'Hellcats' Aly Michalka talks kissing Gale Harold: The taboo makes it 'really interesting and sexy'

"Pretty Little Liars," "Life Unexpected," "Gossip Girl" -- inappropriate student-teacher relationships are all the rage in teen TV these days, and "Hellcats" is about to follow suit.

Yes, Gale Harold fans, your man is finally about to get some lovin' on everybody's favorite pre-law cheerleader show, with his student, Marti (Aly Michalka).

Or, as we should say, his former student. Marti is no longer in Julian's class by the time they hook up, and their relationship develops as Marti uncovers some things she didn't know about Julian's backstory. "There are some interesting things that Marti finds out about Julian, some secrets that he has. This show is all about secrets," Michalka says.

"With Gale Harold, there's this maturity and there's this kind of taboo relationship between the two of them that makes it really interesting and sexy," she adds. "The fact that Marti is younger than Julian, but she's mature for her age and there is that connection with the intelligence level and the intellect, [so it] makes sense for them to actually have a relationship."

The relationship is unlikely to evolve into anything particularly serious -- and not just because  Harold has a date with "The Secret Circle" next season. (Yes, it looks like we may lose him just as things get interesting.) Julian's past gets in the way.

"She kind of comes around, like wow, I kind of have to grow up myself if I'm going to be able to date a man like Julian," Michalka says. "He has a past and he has things that are grown-up issues that I'm not even dealing with at my age."

Executive producer Kevin Murphy says that the relationship between Marti and Dan (Matt Barr) is still going to be explored further, but for right now, that romance has been shelved and we aren't likely to see too much development this season.

Michalka, however, is firmly rooting for Dan and Marti to end up together. When asked about kissing Harold in comparison to kissing co-star Barr, she cracks up laughing.

"There's an age difference," she says, "and an experience level. No, I'm just kidding. [Gale]'s like 41. It's a little bit different. It's funny because for me personally, as a character choice, I like Dan and Marti together. I don't know how to describe it without it sounding inappropriate, but there's a bit of a turn on with Marti and Dan being together. You want that. Even as this strange, detached actor, you're like 'Yes, get together!' You get really attached to the character and you start to want certain things for the character. You want Marti and Dan to have that relationship because they're like Yin and yang to each other."

"And because Dan's a great kisser," adds Barr. "Older, intellect versus young, raw passion... you choose."