I woke up, showered, did my hair, put on my uniform and packed my bag for practice. It felt weird getting back into the daily morning routine for school. I grabbed my back and gym bag and headed upstairs to the kitchen. I walked into the kitchen and found a note on the granite counter. I picked it up and read it.

Rose,

I will be home late tonight. Having dinner and a meeting with Christopher.

Love,

Mom

I rolled my eyes and put down the note. She wouldn't be home late. She probably wouldn't make it home at all. Christopher was her business partner and boyfriend. The part about having dinner was true but the meeting was bullshit. There was no meeting. How stupid does she think I am? I took the note and threw it in the trashcan. Knowing that I was once again coming home to an empty house made me long for Emmett even more. I couldn't think about this right now. It hurt too much.

I walked out of the kitchen to the garage. I opened the door to my BWM and threw my bags in the back. I hopped in the front seat, put the key in the ignition, and sped off to school. I pulled into the back parking lot again right next to a super expensive looking Bentley. Who the hell is driving that? I wondered. I looked in my rear view mirror and did some makeup and hair retouches. Once I decided I looked absolutely perfect, I grabbed my school bag from back and got out of my car. Just because Emmett wasn't here didn't mean I had to look like a slob. Looking good was a top priority.

I walked into school and down the main hallway to get to homeroom. Right before I was about to walk past the faculty room, Ms. Swan strolls out carrying a cup of coffee and a folder. She had on a black pencil skirt, a tucked in white button down top, and black pumps. Her gorgeous brown hair was perfectly wavy. She looked like she belonged in a Pantene commercial. Of course she saw me walking and her eyes lit up (or maybe I just imagined it) and she smiled.

"Hey Rosalie." She said brightly.

I took a deep breath. " Hi Ms. Swan." I said politely and smiled. We continued walking.

"So are you excited for the first day of classes?" she joked.

"Oh you know it." I said sarcastically. She laughed.

"Well I'm excited." She said.

"Is this your first teaching job?" I asked politely.

"No. Why? Do I look like a push over?" She said jokingly and smiled.

"No. You just look really young. I thought this might be your first job." I admitted a little embarrassed. We were in front of the elevators and she motioned for me to come in. None of the teachers ever take the stairs. We got into the elevator.

"That is very nice of you to say Rosalie. I guess twenty-five is considered young but I've had 2 teaching jobs prior to this. I taught 8th and 9th grade." She said.

"I think twenty-five is young. But, you've never taught seniors before. Good luck. I think you're going to need it." I said playfully and smiled.

"Thanks, but you don't look like that much trouble. I think I can handle it." She said and walked into homeroom.

I stood there, struck dumb, for a second. What did that mean? That I didn't look like trouble? That the seniors didn't look like trouble? Was she flirting with me? I involuntarily shook my head to erase all the crazy thoughts bouncing around in my brain and walked into the classroom. I took my seat next to Alice who had her head down all the desk sleeping. She wasn't a morning person. I sat there in silence thinking about Ms. Swan. Could Alice have been right? Does she like me? Am I overreacting? I think I'm going crazy. How can I possibly feel this attracted to someone I just met? Thoughts bounced around in my brain like a pinball in a pinball machine. I was driving myself crazy. The loud ringing sound of the bell interrupted my thoughts. I grabbed my bag and realized I had no idea what class I was going to. I unzipped my backpack and got out my roster.

1. Study Hall-Library

2. French V-Room 113-Ms. Gerard

3. AP U.S. Gov.-Room 224-Mr. Katz

4. Lunch-Cafeteria

5. Honors Calculus- Room 315- Mr. Shield

6. AP World Literature- Room 207- Ms. Kummels

7. Phys. Ed.- Gym- Mr. Clark

8. Honors Theology IV - Room 414-Ms. Swan

I was relieved to see that I wasn't going anywhere important 1st period. I started walking towards the door when someone called my name. I turned around and saw everyone had left.

"I was wondering if you could help me out with this computer? You don't have a class do you?" She asked earnestly. Ms. Swan was standing behind her desk leaning over and looking perplexed at the computer screen. Her top was unbuttoned enough to see a good amount cleavage.

"Nno. I just have a study hall." I stuttered out still staring at her breasts.

She looked up and smiled. "Good. Come over here and help me." She said sweetly.

I walked over and leaned next to her to see the computer. We were side by side, our shoulders touching. Still leaning over her desk, she turned her head and asked me: "How do I get my power point on the projection screen?"

Our faces were extremely close. Her eyes stared intently into mine. They were so beautiful. I lost my train of thought. After what felt like a while, I finally broke eye contact and stood up.

"Um. Oh. You just have to pull up your power point and turn on the projector." I stammered feeling flustered. My heart was racing like a high-speed train.

"Here I'll go turn it on." I offered feeling my cheeks getting red with embarrassment. I put down my backpack and walked over towards the projector. I stood on my tiptoes to turn it on. I felt her eyes on my back as my un-tucked shirt went up revealing the skin of my back. The projector was on and working. I grabbed my backpack from the floor.

"Thanks Rosalie, you're such a sweetheart." She said sincerely and smiled.

"Your welcome. It was no problem." I said hurriedly and walked out of there as fast as I could.

Once I was in the stairwell, I leaned back against the wall trying to steady my heart rate. I could honestly say I never have felt my heart beat that fast in my entire life. I took deep breaths and whispered to myself; "pull yourself together Rose." Once I felt composed, I walked down the stairs to the library.

The rest of the day was consumed with thoughts of Ms. Swan. No matter what I did she came popping back into my thoughts. At lunch I listened to the pointless conversation Lauren and Jessica were having. I'm friendly with them but we're not friends. Since we were the most popular girls in school we felt obligated to be friends. I want to parties with them and we gossiped but I could never tell them any of my secrets. They would just use them to make me look bad. It was a friendship based on nothing.

I kept my thoughts as straight as possible until 8th period. I walked into the classroom and she smiled at me like I was her favorite person in the world. I purposely took a seat in the back. Being as far away from her as possible would help me concentrate. I looked at the front of the room and saw a power point. Thank God we're taking notes. Now I could focus on the notes and block out other thoughts. I put on my glasses and took notes until the bell rang. Unfortunately, I am an extremely slow note taker and as everyone left I was still copying down the last bit of notes on modesty. It was just Ms. Swan and I alone in the room. I heard her heels clack against the linoleum floor as she walked towards me. She stood in front of my desk and said: "Slow note taker?"

"Um. Yeah. Sorry." I said scribbling down the last sentence.

"Its ok. Slow and steady win the race. Take all the time you need." She said sweetly.

"Ok thanks. I'm done now." I said and scrambled to put my books away. I stood up and slung my backpack over my shoulder. I walked out of the room and down the stairs to my car.

I got into the back seat of my car and got changed for soccer practice. It was a hot day so I just put on a black sports bra and white shorts. I put on my shin guards and emerald socks. I hated that our school colors were emerald and white. They were so ugly. I laced up my cleats and got out the car. I popped open the trunk to get my soccer ball. As I was looking for it I heard the door slam of the car next to me. I looked over at the Bentley and saw Ms. Swan opening the driver's door to the car. She saw me staring at her in awe. She gave me a once over and said: "Nice top." She winked at me and slid into her expensive car and drove off. I stood there dumbfounded. I couldn't move. Fuck, Alice was right. Alice is always right. She likes me and she clearly isn't hiding it. If she's not hiding it than neither am I. Watch out Ms. Swan you're in trouble now.