"Bye Olivia." We say at the same time and run off to my car. It turns on with a soothing purr. It cost me two years of part time work counting upgrades like better A.C. and sound system, but I can't say I regret it. It's a wonderful classic.

"So... what will you do when you see him today?" No need to ask who She's referring to.

"I'll pretend he's invisible." Maybe that will help.

"No, silly. You'll be polite and pretend he's beneath your notice. Look at the paper you're writing on, or the board, or the computer instead of him. When he looks at you, you'll look up for a sec then deliberately look away like he's unimportant." I laugh.

"You do know he's my teacher, right? Worse than that, he's my coach for the contest, or at least, he will be if he doesn't bail on me. Good gods look at me, talking like things are already set in stone. It's all your fault. You all spent the afternoon trying to give me seduction or revenge tips. Maybe he was only having a bad day, or it was just a bad first impression." That makes more sense than the man hating me on sight.

"Please, he was still glaring at you when I showed up at your form class after the bell."

"Enough, Trina. Today I'll be different, calmer and level-headed. If he acts like a jerk again I'll figure out what to do. If he acts better, then that will mean he was only having a bad day." For a brief second, I wonder. Is it weakness on my part that makes me want to see the best in others and give second chances?

Daniel is waiting for Trina by the school gates when we arrive. My sister unplugs her phone from the speakers and grabs her backpack, with an encouraging smile my way. "You can do this."

I look at my reflection one last time. I can do this, I look great and if anybody has something bad to say they can just kiss my ass. So thinking, I get out, shrugging on my new floor length trench coat, doing up the five buttons, drawing the hood up because of the swiftly falling rain, getting my backpack and locking the car. The backpack is new too. The old one was already frayed at the edges, so as we shopped this gorgeous lab grown leather bag had to be mine. It came with the full set, backpack, purse, makeup bag, wallet and money pouch. Johanna, Hibiki, Suzy, Maya and Trina got matching sets in different colours. Trina's is forest green. Maya's is purple.

I don't want to be a cliché, but my confidence soared when we enter the school together and there's a momentary hush while people try to figure out who I am even after the hood slips from my hair. Ignoring them as best I can, Trina hugs me goodbye and skips off with her friends. We're early but Hale's classroom is already open and there's a couple of early risers inside with him. Gods, please. I clench my hands to hide their shaking and enter with my head held high.

Hale's shoulders stiffen so slightly I wouldn't notice if I wasn't looking for a reaction from the corner of my eyes. He doesn't glare however. Truthfully, he doesn't even look at me. I sit with the trench coat on, the classroom is still warming up for the day, then turn on my assigned laptop silently. "Good morning, Mr Hale." I say politely, without expecting an answer. Trina's recommendations keep passing through my head. When I feel him looking at my new image bottom to top I wait until he's at my face and look firmly into his eyes then deliberately look at the laptop, ignoring him.

"Good morning." His unexpected greeting almost throws me off the damn chair. The heat from yesterday is back. His voice is so... deep and harmonic, it makes the hair in my body stand up. No! Bad hormones, down. The heat takes some effort to face from my cheeks, only after its gone do I nod an acknowledgement for his greeting.

"You're Catelyn Greene, right?" He waits until I nod to go on. "Vasilisa is your mentor for the photography contest at the end of the year, if I remember correctly." Another nod. "I don't have much free time, but I will try to help you where I can." He doesn't say when or how. This could be a dream come true, but... sigh. He's a deception. He might not be glaring at me, but his voice is cold and the offer is clearly insincere.

"Don't offer things you don't mean, Hale." His behaviour is insulting, but I don't want to talk with him any longer. What hurts the most is realising my lust and professional hero worship haven't been shaken by his horrible personality. I couldn't stop myself from checking his public profiles this morning in search of new work to admire. Maybe I can visit Mrs Johnson and ask her advice on my work.

Maya arrived just before the last bell, looking winded. She dropped next to me, holding onto her sides gasping for breath. "Now that we're all here," Hale looks at her pointedly, "let's start."

