A/N: Heyo, again, people :3

Don't always expect a quick update like this. It's a three day weekend for me, so I just thought, "What the hell?"

Anyways...I'd like to thank Artemis Wolfe, Delanie, and waterman144 for your reviews :D Really made my day x)

Disclaimer: Don't own Twilight. *sigh* As MUCH as I may want to, it will forever belong to the talented Stephenie Meyer. :)


Previously...

"Oh my God! He's here!" someone from the front exclaimed, making Emmett and I both look up. There was a girl looking out the small, rectangular window from the closed door, jumping up and down. "He's so-"

"Isn't he about to open the door?" Heidi put in dryly, and I saw her cross her legs, sit up straighter, and put on a shit-eating smile. The girl 'eeped' at her comment and raced back to her seat, re-fluffing her hair as she sat down.

Emmett snorted, and I let out a huff of amusement as I looked back down to doodle on the page of my notebook. I was determined not to look back up until the class was back to being serious and the substitute started teaching. I didn't even give a small glance when I heard the door open, nor when collective gasps traveled the room like a wave. I thought I was doing rather good…

Until he spoke.

"Hello, class," said a voice so smooth, so velvety, that my head snapped up faster than thought possible. "I'm Mr. Cullen."


Everyone in the room was at a complete standstill as he walked in, including me. Which really was something, considering who I was. But I couldn't help myself from…from drinking in his appearance like everyone else. To have all the lines of his beautiful…everything…burned into every part of my mind. Because he was beautiful. I couldn't find any other word to describe it. The perfect way his face was sculpted with the high cheekbones. The firm, bow-shaped lips that was the ideal color against his amazingly clear pallor. And those eyes, they were the darkest depths of green I had ever seen. They seemed shadowed by the thick lashes that surrounded the edge of each eye. Mysterious. And a mess of windblown bronze hair covered those eyes, just barely, and he brushed some of it from his face. The action immediately sent my gaze to his slender fingers…they were even pretty.

And I had been right, he looked nothing like Alice. You wouldn't have been able to guess that they were related unless they told you themselves. Alice was small and petite, whereas her brother was tall and well developed. It even showed through his finely tailored, tan suit. A suit that hugged every muscle the man ever took time to build. It was almost unbelievable, how undeniably handsome he was.

But that voice of his, that's what had gotten to me. It was unlike anything I had ever heard. Jessica never warned me to how completely smooth, silky and deep it would be. It was something that caught anyone's ears within hearing distance. It would turn heads, pause any conversation…and hell, he could probably stop traffic. A war, eve-

"I'm subbing for Mrs. Swenson, today, as some of you may have heard," he informed in that voice of his, making me have to hold in a gasp. At least I had the control to, every other girl didn't seem to mind ogling him so publicly.

Oh Gods.

That's what I was doing, wasn't it?

Ogling him.

I almost hit myself, almost, as I snapped my gaze from him and looked back at what I had been doing. The rose I had been intent on drawing had been cut off mid-petal, because Mr. Cullen had walked in. I resumed in putting in more details, trying hard to distract myself from the man as he began taking roll. He was too handsome for his own good.

"Heh," Emmett chuckled softly to my right, and I did my best to ignore him, too. "Figures. You think he's shit hot."

My eyes flickered up, and I gave him a glare so intense, he actually backed away a bit. "Do not assume things," I bit out, too quiet for anyone else to hear, yet sharp enough for him to take seriously. "He's attractive, obviously. I can think that if I want." He opened his mouth, smugly, but I cut him off before he could begin. "But, that doesn't mean I'm going to fawn over him like everyone else." With that, I started my drawing again.

He settled back into his seat a little more, as if processing my words. "Huh. You really are different."

I stayed silent, deciding not to comment.

"Emmett McCarty?"

"Here."

Did he have to call the names so…loudly? Couldn't he see that I was trying to ignore him? He was making it so difficult. He should have subbed for the ASL class, it would have been easier. Except…they still would have had to stare at those beautiful hands.

Damn his perfection.

"Isabella Swan?"

"Bella," I corrected automatically, looking up and meeting his eyes, keeping my face as neutral as possible.

