No one tried to hide the fact that they were visibly excited over Mr. Gilinsky when he entered the classroom -- which spontaneously sparked a chorus of catcalls and shouts from the students at the back.

I sat in the front row with Elle, respectfully drinking in his attire, and boy did he looked handsome as ever in the grey sweater. It clung to his upper body like a second skin and pretty much was screaming for mercy.

I never saw myself as an admirer of men's rears but those tight jeans he wore did make his fine gluteus maximus appear pleasantly bubbly. God certainly has favorites and he and Ethan are definitely among the tops.

"Looking sharp today, Mr. Gilinsky," praised a male student to which he only answered him with a growing smile.

He walked over to the teacher's desk, placed the messenger bag that he had been carrying with on the furniture, and unzipped it. Meantime, I couldn't stop bouncing my leg as I waited in anticipation for him to hand back our test papers.

"My birthday is not for another few months sir, but thanks for the cake," a girl's voice from the back spoke up.

Elle and I turned around in our seats and our attention fell on Lana -- Kaden's plaything. The redhead was throwing her seductive eyes to Mr. Gilinsky, a lopsided smirk slanted on her face while she brushed her fringe aside.

Elle faked a cough and mumbled 'hoe' loud enough for anyone listening to laugh at her sneer. It sure had brought Lana's attention to her and she shot Elle with a scowl.

"What did you call me?" Lana asked in a surprised tone. Elle just turned back front and blew her question off.

"She calls you a gardening tool," I answered with the purest smile I could muster.

I had to butt in because I felt bad to the person when people didn't reply to their question. Turns out, Lana switched her anger towards me. I awkwardly averted my eyes from her glare and there I caught Ethan looking at me -- where he sat in a desk two rows to my right while trying to bite back his laugh.

"Everybody calm down, alright?" Mr. Gilinsky's voice boomed, propelling us to solely focus on him.

He pulled out a pile of papers from the bag and tossed them on the table. "I don't mean to be a downer but, I have to give you guys bad news."

No one dared to make a sound as if we got hung on his every word. I remained optimistic and refused to believe the bad news would be related to me. I had worked my ass off day and night for this test, there was no way in hell I would have failed.

"You guys really butchered the last test." A wave of gasps filled the room as everyone there was shocked at the information.

I put my head down into my hand and rehearsed some self-chastise phrases. Disappointment building up inside me as I thought about all my efforts which had gone in vain.

"Don't be hard on yourself," Elle consoled lightly. "No red-blooded American teenager in this school knows even what Mr. Gilinsky was teaching. I mean, look at him, he's too... distracting."

I looked up to her and shook my head. "It's my own fault, Elle. I've done my best and still failed. I don't think I will ever pass this subject."

"Listen carefully, vanilla bean. If you start truly believing that you can't succeed, opportunities will pass you by. If you don't even have faith in yourself, nobody will," she replied in one breath.

Damn. Exactly the kind of words I could expect from her. No words of comfort just straight to blunt honesty. Wait, did she just call me vanilla bean? Guess she heard it from Steve. That dude and his ridiculous nicknames.

We continued to absentmindedly watch Mr. Gilinsky go through the papers on his desk. His lips curved in a brief smile when he looked down on one of those papers before it quickly faded.

"I just don't get it." He waved a piece of paper at us. "From among all of you, how Andrew is the only one who passed and received a score of an A?"

My eyes bulging at the giant letter A in red ink written next to my name. "Holy cucumbers! Elle, you see —"

"Yes," she prodded, "you aced the test. Congrats, now shut up and be respectful towards us who failed you insensitive fart."

Mr. Gilinsky inched his way towards me and perched on the edge of my desk. I sat up straight and stared at his honey brown eyes while his fresh and expensive cologne scent directly penetrated my sense of smell.

"I think you're a very bright student and have the potential to accomplish so much with your life, if given the chance," he spoke to me in a calm tone.

"What do you mean?" I wondered, looking over to Elle for help but she had the same expression as mine.

Mr. Gilinsky conjured up a smile and patted me on the back of my neck. "Come down to my office for an hour today or schedule a consultation with me anytime to talk about it," he said before he got up and went back to his table.