Teacher's Muse (Book 3) - Styles Triplets

I Understand, Sir

The first day back from Louis' abrupt leave of absence was hard for him. With his head hung low, eyes pointed towards the floor, the newly presented omega stalked the halls. His converse covered feet lightly padded against the cool linoleum, squeaking every so often over the freshly waxed flooring.

His whole life had changed this week. He was no longer a possible beta, or a late-blooming alpha. He was a horrible omega. He knew the moment he walked into his first-class that day that he would be alone all over again like he was when his mother had passed away. His friends wouldn't want anything to do with him. He could already hear the comments that were going to be made. He wanted the ground to open up beneath his feet and swallow him whole.

The small piece of paper crinkled and crunched beneath the pressure in his shaky hands. This was the most embarrassing note he'd ever have to give a teacher. He was truly mortified. He wished his mom was still around, she could have called and explained his absence on his behalf, but she wasn't there anymore. He was in this world alone, forced to face it as a child.

He knew he was 15 minutes late to class already, he knew he'd be making a slight commotion already. His fellow classmates would be shocked by the news. With a blush pinking up his cheeks, tears threatening to well up in his eyes, Louis took a deep breath before twisting the door handle and pushing the classroom door open.

"As I was saying if you take," Mr. Styles was saying before his attention turned to the now open door, seeing the newly presented omega. It wasn't completely unusual for someone to present this late, but Mr. Styles would be honest and say he was surprised by Louis' presentation. "Mr. Tomlinson, you're late," the teacher wasn't trying to be rude, but also didn't know what exactly to say, "please take a seat and copy the notes from the board. If you need anything explained I can do so during the last half of the period".

Louis nodded his head, keeping his shame-covered face towards the floor. He dropped the note onto the teacher's desk before going to sit in his normal spot. He was surrounded by his friends, and without sparing any of them a glance, he knew what they were thinking.

"A fucking omega, seriously Tomlinson?" Calum asked in an angry tone, "so you've decided to present as some needy whore?". Though the words hurt, Louis kept his mouth shut as he pulled his notebook out of his knapsack. With a pen in his hand to copy down the notes on the board, he stared ahead. He looked right past Luke's angry face.

It wasn't even just pure anger, there was disgust, but most importantly there was a lot of disappointment covering their faces. Louis swallowed hard. This wasn't something he could change. He would always be an omega. He would always need to rely on some Alpha to get anywhere in this world.

He didn't want to need to rely on anyone. Everyone he's depended on ended up letting him down in the end. They didn't keep him safe. They didn't love him without wanting something in return. He was a child and he had to learn that love came with a price. A price that would continuously be held above your head without a way to repay.

You'd be labeled as ungrateful, rude, and needy. You'd carry a burden that should never have been placed on the shoulders of a young pup. Louis knew that this wasn't a presentation to look down on, he knew there were so many proud omegas in this school, in this world, but he wasn't one of them.

With tears welling up in his eyes, he let out a shaky breath. "Can I please do my work?" The cracking of his quiet voice was heartbreaking to other students around him, even to the teacher who happened to catch his sentence. Mr. Styles knew something was going on when Louis looked like he was ready to cry. He could tell that the omega was stressed and scared.

The teacher stopped writing on the board, putting the piece of chalk down on the metal edge. He asked the students to try and work on the problem he was explaining on the board. While they were all hurriedly solving the problem, the teacher quietly asked Calum, Luke, Ashton, and Michael to go for a walk to calm themselves down.

Louis was then called up to the teacher's desk, the man pulling a chair up next to it for the young omega. The boy nervously walked up to the alpha, a frown still painted on his lips. He was trying hard to be quiet, to blend in, he didn't want to cause any problems. It was already bad enough that he didn't want to present this way, but no one was leaving him alone to just be. Be himself, who he's always been. He just wants to be.

When Louis made it down the aisle and to the teacher's desk, the man was already reading the messily handwritten note. The young omega took a seat hesitantly before he began fidgeting with his hands. Louis couldn't make out how Mr. Styles was taking the long note, his jaw was tight while his eyes held a softer tone to them.

Luckily for him, his fellow classmates had taken pity on the anxious boy and focused on their work. He couldn't have been more thankful for that. Louis watched as the teacher folded the paper again before placing it in the top drawer of his desk for safekeeping. "Thank you for telling me this, Louis. I'll be sure to do as you suggested and only approach them if I see them continuing to bully you. I understand that you're worried about their retaliation. So for your safety, and because you've asked, I'll just keep an eye on them," Mr. Styles assured.

"But," the man continued, his eyes locking with Louis', "if I believe it's become an issue where you could be physically harmed, or you're at risk, I will escalate matters. Is that understood, Louis?".

The omega was embarrassed by how weak he was looking, but he also didn't know how bad things would get. He didn't know if it'd become physical or just name-calling. He knew he wasn't going to risk it though, he knew he could trust Mr. Styles.

It had only been a few weeks of knowing this teacher, but each day the man proved how trustworthy he was. Louis felt safe with this Alpha, and he knew in his heart that he could tell this man about this. "I understand, Sir."

When his ex-friends came back from their little walk, they wore scowls on their faces. They sat in their original seats surrounding Louis, but they no longer spoke with him.

As days passed, the four boys had slowly moved their seats away from Louis. Quiet comments were being made about not wanting to catch some disease from sitting near the "skank" as they've resorted to calling him.

As the days went on, Louis was slowly learning how to love himself for who he was. He'd always be an omega and there was nothing he could do to change it. Almost none of his classmates cared that he presented as an omega, they also didn't understand why Louis' own best friends would treat him so poorly over a presentation.

The omega had tried to excuse their bad behaviour by saying "oh that's just how they were raised" or "they've never really been around an omega before," but he was tired of finding excuses for them. They needed to get over it, there's nothing he could do about it.

Louis told himself that he wouldn't allow himself to get hurt like that again, to be left behind for the third time, so he wasn't going to let anyone get close to him. He had made up his mind. But as he thought about it, he couldn't help but let his heart long for the man he knew he could never have. He'd forever be a Teacher's Pet, but yet never the Teacher's Mate.