Nothing much happens during form time. It's just a time for administrative matters. The class is looking at me like they've never seen me before, and there isn't a snide look or chuckle that I can tell. It pisses me off they only seem to look at me now that I'm different and better dressed. And... yeah, I do feel more confident. I mean, I still feel like an impostor, obviously, but it's easier to deal with impostor syndrome when you realise everybody feels like that at least once a day. The next class is photography again, so I take my camera out of the bag and go back to fiddling with the settings I was experimenting on yesterday. If Mrs Johnson was here I could ask her for help, but no way am I approaching Hale right now. After a little of further tweaking I think I got it. The bell rings and when Hibiki and Suzy enter together I decide to try it.

"Pose fast." I call out and whip up the camera. The two girls grin immediately and stand back to back, looking at me with Suzy's curly hair and Hibiki's razor straight one mingling on the side facing the camera. I snap the picture and they run over. It's not uncommon to practice on each other, so it's not really as difficult as it sounds to "pose fast". Hale just watches it assessingly, noting the ease and familiarity of the situation.

"Do you do this often?" He asks everybody. The guys are sitting down and the girls are surrounding me as I transfer the picture from the camera to the laptop and display it on the screen.

"What do you mean?" Suzy asks distractedly.

"Nice!" Maya compliments.

"Practising on each other."

"Of course. We all need victims to test specs and definition and stuff." Hibiki nudges my shoulder at the "victim" part. The girls scatter as Hale gets up and comes over to check the picture. I gather all my composure, standing straight instead of slumping and letting hair hide my face, like I'd have done before.

"It could be a lot better. It's too bright, the contrast is not optimal-" He let out a barrage of criticism that had me shrink further and further away.

"Hey, what about the clearness of the picture or the depth of perception? You're supposed to help with what's wrong not criticise without telling how to fix it." Maya jumps into my defence like the warrior she is. Hale's scent, enhanced by the now warm classroom knocks me off my senses. Cedar wood, mint and some kind of spicy element, and underneath it there's his scent of soap and something uniquely his. The combination has me wavering in my seat. Maya grabs my hand under the table, digging her nails into my palm. He needs to move away. I need him to move away before I stop thinking completely.

"As you say. Show me the camera." The class gathers around while he teaches the settings more deeply than the course book, and demonstrates what each is better for. We write all of it down, of course.

"Now try it." He hands it over expectantly. I change it accordingly and turn my back towards him. Maya raises her fingers up in a V, posing unashamedly. Johanna slips up behind her, crossing her eyes and making a face. Hale huffs but fuck him. I snap the picture. Maya burst out laughing and Hale finally moves away. I breathe a sigh of relief.

I don't know how I'll handle this. We have ten photography classes a week, plus the form class twice a day, since our graduation, Maya's and mine, is photography. The others in the form class have arts and other subjects. Our coursework is heavily in Hale's hands. We also have mandatory English and Math. Maya has cooking classes, she really needs them, while I have English history. The distinction is necessary, since we also have History of photography.

Despite my uneasiness, a week goes by relatively uneventful. Hale settles into a coldly polite behaviour, helping where he sees fit but not really stepping out of his narrow comfort zone to tutor me like Mrs Johnson did. In fact, he hasn't shown up to the tutoring times Mrs Johnson and I agreed on. Whenever the others the room and I am running a little behind he taps his foot like I annoy him which in turns annoys me. Finally, I can't take it anymore. I leave early one morning, wearing my new clothes, a green draped neck knitted sweater dress that moulded to my body and reached the top of my thighs with tight light blue jeans under it and black metal studded ankle boots. Trina's lace and teardrop fake emerald choker waterfall necklace completed the look. He won't talk with me if I'm alone...

"Do you think you can do me a favour?" Trina looks my way. The road is way too crowded for me to look back, plus the heavy rain diminishes visibility. "I need to have a word with Hale, but he won't talk to me if I catch him alone. The guy hates me for some reason."

She doesn't say anything, but when we arrive to school Daniel isn't waiting for her. We're half an hour early though. "Lead the way." Trina smiles. She looks pale. I make a mental note to ask her what's up later tonight.

The school is practically deserted. The smell of breakfast isn't pouring out of the cafeteria yet, but there are heavy trails of coffee carried by the sleepwalking teachers and staff who're already here. Unlike the rest of the day, only a very low hum of conversation can be heard and only in specific parts of the hallways We're walking through. The windows aren't affected by the heat yet, so ice crystals are clearly seen in the glass. It's beautiful, and quite soothing even. The biggest sounds are the echoes of our shoes and the cars going by on main street.

