Chapter 1

Athena Carter 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 campus during orientation back when she'd started freshman year.

Apparently not, She ruefully decided.

Athena's apprehension grew when she saw the yellow color of the lockers.

"This is freshman wing!" Athena 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.

Athena Carter 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.

She could feel her nerves build up as she thought about what her parents would say...what they would do...to her.

Her parents were the least understanding people on the planet, especially her mother. They expected constant perfection from her.

She looked at the clock hanging on the wall.

Two minutes left.

Maybe if she really hauled ass, she could get there in time by some miracle.

She took off and started racing down the halls again. She was half way past the yellow lockers when she felt herself slam into a solid form, the impact of the force crashing them both to the ground.

Athena 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.

"Christ," A slightly older man's voice said full of worry and sorrow. "Miss, are you ok?"

Athena took in a deep breath as she struggled to stop her tears. This was embarrassing.

"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, Athena 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...

Athena felt her head spin at those ideas. Oh, no, no, no. That just was not an option.

Athena 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 was clearly concerned for her, as he shook his head. "You know what, it's ok. I'll just carry you to the office and it'll be ok..."

Just like that, Athena 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."

Athena 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, or her mother for that matter.

"I'm positive." Athena 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. "You 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," Athena 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 in trouble for running in the halls and knocking a teacher down in the process. Just fucking great.

The guy suddenly broke out into a laugh. "Relax Miss, I'm just messing with you."

Athena'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.

God, what if he was one of her teachers?

He looked at her amused. "I was joking."

"Right, right!" Athena 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…"

"Carter." Athena supplied and didn't miss the look of recognition in the man's eyes. Sadly everyone in town knew of her family. "Athena Carter. 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. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Carter. I'm Robert Nash, people here usually just call me Professor Nash though."

Athena 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.

She mentally tried to chase those thoughts out though. It was best not to go there. She didn't need anyone. She was much better off on her own.

Bobby 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."

Athena smiled. "Well, what makes you think I'm one of your students?"

"Senior, right?" Bobby said, pointing to her id pass.

Athena lightly chuckled. "You caught me."

Bobby laughed also. "I was sent the list of students attending my class weeks ago. Your last name is kinda hard to forget." He saw Athena's eyes dim, and he frowned in concern. "Are you ok?"

Athena forced a fake smile and nodded. "Yeah, of course. I just don't really like talking about my family. It's complicated."

Bobby didn't feel any less concerned, but he accepted the boundary she was drawing. "Hey, I get it." He reached down and helped her gather her papers and books.

"Thank you," Athena smiled gratefully. "although, shouldn't I be doing that? I mean, I did run into you. I'm still sorry about that."

Bobby looked up at her, his eyes suddenly serious. "Well, just don't do it again. This is a college, not a playground."

Athena nodded, worry in her eyes. "I won't, I promise. I was trying to find your class and not be late, but that's no excuse. I shouldn't have…"

"Athena!" Bobby cut her off with a slight laugh. "I am messing with you!"

"Oh," Athena 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?" Bobby smirked.

Athena rolled her eyes, feeling completely at ease with him now. "You're my teacher. You could fail me, besides coming from two parents who expect nothing but perfection…"

"I'm sure you'll do fine. As for your parents," Bobby smiled at her. "if they didn't care, they wouldn't be on your case. Remember that."

"I wish they did." Athena muttered, sadness entering her eyes.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Are you ok?" Bobby asked with concern.

Athena quickly plastered on a fake smile. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Bobby didn't quite believe her. There was something about this girl that was different from anyone he'd ever met before. He moved it to the back of his mind, not sure where the thought came from.

Bobby picked up his briefcase and stood up. "C'mon, I'll show you to class. Unless, you were planning on skipping?"

Athena smirked. "Oh my parents would just love that! But no, I think I'll attend this one."

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.

Bobby felt himself slightly chuckle at the look of mortification on the girl's face for swearing in front of him. Then the concern set in once again when he saw the tears behind her eyes.

"Hey," He gently said. "let me help you up." He then frowned as he thought about how much pain she had to be in to fall back down. "On second thought, maybe I should be calling you an ambulance..."

"No!" Athena instantly responded. "I don't need that, I'm fine." She forced herself to stand back up, feeling taken aback when Bobby gently put his arm around her to steady her.

Bobby raised his eyebrow at her stubbornness. "Wow, you are really strong willed. Most girls would be happy to get out of here an hour early."

"Yeah, well I'm not most girls, ok? I don't live on campus and I have no one to come get me anyway." Athena 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."

Bobby looked at her stunned. "I don't care how busy your parents are, Athena...they're your parents. It's their job to be there for you." He was becoming concerned with how anxious this girl seemed to be getting over phoning her parents. Something wasn't quite right.

Yeah right, Athena thought bitterly. They have never been there for me. They may put a roof over my head and give me a two thousand dollar credit limit every month, but they haven't shown me love ever.

"I can take care of me, okay?" Athena responded. "I really need to finish this day."

Bobby seemed to consider her for a moment before nodding his head. "I admire your strength, Miss Carter. He gently kept his arm around her for support and watched her grimace. "I'm still taking you to the nurse's station. Make sure your back is actually ok."

Athena sighed. "Fine, ok. If you must. I don't want my parents bothered though, ok? They are busy people. They wouldn't be happy if you called them."

"They can't be that bad." Bobby insisted.

"Tell you what, you meet them and than we'll talk." Athena retorted.