Mr. Cullen smiled crookedly at my correction, a smile I found I could barely ignore, and my breath caught. With time, this would hopefully become easier to endure. "Bella it is," he said, writing something down on the clipboard he had been reading from. But, as he looked at the paper he wrote on, he frowned and glanced back up at me. "You don't sit there," he commented, notching one, slender brow.

I nodded slowly, already aware of this.

"Would you like to find your…assigned seat, Miss Swan?" he asked, tapping a pen on the clipboard for emphasis.

"I know where it is," I replied flippantly, making Emmett and a few guys snicker. I wasn't trying to be funny or anything, I was just telling the truth. "But, there's someone in it."

"Is that so?"

I nodded mutely. 'No, I was lying,' my mind snapped back sarcastically.

"Would you like to tell them to move?" he settled back against the teacher's desk, crossing his arms as he studied me. Was he amused? He better not be. I was trying to be serious.

"You're the sub, you know where it is, why don't you do it?" I retorted, surprising myself yet again. What was wrong with me today? I hadn't meant to say that out loud at all. A few people turned their heads, staring at me with shocked eyes, and I couldn't blame them. This was definitely not something I would do.

His dark eyes narrowed at me, just slightly, and I suddenly felt embarrassed. Heat began creeping up my neck, and I was glad I was in my sweatshirt.

"Very well," he said, almost too quietly to hear, and he peeked back down at the clipboard. "Considering you're in Heidi Taylor's seat," Did he see the way she perked up when he spoke her name? It was ridiculous. Some people just had no restraint. "I'd say she's in yours. Heidi?"

There was no point in calling her name, he already had her full attention. She looked at him innocently, making her eyes wide. "Yes, Mr. Cullen?" she said his name almost huskily, and it was almost sickening how completely obvious she was.

It was admiring, I had to admit, that he chose to ignore her advances. They were probably childish to him, which was understandable. Instead of acknowledging her…in Jessica's words, 'sluttish' ways, he looked at her with a cool, serious face of indifference. "Would you please go back to your original seat?" he asked calmly.

"But…Mr. Cullen," she leaned forward a little as she said this. To my guess, she was trying to flaunt her…assets…just a bit. "I can't hear from way back there. It's much better here. Can I stay, please?" she finished off her request with a small pout.

He shook his head, unmoved by her words. "Absolutely not. Mrs. Swenson has a specific seating order, one that I will abide to, along with rules she has left for me. Which, Miss Taylor, includes everyone sit in their required seats. So…if you will?" he looked away from her and back to me. "You too, Bella, please."

"Dammit, bye Swan," Emmett muttered to me.

I shrugged at him and re-packed my things, slinging everything over my shoulder as I walked to the front of the class. Heidi, looking defeated, took her time in getting all her stuff back in the sky-blue carrying bag she used. Standing there, waiting for her, I sighed quietly and shook my head. I may be silent most of the time, but that didn't, by any means, say I had patience. I heard a tiny, muffled laugh behind me, and I peeked back to meet Mr. Cullen's eyes. He was staring at me, amused yet again. A strange, warm feeling started in my chest, but I pursed my lips and looked away before I could identify what it was.

When she had finally made it back to her seat, and I in mine, Mr. Cullen cleared his throat. From here, I realized quite out of the blue, that his angelic voice was much more clearer from upfront. Also, I could see the detail of his image much better from here, and it really was astonishing. He had to know the affect he was having on these people.

Including you, right? Some unknown voice, somewhere deep within the confines of my mind, teased. I frowned at the thought. He didn't affect me nearly as much as every one else…right? As I looked about discretely at every other girl staring up at him with adoring eyes, I knew I didn't look at him like that. I was absolutely positive, actually.

"Now, everyone," Mr. Cullen began speaking, breaking me from my pondering with his unique tone of voice. "Mrs. Swenson had already prepared today's notes, and has left them on the overhead. She wants everything copied down exactly as shown," he flicked on the overhead, and the words started out blurred. I took my notebook and pencil back out as he walked to the doorway to turn off the lights in the room. At once, the clarity of the notes improved, and I began writing without question. "She wants me to inform you that there will be a lab tomorrow, concerning these very notes. So, make sure you get down every detail. Once most of the class is done with this page, I'll put up the other." Groans filled the room at the notice of another page to copy, but I did not complain. Schoolwork was essential.

