I'VE GOT MY EYE ON YOU, tyler galpin

9 / first suspicions

Say yes to heaven

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"Hey, Alice," Ms. Thornhill called the girl over to her desk after class with a warm smile. "I wanted to talk to you about your first day here. Any impressions by now?"

"Well," Alice walked over to her, books in her hand and close to her chest. "No bad ones yet, if that's what you're asking. So far so good."

"I know some students may seem a bit cold, but it's possible to warm up to them," Marilyn assured her. "But it may take some time they can be quite stubborn when it comes to normies."

"No worries, I was a new student once, I can do it again," Alice smiled at her. "But your class got me really intrigued. I'm not usually one to like the plant part of biology, but the course seems interesting enough. I also really like your classroom, very interactive."

Ms. Thornhill's class definitely stood out from others because her classroom was a greenhouse filled with all different types of plants. This is why she never runs out of something to show and knows how to break the ice just by showing one cool plant no one's ever even heard of.

"It is, I wanted for my students to be fully engaged in the lessons. But what's also great is you didn't join mid-term," Ms. Thornhill reminded her. "Then adapting would have been a lot worse, but you're here with everyone since the beginning."

"I can only imagine," Alice agreed. "I only wish to get along and finish the school year well."

"Oh, well, feel free to ask me any questions, I'm always here and waiting for you," Marilyn said as she leaned against her desk. "Hey, if you're up for it, we could meet at the town cafe. I could tell you a bit more about the school and all."

Alice furrowed her eyebrows at her suggestion. "Are teachers allowed to meet with students behind school grounds?"

"It would be our little exception," Marilyn winked. "What do you say?"

The girl thought about it for a second and nodded. "Sure, I work there, so feel free to come by whenever you'd like."

After saying goodbye, Alice was more than relieved to have endured the last period. But when she walked outside, expecting to see her aunt pick her up, it was none other than Tyler waiting with his car for her.

"What are you doing here? You didn't have to drive all the way from Jericho to Nevermore for me." Alice chuckled as she walked over to Tyler, standing in front of his car with his hands in his pockets.

"I figured you would want to get away from school fast," He explained as she walked right over to him and planted a small kiss on his lips. "Shall we go? Our shift starts in twenty minutes."

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"So, that school isn't full of haunted bathrooms, graveyard cafeteria, and shit?" Tyler asked confused. 

"No, because the school is not Halloween-themed, Tyler," Alice explained to him as she put a cup of coffee on the counter. "It's a civilized place. Double de-caf American spice latte!"

"Interesting, and did you meet Ms. Thornhill?" He asked as she walked over to his side. "I heard she's a very good botanics teacher."

"Yeah, and she's very nice, plus it's good to have another normie there," Alice told him. "But wait, how do you know about her?"

"Wh-what?" Tyler chuckled nervously.

"You asked me if met her which means, you already knew her. Do you know her from somewhere or something?" Alice crossed her hands on her chest in suspicion. 

Alice's eyes on Tyler didn't feel good as she inspected his expression closely. "No, I mean, it's a small town and everyone knows everyone. In the morning, when she comes for her coffee, she makes small talk about the school...that's it."

"Then how do you know she's a Botanics teacher?" Alice curiously continued asking him. 

Tyler was beginning to grow more nervous, not knowing how to answer her in a calm way. "She just...mentioned it once and I...remembered it. Is that a bad thing?"

"Oh, okay," Alice let her arms out to her side and looked away from him. "Sorry if that felt interrogating, it was just a bit weird."

"It's okay," Tyler innocently shrugged. "Take this latte to table four?"

Alice chuckled and took the coffee out of his hands, walking over to the table and giving it to the customers before quickly scurrying back to the bar. "Overall, the school wasn't terrible. Dare I say, I even liked it."

"That's good to hear," Tyler quietly said as he continued to make the coffee. "I hope those freaks don't do anything to you though."

"Oh, come on, don't call them freaks," Alice turned to him. "I'm sure they're nice people...I mean, souls." She corrected herself when she realized what she said. "Either way, I'm sure everyone's great. Ms. Thornhill even offered to meet up here with her, she's very kind."

"Wait, really?" Tyler became a lot more interested. "When? What did you say?"

"I don't know, I said she could come by whenever she likes," Alice shrugged and tried to focus on making some latte art. "I thought it was sweet."

At the same time, they heard the bell above the door ring and a group of kids in Nevermore uniforms walked in. Alice instantly recognized where they were from, and so did Tyler. "Want me to take them?"

"No, it's fine," Alice heavily sighed and moved to the cash register. "I can do it."

She patiently waited for them to stop laughing around and start ordering, but they seemed like truly immature kids. Entitled little brats.

"Hi," A girl with a high ponytail and a huge amount of makeup walked first to Alice with her rhinestone wallet in hand. "Can I get an American frappuccino with extra caramel, whipped cream, and two shots of expresso?"

Alice wrote all of that into the register and smiled. "Will that be it for you today?" She waited for some sort of confirmation, but the girl just continued to play with her long nails and dig through her wallet. "I'm sorry, will that be it for you-"

"Yes! Can't you see I'm done ordering? If I wanted something more, I would have told you, ugh." The girl rolled her eyes as he friends laughed with her.

Alice exchanged some looks with Tyler who was standing to the side and pretending to work, and she put on a fake smile. "I'm just trying to make sure."

"Well, "making sure" would be doing your job," The girl flicked her hair back and proudly crossed her hands on her chest. "You come to Nevermore as if you're one of us and expect for everyone to welcome you with open hands?"

"I never disturbed anyone..." Alice chuckled. "Yet."

"So, if you don't want to be stomped around, I suggest you do my drink, girl." She stood on her feet proudly as if she just said the most coolest thing ever.

Alice knew they were tenth-graders and didn't want to start something with them, but in order to establish her authority in the school, especially being older than these teenagers, she decided to get back at her.

"Of course! Right away, miss, but first," She leaned to the side and pulled the steamer by the hose from the coffee maker they used, pointed it right at her and sprayed the steam right into the girl's face. 

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