Chapter 3

"He's cute," giggled the blonde in front of him.

"I wonder if he has a girlfriend," her friend next to her whispered conspiratorially.

"Who cares, she's not here now."

"Very true."

"I bet I can get him to go out with me within the next week."

Avery idly listened to the chatter of the girls sitting in front of him in Physics class. His forehead rested on his arms on his desk as he drifted with the incessant chatter. He vaguely remembered Mr. Sikes saying that there would be an aid joining their class for a few weeks before the Christmas holiday or something like that. That must be what the girls were babbling about. They seemed really excited and it was hard to tune out their chatter.

Avery peeked out from behind his elbow from where he was pretending to be asleep, keeping anyone from noticing him. Even the guys seemed to be in deep conversation about having a new teacher to torture. Really, Avery thought, it's not like new teachers didn't ever come to Euphoria High--okay, so maybe they didn't come very often, but still. He groaned and rolled his head back to his forearms, closing his eyes for a few precious minutes of rest.

As the bell rang and everyone scattered to get into their desks, Mr. Sikes walked in.

"Hey, now, settle down everyone," he heard Mr. Sikes's voice state over the quieting voices of the class. "I'd like you to meet Mr. Andrews, my assistant for the next couple weeks."

Avery slowly managed to raise his head and froze.

It was the huge blonde from last week that he'd thought was going to molest him.

Oh, shit.

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"Hello, everyone," Matt Andrews stated, his eyes traveling the myriad of students. His eyes landed on a vaguely familiar face in the back--the kid he'd scared from the street.

Mr. Sikes had him call out the roll as a way of meeting the students. He'd done this in each class all day, but this time he found himself anxiously wondering which name matched up to the midnight haired boy hiding in the back.

Avery. Avery Greene. The boy had barely responded before disappearing back behind the student in front of him. God, that kid was shy.

As class finished, Matt watched as Avery slunk out of the classroom behind a gaggle of girls who had crowded up to him after class to welcome him to the school. While Mr. Sikes shooed the lingering girls trying to flirt with 'the cute assistant', Matt smiled to himself, wondering if he could get the boy to open up.

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All week, it took all he had to basically ignore the kid in the back of the room and concentrate on teaching under Mr. Sikes direction. He was able to focus on one of his favorite subjects. Biology was his first, but physics was a close second, and they hadn't been able to place him in the biology department since his sister was a sophomore and taking that class. He did find himself getting immersed in the thrill of teaching as he stood in front of the classroom. But in the lull before each class started that week, when he'd watch Avery slump into the desk in the back of the room, his heart ached to reach out.

Something about the kid pulled his attention every time he came into the room.

The boy always dressed in baggy clothes--long sleeve shirts and hoodies, jeans that looked like they'd fall off his hips, and those leather wrist braces. The boy definitely had the emo, 'leave me alone' look going on. Between, or even during classes, Matt never saw the boy talking to anyone and wondered if he had any friends at all. Avery did all he could to escape the classroom as fast as possible when the bell rang each day, obviously not interested in dealing with the 'new assistant'.

Matt sat down with Mr. Sikes during their planning period at the end of the week to discuss the next week's lessons. They planned each day carefully, focusing on the objectives and what the best homework would be for each lesson.

Mr. Sikes leaned back in his chair as they finished the discussion. "So, Mr. Andrews, how do you think your first week went?"

Matt smiled. "I'm really enjoying it so far."

Mr. Sikes smiled. "Good, glad to hear it. We are all excited to have you here. The science department offers an afterschool tutoring program a couple days a week."

Matt laughed. "I know, my sister usually stays afterschool for it."

"Really? Who is your sister?"

"Erin Andrews. She's a sophomore. She takes Biology right now."

"Ahh," Mr. Sikes said, "Yes, I understand that is why they didn't place you in the biology department--so you wouldn't be assisting in your sister's class."

"Yeah, I give her rides to school right now, so she's enjoying showing off to her friends."

Mr. Sikes laughed. "Yes, I have noticed some of our students taking a bit of interest in you."

Matt flushed, glancing at the floor.

