Chapter One

(Oscar)

A substitute teacher. By far the best part of high school. Maybe I should explain.

My English teacher Mrs.Henra gave birth last week so now she's on maternity leave. That means we are stuck with a long term substitute teacher who just happens to be the dad of the girl who has hated me since middle school.

It's the fourth period now and my friend, Jas and I are waiting to see him. We've heard all sorts of rumors, and can't wait to see for ourselves.

"I heard he's really hot. One of the girls from his second period said that she asked him to tutor her, but he declined." She mentions.

Whispers fill the entire room as the bell rings. We all take our seats and not a moment later does he walk into the room.

Short black hair with a little bit of stubble on his chin. Very tan skin with a jawline sharp enough to cut through steel. Not to mention his muscles and the way his shirt is left with the first few buttons undone. God, I wish he'd 'tutor' me.

I turn my head to look at Jas, seeing that she's having the same reaction as I am. I grab a small piece of paper out of my backpack.

'So?' I write before handing it to Jas.

"Hello students. I'm Mr.Thomson, and I'll be filling in for Mrs.Henra for the rest of the year. You can either call me Mr.Thomson or Mr.T, and I only have 5 rules for my class. Rule One, Don't disrespect me and I won't disrespect you. Rule Two, no phones unless I give you specific instructions to use them. Rule Three, do not ask me if you can use the bathroom. Just grab the pass and go. Rule Four, no working on any homework from another class. Rule Five, please come to me if you ever have questions about anything. No amount of homework and textbooks is going to help you read my mind, so please just ask." He writes his name and the rules on the board.

Jas hands me the paper. 'He's so hot! He doesn't look like a dad.'

I smile and write back. 'I know. He's just my type too.'

I hand it back. It looks like the lesson for today is about punctuation and sentence fragments. Boring.

She gives it back. 'He's a little old for you but damn look at his ass.'

I laugh softly and start writing my response. 'I'd let him look at mine. God what I wouldn't give to have him bend me over one of the desks and plow-'

A hand smacks down on the paper, practically making me jump through the roof as my eyes shoot up.

Oh no.

Mr.T looks down at me before raising a brow. "Name?"

"Oscar." I answer instantly, trying to seem calm although I'm really about to piss myself.

What if he sees what I was writing? Could I play it off? Will he be mad at me?

"And you?" He asks, turning to Jas.

"Jasmine."

"Both of you come see me after class." He says, picking the note up to read over it. His eyes widen slightly, but I use my hand to cover my face before he can look back at me. "Just Oscar, actually."

I put my arms on the desk and try to sink down in my seat as he pockets the note and goes about his teaching as if nothing even happened.

The period drags on for what feels like forever before the lunch bell rings.

I stay in my seat as everyone else gets up to leave. Jas wishes me good luck but ends up leaving with everyone until it's only Mr.T and I left.

He shuts the classroom door and gestures to the desk in the front of the class. "Come sit."

I grab my bag and stand before moving closer and sitting where he asked me to.

"Since you decided not to pay attention to my lesson, we can analyze your note."

My cheeks heat up as he writes the first sentence on the board.

"So? Is that a proper sentence?" He asks.

There's no look of disgust on his face. No anger in his features. I wonder if he even cares that we were talking about him. I'm a guy after all. He should be grossed out, right?

"No."

"What could you have said instead of that?"

I sigh. "I guess I could've said 'what do you think of him?'"

"Good." He responds, drawing an x over the sentence I wrote before writing the new one after it.

"He's so hot! He doesn't look like a dad." He says before copying it onto the board. "This one is perfectly fine. I especially love the use of the exclamation point."

I sink down in my chair and use my hand to cover my mouth, hoping he'll let me go before it gets too far.

"I know. He's just my type too." He reads off, writing it on the board. "Also a good sentence. No problem there."

"Mr.T, I'm sorry we were talking about you. I won't do it again, I promise." I mumble, worried that he really wants to review all of it.

