I clutched my materials tighter to my chest as I moved down the hallway crowded with kids scurrying to their classrooms. I was just a substitute teacher and, usually, that means I'm going to be tormented until the students' real teacher comes back.

So far, the secretary confused me with a middle school student and told me my building was the next one over, and the janitor gave me some candy when I stopped to ask for directions.

I blew out a breath and ruffled my silvery heather waves. "I knew this was going to be tough." I muttered, then continued down the hallway with my head down.

I slammed my skull against someone's backside and grunted as I was jarred backwards.

"What the actual f—!" exclaimed a student, and I blushed as I scrambled to gather my scattered booklets, notes, and other materials.

I quickly stood up just as the student turned around and peered behind him with a furious glare. His eyes widened when they caught sight of me with my arms full.

"I-I'm sorry for running into you." I shyly said, my cheeks warm.

One brown eye and one green eye stared back at me. "What are you doing here, cutie-pie?" cooed the male student, turning around and crouching down. "Are you delivering someone something?"

I pouted. "Myself."

He chuckled. "You're adorable. What room do you need to be delivered to?"

"Um, the English classroom."

The student sighed. "I was hoping to skip that, but I guess I can attend once in awhile."

I put one hand on my hip. "English is important! Knowing how to write will help you find a good job, too."

He smirked and ruffled my hair, then stretched after he got up. "I guess you've studied it a lot. Are you Mr. Port's son?"

I began walking quickly again since the hallway was clear now with the second bell having been rung. The male student wasn't bothered that I hadn't answered him as he guided me down the right hallway.

I looked up at him. He was lightly tanned, quite tall, and handsome, likely making him a good target for boys and girls alike. His loose black curls were on top and the back and sides of his head were trimmed rather than shaved. It showed off his nape and it looked good on him.

"What's your name?" I asked, as he slowed down approaching a wooden door.

"Blaine." he said, then looked at me. "What's yours?"

"Anwyll DeLuca," I stated with a bright smile, then opened the door. "And I'm your substitute teacher."

Blaine was shell-shocked as I walked in with a smirk. The other students in the classroom were just as stunned because they had heard me speak. I walked up to the desk and put my stuff down, then clambered onto the rolling chair and used the dry erase marker to write my name.

"Come on in, close the door, and take an empty seat, Blaine." I said with a grin, and he did as I asked. It was likely because he was out of it, though.

I climbed off the chair and organized my things while I checked attendance. There were quite a few interesting students according to the list, but three males caught my eye. One was Blaine, the second was another tall student named Dian, and a shorter student by the name of Gavin.

Gavin had a guarded posture and his eyes were cautious, but he reminded me of a predator deciding if I was friend or foe. Dian was very tall like Blaine (only a couple inches shorter), but had a much slimmer frame. They shared black hair, and Dian looked calm at the moment. Although Dian's calm was like the tranquility before the winds pick up and the temperature drops to signal a coming storm. Blaine was quiet having recovered from his shock, and he seemed quite intrigued by my appearance. I could feel eyes roaming over my body while I taught the class. It was incredibly distracting.

At the end of my first class, I handed out worksheets for the students to fill out as they scurried out with the bell. The three students that had caught my eye hung back a bit. Blaine leaned in the corner by the door to wait for his turn to talk to me while the other two moved closer.

"Mr. DeLuca, how old are you?" asked Dian, and I grinned.

"Just a year older than you, I believe. I'm eighteen."

"Did you start on your teaching degree early?"

I chuckled and reached up to ruffle Gavin's hair. "No, I just have an aptitude for it. I'm actually a tutor slash babysitter most of the time."

Dian smiled gently. "Did someone ask you to take Mr. Port's place for awhile?"

"Mmhm. My former math teacher, Timothy Herald, spoke highly of me to the principal of this school. And since my uncle is well-known, the principal decided to take a chance on me."

"Nothing of your own merits then?" asked Gavin, his eyebrows scrunching together.

I snorted. "I had to prove my worth to the principal after the secretary mistook me for a middle school student. Anyway, hurry on to your next class. I will see you both later."

They turned and hurried off, albeit reluctantly. Blaine hung around while I prepared for my next round of students.

"Go to class, Blaine."

"Maybe I will if you reward me with something after, Teach." he teased, and I raised an eyebrow.

"I won't hand over my body to you, Blaine."

Blaine paused, then blushed. He wasn't expecting that. It was actually a cute expression on him.

"I didn't mean that. I just want to learn more about you."

I tilted my head. "Why?"

Blaine turned his head, but his gaze flicked over my form again. "You're interesting."

I hummed. "Okay, how about for every class you attend, you get to ask me three questions."

He pouted. "Only three?"

"Yes."

"Ugh, fine!" he groaned, then left the room. "Promise me!"

"I promise." I said firmly, then he showed off a beautiful smile and ran down the hall.

I heard his holler echo, "It's a promise! You better keep your word, Teach!"

I giggled to myself as the bell rung. Maybe I wasn't going to get bullied after all.

__________________________

I should not have thought I wasn't going to be bullied. As I stared up into a pair of piercing ice-blue eyes, the face owning them was glaring fiercely at me. Two hands slammed above me and I held my ground, refusing to back down to the furious student.

"Stay away from him." he hissed, his blood-red hair long on one side and shaved on the other. He had a small gauge in his exposed earlobe and a lip piercing.

"Who?" I asked, and he shoved himself away from me.

"Piss off, Teach. You know who." growled Damon, then stalked off.

I noticed the white outline of wings on the back of his black t-shirt. He wore a pair of gray skinny jeans with rips across the knees and thighs, and a pair of black high-top sneakers. I tilted my head and watched as he disappeared from sight.

