Chapter One: Promise
I jump when my classroom door is thrown open so hard that it slams against the wall with a loud bang. My eyes snap up from my phone, locking on the blue eyes of my best friend.
"Did you hear?" She asks. Her hair is falling out of it's tight bun. She's out of breath.
"Did you run here?" I ask.
"I ran up the stairs." She responds, walking across my room to stop in front of my desk. "Did you hear?"
"Hear what?" I raise a brow at her.
Her eyes turn to saucers.
"Nobody told you?" She gasps.
"Nobody told me what?" I reply.
"There's a new teacher."
I frown. "Okay, and? We get new teachers all the time. Did they finally replace the world history teacher? I'm tired of having to watch their kids. The freshmen are brats and I'm running out of referral slips."
"Yes, it's the world history teacher. A male world history teacher."
"The last one was male."
"Eric Johnson was like, sixty. No, Belle, this guy is like, twenty six. And he's hot."
"Have you actually seen him?" I roll my eyes.
"I've heard about him." She says with a huff. "I've heard he has blue-green sexy ass eyes, nice muscles, dark hair-" she cuts off, biting her lip. "I want a piece of him."
"Cool." I say shortly, picking my phone up off my desk. I unlock it with my thumbprint and start scrolling through my brothers instagram again.
She snatches the device from my hand.
"Are you gay?"
"I'm not gay." I huff. "It's seven in the morning and I'm tired. He's a new teacher. Whoo hoo." I fake a fist pump in the air and sit up, allowing my legs to drop from my desk.
"Apparently he's so attractive that people are stopping to stare."
"Excellent." I grumble. "I don't care, Ness. He's a guy. There's a lot of guys in the world."
"But this one is hot!" She whines.
The first bell rings and I can hear students flooding into the halls. My door opens and kids start filing in, but Vanessa stays in her spot, glaring at me.
I stand up, smoothing out my dress pants.
"You just wait until you see him." She says, not caring that the students in here are listening. "I hear he's panty dropping."
I take a swipe for my phone but she yanks her hand back and points at me.
"If I see him, I'll sneak a picture and send it to you." She promises. She shoves my phone back at me. "Are you giving that test today?" She questions.
"Yes." I reply.
"If you see him, sneak a picture."
"No." I say. "How will I know if I see him anyways?"
"Oh, you'll know...or so I've heard. I guess his name is Mr. Caulton. I don't know his first name, but that means you get to sit with him at assembly's and meetings, because your last name is Caldwell. Shit, I am so jealous. I bet he smells like sex-"
"Don't you have a class to teach?" I ask, my eyes flitting around the room. The class is too quiet today, so I know everyone is listening to her. "You need to stop, Vanessa."
She purses her lips and casts a glance over her shoulder.
"If you see him, you promise you'll tell me?" She asks in a hushed voices. I don't see the point of her lowering her voice now, considering they just hear her talk about him smelling like sex.
Wanting her to stop talking about him, I nod my head. "Yes." I throw my hands up. "I'll tell you."
She grins.
"Great."
She walks out of the room then, leaving me alone with the freshmen.
"What are we doing today, Ms. Caldwell?" My favorite student, Violet asks.
She's the only girl who ever studies. She gets consistent A's on her tests.
"We have a test and then I'm introducing a new essay."
Groans are heard from all around the classroom and I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
I hate freshmen.
The moment the late bell rings, I walk over to the stack of tests I had printed last night.
"Put everything away except for a pencil." I say. "If I so much as hear a phone vibrate, I'm taking it. You guys can suffer through not touching your precious iPhone for six hours."
Multiple glares are shot at me.
"Bitch." A kid, Matthew Dayes mutters.
My eyes narrow on him.
"Do you want to repeat that?" I ask. His eyes widen.
"What?"
"Do you want to repeat that? What you just said? How about you walk up to me and say it right to my face."
Everyone is tense, watching me and Matthew.
"S-sorry ma'am."
"When you finish your test, you can go to the principals office and tell him why you're there. I'll email him that you're coming, just so you can't skip out on it like last time."
He ducks his head and I start passing out the papers, slamming his test on his desk.
I hate freshmen. The immaturity level is infuriating.
"Miss, I can't go back to the principals office! My Mom will kill me!"
I shrug one shoulder.
"You should have thought about that before you called me a bitch."
He grits his teeth and looks away.
I mean, seriously? What fourteen year old thinks they have the right to call me a bitch?
I set the last test on Violet's desk and walk back around to my desk, sitting down.
"You can flip them over now. When you're done, grab one of the papers next to the hand-in basket." I say.
I hear the ruffling of papers and everyone bends forward to work on their tests.
I keep my eyes on the bad kids, occasionally drifting to the good ones, watching all of the little brats like hawks.
