Katrina sat in class, fidgeting nervously in her seat. It would be her first day of advanced physics class. Katrina had always loved the steady, easy rhythm of math, the predictability of it all, but she was anxious today. She had never taken an advanced class before, and she was going to be the only sophomore taking physics this year. Her principal herself had signed the special forms transferring her to the more difficult class, by recommendation of her calculus teacher who had called her "a mathematical prodigy". Katrina wasn't sure she was a prodigy, but she had accepted the praise and the promotion with pleasure and a ticklish pride. Now she was having second thoughts.

"What if I'm not smart enough…."said a timid little voice in her head. She quickly smothered this thought, and chastised herself for being so doubtful. Still, she felt a little twinge of fear.

"What if this is a big mistake…"

Katrina had a feeling that this class was going to be a whole new level of difficult. She licked her lips tensely.

"Here we go..."

Just then her teacher walked in. He was tall and thin, with large, intelligent blue eyes. He smiled, greeting the class. Katrina felt her heart speed up.

"Hello class," said the teacher, the smile still tugging at the corners of his lips. He looked mischievous and tender at the same time. His hair was messy, reddish brown, and his eyelashes spread over his white cheek when he smiled. She was staring, she knew it, but couldn't help herself. He turned and winked at her.

"Ohh, he is so sexy," thought Katrina, positive she had turned a rather unattractive shade of purple.

"My name is Mr. Neutron," continued her teacher, "Welcome to hell." There were chuckles. The students looked at each other, tense and anxious. Was he for real? Mr. Neutron wrote his name on the board and then turned, piercing the silence with his dazzling blue eyes.

"In my class," continued Mr. Neutron, "You will be expected to work hard, learn a lot, and suffer. This class is your new date for every Saturday night from now until June. Will your social life suck? Yes. Will you be sleep deprived from staying up late studying almost every night? Yes. Will you hate me with a burning passion? Yes. Will you're brain be overloaded and stretched to its very limit?" he paused, taking in the scared round eyes of his pupils, "Yes," he said, "But the good news is, hopefully by the end of this class you will have learned something, and you will have reached new heights, and most importantly," he smiled, "you will have conquered a class only the bravest and smartest students dare endure, and you will be that much closer to becoming TRUE scholars." He finished with a flourish. The class was quiet, terrified into silence. Mr. Neutron's presence was quite impressive. He had an air of intelligence and power about him, coupled with an animated charisma that made him seem almost un-human, godlike in his power and knowledge.

Katrina realized that she'd dug her fingernails into her palms, leaving little crescent shaped moons in the flesh.

"Welcome to hell, Katrina," she thought.