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Author's Chapter Notes:
This story was co-authored by my good friend Duchess Michelle. I wrote the part of Spike and she wrote Buffy. This was also posted on here until last year. I'm re-posting now with a new chapter. Enjoy! The lovely banner was made by lindsay. Thanks times a million!
Chapter 1: A Fresh Start

Monday, August 13th

William ‘Spike’ Thornton was pretty excited about the new school year at Sunnydale High. The previous year he’d been the Art 1 and 2 teacher, but this year he was teaching Art 3 and Photography. He’d been told his photography class consisted of five seniors and two juniors, so he was delighted to have a more mature bunch. The first day he sat at his desk reading the morning paper, as he waited for the bell to ring before homeroom. He’d worn khaki pants with a white collared shirt.

Buffy Summers was a bubbly, popular girl at SHS. It was her second year at the school and she was actually excited that today was the first day of school. Mostly because of the photography class she was going to be taking. Her best friend Willow was going to be in it with her. It was a class with only juniors and seniors, and the professor was a total hottie. Over the summer she had spent some time using a camera her mom and step dad had gotten her, and she really enjoyed it.

Her parents had divorced just before her mom got the job in Sunnydale. Over the summer Joyce had remarried to a man named Rupert Giles. Everything was looking bright as Buffy got ready for school. Her mom drove her to the campus and she walked in and spotted Willow. The redhead was fairly conservative with the way she dressed, but Buffy was more hip and daring. For the first day she wore a flirty pink tank top and a mini skirt that might be too short according to some teachers. The two friends chatted as they made their way to homeroom.

As the bell rang a few students wandered into the classroom. Spike knew it would be another minute or so before most of the crowd flooded in. High school students weren't exactly recognized for their promptness. He looked down at his attendance list and noticed that two of the girls in his homeroom were also in his first period photography class. He arched a brow at the names and wondered what they'd be like. He'd had a lot of bad students in the past, but there were always those special few that he secretly favored.

Buffy walked into her new homeroom for the year still chatting and laughing with Willow. They came in just after the bell rang, but no one seemed to care about tardiness today... at least not any of the students. As Buffy walked into the classroom, she could hear Principal Snyder yelling at the students that were still in the hall. Buffy quickly walked the rest of the way in and sat by Willow.

She looked to the front of the class and realized that her homeroom teacher was also her 1st period photography teacher; the really good looking one that she went home and talked about on the phone with Willow. Last year they had only spotted him in the halls or eating lunch with the other teachers. Now she had two classes with him. She sat quietly and waited for him to call roll while she and Willow snuck sideways glances at each other.

Spike didn't pay any mind to the students who wandered in a little late. It was completely normal and he'd realized years ago that no amount of detention would get them to be on time. He started calling off roll and looked at each student as he said their name, making at least a small attempt at learning the names. He made his way down the long list, to the second to last name, and called out, "Buffy Summers."

Buffy sat patiently as she listened to Mr. Thornton go through the list of names. His voice was so sexy too. She definitely had a crush on the teacher, but it was probably safe to say that so did every other girl who saw him. The 16-year-old blonde was just like any other girl in her situation. When he got to her name she couldn't bring herself to say 'here' so she just raised her hand.

Spike frowned a little when he didn't hear a response, and he looked around the room slowly to try and find the culprit. His gaze landed on a perky blonde with her hand raised, and he swore his heart almost leapt into his throat. He swallowed hard and nodded to acknowledge her presence. He found he couldn't have spoken to her even if he'd tried. He quickly marked her as present and moved on to the next name.

Buffy couldn't tear her eyes away from him as she waited for him to see her. She felt a little embarrassed that she hadn't spoken. When she looked over at Willow afterward, she gave her an 'Oh My God!' look and the redhead returned it. Buffy started to doodle on a piece of paper to occupy her time, while waiting for Mr. Thornton to do something for homeroom. She already had it in her mind to talk to Willow in the bathroom between classes.

After finishing attendance, Spike turned on the TV to cartoons and started playing on his computer. He glanced every so often at the cute blonde that had almost given him a heart attack.