"You're a young man, their age basically, it's only natural. But I would caution you that, should you be interested, it would be best to wait until your internship is over, even though they are of age."

Matt couldn't help but feel embarrassed by the propriety talk. He was only one or two years older than many of the students, so many of them probably did see him as a potential target. However, even if he was interested in girls, he knew better than to get involved with anyone during his actual practicum.

"Don't worry, sir," Matt assured him. "I'm not interested in dating anyone. I'm pretty focused on my studies right now."

"Well, good, good," the older man seemed relieved to be done with the propriety talk. As long as they were over sixteen, it wouldn't be illegal for him to date a student, but it might not look appropriate in the middle of the internship. "So as I was saying about the after school tutoring, one or two of us usually stay to help out. We take turns. So I thought maybe you'd like to help out."

"Of course," he readily agreed. "Anything to get a little extra experience. I really need to figure out if I'd want to work in a high school in the long run. Although, I admit, I really think I'm leaning towards working with animals."

"Well, animals are less wild than this bunch," Mr. Sikes joked.

Mr. Sikes picked up the rest of his lunch and headed for the trash.

Matt hesitated. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"I was wondering about the kid in the back of third period, the one with the black hair, quiet..."

"Avery?" Mr. Sikes guessed, and Matt nodded. "Avery's a good kid, just shy. I've talked with his other teachers and counselor. He actually does pretty well, but he does seem to be struggling this quarter in my class. He could probably use a little tutoring too, if I could get him to stay after for it."

"I never see him talking to anyone."

Mr. Sikes sighed. "Yeah, he's a bit of a loner. Keeps to himself. The counselor says he's been that way since his mom left years ago. Guess he took it pretty hard. But he still has his dad, and he keeps on top of the boy, keeps him close and makes sure he stays out of trouble."

Matt nodded understandingly. "I see. I was just worried that he seemed... I don't know.... off, somehow."

"Ahh, well, you know how moody teenagers can be," Mr. Sikes sighed.

Matt laughed. "Yeah, that's true."

Maybe he was wrong, and Avery was just a 'moody teenager'. Matt was, after all, essentially new in town, and these people had known Avery Greene a lot longer than he had. If something was up with the kid, wouldn't someone have seen that before now?

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Avery did his best to avoid looking at Mr. Andrews. He couldn't help that he just wanted to stare at the gorgeous blue eyes and not give a damn about whatever he was saying, which wasn't helping his grade one bit. But Mr. Andrews, Matt as he'd learned the man's first name was, would catch him trying to hide behind his arms on his desk, and gently tap him back to attention like he did for everyone who appeared to drift away during science lessons.

Avery could tell that Mr. Andrews was curious about him, and he hated that. Getting the attention of a teacher, even a fake one, was never a good thing. Why did the man have to be in his class?

He'd managed to avoid the man all last week. But Mr. Andrews was starting to look like he was getting ready to confront him. Avery had learned to spot that look on people and was very good at playing it off. Mr. Andrews had the weird frown when he passed by him during lessons and caught him laying on the desk or doodling on the edge of his paper.

So it didn't surprise him when Mr. Matthew Andrews stopped him from leaving class the next Tuesday. It was his lunch period, so Mr. Andrews knew he wasn't keeping him from another class.

"Mr. Greene, I'd like to talk with you a moment," he'd called as Avery had tried again to disappear into the escaping crowd.

He froze, sighing as he pushed back against the wall while the class had filed on out. He crossed his arms and glared back at the man, daring him to get into his business.

"Avery, I'm concerned about your quiz yesterday," Matt began carefully.

"Yeah, well, I didn't study," Avery mumbled to the floor.

"Well, it appears as though you may have forgotten to study for a few quizzes. Mr. Sikes says your last few grades are lower than usual."

"I'll work on it," he muttered. "Is there anything else, Mr. Andrews?"

Matt hesitated before pushing on. "Yes, actually," he leaned against the desk folding his arms. "What's going on with you, Avery?"

"Nothing, why?" he snapped a little too quickly.

"Well, I was in your shoes just a year and a half ago."

You have never been in my shoes, Avery thought acidly.

"I know things can get a little stressful in your senior year."

