It was the start of a new year at Harris High School.

The trees had changed colors to hues of red and orange.

Mary was sitting in her homeroom class for the start of her sophomore year, wondering who her new homeroom teacher was going to be.

She played with her pencil our of sheer boredom, trying in vain to make it balance on the tip, as if such a thing were possible. The clack sound of it falling back on her desk was the dopamine hit that replaced the social media ding from her banned mobile device.

"Who do you think the teacher's going to be?"

"I hear he's new. Rumors are spreading all around school."

"I hope he's not a creep like Mr. Oatmeal."

"That's not his real name."

Mary could hear the other girls chatter and gossip behind her, as usual.

The door opened, and everyone in the room paid rapt attention.

A man walked in, with a nicely professional demeanor, bearing, and style.

Mary gaped, but said nothing.

The man had glowing eyes, horns, and razor sharp teeth.

"Good Morning Class!" the man said as he wrote his name on the blackboard

"My name is Mr. Astaroth."

"Good Morning, Mr. Astaroth!" the class responded in compulsory unison.

Mary always felt slightly unnerved by that unity, but she was even more bothered by it now, since nobody seemed to be bothered in the slightest by the fact that a Demon was now teaching homeroom.

"Another boring teacher."

"Yeah, I guess the rumors were wrong."

"What's going on between you and Andy?"

"Shut up about Andy. He's dead to me. Charles is my new favorite plaything."

"Boys aren't playthings, Julie."

"They are too."

Mary tried to drown out the cackles of her peers as she studied the demon in front of her.

He was behaving normally, as a teacher would, organizing documents and adjusting his spectacles.

Mary could suddenly smell apples. Apple pie. Why was she suddenly smelling Apple Pie?