"I don't care that you were talking about me, Mr.Jimenez. I care that you weren't paying attention in my class. Your grades in this class are below average, and although your friend can deal with not paying attention, you can't. She has an A in this class. You don't." He answers before continuing. "He's a little old for you but damn look at his ass. What were her mistakes in this one?"

"There should be a comma before but and after damn." I answer, covering my face completely now. I think my ears are even red at this point.

"Good job. Last one. I'd let him look at mine. God what I wouldn't give to have him bend me over one of the desks and-"

"Why are you doing this? Are you trying to humiliate me? I said sorry. What else do you want?"

He laughs softly and walks closer. He grabs my chin and lifts it so that I'm looking at him. I expected to see disgust or something like that but all I see is a hint of amusement. "I'm not trying to humiliate you, Oscar. I had everyone else leave, didn't I? Honestly, I think it's cute that you have a crush on me, but your education is important. Once we're done with this, you can head to lunch. No detention. No punishment at all, okay?"

"Oh… okay." I agree, feeling my heart beat faster when he touches me. His smile is angelic.

He writes the last sentence before turning to me. "Where's the mistakes?"

"I only missed a comma after 'god' and before 'and'." I answer.

He smiles and hands the note back to me before erasing the board. "Yep. Now come here for me."

I stand and walk closer, waiting for him to give me another instruction.

He puts his hands on my shoulders and smiles. "Please assure me that you'll pay attention from now on. You're a very smart boy, and I know you'll be gifted when you learn how to apply yourself." He hums, reaching a hand up to brush and eyelash off of my cheek.

At that moment, we catch each other's eyes. We do nothing but stare for a few seconds, but before I know it, I'm leaning in to kiss him.

Our lips touch, giving me butterflies in my stomach, but he pulls back far too quick.

"We… we can't…" he starts before looking into my eyes again. This time he wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me close before kissing me again.

No way. He's kissing me. Mr.T is kissing me.

Soon enough, the kiss gets deeper. He pulls me flush against him and flips out positions so I'm the one leaning against his desk slightly. He pulls away just long enough to start kissing my neck, spreading the kisses out so they don't leave marks.

After a little while he pulls back and sighs, running his fingers through his hair as I just stare in awe. He's such a great kisser.

"You should go." He mutters, and I nod quickly.

I think we both just need time to process. "Right. Uh… I'll see you tomorrow, Mr.T."

Once I leave, I let out the deep breath I didn't know I was holding. Holy shit! I totally just made out with a teacher. A substitute but still a teacher. It felt amazing! I think he was into it too. I can still feel the warmth of his arms around me.

I'm 17. I'm almost an adult and I don't regret a thing. I think I really like him. Maybe we could even do that again. Maybe… maybe we could even date or something.

"Oh my god! What happened? Was he mad?" Jasmine asks once I make it to the Lucy room.

She has two trays so I assume one is for me.

"Nothing really happened. He wasn't that mad about the note. He was just mad that I wasn't paying attention. He practically called me an idiot too but he sees potential and wants me to try harder." I tell her, omitting the part about us kissing.

I know she wouldn't judge me. She's always so supportive but I'm not an adult yet and I don't want him to get in trouble. That just means that nobody can know until I turn 18. Even then, he's still my teacher. Could he get fired for something like that?

"Wow. He seems so cool. He's pretty relaxed for a teacher." She admits, gesturing for me to sit and eat. "He looks so young, but Anna is in our grade so he has to be at least 35. It's kinda gross when you think about it."

"I don't think it matters." I blurt before eating to cover how defensive I sounded. Our age difference isn't that big of a deal. It's not like he was forcing himself on me. I kissed him first. I want it.

"You're right. As long as there's two consenting adults, age doesn't matter." She agrees. Right… adults. "Hey, don't your dads have an age gap?"

"Six years. Not too big." I remind her, getting full quite easily.

"They're very cute together. They just look so happy all the time. I hope I can have a love like that someday." She hums. "Speaking of which, can I come over after school? Maybe I could stay the night too."

"Sure. We can work on the pre-calc homework." I suggest.

She nods in agreement, and stands when the bell rings. "I'll meet you in the front after school."