Avery's eyes flickered. God, he wished people would just leave him alone. He couldn't stand to look at those bright blue eyes all filled with worry and concern and know how they would contort with hate and disgust if he ever found out what he'd allowed himself to become.

"If there's something bothering you, maybe I can help," the ridiculously gorgeous man offered softly, and Avery just wanted to drown himself in the baby blue eyes.

"I'm fine," Avery gritted through his teeth, steeling himself against the guy's beautiful, concerned gaze. "I'll work on my grades, I promise."

"Avery, look at me," Mr. Andrews urged. "I can see something's bothering you."

Avery could feel his whole body shaking; he clenched his fists. Nobody ever asked about him anymore, why couldn't the man just stop?

"If you want someone to talk to, we can talk here, during lunch or after school," Mr. Andrews continued, and Avery couldn't stand to look into the blonde's face anymore. The face of a guy he could love, who he would want to love him, if he wasn't so broken already--someone no one would want. He couldn't let anyone get close like that. It would hurt too much when they left after finding out who he was, what he was.

"I understand you may have had a hard time over the last few years. Mr. Sikes told me--"

Avery trembled with rage. "Fuck you!" he snapped, shooting off the wall. "You know nothing about me! Just leave me the fuck alone!"

Avery barely registered the shock on the man's face as he shot out of the room, racing for the nearest exit.

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He collapsed on the courtyard, flinging his backpack against the tree. He glanced at the few shocked stares from other classmates who'd never seen him like this--like they'd suddenly seen him for the first time.

Fuck, Fuck, Fuck! Why had he let that guy get to him? He'd spent years controlling his emotions, not letting anyone in. He hated that this guy was making him feel again, made him hope. He hated his mom for leaving. He hated himself for letting his dad do those things to him. He hated his classmates who always gave him weird looks. He hated the teachers who tried to help, but always let dad talk them into letting him 'handle him'. He hated dad for making him feel so dirty.

He collapsed on the ground by the tree, his hands gripping his hair in frustration. God! He hated everything! He was so fucked up!

When he finally lifted his head and let it drop back to the tree, he rolled his head and saw the blonde intern talking at the exit with one of his other teachers, waving his hand in his direction.

Oh, shit, Avery thought. Was he in trouble for cussing at a teacher? Please, don't call dad... Please, don't call dad...

Maybe if he apologized.... said it was the stress of mid-terms next month...

He looked over again. Crap, they were coming his way. He took a deep breath to get his emotions back under control. He couldn't afford the questions, and he especially couldn't afford for them to talk to his dad about his outburst.

"Avery?" Mrs. Jones cautiously approached. The cute blonde hovered behind her. "Mr. Andrews says he's worried about you."

Avery plastered on his best apologetic smile. "I know. I'm sorry, uh, Mr. Andrews. I kinda lost it back there."

A tentative smile formed on the other teen's lips.

"Would you like to talk to the counselor?" Mrs. Jones offered gently.

Yeah, right. "Um, I think maybe I'm just stressed over mid-terms," Avery offered a believable excuse.

Mrs. Jones exchanged glances with Mr. Andrews. Avery wasn't sure either one of them believed him.

Mr. Andrews cleared his throat. "It seemed like more than just worry over a test," he ventured cautiously.

Crap, Avery thought, well time for the old stand-by. He looked sheepishly at the ground in a well-calculated move. "It's just ... this is about the time my mom left...." he said softly, drawing on the teachers' sympathy. "It just makes me edgier, is all."

Relief seemed to light their faces, and Avery had to stamp down the urge to smile.

"Why don't we head on back in, so you can get some lunch?" Mrs. Jones offered, and Avery rose to his feet. "And maybe we can get you some extra help studying so those mid-terms aren't such a worry."

"Yeah, Avery," Mr. Andrews started and Avery could see his shoulders releasing their tension. "Why don't you go get some lunch. Looks like you could use a little meat on your bones."

Avery felt himself stiffen for a brief moment before he realized the guy was joking with him. He glanced down at his baggy jeans and sweatshirt that hid his body pretty well. Man, did the guy have to guess at all his secrets?