Disclaimer: You guys know the drill. I own nothing.

A/N: I think Charlie is adorable, so of course, I had to write about him. And the other stories here so far about him seem to pair him with Amita, so I thought I'd do an OFC. Hope you guys like. The name of the chapter indicates whose perspective the chapter is told in. No flames please, though constructive criticism is welcome.


Chapter 1
Okay, 12:00 noon, Wednesday.

Second class of the day. Don't turn around.

Don't look at her.

If you look at her, she'll smile at you, and then you'll go all goofy and smile back without even meaning to.

That's it. Just keep writing. The chalkboard is your best friend right now.

"Take your seats." Good. Authoritative tone. Very nice.

Alright, now comes the part where you have to turn around. You can't teach with your back to the class. Nice and slow. Don't look at her. There ya go. Focus on the kid in the front row with the big brown stain on his shirt. (How does he not notice those things when he's getting dressed in the morning?)

Now, explain the theorem. Very good. See? You're doing it. You haven't looked at her yet. This is taking up at least a good twenty or thirty minutes of class.

Now, tell them to try it. Laugh at the kid who thinks he already has it just from listening to you. Good. Now, just stand here while they work.

Houston, we have a problem.

She raised her hand. Damn it.

I can't ignore her when she actually raises her hand.

I knew I should have picked out an easier lesson today.

Sighing, I call on her. Unfortunately, instead of asking her question aloud, she waves me over, probably to avoid disturbing the still-working majority of the class. Even more reluctantly than I called on her, I make my way over to her.

When I arrive, she smiles and gestures to her paper, asking where she went wrong (it was fairly easy for her to discern that she had the incorrect answer). I saw the problem immediately of course and was about to point it out to her when her friend David who sat on the other side of her leaned over and did it for me.

For the first time, I was grateful to have him in my class. I had never really liked the kid. Of course, I would never admit to myself that the reason for my dislike had nothing to do with his know-it-all demeanor (I had had several students with the same character flaw) and everything to do with the fact that I had a sneaking suspicion that he and Grace were dating. Or that he at least was interested.

"Mr. McCrae seems to think he has it everyone," I announced, heading back to the front of the room and hoisting myself into a sitting position on my desk. "Let's have it."

He clears his throat and then reads his answer. It's right. The bastard.

Upon hearing his response, I ask if anyone has trouble with it. I receive many raised hands at this. So I begin explaining, hoping this will take up the remainder of our time.

When 1:20 rolls around, I almost scream in relief. I don't have to see her again until Saturday at our tutoring session. Of course, I'm alone with her then. This class will seem like a breeze compared to that.

This was all my fault really. When she came to me, I should have asserted more strongly that I didn't have the time to tutor my students. I shouldn't have caved. 'Cause I really didn't anyway. Things had been slow for Don lately (at least on cases he needed me for), and subsequently, I only had my classes to worry about. Yes, I should have recommended her to the student tutoring program. Maybe it's all Don's fault. He should call me more often. Yes, I'll blame him.

I think I dismiss them a little too eagerly, but no-one seems to notice this.

I'm rather stoic on the outside, but inside, as I wipe the chalkboard clean, I'm having a little celebration. Fireworks are going off. I made it. I'll worry about Saturday on Saturday. I'm in the clear.

Or so I thought. Until I turned around and saw her approaching my desk.


Sorry it's so short, and I know it's written strangely (since it's stream of conciousness to a certain extent), but it'll probably move to past tense after the first couple of chapters. I just wanted to get you guys inside his head and later, inside Grace's. More soon!