Savannah took an encouraging breath as she gazed up at the high school. As a freshman, this was her last step to becoming an adult, at least educationally. She glanced at her schedule again before entering through the double doors, praying that she wouldn't be the stereotypical kid that got lost looking for every class. She wandered through the hallways shyly, keeping her eyes down and avoiding as many people as possible in the extremely crowded halls.

She managed to find her homeroom relatively easily, if you call being nearly run over easy. She entered quickly, glad to get out of the pre-class rush. She noticed the teacher at the front of the room out of the corner of her eye, but didn't pay her any attention until she'd selected her seat. Only then did she look up, gasping as she truly saw the woman for the first time.

Savannah had grown up quite a bit, mentally as well as physically. But for all of the changes she had gone through, and all of the things she had omitted or pushed to the side, there was one thing she had never forgotten, at least not completely. Mrs. Jeepers, the beautiful Romanian woman who had begun teaching at Bailey Elementary at the beginning of her third grade year. To her shock, that was the woman calmly sitting at the front of the room looking over some papers.

She inhaled sharply, shocked and pleasantly surprised. She'd always longed to be able to get to know the mysterious woman better, and perhaps this was her chance. Briefly, she debated asking her if she remembered her, but ultimately decided against it. They hadn't really spoken enough to allude to anything, a few minutes here and there, and she felt if she brought it up she'd never be able to get to know her the way she wanted to. And, looking the older woman up and down, she decided she definitely wanted to get to know her better.

She actually couldn't believe she hadn't seen how beautiful the redhead was sooner. Pale ivory skin, haunting green eyes, long wavy red hair and a decent build, she was by all rights gorgeous. Savannah snorted quietly to herself as she recalled a time when she had described her as pretty. She had been so naive and innocent then, nearly sickeningly so.

She was brought back to herself as the bell rang, signalling the beginning of classes. She had been so caught up in her observations and thoughts that she hadn't noticed the room gradually filling up with other students.

Mrs. Jeepers stood, eyes sweeping across the room of freshmen and lingering on one girl in particular. There was something familiar about her, something that she couldn't place and that set her on edge. Shaking herself out of it, she gave the class a small smirk, something she had once heard referred to as a half smile. They grew silent, their eyes riveted to her and their faces exuding fear. She reveled in their reactions, more than she probably should have, but the years of self-imposed loneliness had turned her slightly bitter.

"Good morning, students, and welcome to Bailey High," she said, her eyes glittering as all of them suppressed shivers. Well, all but one. That one young woman with dark hair in the very back corner seemed to be enjoying her voice rather than being terrified by it. "I hope I will not have any trouble this year, but I am sure none of you will cause any. This school is to be your home for the next four years, so I expect you to treat it with respect, as well as your fellow students and teachers. Do I make myself clear?"

Stuttered versions of yes ma'am came from around the room, most uttered quietly, but again, the girl in the corner didn't flinch. She looked her dead in the eye, smirked, and responded clearly. Mrs. Jeepers felt something flicker in her chest, something akin to amusement, and zeroed in on the girl. She was shocked to find said child ogling her, quite unashamedly it seemed, and couldn't stop herself from smirking back. It had, after all, been years since someone had looked at her with that level of desire.

Allowing her gaze to linger on the, admittedly beautiful, girl, she began passing out the required first day papers, including maps and revised schedules. She kept her eye on the girl in the back, raising an eyebrow as she heard the muttered "Son of a bitch!" as she received an updated schedule.

"Miss...Edwards," she said, glancing at her roster. "May I speak with you for a moment?" She seated herself in her desk and waited patiently as the girl made her way to the front. "What is so big of a problem that you must resort to vulgar language?"

"Sorry, Mrs. Jeepers, I just noticed that I now have to take algebra one for my math, and math is my worst subject."

"Oh? And who is your teacher?"

She watched as the girl, Savannah, bit her lip.

"You," Savannah whispered quietly, ashamed of her reaction and slightly worried she had blown her chance to get to know the beautiful redhead.

The older woman drew back, shocked. It wasn't every day that she had such a violent reaction from a student about being in her class. They stared at one another for a minute, and slowly her mind began trying to piece together what was so familiar about the girl. Savannah held her breath as she noticed the scrutinizing gaze, praying she wouldn't connect the dots. If she remembered her before she told her she definitely wouldn't be able to move their relationship beyond that of a student and teacher.

The bell rang, ruining Mrs. Jeepers' concentration.

"Well Miss Edwards, I hope your first day is enjoyable and I will expect you for seventh period."

She gave her a smirk, though it was softer than a true smirk. It had once been referred to as a half-smile, and she could understand why.

"That makes two of us," Savannah said with a smile, shouldering her backpack and leaving the room.

For the rest of the day leading up to seventh period Mrs. Jeepers couldn't shake the feeling of agitation that consumed her any time she thought of Savannah Edwards. Not only had the girl not been afraid of her, she also appeared to know her. That was of course impossible, as she hadn't recognized any of her students thus far, and some children she had taught were quite memorable. So what kept setting her on edge? Was it the way the girl had looked at her, with obvious desire and lust?

She had no clue, but as the bell for seventh period rang and the last class transition began she found herself half-excited to see the only person not afraid of her and half dreading it. She watched the students file in, surprised to see two of the children she had taught in her first class at Bailey Elementary, Howie and Melody if she remembered correctly. She gave them her "half-smile" as they entered, enjoying the way they paled as they recognized her.

Savannah was one of the last to enter the room, looking vaguely annoyed and exhausted. The girl's eyes brightened as they landed on her, only to widen in fear at the math equations littering the board behind her head. The older woman watched her select a seat in the back as she had in the morning and promptly bang her head on her desk. She cleared her throat and she stopped, looking up at her with a pitiful expression. An eye flash sent the girl scrambling for her notebook and pencil, though she suspected it was more out of fear of failing than fear of her.

"Good afternoon class," she began, standing and addressing them all. "Before we begin I have some class rules I would like to go over…"

Savannah groaned as she looked over her notes at the end of class. She had made sure to copy down everything her teacher had written on the board, even recording questions from her classmates and their answers. Despite her diligent note taking, the two pages of material still looked like gibberish, and the longer she stared the less legible it appeared. She sighed heavily as she began packing up, stuffing her notebook and textbook into her bag just as the bell rang.

She knew she should probably ask Mrs. Jeepers for help, but she wanted to see if, by some miracle, she could manage to figure out the problems on her own first. She was the last out of the room, opting to the let the others stampede out first and miss getting trampled. She felt green eyes on her as she crossed to the door, but not once did she look back. She did, however, pause as the doorframe.

"Have a good afternoon, Mrs. Jeepers," she said, unable to resist allowing her voice to drop a bit.

She felt rather than saw the shock painted across the older woman's face as she left for the day. Mrs, Jeepers, for her part, barely kept her jaw from dropping. So it was true, the girl was interested in her. She couldn't decide if it was a pleasant or unpleasant surprise. Glancing down, she noticed goosebumps beginning to prick her skin. Okay, so it was pleasant, very very pleasant.

She shook her head, dislodging any thoughts that were attempting to form. She couldn't be interested in a student, could she? It was unethical, not to mention illegal. Looking at the goosebumps that had yet to go away, she decided yes, yes she could be interested in her student. And said student was interested in her.

Oh, this was going to be one interesting year.