Chapter 1
Cordelia Chase groaned for what seemed like the hundredth time.
It was her first day of senior year and she could not find her last class of the day.
She really thought she'd covered this whole building during orientation back when she'd started freshman year.
Apparently not, She ruefully decided.
Cordelia's apprehension grew when she saw the yellow color of the lockers.
"This is freshman wing!" Cordelia groaned, putting her head in her hands. "Not good, so not good..."
She looked over at the clock and felt her tension mount.
If she didn't get a move on and figure out where in the hell she was supposed to be pronto, she was gonna be late.
That word was so foreign to her.
Cordelia Chase was going to be late.
She could not be late, that just was not an option. She'd never been late for a thing in her life, and she sure as shit wasn't going to start now.
She looked up at the clock and realized she may not have a choice in the matter.
Cordelia Chase was gonna be late for class and get...detention.
She could feel her nerves build up as she thought about what her parents would say...what they would do...to her.
Life really was a bitch and than you died was all Cordelia could think right at this very moment.
She looked at the clock hanging on the wall.
Two minutes left.
Maybe if she really hauled ass, she could get the hell off this wing.
She took off and started racing down the halls again. She was half way to the yellow lockers when she felt herself slam into a solid form, the impact of the force crashing them both to the ground.
Cordelia moaned at the pain she felt in her back as fell to the ground. She could've sworn it cracked.
Not wanting this stranger she'd crashed into to see her tears, she hid her face in the floor.
"Oh my God," A young man's irish voice said full of worry and sorrow. "Kid, are you okay?"
Cordelia took in a deep breath as she struggled to stop her tears. She couldn't let this guy see her cry, she couldn't.
"Of course you're not," The guy continued. "I saw how you fell, straight onto your back. I bet it hurts like hell." She felt him gently touch her shoulder. "Here, let me help you up. I'll take you to the nurse's office."
At that statement, Cordelia found the strength to make her tears stop. That could not happen. If she went to the nurse's office, they'd call her parents, and if they called her parents, her parents would come down here and if her parents came down here...
Cordelia felt her head spin at those ideas. Oh, no, no, no. That just was not an option.
Cordelia lifted her head and any words that were going to come out of her mouth completely died when her eyes met his.
Right in front of her face was the most gorgeous guy she'd ever laid eyes upon before in her life.
Their eyes met and for a brief second she felt like he was looking right into her soul and she was looking right into his.
"Hey," The guy gently touched her face and it made her shiver. "you're not gonna pass out on me, are you?" He shook his head. "You know what, it's okay. I'll just carry you to the office and it'll be okay..."
Just like that, Cordelia got her senses back. "No!" She quickly shouted. "I don't need to go see the nurse. I am fine, I promise."
He looked hesitant. "Are you sure? You took a pretty bad fall."
Cordelia smiled at his obvious concern. Back in the fifth grade she'd broken her arm falling out of a tree and her dad couldn't even be bothered to go to the hospital with her. She didn't even know this guy and he seemed to care more than her dad did.
"I'm positive." Cordelia assured him. "I'm sorry about knocking into you like that. Are you alright?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." He looked into her eyes with a look she couldn't quite define. "Ya know, in the future you may not want to run so fast," His brow furrowed as she detected a hint of scolding in them. "Or at all."
"Right," Cordelia quickly responded. "I shouldn't have ran into you at all, and I am so sorry about that. I never run like that usually, I promise."
Her eyes scanned over at the fallen papers out of a briefcase and she felt her heart stop.
A teacher.
She'd just ran into a fucking teacher.
Scratch that, she'd just been crushing on a teacher.
Just great, She thought worriedly. My first day was going fine and the last hour of the day, I'm gonna get detention for running in the halls and knocking a teacher down in the process. Just fucking great.
The older guy suddenly broke out into a laugh. "Relax kid, I'm just messing with you."
Cordelia's eyes shot up. "Huh?" She already felt herself being so into him and the phrase 'messing with you' caused her mind to go places it really shouldn't be going with a teacher.
He looked at her amused. "I was joking. You know? It's that thing where someone says something and it's meant to be one of those things that makes the other person-"
"Right, right!" Cordelia laughed nervously. "I get it. I get what joking means. I'm not stupid."
He laughed along with her. "I'm sure you're not. You do seem like you might be a little lost though, Miss…"
"Chase." Cordelia supplied and didn't miss the look of recognition in the man's eyes. Sadly everyone in town knew of her family. "Cordelia Chase. Sorry, I seem to have forgotten my manners along with my common sense all of a sudden."
He laughed again. "Hey, it's fine. First days can be very rocky. Nice to meet you, Miss Chase. I'm Allen Doyle, the kids usually just call me Mr Doyle though."
Cordelia was surprised. Teachers never introduced themselves to her by their full name. There was something so different about him. Almost like he could be the kind of guy she could talk to, even with him being a teacher and all.
Doyle seemed to catch on to her surprise and he elaborated. "I like to try and get to know my students, so giving them my full name just seems to help ease things along."
Cordelia smiled. "What makes you think I'm one of your students?"