It took all of Buffy’s strength not to look at him for the rest of the period. He was a teacher! Luckily it was only a thirty minute class and they weren’t doing anything of importance. Right then she knew she was thinking about this too much, and she looked to Willow to distract her since doodling wasn't doing the trick. The two girls chatted idly about the classes they had. They shared photography and chemistry, but that was it.

Willow had a crush on a friend of theirs named Xander, but he was more interested in playing the field. Buffy, on the other hand, drew the attention of nearly every guy in school, but she never paid them any mind. She just didn't have interest in any of them; they were boring and ordinary in her book. She wanted someone special, exciting, and intelligent.

The girls made plans to go out to the Bronze, the local hotspot, later that night. Then the bell rang to signify the end of homeroom.

Spike watched as his homeroom students rushed out, with the exception of Buffy and Willow. He spotted trouble as soon as Angel O'Connor strolled into the room, his arm wrapped around his skanky cheerleader girlfriend, Cordelia Chase. A shy girl named Winifred and her slightly more outgoing friend, Amy, came in after them. Last, but not least, Oz made it through the door just as the bell rang.

He called roll once again then passed out textbooks and a sheet to sign for them. "We won't be using these much, so you can keep them in your lockers unless I say to bring them to class. The only homework you'll get in this class will be the long-term projects."

Buffy smiled at Willow. She was already looking forward to this class. The teacher seemed very laid back, but serious too. Every few seconds she had to mentally shake herself, so as not to get caught up in daydreams about her hot art teacher with his sexy English accent.

As she began to focus more she thought about all the great things she could do in the class. She was really excited at the prospect of learning more about photography, and practicing it more too. It was partly because of her attraction to her teacher, because she wanted to impress him. She decided to dedicate herself to being the best in the class right then and there.

Spike went back to the front of the room and started his introduction. "My only demand in this class is that you have fun and do your best. The key element of great photography is finding the perfect subject. Only when you’re truly inspired can you make art beautiful." His eyes darted quickly to Buffy and an unbidden thought crossed his mind. He would love to take pictures of her. She was the perfect inspiration. He quickly focused on his teaching and tried to forget about his underage student.

Now she was crazy about him. He was making it harder and harder for her to not think about him. She even began to mentally undress him. Buffy felt inspired to make beautiful art already, and she was thinking her muse would be her teacher. ‘Bad Buffy,’ she reprimanded herself. She was getting way more involved in her crush than she thought she would, or should.

Her heart fluttered when she caught his gaze on her momentarily. Then she tried to stop herself by looking around the room. She recognized all of her classmates, and she realized it was a pretty small class. The one classmate that caught her eye though was Angel. She didn’t know him at all, but she had seen the senior walking the halls of the school, usually with Cordelia. He was one of those older guys that hadn’t tried to hit on her.

Most of the guys that hit on Buffy were in her own grade level, or the weird ones from the senior class. She knew it was because she was attractive and she dressed to show it off. She did it for the attention. She liked the attention from the males of the school, most of them anyway, but she didn’t show any real interest in the guys of Sunnydale High.

Spike mentally chastised himself for the thoughts he was having about Buffy. "Before any of you pick up a camera in here, we're going to have a short review on the basic elements of art. I know you've all passed Art 1 as a prerequisite to get here, but it's always good to refresh our memories."

He paused shortly and paced a little in front of his desk. "The first assignment in here is to draw something that truly inspires you. Incorporate line, shape, color, and shading the best you can. I'll give you some worksheets to fill out during class and tomorrow we'll take a short quiz. After that we can get started with the cameras."

It was easy for her to listen to him and to pay attention in the class. She knew it was a class she would do well in. All she had to do was focus on the subject and not the sexy teacher. Somehow Buffy wasn't even that upset that they would have a quiz tomorrow. A quiz was a chance to show him that she was serious. Now all she had to do was come up with an inspiration.

The first thing that came to her mind was Mr. Thornton. She'd have to think about how to use him as an inspiration and make sure no one knew. She would do it though and her drawing would be amazing. She was determined.

