Mr. Styles meet Ms. Mermaid (Harry Styles: no.1)

Chapter 30

Harry's POV

It had been four long months of torture.

I've been dying to see Lydia, but our managers have forbid it. They keep telling me that she was just some die-hard fan, wanting only the attention of the press.

But, I knew the truth. I knew Lydia.

"Oh no," Niall says. I look up at him as he sighs.

"What is it now?" I question him. He looks up at me, his blue eyes pitying me.

"Um, I've been checking up on Lydia's twitter-"

"And?" I cut him off. We all have been watching her social media sites. The last thing she ever tweeted was to Ryan back in early June. Since then, she hasn't been on.

"The fans are being bad again." He run his fingers through his blonde hair. When his hand reaches the back of his head, any onlooker could spot his dark brown roots. "Listen to this one-"

I shake my head at him, not wanting to hear any of the vulgar things some overly dramatic fans would say to Lydia; even if she wasn't on twitter anymore, I just couldn't handle all of it. Not being near her was having affects on me now.

"I'm going to go see if Liam's ready yet." I ignore Niall's sad face and walk out of our shared hotel room. I run my fingers through my own hair now, frustrated with the turn of events.

We were currently in New York, taking a some what small break from our holiday. We were doing some small concerts, interviews and TV show appearances.

I walk across the empty and restricted off sectioned hallway, to Liam's room in which he sared with no one. I knock on the door, stuffing my other hand into my jacket pockets.

"Liam, are you in?" I call.

After a few silent seconds of waiting, I turn away from the door. I couldn't wait on people anymore. I needed to do something about this empty feeling inside of me.



Lydia's POV

About 65 pairs of eyes stared at me. That's 130 eyeballs watching my every move. They were going to watch me stutter and like a complete fool.

"I'm sorry," a guy in his early twenties raises his hand. Most of the people in the room turn and look up at the guy, including me. "But how old are you again?"

I sigh to myself. I knew this was coming, I knew teaching to people much older than me was a bad idea.

"I'm 18." I tell him, rubbing my left arm. The collar to the white blouse my mother laid out for me was scratching at my neck. I pull at it taking a deep breath. "As I was saying, age doesn't matter. We're all equal humans here."

I almost smirked as the word human ran across my lips. I mean, I was almost human, right? I was only half mermaid, thanks to my father.

"How am I supposed to learn when I'm more focused on her body?" I hear someone whisper. I follow the sound of the voice, seeing two guys in the third row all the way to my left. The guys chuckle to each other, then fist bump. I roll my eyes at him and turn my attention back to the rest of the class.

"How professional," someone mutters from the back of the class, high up by the back doors. "Where do they find these people?"

"Excuse me, but if you have a problem with me taking over for the rest of the year," I begin in an annoyed voice. "The door is there."

I pause, crossing my arms over my chest. I then raise an eyebrow and put all my weight on my left leg. I learned this stance from Niall and Louis on one of our outings one day. They taught me to stand my ground.

I hold my jaw tight as about a dozen of my students get up, collecting their belongings and walk out the back door. The cold winter air fills my lecture hall, biting at my exposed skin on my forearms.

"Is that all? Because I'm here to stay." I watch as the rest of my class sits still. It's like they're suddenly afraid of what I could possibly do to them. "Well then," I smile at them starting again. "My name is Lydia Sky and I'm your new college Professor."

/////

*3 Days later*

"Do you want milk with your pancakes?!"

I jump hearing Chace's deep voice echoing throughout my house. I search for my other small pearl-like earring to match the one I already had on. I stumble around in the small wooden jewelry box on my desk, as I think of my answer.

"Yeah, sure!" I call back subconsciously.

A few minutes pass before I hear a knock on my door. I run over to the door, unlocking and opening my shut door.

"What's taking you so long today?" Chace asks, leaning his body against my door frame.

"Stress." I answer bluntly. I was beyond frustrated now.

"Stress? What could you possibly be stressing about?" He takes a step into my room as I continue my search. If I didn't find that stupid earring in the next ten seconds I would go without any jewelry.

