"I hope that I'll be worth your while."

Heather watched as the uncanny man in the suit left the court with an elegant gait, his ebony hair fluttering on nonexistent wind as he disappeared through the school gate. All the while, Alexa never stopped judging her initial attempt at rebuffing the suspicious COO, dragging her all the way to the women's bathroom to avoid the incredulous stares from both students and fellow faculty. While she did admit that he was fairly attractive, the redhead was no stranger to underlying motives. 

"What were you thinking Helly?!"

The confounded teacher ignored her friend's outburst in favor of focusing on the slightly molded tiles of the small washroom. Why her of all people? It's not like she's any more beautiful than her currently annoying colleague. Was it her eyes? Her hair? Hell, she didn't even talk to the man at least once before he all but declared her to be his property. 

"Don't you wanna get married to a rich and powerful man like Dio?!"

The pondering teacher's blush receded as the uncomfortable rush of adrenaline slowly left her system, replaced by a more calm and collected lull as Heather ruminated on this Dio's possible motives. It was possible that the COO knew of her.. prior antics. But surely that wouldn't be-

"HELLOOOO!!! EARTH TO HEATHER!!"

A familiar voice shook her from her musings as Alexa all but screamed in front of her glasses, her right hand squarely on her hip as she visibly looked like she wanted answers. 

Answers that Heather didn't really have.

"..I don't trust him, Alexa."

"No duh! You haven't even properly talked to the man yet." The P.E. teacher surprisingly agreed, if only for a short time. "That's why we go on dates."

"I don't want to go on a date." Or any date for that matter. "It'll be a waste of both of our time."

"Are you serious?!" Alexa guffawed at the English teacher's nonplussed declaration, electric blue eyes widening at what she perceived to be a sacrilegious opinion. "You don't wanna even try?! Maybe it'll work out, you never know." 

"Not really." Heather rebuffed, the looming front of the COO still fresh on her mind. "Not in a million years."

"You're seriously skipping out on a once in a lifetime opportunity Heather?" The brunette questioned, the ongoing ceremony wholly forgotten in favor of grilling her very lucky friend. "He's smoking hot and rich to boot!"

Heather sighed as her gaze went to the clear, bathroom window. Heterochromatic eyes wandered on her own body as unwanted memories threatened to make themselves known once more. If she was being honest, the redheaded teacher never thought that someone would even find her attractive anymore, not with the scars of the past literally weighing on her back. She was under no illusion that she's fairly pleasant to look at, but there was a reason that she always wore two layers of clothing even under a warm sunny day.

"Yes.." It was a waste of time, no need to bother on things that'll never happen. "Besides, we have classes that day."

"Didn't I tell you I'll cover for you?" Why was she so adamant about this? "I'll even lend you all my cute dresses if that's what you're worried about."

The redhead tore her gaze off the mirror, turning back to the now worried face of her friend. Heather's heart ached as she saw her friend look at her in such a pitying way. 

"Alexa," The red-and-blue-eyed teacher put a hand on the brunette's shoulder as she mustered up the resolve to turn down her friend's selfless offer. "I'm not ready for a commitment."

"But don't you wanna at least try?" Alexa's voice shook, her misplaced worry palpable. "At least try to see if it'll work?"

Heather's resolve wavered as her friend's tone softened her mental barriers, almost accepting her offer simply to appease the brunette's worry. But with the memory of her instincts flaring wildly towards the mysterious COO, it made the decision to take up his offer all the more serious.

Previous experiences taught the redhead very thoroughly that she should trust her gut instincts, even though the situation screamed that her common sense would clearly suffice. Having honed her danger sense to such a degree that it was almost second nature for her to use, Heather relied on it during the darkest period of her life, allowing her to enjoy the simple life of being an elementary school teacher today. With the lack of such danger in her now quiet and peaceful life, the teacher allowed her body's more instinctive mechanisms to deteriorate, no longer having any use for them in such a simple job of teaching elementary school kids. 

But for long-forgotten instincts to flare up even after all this time? Surely there was something dangerous about the man known as Dio Panagopolous.

"There's something wrong about that man." The redhead explained, trying to take her point across her still pleading colleague. "He felt as if he doesn't care about anyone but himself."

"C'mon Helly.." Why must Alexa try this hard for her sake? "Just give it a chance.."

"For the last time-"

Previous connotations were forgotten the moment Alexa pulled out her 'teary-eyed friend' card. Heather was, if not in the least, fiercely loyal to her small, handful of friends. Perhaps years of misuse might've probably made her instincts act up from even the simple act of someone clearly making moves on her. Hell, it even acted up in the face of someone that's clearly a high school kid that one time! Who's to say that it wasn't a false alarm on her part?

Heather tried her best to talk herself into accepting the mysterious COO's offer, even going so far as to lie to herself that her instincts could possibly be wrong this time. Would she do it? Was it worth the time? 

Was she ready to try and push past her own mental barriers after all this time?

Alexa simply stared at her with her blue, shimmering eyes, visibly pleading to the redhead that she should take the opportunity. Why was this so hard?

A silent stare down between the two permeated the stale washroom, the muffled echoes of the activities outside drowned out by Heather's own deliberation.

...

.....

........

"Fine." Damn her. Damn Alexa for flashing her puppy eyes on her, and for herself for falling for it. "I'll go."

"IIIHHHHH!!!" Heather felt her ears ring as the energetic bombshell wrapped her hands around the teacher. "My friend's going on a date~"

"Shut up.." Really regretting her decision right now. "Don't make me change my mind Ms. Dabachach.."

"Of course~ Of course~" Why was this woman so happy on someone else's romantic prospects? "I'll lend you my blue one-piece dress! Ooohh that'd be cute as hell! Maybe-"

"I think I'll pass on that Alexa." This was getting ridiculous. "Let's cut the embarrassing discussion about my nonexistent love life in favor of getting back to our students, shall we?"

"Such a spoilsport Helly~" The brunette pouted, but to her credit, she followed the bespectacled teacher out of the washroom. "We're not done yet, okay? We have to make sure that-"

"Yeah yeah.." The resigned English teacher sighed for the umpteenth time. "I'll cross that bridge when I get there."

Exiting the comfort room and rejoining their respective classes at the still ongoing opening ceremony, Heather only had one thing in mind as the boring old man continued to rabble on about the school's storied history. For all of the 'exciting' and 'thrilling' encounters that she had to endure over the years, there was one thing that still eluded the experienced school teacher's repertoire of skills:

What was she going to wear at this blasted date?

⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