School on Monday sucked more than usual. The only teacher that she ended up liking this year had been ready to pop for months now and she was dreading the day she did, not wanting to end up with some crappy sub who couldn't control a class full of seniors already bouncing on the edges of their seats. As luck would have it, she finally gave birth to a healthy, happy, baby boy on Saturday and wouldn't be returning for the remaining 2 months of the school year. Lexie heard the news before she even made it to the class that day. What she had not heard was that they had already had a long term sub lined up to take over for today and the rest of the year. She also had not heard that he was hot.
"Hello everybody, my name is Kyle Trandor. You can call me Kyle or Mr. Trandor, whatever you're more comfortable with. I know this is going to be an adjustment so close to the end of the year, but hey, we can't say we didn't know this was coming!"
A few kids in the room smiled as he spoke. Most appreciated that he seemed to be a pretty chill, laid back guy judging by his allowance at using his first name. A few girls in the back giggled and fluttered their eyebrows in his direction. She honestly couldn't blame them, even though their obvious attempts were lame as hell. Kyle Trandor was tall, easily 6'4, maybe taller. He filled out his button-down dress shirt and slacks quite nicely with large toned muscles. Hazel eyes twinkled when he flashed a lazy, slightly cocky smile all rounded off with dirty blonde hair neatly brushed off to the side in an attempt to manage what seemed to be normally disheveled hair. She felt a sudden rush of heat between her legs as she studied him standing at the front of the room commanding power and attention by his presence alone.
Having zoned out with her inappropriate thoughts she realized too late that all eyes in the room were on her. Mr. Trandor stared at her, a brow raised waiting on some sort of response.
"I'm so sorry," embarrassed she had to admit, "I must have zoned out. What were we talking about?" her cheeks flushed red.
Something flashed in his eyes that she couldn't figure out but was quickly replaced by a look of annoyance.
"I have asked everyone to tell me your name, age, and your plans after high school so I can get to know you all better."
"Oh okay. Um, my name is Lexi Harvey. I'm 18 and after high school, I am attending culinary school upstate."
The words rushed out of her mouth, eager to move on and get the attention away from her. Her face still burned with heat from the embarrassment as if somebody had known why she had not been paying attention and where her thoughts had drifted.
She fought to pay attention as they finished up with the last few students saying their names and other information for Mr. Trandor. When the last person had finished his gaze returned to her and when he spoke it felt targeted directly at her.
"I am a nice guy and I know most of you are practically adults. I would like to treat you as such and finish off the year having some fun and getting to know each other. That being said, I am not some sub who will let you walk all over me or let you spend the hour per day you are in here goofing off or zoning out. I need you to remain focused as you would have for Mrs. Bailey. If you can do that, we can have a great few months together."
Lexi sunk down in her seat even further. She was a good student, top of her class, and not the type to be inadvertently lectured in front of all her classmates. This day was definitely not going well.
Over the next week, Lexi found herself spending more time than usual getting ready. Instead of her usual yoga pants and sweatshirts, she opted for tight-fitting skinny jeans and tops that clung to her curves in all the right ways. She told herself she wanted to end the year with a bang but she also knew that was a lie.
Lexi took the time each morning to curl her long blonde hair and carefully apply her makeup in a way that highlighted her bright blue eyes and hide the freckles that she hated so much. She didn't care what anybody thought of her appearance until a certain substitute teacher had entered her life.
She also found herself more engaged than ever in his class. History was typically just one of her classes that filled up her day. Not her favorite but not something she hated or struggled with. It wasn't uncommon for her to doodle and keep to herself during that class but after her humiliation on Monday, she felt the need to prove herself. He could easily look up her records and see that she was a model student. She kept a 4.0 average GPA and was involved in more student organization than she had time for and yet she felt the need to prove to this stranger than she wasn't just some brainless bimbo skating by to graduation.
"Nice work Mrs. Harvey."
Lexi smiled at the 100% circled at the top of her test.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome. I have to admit I seem to have been wrong about you."
"Excuse me?" Lexi replied astonished.
It was the end of class and nobody else was in the room. Anger flashed through her and boiled beneath the surface of her skin.