Then they would get to use the cameras. That was the more exciting part for her. Buffy loved taking pictures just as much as she loved being in them. This was something she had learned since Giles had bought her a camera of her own; one of his many attempts to win her affection and approval.

Spike watched as the students slowly got to work on their sketches. He made his way around the room and stopped at Buffy's desk. He gave her a small smile and tilted his head. "No inspiration, pet?"

Somehow she managed to keep herself from blushing as he approached her and asked her a question. "Oh," she said, slowly making the 'O' shape with her lips. "I do, but I just don't know how to put it on paper. How can I express it if..." she paused. "If I'm inspired by a person?" Her question came out casually, as if the person who inspired her could be anyone, when it was actually him. She was thankful she didn't give it away with a ditzy mistake.

He arched a brow slowly at her and shrugged as he thought about it. "Well we will be dealing with people, so I suppose you could just draw the person."

"I could..." she began, "but there's more to it and I want to express that too. It's more than just the person. Just drawing the person wouldn't do justice to the inspiration." She smiled at him with the knowledge she withheld.

He thought hard on what she said and finally came up with a solution. "Then draw the attribute of the person that most inspires you, and use color to show the feeling they inspire in you. For instance: eyes. Or if it's the personality, you can come up with something symbolic."

He smiled a little, hoping that would help her with her project. A part of him desperately wanted to take her in the back room and create a little art of his own with her body.

"Yeah, thanks. I think that will help." She looked at him with shining green eyes as she took a mental note of what it was about him that inspired her. Then she took to drawing it.

He nodded his head and made his way back to his desk. He sat down and pulled out a magazine to try and keep himself busy. He'd do anything it took at the moment to get her out of his head.

Buffy noticed that he’d returned to his desk and she immediately began drawing. It seemed to flow freely once she started. After a few minutes her paper was a little empty, but it was clearly blue. It was an open field with a crisp blue sky.

About halfway through the period Spike got up and started roaming around the room, looking over his students' shoulders to see what they'd accomplished so far. When he got to Buffy's desk he paused and stared in appreciation. "That's amazing, pet." He wasn't sure what made him call her 'pet' but he knew he had to kick the habit, and quick.

Buffy loved the way he called her a pet name. It was oddly comforting. "Thank you. I just used what you said to me about colors. There's just something about blue..." she trailed off as she looked up into the blue eyes that were her inspiration.

He looked back into her emerald orbs and he felt that pull again, like he wanted to whisk her away and keep her for himself. "I'm glad I could help." He smiled genuinely at her and tilted his head. "Would you mind me asking who inspired you?"

Buffy looked back at him and wondered what she should say to him. She couldn't say that he inspired her because that would just be wrong on so many levels. Instead she decided to say, "I met him recently and there's just something about him that makes me want to be better. That might sound silly considering I just met the guy, but it's all I can say." She had intentionally left out the name, but she hoped he wouldn't push about that.

He smiled as he listened intently to her. He looked away and nodded slowly, still smiling. "That makes sense. I'm glad you found an inspiration. It's always important to look for the perfect subject." His eyes roamed over her figure quickly before he snapped back to reality. "Right then. I'll be at my desk if you need me."

"O... K..." she said, puzzled. She was glad that he understood about the inspiration part, but his last comment seemed strange. Buffy looked over at Willow to see if she had caught it too, and Willow looked back at her with a puzzled expression. Buffy knew they'd have something to talk about at lunch. All she could do now was shrug her shoulders, to signify to her friend that she had no idea what was up with their teacher.

Spike went back to his desk and stayed there the rest of the period. He instructed the students to turn in their papers, in a neat stack on his desk, so he could grade them later. He kept his attention on the comic book he'd just picked up so he wouldn't be tempted to stare at Buffy.

Buffy turned her paper in and then left the room when the bell rang. She went to her next class and sat through it, barely enduring it. After that class she had lunch and on her way she realized she had left her art book in the art room. ‘Damn. I'll have to go back and get it at the end of the day. At least Willow's giving me a ride home. She'll wait for me.’


Chapter End Notes:
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