"You should stay away from them," commented a stiff, tense voice. "You'll be better off that way."

I turned and saw a teen with forest-green hair and caramel eyes. I'm assuming he's wearing contacts to make his pupils look like slits. His light brown skin was damp with a bit of sweat as he passed by me in the hall. I believe his name was Zaire.

Our eyes met again and he whipped his face away, running down the hall. I headed for the cafeteria as well since I forgot to make myself lunch because I was in such a big hurry this morning.

"Annie!"

My head lifted as I slipped through the door. One of my students, from the same class as the red-haired guy and the green-haired guy, waved me down. He was a student that loved playing pranks and being rambunctious, constantly interrupting me and asking me questions.

I approached him with a stern expression, but he wasn't fazed. "Waltz, I told you to call me Mr. DeLuca."

Waltz pouted and draped himself over the table. "No, I don' wanna. Annie is Annie; cute and small."

Dian came over and ruffled Waltz's hair. "Zee, just give the sub a bit of respect. He's already looked down on."

Waltz inflated his cheeks and looked at Dian, who poked Waltz's cheeks until they deflated. Waltz looked at me and sighed.

"Dian's right. Sorry, Mr. DeLuca."

"It's all right. Thank you for being so understanding." I grinned, but pouted when Waltz cooed at me.

Dian shrugged when I looked at him, so I thanked him for the small victory and hurried off to get a sandwich or something to fill my small tummy. Again, I managed to slam my nose into someone's backside and had to apologize profusely as the person turned around.

I looked up and was stunned by the gorgeous silver eyes, pale skin, and shoulder-length black waves belonging to the man I bumped into. He stared down at me silently and coldly, then turned back towards the line. I blushed and rubbed the back of my neck. I really feel like a fool. Was being a teacher the right choice?

I stepped up to the cafeteria line and saw a beautiful boy in front of me a little further away. He glanced in my direction and I saw a pair of gorgeous russet-brown eyes. He smiled warmly at me and wiggled his fingers. I wasn't sure he was waving at me, but when I returned the wave he smiled back and hurried over to sit down at the table with tall, buff man a bit older than me. He had short blond hair and sky-blue eyes, and he was beautiful in his own way like the boy with brown eyes and auburn hair.

I collected whatever free food they had available and wandered over to an empty table to eat. I sensed someone approach the table and looked up to see the pale man with silver eyes. I blushed a bit snd stuffed my cheeks as he took his seat across from me. He watched me silently while we ate, which made me feel a bit weird, but I'm happy he's not upset.

"Stop staring at the poor sub, Ambrose." ordering a big, buff man as he clapped his hand on the silver-eyed man. "He's cute though, isn't he?"

I blushed and kept nibbling at my food, glancing up to see white hair, a white beard, and warm honey-gold eyes on the new man. He chuckled as he took a seat with his lunch. Ambrose looked much more relaxed with this new man, which made me curious. They must have been friends.

"Yes, I agree that he is cute, Alexandre." responded Ambrose, a soft smile playing on his lips as he returned his gaze to mine.

Alexandre smirked. "How old are you again, Anwyll?"

"Uh, eighteen..." I blushed, hiding my face.

"My, what is this? How adorable." said a new voice, and it was a tall woman with pretty curves. She had blonde hair and green eyes.

"Athena, you're here. Where's Andros?" asked Alexandre, and the woman smiled.

"He's coming. He was a bit caught up in outside work. The substitute principal is checking out after lunch."

My jaw dropped. "Wait, so I didn't meet the real principal?"

Alexandre chuckled. "No, my older brother is the principal. The old guy you saw today was just a sub my brother uses when he has other work to do outside the school."

"Ooh, okay." I muttered, then glanced at the woman named Athena. "Are you related as well?"

She grinned. "How'd you guess?"

"It was just based off a feeling I got when I looked at you both." I smiled, then tucked into my food again. Ambrose had looked away at some point, but he was staring while I stuffed my cheeks again.

"Mr. DeLuca!"

I turned and saw Blaine rushing over with an unhappy Damon trailing behind him. I waited until Blaine had taken a seat to ask what had happened.

Blaine presented a box to me and I raised an eyebrow. "Blaine, I'm your teacher. I can't accept bribes."

Blaine's eyes widened dramatically and Damon actually let a laugh slip free. Blaine glanced at him and Damon was calm on the surface, but he was gripping his shirt. Since all of my students were nearby along with those teachers that had dropped by, laughter broke out when they heard my response.

Blaine looked away in utter embarrassment when Damon let his laughter loose again. I patted Blaine's hair. "Thank you for trying."

The big, tall boy blushed and just pushed the slim, small box into my hands. "It was just a welcome gift. We look forward to being with you while you're here."

"Ooh, okay. Well, I'll accept it gratefully then." I chuckled, then opened the box. "What are these?"

"Chocolates."

"What are chocolates?"

My serious-sounding question was answered with stricken faces. It was quiet for about ten seconds until I burst into laughter. Everyone was relieved.

Matteo burst into the room. "Anwyll!"

"Mattie!" I exclaimed, popping a chocolate into my mouth before running over to him. "How'd it go?"

"I got the job!"

He picked me up and swung me around, gently pecking my lips. "Will you reward me, Master?" he asked quietly, and I giggled with a happy grin.

"Sure, Mattie. It would be my pleasure."

Alexandre stood. "Wait, who's this?"

I looked back and noticed all of the jealous gazes directed at Matteo, then glanced at Alexandre. "Well, he's my lover, a now fellow teacher, and we are both open to poly."

My students' jaws dropped, and Alexandre and Ambrose both seemed relieved at the last part. I giggled and pecked Matteo's lips. It was going to be a fun six months as a substitute teacher.