We reach the classroom and my heart skips several beats in the time it takes me to calm down with a deep breath and peek inside. It skips a double beat because yes, he is inside, typing at his laptop one handed and holding a steaming paper cup of coffee with the other. Hale must sense my presence because his body stiffens slightly. Trina is just behind me, I take courage from her support, and walk in.

Hale assesses me up and down like he hates what he sees, but doesn't stop me from entering and taking my usual seat. Not that he could if he tried. It's very clear he is a teacher, but he isn't my teacher. "We have to talk."

"Good morning." He enunciates clearly trying to correct my manners. Too bad I ain't wasting manners on a prick. "Talk about what?"

"You. I'm worried about my chances about winning the contest with a teacher slash tutor who couldn't care less if I show up to school or if I learn or not." His face closes off like thunder. He looks downright pissed off. Guess what, I don't care. I chin up, ready for whatever comes out of his mouth. Wait, I'm not done yet. "If you can't handle being a new teacher and tutoring me for the contest at the same time then find someone who can so I don't get my changes jeopardized by your lack of interest." My legs are quivering with fear but damn it if I'm gonna back down now.

"Excuse me?" He tilts his head disbelievingly.

"You're not excused. It's fine if you hate me, but don't hinder my progress." His mouth snaps shut, cutting whatever he was going to say. He sighs, rubbing his face once, quickly.

"I'll talk with Vasilisa about your tutoring sessions. She doesn't need to stand up to teach you." Ouch. That kinda hurt... a lot.

"Good enough." We stare at each other... er... what was one do after a confrontation? Do I just pretend it didn't happen and sit down or do I leave, or... what? I don't know what to do!

Trina saves my ass just as I begin to panic. She calls my name and we walk together to the farthest spot away from him where we each pull a chair. We stare at each other until I can't take it anymore and surprise myself by laughing deeply and loudly. Laughing! Hale snorts from behind the row of computers we are hiding behind and that only makes me laugh more. I did it! I confronted him and won. Fantastic, as the ninth Doc says. My favourite is Tenth, but ninth fits the moment. Trina is laughing too. She nudges me with her shoulder.

"I'm proud of you." She whispers. Damn, I'm proud of me too. Each day, it becomes a little easier to be brave. Now that I've confronted him successfully I know I can handle him successfully, and a ball of fear I didn't know I was carrying fades away. I'm strong, and I'm starting to believe it.

That night, I'm sitting in front of the desk and hugging my knee in my renaissance style chemise nightgown while stalking Hale's profiles for new pictures when Trina slips inside quietly. Her snort makes me jump, and my hip screams in pain when I fall sideways on the floor. "Dammit Trina, don't do that!" Unfortunately, her laugh tells me she will.

"What's with you and those old timey pyjamas?" She sits on my bed like she just didn't scare me.

"They're very comfortable and pretty. And you shut it on my fabulous nightgown or I'll tell Daniel you still need with your childhood bugs bunny stuffy to go to bed... And you bite the ear while you sleep." The very valid threat makes her stiffen in outrage.

"You wouldn't dare!" Yes I soul, and my evil smile tells her that clearly. She sniffs disdainfully. "Fine, keep your timey wimey nightgowns." Her attitude changes from bratty to tired in a heartbeat and I realise suddenly she has the bugs bunny stuffy under her arm. Oh uh. I abandon the laptop without a second glance and join her on the bed.

"What is it?" She takes my softness like it was a blow, flinching slightly.

"Nothing, I promise. Can... can I sleep here tonight?" She asks weakly.

"You don't even need to ask." She gets up long enough for me to pull back the covers and we slip underneath them. Trina hugs the bunny to her chest while I hug her.

In a few minutes she is asleep. I'm not tired, so I dim the lights and huddle in front of the laptop again, earbuds in, to rewatch The Last of the Timelords while changing nail polish colours.

In the middle of the episode the alert tone goes off. New post alert. Crap. I was just starting to forget him.

Trina is back to herself in the morning. She hugs me awake with a coffee cup in my nightstand like a goddess would then goes off to shower and dress. I'm feeling risqué after yesterday's confrontation, so I put on a burgundy floor dress with thigh high slits on both sides which I pair up with knee high fire engine red boots, high heeled, of course, and sheer tights for the cold. Looking at the mirror is encouraging. I don't look like a mouse anymore, if anything I look like I'm about to slay monsters and save innocent princes and princesses. Doing the makeover was the best idea I've ever had, even if I spent six months of my salary. My old clothes are in boxes along the wall, waiting for a free moment to be taken to Oxfam.

