't have a cat..."

He pointed to a large box with cats on it sitting the bottom shelf of the aisle. "Can we get this?"

"If we don't have a cat, why would we need cat litter?"

"In case Will has an accident," Elliot responded, making me laugh.

"No, it's okay. If you stop asking for everything, I'll let you get a candy. Let me just get dinner, and then when we are leaving we'll stop by the candy isle," I said to him, making my way to the meat section.

"Okay!" Elliot responded, grabbing my hand. "Let's go."

Due to Elliot's commands I ended up picking up hamburgers for dinner. I wasn't complaining; they were easy to make. Elliot basically dragged me to the candy aisle.

"Come on, Pig!"

"Hold on," I said with a laugh. "The candy isn't going..."

I trailed off as a shock went through my body. Standing not even three feet away from me was Oliver. Crap! I wasn't wearing my glasses and my hair was down and I was in casual clothing! Taking the lead, I ended up hauling Elliot toward the candy aisle even faster than before.

"Choose quickly," I told him, looking over my shoulder cautiously.

Why was Oliver here? Well that was a stupid question. Obviously he was getting groceries. But I couldn't let him see Elliot and myself. Why hadn't I worn my glasses? I already looked like a sixteen year old with them; I probably looked like I was twelve without them.

"I want gummy bears," Elliot decided.

I quickly scanned the aisle and located the gummy bears, grabbing a small package and giving them to him. He shook his head. "Sour."

"Okay," I responded, putting the gummy bears back and grabbing the sour package. "You're good now?"

"Yep!"

"Then let's go," I said, grabbing his hand and heading toward the checkout line quickly.

It was going to be okay. Oliver wasn't going to see me. Well, even if he did see me, he probably wouldn't acknowledge me, I thought wryly. I didn't have anything to worry about. But to be on the safe side—

Suddenly someone ran into my side with their carriage, making me drop my basket, and slip. Elliot called out my name in surprise as I hit the dirty floor with a smack. I winced, immediately pushing myself into a sitting position. "Ow..."

"Shoot, sorry!"

As soon as the voice met my ears I froze. It was Oliver. My stomach dropped and I panicked for a moment. What was I supposed to do? Not raising my head, I pushed myself up. I cleared my throat and tried to disguise my voice. "Don't worry about it."

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine," I said quickly.

"Pig?"

"I'm good, Eli."

"Sorry again," Oliver apologized, and I was tempted to look at him.

Why was he being so nice? I was expecting him to say something along the lines of, "Watch where you're going idiot". Taking Elliot's hand again, I led him away from Oliver, keeping my hair in my face, my heart furiously beating in my chest. That was too close.

"Hey! You dropped your driver's license..."

My driver's license? A shock went through me. That had my actual age on it! Crap! I turned around, keeping my head down, and went back to Oliver, holding out my hand expectantly. When I didn't feel my license being put into it, I glanced up.

Oliver was looking at me in surprise. I instantly whipped my head back down, heart in my throat. He grabbed my face and forced me to look up at him. My eyes widened and a smirk appeared on his face as he looked from me, to my driver's license, and then back again. "Harley Allen... Or should I say, Ms. Allen?" Oliver commented, dangling my driver's license in front of my face. "Care to explain why your driver's license says you're only seventeen?"

____________________________

Dun dun DUN.