So, I've wanted to write this for a number of years, and now that I am in fact writing again, I thought I'd give it a go. I'm rating this M for situational reasons, but I'm undecided on if there will be smut. If you're not keen on the idea of a student/teacher relationship, this ain't for you.
P.S. I will finish T Minus soon, this just wouldn't leave my brain.
Pepper was nervous.
Her first day at a new school, fresh out of university, watching all of the students filing past her to their respective lessons, and she was still wondering how the hell she'd managed to obtain the post. It was a very prestigious high school, full of students who could probably pull out more money than she had from their back pockets, but she was greatful to have been offered the job. There were people out there a lot more qualified than she was at twenty-seven, but they must have seen something in her that hey liked.
Or it was an elaborate hazing.
Either way, here she was on her first day of the new school year, holding her bag over her shoulder and looking as lost as any first timer would. She remembered vaguely where the office was, but the last time she'd been to the school for her final interview it had been blisteringly sunny, and the grounds were now covered in a fluffy layer of snow. In the end, she decided to just follow a man holding a briefcase, assuming him to be faculty, and thankfully he led her straight to the main office. She made her way to the front desk, smiling at the matronly woman sat behind it. The woman in turn gave her a critising up-and-down look and cleared her throat, instantly making Pepper second guess her choice of outfit. She'd dressed what she thought was conservative - a beige coloured sweater that tied off at the waist and black pants with heeled winter boots - but clearly it wasn't what this woman was used to seeing from the other teachers.
"Um, hi, I'm here for teaching?" She tripped over the sentence and blushed heavily. "I mean I'm the new Art History teacher, Virginia Potts?"
"Is that a question or is that your name?" The woman asked, reaching over to grab a binder from the shelf behind her and flipping through it. "Potts, Virginia…okay." She didn't wait for an answer and simply pulled some paperwork out of the folder, sliding it towards her. "Fill this out for HR and I'll tell Principal Samson." She turned back to her computer with a sigh and Pepper took the paperwork, glancing around the small office and finding a couple of plush armchairs and a coffee table in one corner. She dropped her bag by one of the chairs after digging out a pen and sat down, paperwork on her knee, and began to fill out her details. Just outside the room she heard the bell ring and saw students dashing past the door, hurrying to get to class before they were marked as tardy. Slowly, the corridor emptied and the students disappeared. Pepper carried on with her paperwork as the final bell rang again and soon enough she was finished. She handed back the paperwork to the receptionist behind the desk, catching sight of a name tag on her blouse that read 'Gladys'.
"Just in time, I see." A man, tall and bespectacled with a bushy greying beard and receding hairline came out of the office behind Gladys, smiling at Pepper. Principal Samson had been the one who interviewed her, and she'd instantly felt at ease in his presence. He was at least fifty years old and gave her a comforting fatherly feeling. "Nice to see you again, Ms Potts, come on in." He shook her hand as she stood and held out his arm in invitation to his office. Pepper sat herself in the chair facing his desk as he rounded the other side and also sat. "Did you bring your syllabus with you?"
Pepper nodded eagerly and pulled a blue folder from her bag, handing it over. "I hope it's okay, it might be a bit heavy on Gothic architecture-"
"No, no, this is great!" Principal Samson grinned, flicking through the folder eagerly. "This is exactly what we need here, I want to keep the arts budget and we need a fresh take on things. You like Gothic architecture? Go nuts." He chuckled and handed the folder back. "Some of these kids won't even know what that is and this building is full of it."
Nodding, Pepper put the folder back in her bag. "That's another reason I was so eager to teach here, this school is incredible." She sighed wistfully. "It's a shame there aren't more buildings like this. Maybe we'd be able to arrange a trip to Paris or Normandy?"
Samson chuckled and held his hands up. "Maybe one day, but right now I just need these test scores to go up and show that we can hold interest in the arts. I'm not gonna lie to you, we've got a lot more future sports stars here than we have the next Picasso." He leant back in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of him. "But I have faith, you showed more enthusiasm than any of the more experienced teachers I interviewed, and that's what I want - enthusiasm. You get these kids interested in art? I'm sure we can find the money somewhere for a trip."
"Sounds like a good deal." Pepper said, grinning. "I might have my work cut out for me, but I'm not a quitter."
"Splendid." Samson slapped his hands on his knees and stood up, followed by Pepper. "Well, your theater awaits, let me show you to your new classroom."
They left his office, Pepper trailing slightly behind him. She caught sight of a student slumped in the chair she'd vacated after filling out her paperwork, as did Principal Samson, who sighed heavily and strode over to him. He looked over at Gladys who rolled her eyes, as if this wasn't the first time he'd been sent to see the Principal, and checked his watch.
"Tony, we're thirteen minutes into the school year. How?" He asked, bewildered.
The young man shrugged. He was tall, Pepper could tell that even though he was sat down, wearing a Varsity jacket and a backwards baseball cap, both with the school letters on them. "It's a talent, I guess." He sighed, smirking slightly and gazing over to Pepper. He held her gaze for a moment and then looked back to Samson. "If I don't beat the previous year, what's the point, right?"
