This will be my last chapter for a week. I'm going out of town and won't have much computer access. Thanks for the reviews - I'd love to read more though!

Characters belong to SM (except for the few I created :P)

Chapter 3

I had just finished getting all of the student's materials labeled when I heard the knock on the door.

"Come in," a chorus of voices shouted.

The hushed mummers began as Edward walked, no, glided, into the room. I heard a few girls giggle nervously in the back of the room.

On the outside, I rolled my eyes at Edward as he grinned at me, indicating that he knew what they were giggling about. Inwardly, I felt my stomach flip flop again, wanting to join them in their hushed conversations about the new PE teacher.

"Class, I'd like to introduce Mr. Cullen, our new PE teacher."

I saw the eyes of many of the boys bulge. Tyler, one of the more athletic guys in my class raised his hand.

"Yes, Tyler?"

"Ms. Swan. Where's Mr. Rosenthal?"

"He had an accident this weekend and had to retire," I paused when the murmurs subsided, "he'll be fine, but decided it would be best to relax with his family now.

"This sucks," I heard a few of the boys complain.

"Boys, language. Mr. Cullen, would you like to introduce yourself?"

"Hey class. As Ms. Swan said, I'm Mr. Cullen. I know that you're disappointed that Mr. Rosenthal is gone, but I think we'll have a lot of fun this year. You'll work hard, but I've got some ideas, and I'd love to hear some of yours so that you can be prepared for sports teams in middle school. Any questions for me?"

Alisha, a tall, brunette girl in the back, raised her hand, "How old are you, Mr. Cullen?"

"Ah, rookie mistake," Edward laughed, "I'm 24. I just graduated the University of Seattle this past May. I had taken a few years off to train for the Olympic team, but I just couldn't keep up with Michael Phelps."

I grinned. McKinley High School, the school most of my students would eventually attend, had a huge swim team following, and had produced a few Olympic hopefuls. Perhaps the kids would accept him after all.

Almost all of the hands in the class shot up.

Edward laughed again. His perfect smile was infectious, and I grinned at him.

"Yes, I've met Michael Phelps. No, I don't have his cell phone number."

The class groaned.

"I'll be happy to answer questions when I see you guys tomorrow though. Now, listen to Ms. Swan."

He walked up to my desk and leaned over, his voice hushed as he spoke, "Sorry for interrupting. You're welcome to get them riled up before my class tomorrow to make up for it."

"No biggie. They'll calm down. The first two weeks are the honeymoon period. Just don't expect me to be so kind in October when they feel settled in."

"Hmm, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks, Ms. Swan. See you after school."

I waited a moment while my heartbeat slowed. Just need to see Jacob. That's all.

I got through the rest of the morning without much difficulty, but was relieved when 12:15 rolled around and I was able to bring my class to lunch.

No sooner had I shut the door behind me than the squealing started.

"Oh. My. God. Bella! Did you see him? We have a man! An actual, young, delicious MAN, in our building," the rambling was coming from none other than Jessica, my faithful teammate. Though a great teacher, she was more boy-crazy than her students.

"Yes, I saw him. In fact, Clark made me his mentor," I said, with all the nonchalance that I could muster.

"He what?" she shrieked. "Ugh, you have all the luck, Bella! First, that hunky fiancé of yours, now Edward. Ugh, at least it's you, and not Leah. Who, by the way, totally got a boob job this summer."

I rolled my eyes at Jessica. I loved her, but she gossiped more than Perez Hilton.

"You don't know that for sure, Jess," I began, trying to steer the conversation away from Edward, especially now that Angela had joined us. If anyone could pick up on my attraction to Edward, it would be her.

"Uh, yeah I am. Her boyfriend, Mike, was bragging about her new tits to Eric this weekend." Eric was Jessica's on again-off again boyfriend. Eric and Mike also happened to be best friends, which meant Jessica had to hang out with Leah, the beautiful, but extremely lazy and manipulative, fourth grade teacher.

Leah had a way of getting others to do her work for her, something that did not sit well with Jessica who, although a huge gossip, went above and beyond for her students.

"Whatever. Back to your new mentee. How old is he? Does he have a girlfriend?"

"What's this?" piped in Anglea, "your new mentee? Is she referring to one, Mr. Edward Cullen?"

As if on cue, Edward walked into the lounge, placing his lunch across the table from me, and digging in his pockets for change.

"Oh, you don't want to use coins in that one. You'll never get them back. Here's a dollar," I handed him a crisp bill as he offered me his change, which I promptly waved away.

"Thanks, Mentor Swan. Is informing the mentee of all the quirky drink machines on the list of things Mr. R told you to inform me about?"

He retrieved his drink from the machine, bending over just enough to expose the back of his boxers. Jess and Angela both brought their hands to their hearts and swooned , while I shot them a glare I reserved only for when I needed my students to know that I meant business.

"Oh, one of the many. Along with what type of cookies to give the office if you want them on your good side and crazy parents One-Oh-One. I'll save that for next Friday though."

"Great," he sighed with sarcasm as he slid into his seat.

Jess swiveled her body toward Edward, "You know, Mr. Cullen, I'm a wealth of knowledge myself. I can catch you up on Friday at happy hour, if you'd like."

Edward cleared his throat, turning back to me, with a very serious look.

"I don't know, Mentor Swan. Am I ready for my first teacher happy hour? I don't want to be corrupted to the evils of the education system too soon. Could you be there to help ease me in?"

I blushed. Was Edward flirting with me? No, he couldn't be. He probably just wanted me there to ward off Jessica's advances. She could be very flirtatious, which while a turn on for most guys, didn't seem to be working with Edward. I tucked that bit of knowledge into my pocket as I lowered my own voice.

"I'd be happy to guide you through your first teacher happy hour. I need to warn you though, it can get brutal."

Edward smiled his lopsided grin again, and turned back to Jess, who was visibly stunned into silence, something I had only seen once before when Jason Murphy, a student from her first year of teaching, as proposed to her on the last day of school, candy machine ring and all.

"How about you, Ms. Weber, will you be joining us also?" he asked, turning to Angela.

"Wouldn't miss it for the world. And call me Angela" she said, a smile creeping across her face before she turned to me and gave me her signature, 'you better still be out at recess when I am' looks.

I returned my attention to my lunch, though I had suddenly lost my appetite.

"So, how's the first day going?" I asked nobody in particular. Good, platonic teacher talk.

Jess started recounting her morning immediately. I let my mind wander again, poking at my Lean Cuisine.

Edward leaned across the table, "You know how full of sodium those things are?"

I groaned, "I know. But they're cheap, they're quick, and have less calories than the school lunch."

Edward chuckled, "Tell ya what. Next Friday, for our mentor/mentee day, I'm bringing you lunch. My swim coach back at school taught us a ton of really good, healthy recipes."

I was flabbergasted. I'd known this guy for less than 6 hours and he was already cooking for me.

"Uh, yeah, that would be great."

Edward rose from his seat, tossing his drink can and yogurt cup into the trash.

"Well, I'm off to visit the first graders. See you ladies Friday for Happy Hour?"

I nodded.

I could feel Jess and Angela's eyes on me.

They were totally giving me crap for this later.