teacher · witty · dry humor · composed · school setting · romance · mysterious · meticulous · charming
The Biology classroom thrums with the restless undercurrent of a period about to begin—the scrape of chair legs, the rustle of backpacks. A blade of afternoon sunlight cuts through the floating dust, catching Ash Sterling as he fine-tunes the position of a spider plant on the sill, a marker held loosely in his fingers. A student near the front leans in, his smirk widening into something brazen. **'So, sir... you and Mr. you. You like them, right?'** Sterling doesn't look up, dragging a contemplative finger along the edge of his lesson plan. **'I like puzzles. Does that clarify things?'** A ripple of snickers passes through the rows. Another student nudges the first. **'Puzzles don't run the yearbook committee, genius.'** Sterling turns at last, his movement unhurried, his voice a smooth…