Chapter 1 - Angel

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I took in a deep breath before putting the car into drive. I looked down at myself. I was wearing a white V-Neck long sleeve and a grey hoodie over it with track pants and Nike running shoes, teacher-like enough. Pulling out of the driveway, I breathed in the new leathery smell of the Porsche that was mixed with a hint of rosemary and pine from the tiny air freshener I placed on the dashboard.

When I finally pulled into the last street from the school, my hands were gripping the steering wheel hard, my knuckles were white. There was no way I could pass for a twenty-six-year-old, right? I was stupid to not put some makeup on to make myself look older, but then again I was never a big fan of rubbing chemicals onto my face.

I pulled into the parking lot of Hill Way a few seconds later. I headed for the reserved parking for the teachers, in the back. I pulled in a space, and shut off the engine, hopping out of the car, grabbing my navy blue bag, which I had stuffed Christine's plans in. Thankfully it was the first day, so all I needed to do was go over the course outlines with the students. I strolled into the school and looked around, entering the office, the school was a lot larger than I'd expected.

"Are you a new student here?" The secretary asked politely, smiling and looking at me from the top of her glasses.

"Um... Actually, I'm the new English teacher." I gave a shy little smile in return.

Her eyes widened, her mouth opening slightly. Her head snapped back to her computer as she typed something in. A moment later, she looked back up at me again, her expression still surprised.

"Ms... McClain?" She asked uncertainly.

I nodded.

“I'm Quinsy... How may I help you?”

"I was wondering where..." I stuffed my hand into my bag and fished out the schedule Christine left me, and scanned, then handed it to the secretary. "... where this room is..." I trailed off, feeling a small blush creep up on me.

She smiled at me warmly now.

"Your classroom is right down the hall," she nodded towards the left hallway, leading away from the office. "Turn right at the end and that will be your room, you could also ask the students for directions if you have other questions. I'm sure you'll fit in just fine with them," she finished and winked at me.

I gave a small laugh and thanked her, exiting the office and down the hall. She had no idea just how well I fit in. I sighed, when I reached the end of the hallway, I turned right. The secretary had handed me a key before I left, which I now inserted into the doorknob and twisted to unlock it. I pulled open the door and peered inside. It was a large classroom with about thirty or so desks and a large oak one in the back middle with a fake apple sitting on top of a bunch of books. There were poetry, literature, writing tips, and book posters posted everywhere with the occasional history ones.

I shuffled my way to the back of the classroom, dropping my bag beside the table. I wasn't a public speaker even in front of a few of my relatives. I didn't know how I was going to survive and hoped Christine would hurry back. That Aaron's going to get it when she hunted him down and brought him back.

I plopped down into the swivel chair as the five-minute warning music came on the PA system. I used to have them back at my old school too. I hummed along to the song, “One Thing”, by One Direction, while the sound of the words echoed through the empty room.

After a minute, I walked towards the door and pulled it open, shoving the tiny wooden ledge to hold open the door for incoming students. I took a few deep breaths. I didn't know what to expect, I was always the one sitting behind the desk, not the one teaching the lesson.

As I walked back towards the desk the sound of shuffling feet could be heard coming in the direction of this classroom, my classroom. I gulped and sat down stiffly, wiping my sweaty hands on my pants. I spun the chair so I was facing the blackboard instead of the door.

“... I bet she's like Ms. Remus from last year, all uptight and strict...” A girl snickered.

“I hope she's one of those fun teachers that gives free time!” There was a high pitched voice speaking now.

“McClain. That name makes her sound kind of old, doesn't it? She's probably like forty,” a smooth male voice scoffed, and I could imagine the guy rolling his eyes.

I could hear the footsteps of the students entering the room, shuffling around, and the sound of chairs scraping against the floor, and bags being dropped onto the ground. I could still hear the whispers of the students as they settled into their desks. They didn't realize I was already in here. I decided to give them a little surprise.

“Good morning class,” I said in a welcoming voice.

The classroom was instantly hushed, everyone had stopped talking. I smirked, then composed myself, spinning the chair so that it now faced the class, with a warm smile on my face even though I was nervous and shaking. I heard a sharp intake of breath when I was completely facing the class. The guys were wide-eyed, probably surprised at my non-oldness, and most of the girls were surprised as well, their faces a mask of shock. I couldn't have looked that young, could I? I stood up slowly, picking up a piece of chalk that was held in a metal holder, I didn't want to get my hands all dusty, and wrote “Ms. McClain” on the board, hoping that my writing was decent and not all squiggly.

“I'm Ms. McClain, your English teacher this year.” I introduced myself.

I knew that a lot of students didn't like playing the name game, but I'm sure they'll get to know each other during the course of the year, so I decided not to do it.

"Are there any questions?" I raised a brow, seeing some curious faces, glowing with unasked questions.

A guy in the back of the classroom raised one hand up lazily. He had short curly blond hair and moss green eyes. I nodded in his direction, and tried to ignore the stares I was getting from the other students.

"How old are you?" He asked curiously.

“Six- twenty-six,” I said the guy raised a brow at my slip up, looking at me uncertainly with a bit of suspicion tinting his eyes. “Twenty six.” I confirmed, nodding my head.

“Yeah, right...” A girl with long wavy brunette hair in the front row whispered to her friend, furrowing her brows when she looked back in my direction.

“Did you have plastic surgery?” Asked a red-headed girl in the middle row.

My brows drew up at her question and I had to stifle a laugh.

“No,” I said, trying to sound as serious as I could.

I took attendance. I walked around handing out the course outline to each student.

When the bell rang everyone started to pack up. I jumped in surprise when my phone ring tone blared through the classroom, good thing everyone was gone. I dug around in my bag for a while before I found the little thing. I checked the caller ID, it was Christine. I smiled and pressed accept.

“Hey!” She chirped right when I picked up. “How's school?”

“Great, just great,” I said sarcastically and flipped through the English course outline so I could get an idea of what I needed to prepare later on in the week. “You seem happy, did you find Aaron yet?” I asked hopefully.

“No...” I can hear a scowl in her voice. “Not yet, but let's not talk about that. Does anyone suspect anything?”

I looked up at the ceiling and mentally ticked off points while listing them into the phone.

“Well... So far I've got... Done plastic surgery, a genius that graduated early, the principal's daughter, and an undercover spy.” I furrowed my brow at the last one, how in the world did they come up with that?! I mean seriously, an undercover spy?

I can hear Christine chuckling now, after a minute she calmed down.

“Those are some wild guesses.”

“I know right? But they never guessed I was a sixteen-year-old girl taking over for their sister.” I rolled my eyes.

“So that's how is it...” A familiar smooth male voice came from the doorway.

My head snapped in the direction of the voice, my mouth dropping open a little. In the doorway stood a guy with shaggy black hair and ocean blue eyes. He had cherubic features and his slightly pouted lips were curled up into a smirk. I gulped.

“Angel? Angel, are you there?!” Christine's voice was hinted with concern.

“I-I'm fine, I'll call you later!” I said quickly.

“But-” She began, but I already snapped the phone shut.

“I-I-I-” I started, but I couldn't think of anything to say, it was like my mind had shut down when I desperately needed it to work properly.

“Hey Ms. McClain, I guess that means I'm older than you.” He smirked and left, leaving me shocked and staring at the doorway.