"Senior, right?" Doyle said, pointing to her id pass.
Cordelia lightly chuckled. "You caught me."
Doyle laughed also. "Well, seeing as with you being a senior and all….you have to take psychology in order to graduate…"
"So, you're my psych teacher." Cordelia realized, her eyes held noticeable relief.
"You seem happy about that." Doyle noted. "Were you worried ya were gonna wind up with Mr Snyder?"
Cordelia nodded. "Immensely."
Doyle laughed amused. "I would up stick for him, but he can be kind of a di-" He broke off as if he realized that he was talking to a student and not some girl he'd just met that was his own age. "Jerk. Big jerk."
This time it was Cordelia's turn to smile at him in amusement. "I think I'm gonna like you, Mr Doyle."
Doyle smiled. "I think I'm gonna like you too, Miss Chase." He reached down and helped her gather her papers and books.
"Thank you," Cordelia smiled gratefully. "although, shouldn't I be doing that? I mean, I did run into you. Still sorry about that."
Doyle looked up at her, his eyes suddenly serious. "Well, just don't do it again. This is a school, not a playground."
Cordelia nodded, worry in her eyes. "I so will not, I promise. I was trying to find your class and not be late, but that's no excuse. I shouldn't have…"
"Cordelia!" Doyle cut her off with a slight laugh. "I am messing with you!"
"Oh," Cordelia said and than gave a small smile. "You have to stop doing that to me. You're like giving me two strokes in five minutes."
"I'm that intimidating, huh?" Doyle smirked.
Cordelia rolled her eyes, feeling completely at ease with him now. "You're a teacher. You could screw up my college plans, not to mention my record. Coming from two parents who expect nothing but perfection…"
"That's just a parent's right." Doyle smiled at her. "If they didn't love you, they wouldn't be on your case. Remember that."
"I wish they did," Cordelia muttered, sadness entering her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. You okay?" Doyle asked with concern.
Cordelia quickly plastered on a fake smile. "Yeah, I'm fine." A bell rings.
Doyle laughed. "Well, I am totally late."
"Me too," Cordelia replied. "I was lost though, what's your excuse?"
Doyle appeared to look thoughtful before replying. "Injured by a student."
Cordelia laughed. "You're funny."
He shrugged. "Hey, I try." He picked up his briefcase and stood up. "C'mon, I'll show you to class. Unless, you were planning on skipping?"
Cordelia smirked. "Oh my parents would just love that! On second thought, maybe I'll do that. It's always nice to freak them out."
"You're kinda mean." Doyle noted with a hint of amusement.
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Oh, you don't know my parents."
She stood up and she felt a shooting pain rip through her back. "Son of a bitch!" She slumped back to the ground and quickly covered her mouth. She really needed to quit while she was ahead with this guy.
Doyle felt himself slightly chuckle at the look of mortification on the girl's face for swearing in front of him.
"Oh God. Please, don't give me a detention Mr Doyle." Cordelia pleaded, tears nearly coming into her eyes and it made Doyle's eyes soften. This poor girl was really afraid. "I wasn't expecting to feel such a sharp pain in my back like that, I'd never swear normally and..."
"Cordelia!" Doyle knelt down to her level. "I am not going to give you a detention, okay? You're not even in my class yet and you didn't really do anything wrong. I get why you sweared." He gave her a small smile. "Take my hand, I'll help you walk to the nurse's office."
"No!" Cordelia instantly responded. "I don't need to go, I'm fine."
Doyle raised his eyebrow at her stubbornness. "Wow, you are really strong willed. Most girls would be happy to go to the nurse's station and get out of school an hour early."
"Yeah, well I'm not most girls, okay? I have no one to come get me anyway." Cordelia told him. "My parents are really busy people and I have to keep moving. Life is hard and you can't just quit the moment things get rough."
Doyle looked at her stunned. This girl couldn't be any older than seventeen, but he could've sworn he was talking to a twenty six year old. "I don't care how busy your parents are, Cordelia...they're your parents. It's their job to take care of you." He was becoming concerned with how anxious this girl seemed to be getting over phoning her parents.
Yeah right, Cordelia thought bitterly. They have never taken care of me. They may put a roof over my head and give me a five thousand dollar credit limit every month, but they haven't shown me love ever.
"I can take care of me, okay?" Cordelia responded. "I really need to finish this day. Don't make me go home, please."
Doyle seemed to consider her for a moment before nodding his head. "I admire your strength, Miss Chase." He gently took her hand in his, helping her stand and watching her grimace. "I'm still taking you to the nurse's station. Make sure your back is actually ok."
Cordelia sighed. "Fine, okay. If you must. I don't want my parents bothered though, okay? They are busy people. They wouldn't be happy if you called them."
Doyle helped Cordelia walk down the hallway, his arm around her waist.
"They can't be that bad," Doyle insisted.
"Tell you what, you meet them and than we'll talk." Cordelia retorted.
A/N: I'm still debating on whether or not to keep everyone completely human or actually include Doyle being half demon. Let me know what you guys think in the comments please :)