The class was quiet, except for the shuffling of some of my classmates taking out the required material to take their notes. There was some whispering here or there, but people were either intent on getting everything down…or staring at Mr. Cullen as he observed the classroom. Truthfully…I did not know which category I fell under. It was probably a little bit of both. I couldn't help but steal a glance at him every once-in-awhile. The absorbed look on his face while he watched everyone gave me some time to study his features more closely. Something I haven't really ever done with a male before, which was quite sad.

I started, almost violently, when his eyes flickered over to fall on me. My head jerked down quickly, but not fast enough to miss the smirk that had tilted a corner of his lips. Damn, I was practically caught. How…discomforting.

"Hey…Bella…" I bit my lips and looked over at Mike, who was leaning surreptitiously near me. Without answering, I raised my brows in question. He huffed, annoyed, because I knew how annoyed he was with my silences. Mike Newton was a very talkative boy, because he was used to the whole talking thing. With the styled blonde hair, blue eyes, and baby face, he was very popular. But, he was that kind of person who wanted to make friends with everybody. And that, unfortunately, had apparently included me. Though, try as he might, I never really spoke to him. The only time I did was when it was required, like with partner work.

Now, he rolled his eyes and leaned closer to me so he could whisper, "You're taking the notes, right?" He wasn't a very good whisperer, and I was pretty sure that even Mr. Cullen could hear him. Actually, the way Mr. Cullen had tilted his head a bit in our direction, and glanced furtively at us, I was positive he could hear.

Not that Mike had noticed, but I didn't care. I nodded at him, anyways, to answer his question.

"And…" he continued, shifting slightly. "the lab tomorrow will probably be partner work, right?" I nodded again, sighing internally, knowing where he was going with this. "So…would it be okay if you took the notes for both of us? I'm kind of beat." Of course he was. I shrugged, offhand, and he took it as a yes. "Thanks a bunch, Bella." And then he turned and buried his face in his arms, falling asleep.

I looked back up to see Mr. Cullen still staring, though not as secretively anymore. His eyes studied me intently, as if searching for something, and that strange feeling in the pit of my stomach started up again, warming me. When his gaze finally met mine head-on, he raised a brow and gestured towards Mike, as if asking why. In answer, I merely shrugged, making him frown in confusion. I glanced away then, trying not to get too distracted with the knowledge that he was watching me, and started back where I left off as if nothing had happened. I could feel the burn of his gaze on the back of my neck, but I chose to ignore it, knowing he had to look away at some point.

"Mr. Cullen?" called Katie Liam, raising a hand in the air. I could practically feel the lift of his eyes off me, and I nearly sighed in relief.

"Yes?"

"There's something I don't understand," she explained liltingly. "Can you help?"

"Of course," he made his way over to her, and spent the next few minutes talking to her in whispers, much to her delight.

Grateful for his distraction, I leaned more against the desk and shook my head. This was completely insane, what was wrong with me? I was definitely talking too much today, I had practically used up a week's worth of my words at lunch…and it was discontenting. I shouldn't be changing all because a substitute decided to show up. Granted…he was a very good-looking sub, but that still left me with no excuse.

I snuck a glance behind my shoulder to look at him again, watching as he explained deftly to Katie what she needed help on. A piece of bronze hair, still shining even in the darkness of the room, fell in his eyes, but he paid no attention to it. It wasn't until I met his gaze that I realized he had caught me staring…again.

Snapping my attention back to the front, I tried to pay no mind to how my heartbeat had suddenly decided to quicken in pace. I took a look at the clock.

'Thirty-seven more minutes…' I thought to myself, carefully controlling my breathing. 'Thirty-seven minutes…and I can leave.'


A/N: But...why would you want to leave? D: Silly Bella :)

I didn't like this chapter that much, only because I didn't type it in my usual environment -_- I was surrounded by my cousins and their loud friends. So...I'm not sure if it turned out that well :S oh well...I put it on here anyways :)

Review? :3

-Sapphire