Trina comes into the kitchen after I finish eating. I'm taking a second cup of coffee and putting up with Olivia's fussing. Did I eat enough? Do I want more juice? Am I ok? Do I need to see a psychologist? Sudden changes in personality and appearance are either drugs, mental illness or boys, do I need to talk? I sigh. There's a migraine beginning to throb behind my eyes, courtesy of Olivia's badgering. She means well, I know that, but she never stops asking questions, putting her own spin on things and then tattling to mom about her wild stories. Sometimes, I wish she loved us a little less. Trina peaks around the corner and blanches at Olivia's suffocating mothering. She looks at me beggingly.

"Olivia, how do you feel on adopting a cat? We have a love bug senior at the shelter who'd be a perfect fit for you." I put on my best smile. Trina takes the chance to dart in and grab a sandwich from the table.

"Oh I don't know, I do have the space and love, but time- hey, where are you going? Have you eaten? Victoria?!

"Sandwich. Bye Liv." She's out of the door before Olivia can ask anything else. While she's still reeling I grab my trench coat and backpack from the chair, kiss her on the cheek and get out as well. Trina snuffed my keys on her way out, so the door is already open when I reach the car.

There's clearly something off with Trina. I want to ask her about it, her frown and pinched look, but I'm wary of suddenly turning into overbearing Olivia. Several times during the trip I open my mouth, but nothing comes out. Who knew too much love could be troublesome as well? Maybe mom- no. Mom's job is too tiring. I shouldn't bother her when I don't know what's wrong, or even if there's something wrong with Trina. It can be just my imagination. The right words come almost too late.

"Trina." She stops getting off the car to look at me. "If you ever need to talk, or a hug, or a shoulder... you can trust me, ok?" For a second I could swear I saw a tear on her eyes, but it must be my imagination. Her eyes are clear when she hugs me goodbye and goes to where Daniel is waiting for her.

Maya hugs me suddenly behind. This time I'm worried enough that I really didn't notice her. "Booo." She's grinning, looking like a naughty sprite.

"Find another good morning greeting." I huff. She looks mischievous today, like the cat who ate the canary and drank the entire bottle of creak.

"What's up with you?" There's a spring in her step and a shine in her eyes. She's usually good natured but not this perky. There's something different.

"Oh nothing." Two heartbeats later, "guess who's getting some? That's right, that's right, ME!" She points at herself with both thumbs.

"Cliché, much? You didn't tell me you had a boyfriend." Even with Hale around, I don't think I'd miss that, right? I look at her sideways. She'd be pissed if I missed that, so I guess I didn't.

"He asked me last night!"

"Who?"

"Derek, silly!" She says it as if I should know which, but there's two Dereks in our school and another one at my job. Too many to keep track of.

"Anyway, we went on a date to the movies and he asked me to be his girlfriend so I said yes. He's a hunk! And his package-"

"Hold up, hold up. I don't want to hear about anyone's package, alright?"

"Oh I bet you'd love to hear about Hale's pe-"

"No I wouldn't! The man hates me!" I lock the car and we start walking towards the gates.

"That doesn't mean you can't fantasize-"

"Ooh, fantasies! Who are we fantasizing about?" Hibiki falls into step next to me.

"Hale's pe-"

"She's imagining stuff." I cut her off before the conversation can degenerate further.

"Oh, no. Honey, you can get that entire sweet and sour cake to yourself, just don't get indigestion." Maya laughs. Hibiki chuckles. I bite my lip, trying to keep a semblance of composure.

"I'm surrounded by idiots." I mumble. It only makes them stumble to each other, still laughing. Of course that's when Hale decides to arrive. They see him and laugh lauder, probably thinking about which parts of him are sweet and which ones are sour. I look at his mouth. Definitely sour. Crap, now I'm thinking like them... jerks.

Hale notices the laughter, obviously, and his face closes when he sees me. "Are they drunk?" He asks me.

"No, they're just trying to entice me into eating sweet and sour cake." I joke to them. He looks at the three of us and he doesn't look as cold as usual.

"Try the lemon one, it's delicious." He throws over his shoulder, already going in.

Hibiki and Maya grab their stomachs and I can't help but join in. Lemon! If that doesn't define the man I don't know what does!