Savannah Edwards came screaming into the world on January 24, 1982 to Marissa and Ethan Edwards. The parents looked down on their daughter, stunned. They had expected a boy, had been certain it would be a son, as they were no ordinary people. They were Shapeshifters, an ancient race that, once they had gone through puberty, changed into the form of a wolf at will. Due to genetic coding, male births were more prominent than females, which was one of the reasons why the Shifters had been forced to marry humans centuries before. Luckily for Ethan, he had managed to find a wife in another Shifter, though a birth defect prevented her from accessing her wolf form.

They gazed at the tiny wailing being they had created, still stunned that they had been blessed with a girl.

"What should we name her?" Ethan asked.

"Well," Marissa said thoughtfully as she stroked her child's head, "we had decided on Savan when we thought we were having a boy. Why not Savannah? It's the female form of Savan."

"It's perfect," Ethan said, stroking his daughter's cheek.

As they watched their child begin to nurse, they made a silent vow. Their species was already in danger of being wiped out by humans and should they be found, they knew the humans wouldn't hesitate to kill their daughter along with them. Thus, they decided never to tell their child what she was, choosing instead to raise her as an ordinary human. It was for the best, they thought as they tried to convince themselves of their decision, but they couldn't shake the sadness their choice brought them.

Savannah sighed as she trudged toward Bailey Elementary to begin her third grade year. Yet again she had woken up with the feeling as though something was missing from her life, and yet again she couldn't figure out what it could possibly be. She dreaded the coming year, wishing she never had to go to school again.

So absorbed was she in her thoughts that she didn't notice the petite woman in front of her. She collided with her back, sending both of them toppling to the ground.

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry!" Savannah hurried to apologize, scrambling up and offering the woman her hand. "I should have been paying more attention to where I was going. Are you all right?"

"I believe so," the woman answered in thick but beautiful accent that made the girl's breath catch.

She lifted her head, looking up at the child that had knocked her over. She felt her breath hitch for some inexplicable reason as she gazed upon the little girl. For a child she was pretty, already showing signs of the beautiful woman she would one day become. Wavy black hair, ice blue eyes, and delicate cheekbones, she could be mistaken for a child model.

Savannah was having a similar reaction as she gazed upon the woman looking at her in wonder, her arm dropping in her shock. Long fire red hair framed a pale face with high cheekbones and incredibly beautiful emerald green eyes. She had never seen a woman that was so pretty, and for some reason the stranger felt familiar to her. Shaking her head to knock herself out of her stupor, she once again extended her hand, which the woman accepted.

Cool skin met her own warm hand, and as she helped the woman to her feet she marveled at the contrast between the milky whiteness and her own tan. The woman gasped as the little girl easily picked her up.

"I really am sorry," Savannah apologized again, reluctantly releasing the woman's hand.

"It is quite all right," the redhead responded.

"So are you a new teacher or something?" Savannah asked, resuming her trek toward the school. "You're heading to the school and I've never seen you before."

"Why yes, I have just moved to America and have taken a job at the elementary school."

"Well, I hope you come to love Bailey City a much as I do. I'm Savannah by the way, Savannah Edwards."

"Thank you very much, Savannah. My true name is too hard to pronounce, but you may call me Mrs. Jeepers."

The name somehow fit the strange woman, and Savannah smiled.

"Well, I'm glad to meet you, Mrs. Jeepers," she said.

They arrived at the school and both looked up at the building, one with intrigue and the other with disdain and hatred. They parted ways, Savannah entering her teacher's classroom and watched Mrs. Jeepers as she headed for the office. It was to her immense annoyance that she found the older redhead was a third grade teacher, which she discovered later in the day while talking to some of her friends in the woman's class.

"Wait, Mrs. Jeepers is your teacher?" Savannah asked Howie, Melody, Liza and Eddie at recess.

"Yeah, and she's completely crazy," Eddie said, hanging upside down from the limb of the oak tree.

Savannah cocked her head, an intense urge to slap the boy rising in her chest. She pushed it down, confused by the sudden urge to defend a woman she had only met that morning.

"Eddie, she's not crazy!" Melody snapped. "She's just a little...weird."

"Weird how?" Savannah asked.

"Well first off there's her freaky green eyes. They flash if she's mad and it's seriously creepy. Then there's her brooch, which she rubs almost obsessively. And her weird accent, don't get me started. I vant to suck your blood!"

Eddie nearly fell out of the tree as he began laughing, and to the girls' annoyance Howie joined in.

"That was mean, Eddie," Liza said.

"So? We've only had her one day and already I'm trying to think of the best scheme to make her quit," the redhead argued.

Savannah felt an inexplicable pang of fear at the thought of the beautiful woman leaving.

"I like her," she said, causing the group to stare at her in disbelief.

"How do you know her? You're not even in our class," Howie pointed out.

"I might have accidentally run into her this morning. Literally," she explained with a blush.

"You what?!" the four chorused, slightly afraid of the idea of touching their teacher, much less actually running into her.

"Yeah, I knocked her down. She was really nice about it, and she forgave me."

"You're lucky," Melody said seriously.

"Oh come on guys, she can't be that bad."

"She makes Eddie behave," Howie deadpanned.

Savannah's eyes widened. No teacher in the history of ever had made Eddie behave. Perhaps there was more to the woman than met the eye.

The bell rang, signalling the end of recess, and as Savannah headed back into the building she caught a flash of red and a hint of green, and couldn't help but stare as the woman led her friends back to their room in an orderly fashion. There was something about Mrs. Jeepers that called to her, almost as if she should know her somehow, and for once, though she didn't notice it as she was too busy trying to catch a glimpse of the woman, she felt complete.