POV: Savannah
I awoke the next morning, startled by my phone alarm, and apparently ended up waking everyone else too. It was six thirty in the morning, Reece and I had classes to get to. We hopped up, threw on clothes, and doused ourselves in various scents. Classes started in half an hour. We didn't have time to shower away the smell of throw up and liquor from the night before. I kissed half asleep Colin on the cheek and ran out the door to get in the car with Reece.
"You think we're gonna make it?" I asked, looking over at the clock on the dashboard.
"Nope," he replied, shifting gears and backing out of the driveway.
We arrived at school with two minutes to spare, but Reece still had to park the car, and we still had to voyage across campus. We pulled into the parking lot like we were racers on The Fast and the Furious, and jumping out of the car as fast as we could, making a sprint to our first class. This was not a good way to start the day. We darted into the building and down the halls with one minute to spare.
It wouldn't have been all that serious if our first class wasn't taught by the teacher from hell. He was the meanest guy around and everyone knew it. If you were late to his class once, you'd be kicked out, simple as that. We were a few seconds away, and I could see the door to the class down the hall, when all of a sudden the bell rang.
We were officially late...
Reece and I stopped running and exchanged glances of dismay. We knew exactly what was coming... expulsion, maybe a write up, and a stern talking to after class. We made the walk of shame in through the door, ready to face the confrontation, but when we got inside, there was no sign of the teacher anywhere.
"You guys got so lucky," said some random kid in the class, "Mr. Wheathersby hasn't been in yet! Looks like he's running late today, for the first time in his life."
"Something isn't right," I whispered to Reece
"I know, but let's just be thankful... I can't afford to get kicked out of another class—"
I stopped and spun him around as we began walking to our seats, "another?!"
He laughed and we surveyed the room, found two seats up front, and pulled out our laptops like we had been there the whole time. Just as we were beginning to get comfortable, the principal walked in.
"Excuse me, can I have everyone's attention please?"
The room silenced and everyone fixated on what he had to say.
"Mr. Wheathersby has been transferred to another school—"
He was cut off by sounds of high fives and the whooping of some of the more immature people in our class... Reece being one of them...
"Anyway... I'm sure you're all devastated, and don't know how to go on with your academic lives. You'd probably all love to have a free day today..."
Faces lit up around the classroom.
"Well, you can't!"
You could hear the crushing sound of people's dreams hitting the floor around us.
"We have a replacement here for today, he's a long term substitute, until we can find another teacher, but he's just as good as Mr. Wheathersby! I'm sure you'll all enjoy him just as much!"
Whispers spread throughout the classroom
"What the heck? A new teacher?"
"Yeah, everyone's thrilled, can't you tell?"
"I'm not—"
"It was sarcasm Reece, of course no one is happy. At least he's just a long term substitute, they usually suck."
"True that," Reece said, throwing up his hand for a high five.
"Come on out here!" Said the principal, gesturing to someone standing in the doorway. He stepped through and my jaw dropped.
Oh HELL NO....
"Mr. O'Donoghue!"
I slumped down in my chair and looked over at Reece. His reaction was the exact opposite of mine. I felt like this was all a dream, or a terrible nightmare, that I couldn't wake up from.
"Hi," he said waving to the class, "you guys can call me Ryan if you want, I don't mind"
Girls began giggling as he surveyed the class, beaming a smile to everyone.
"Hey Ryan!" Reece shouted
"You idiot!" I whispered angrily through gritted teeth.
We made eye contact and Ryan's face quickly changed from a forced smile to more of a sly smirk.
"I see there are already some of you here that know Mr. O'Donoghue, so you should feel right at home! I'll leave you to your job Ryan, make us proud!" Said the principal, patting him on the back as he walked out of the class.
"So, where were you guys?" Ryan asked, sitting in the desk at the front of the room.
"We had a project due today—"
Crap, Reece and I totally blew that off...
"Great! Ryan said jumping up from the desk, how many of you actually did it?"
Two people In the class raised their hands.
"Ok so you'll both get an extra 100 in the grade book, everyone else... I'm disappointed in you," he said through a smile that was creeping onto his face.
"What are we doing today?"
"Well, principal whatshisface seems to think we should get right to work, but I think you guys need time to adapt to your new teacher, am I right?"
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Great, so why don't we take the day off and get to know each other!" Ryan suggested, closing the door and going back to sit in the desk, "does anyone have any questions for me?"
I raised my hand
"Yes Savannah?" He smirked
"Why are you here Ryan?"
"Awe, I thought we left on good terms? By the way, don't call me Ryan..."
I was taken aback by his rude comment, "but you said—"
"You may call me Ryan when you've gained my trust... right now, it's Mr. O'Donoghue to you"
"Yeah, that's not gonna work," I said
"Say it..." He demanded, "if you want your question answered, you'll have to say it."
"Are you trying to threaten me?"
"No sweetheart, it was a promise," he said, licking his lips.
You could practically hear panties dropping in the class. He looked around and thought of another clever thing to say.
"Now, where have I heard that line before? Oh yes, must've been when you accompanied me in some of our extracurricular activities... Though I must say, you definitely received an A plus..."
"Ryan—"
"You never have a problem saying my name before, why is it so hard now?" He asked, folding his hands over his lap and leaning back in his chair, "pun intended!"