The Principal shook his head and checked his watch again. "I need to start giving you a copy of my schedule so you'll stop interrupting it. Although, knowing you, you'd target my free time with glaring accuracy."
Tony snorted and stood up, grabbing his rucksack which lay at his feet and shrugging it over one shoulder. "It would make it easier for us to have these stolen moments." He sighed dramatically. "We good? I'll tell Pearson you slapped my wrist tomorrow."
Tutting, Samson nodded and jerked his head towards the door, indicating for Tony to leave. He did so, looking back at the pair over his shoulder as he left, heading out into the corridor and disappearing from sight. "That's Tony Stark, he's a good kid but a terrible student. But he's also the best second baseman this school has ever seen." He fixed Pepper with a meaningful gaze. "Get him to pass your class this semester and I'll give you whatever you want."
Pepper's eyes widened and she blew out a breath. "I'll do my best. I don't give out special favours, though, he'll need to work hard."
"I don't think working hard has ever been his problem." Samson held the door open for Pepper as they finally left the office and continued down a corridor leading to Pepper's classroom. "Holding his attention seems to be the issue. Not a lot of my faculty have the patience for him."
They eventually reached the classroom Pepper had been assigned. It had been left vacant since the previous Art History teacher had left it last school year and as such needed a little freshening up, but Pepper had the rest of the day to do so, her classes not starting until the following day. On his way out of the room, Principal Samson pointed out where the cafeteria and teacher's lounge were and insisted she start calling him Greg as 'he didn't have a stick up his ass'. Pepper agreed, but only if he stopped calling her Virginia as 'she wasn't a little old lady'. With that agreed, Greg left and Pepper started tackling the room. She had to make a few trips back to her car to pull out supplies, and a lot of the furniture needed moving around, but by lunch she was happy with the progress she'd made and the room looked a lot less musty than it had greeted her. Her stomach rumbling, she decided to take a break and find out what was on offer in the cafeteria, so she made her way towards the smell of hot food.
The cafeteria was quite large and gave her a better scope of how many students the school occupied. Pepper spotted a group of adults - including Gladys - sitting at one table in particular, but they appeared to be the only ones over the age of eighteen in the hall. Pepper didn't really feel like sitting in what had looked like a rather stuffy teacher's lounge while she ate, so once she'd obtained her lunch - a salad and water - she found an empty table and sat down at it. She people-watched for a bit while she ate, taking note of who sat with who, and who kept to themselves. A short while into her reconnaissance, she felt the presence of someone at her side and looked up to find Tony gazing down at her, holding a tray.
"You looked lonely, thought I'd join you." He said by way of greeting, rounding the small table and sitting opposite her. He removed his baseball cap to reveal a thick mess of black waves that fell over his eyes, which he immediately tried to smooth back with his fingers, resulting in an even messier appearance. "You're new." He continued, unwrapping the sandwich he'd bought and biting into it.
"Uh, yes." Pepper replied, awkwardly looking around as if someone was going to comment on a student sitting with her. "Ms Potts, I'm the Art History teacher."
Tony made a noise like he'd inhaled his sandwich and coughed a little. "You're a teacher? No way." He said, muffled around his mouthful of food. "Damn, for the first time in my life I'm glad I go here." He smirked and leant back in his chair.
Pepper blushed a little but pursed her lips, grabbing her bottle of water and taking a sip. "Well that's not very appropriate, now is it?" She asked.
"Yeah, well, I like to take chances where I can." He shrugged, still smirking at her. "That's why I'm on the team."
She caught herself before she rolled her eyes at him. Typical teenager, boasting to try and get some attention. "I hear you're pretty good." She admitted. If inflating his ego was the way to get him on side, she might stand a chance at getting him interested in her class. "Let's hope you can keep the performance up in my class."
Tony's eyes sparkled as she spoke and he bit his lip. "No one has ever had a problem with my performance." He growled, waggling his eyebrows.
Pepper tutted and shook her head, grabbing her bag and standing up. "Okay, that's enough." She grabbed her tray and fixed him with a stern look. "I may look young, but I am your teacher, and you will treat me with the respect that brings, do you understand? Or do you want to spend the rest of the year in detention for that comment?" Harsh, but she needed to stand her ground. She couldn't show weakness while she was finding her feet.
To his credit, Tony seemed to understand he'd overstepped somewhat and his face fell, the smirk vanishing. He sat up straight and nodded, avoiding her eyes and mumbling a halfhearted apology. Pepper took the victory and nodded, walking away from the table to drop off her empty tray and then heading back to her classroom to continue with her remodel. She felt a small sense of pride at having had Tony apologise to her, and was sure he wouldn't speak like that to her again. She spent a few more hours moving things around in her classroom, hanging things on the walls and getting prepared for the following day, and by the time she was done it was nearly 6pm. Tired, but feeling accomplished, she made her way out of the classroom, locking it behind her, and out to the staff parking lot, excited and nervous for what tomorrow would bring.