They're all writing frantically.
Violet finishes first, setting her paper in the basket and grabbing the rubric for the essay.
I grab her test and my red pen.
My eyes drift over her words and I quickly check the whole thing, writing a one hundred percent on the top.
This is why Violet is my favorite student.
A few more kids turn in their papers, and the more I grade, the more annoyed I become.
Seriously? What kind of fourteen year old doesn't know what the word 'evaluate' means? It's a vocabulary test for crying out loud!
I shake my head to myself.
This is pathetic.
The most comical one is when they write idk.
They could at least guess what they think it means.
I hear the door to my classroom shut, and my eyes snap up at the sound.
My mouth opens to ask who left, but then I see nobody left.
No, somebody came in.
Holy good god.
My eyes widen slightly at the man standing by my classroom door.
The man standing there wears a white button down. There's no tie, but shit, he doesn't need one. His muscles are straining against his shirt. He wears khaki pants with a brown leather belt and light brown, almost tan dress shoes. A black watch rests on his wrist. His dark brown curly hair is styled to perfection. He's looking at a paper in his hand, and then his eyes look up, noticing twenty two pairs of eyes on him. He searches for a moment before coming to a stop on me.
I'm going to pass out.
His eyes are a very alluring shade of blue-green.
He raises his full eyebrows at me.
"I think you're in my seat." He says. His voice is deep and smooth.
Ir reminds me of honey...or chocolate covered strawberries.
I blink once. Twice. Three times.
"I think you're in my classroom." I reply. His eyebrows rise even higher, and then he smirks.
"Well baby girl, how about you tell me where to go, hmm?"
What?
WHAT?
Stay calm, Belle.
My tongue feels heavy in my mouth and I can't drag my eyes away from my face.
I feel twenty two pairs of eyes on my face, causing me to snap out of my trance and clear my throat.
"They didn't give you a map?" I ask, clicking my pen. I stand up, and his eyes rake up and down my body. He licks his lips almost appreciatively.
"Oh, they did."
"So why aren't you using it?" I ask.
"Why would I use a map when I have a pretty lady like you to help me?" He winks.
Every jaw in the room drops and I hear a couple of giggles.
In front of all the kids? Is he insane?
"Uh..."
"Well, you're not wearing a ring." He gestures to my left hand. "Unless there's a boyfriend I don't know about." He looks around the room innocently before his eyes come to rest on me again. "But by the way you were looking at me when I walked in, I think it's safe to say that he doesn't exist, am I right baby girl?"
"Don't call me baby girl." I say, walking over to him.
When I get closer a very alluring scent of vanilla and mints hits my nose.
Where is that coming from?
I stop right in front of him, and I realize it's him.
He smells like vanilla and mints.
I swallow nervously and hold my hand out for the paper. He beams at me.
His eyes drift around the room.
"So, Ms. Caldwell, hmm? I don't see an R in there. That's great news for me, sweet-thang."
I shoot him the worst glare I can muster, and instead of getting mad, he starts laughing.
He's laughing! This prick!
"What's your name, baby girl?"
"You just said it." I say lowly.
"Nuh uh." He waggles his finger in my face. "Ms. Caldwell is what the children call you. I want to know what your mother yelled at you when you were in trouble."
His eyes glint with mischief, and I am not telling him my name.
"If you don't tell me, I'll just find you in the school system." He smiles at me, flashing a set of perfectly straight, perfectly white teeth.
"Rosabelle." I say finally.
"Rosabelle." He repeats, cocking his head to the side. "I've never heard that before, baby. I've heard Annabelle and Annabella, but never Rosabelle." He licks his lips. "So what do your friends call you?"
"Your classroom is three to the right. This door is labeled two hundred and eighty seven. Your room is two hundred and eight one. As for what my friends call me, well, that is none of your business."
He grins brightly.
"Well then." He plucks the paper from my hand. "Rosabelle, I'm Alexander Caulton. You can call me..." he ponders something in his head for a moment. "Zane." He decides.
I squeeze in the small space between him and the classroom door, making sure my skin doesn't touch him. I push the door open and step out into the hall.
"Well, Mr. Caulton," I say. "Have a good day." I nod down the hall towards his classroom.
He smiles and steps out in the hall.
"Oh, this won't be the last time we see each other today, baby girl." He reaches out and tucks a strand of my long wavy dark brown hair behind my ear. I jerk my head away from his hand, and then he leans in close and murmurs, "That's a promise." His breath tickles my ear and I shiver. He smirks, and then without another word, he turns around and saunters down the hall, walking into his classroom without a glance in my direction.
_____
Guys he's so UGH HE'S SO HOT
I don't know how Rosabelle managed to talk to him without stuttering!
Vote and comment!
~Sam