I throw my hands up in the air. "I can't find this same stupid-"

"Found it....again." Chace holds his palm up, my small pearl earring in the center of his hand.

"Thank god," I mumble to myself. I tip his hand over, the earring falling into my palm. I begin poking the metal through my ear, twisting the clasp closed until its on tight.

"I go by Chace now, not god anymore." Chace winks at me before walking out of the room. "Hurry your ass up, you're going to be late!"

"I'm already regretting working there." I mumble begrudgingly to myself, grasping my black messenger bag, which held my laptop, phone, chargers, and student work for the day. I shut my bedroom door, my black heels in hand.

My work clothes were pretty and simple. I would never admit it to my mother, but she did have a knack for picking out professional yet attractive clothes. I wore a plain white shirt -that ended a little too low for my liking, just above my bra-, a flowing black skirt, matched with the black heels. I hated wearing the heels, but if my mother knew I didn't use them she'd be beyond pissed and who wants that?

"Here," Chace holds up a dry pancake between two fingers. "There's more in the container and I gave you coffee instead of milk."

I roll my eyes at him, grabbing the thermos from his finger tips. I grab the small tubberware container with three plain pancakes in them, while stuffing the one his hand into my mouth quickly.

"Thanks babe," I tell him, letting his nickname roll off my tongue with ease.

He smiles at me, wiping his batter covered hands onto the apron around his waist. Once he's cleaned, he pulls me in for a hug, his head resting on top of mine.

"Have a good day, teach them something good," he tells me, pulling away.

"I always do!" I laugh walking towards the front door.

I grab my car keys from the bowl along with my lecture hall keys. It was weird to think that, I had my own lecture hall. Not one that was shared with other professeors, but my very own.

"Have a good day!" I yell, running out the door.

I check my watch, it reading almost 7 AM. My first class started in half an hour. Great, just fricking great. I would be late for sure now.

I walk down the small cobblestone walk way, leading to the driveway. I let my eyes wander around, the tall pine trees covered in snow. Winter was such a beautiful seasonm, its a wonder why people hate it so much. Yeah, I didn't get to go in the small pond in the forest, but it just made me appreciate it much more when the surface melted.

"Good morning Lydia!"

I turn in the direction of the voice. I see a neighbor, about 30 meters away from me on the other side of the road. Living in the backwoods of Vermont showed me how different life in the city was compared to the country. In the country, everybody knows everybody, it's just a small and simple fact.

"Morning Mr. Robutusen!" I call back, raising my hand grasping my to-go-up of coffee as a salutation. I unlock my car and drop the small container of pancakes on the passenger seat, the coffee going into the cup holder. I shut the door, pull my seat belt on and start the car.

This was going to be one hell of a day if I got there late.

/////

The drive to the university was long and grueling.

People on the highway needed to learn that it wasn't hard to drive in one lane for a long amount of time. Yes, you could change if you wanted to pass, but this wasn't a race with cars as obstacls.

I make it to the university with minutes to spare. I pull into the parking lot in front of the building my lecture hall was at and I quickly collect my belongings. I pull my messenger bag closer to my body, the winter air stinging my arms.

Fantastic, I was in too much of a hurry to grab my jacket this morning.

I balance the container in my hands, the closed coffee cup laying on top of it. I kick the car door shut gently and shove my keys into my bag's pocket. The university's clock tower read 7:51 AM. Damn, I was officialy late for work.

I hurry as fast as a girl can go in these heels, while keeping a straight and calm face. I didn't want to be seen as a stressed out girl when in reality, I was the most stressed out person in the school.

I see the plaque holding the name of my lecture hall and I hasten my pace. I see a few of my students standing outside of the door. Huh, that's weird. Where the rest of the 50 people in my first class?

"Hey guys," I say walking up to them. "Sorry I'm late, traffic was awful this morning."

"No problem, we were worried that you got into an accident or soemthing." One of the girl's told me. Her name...what was her name? It was something long, but she always hated it, so she told us her nickname. Oh, yeah! It was Jasmine, or Jaz as she preferred.

"Or that you got fired." Chris, her tall boyfriend tells me, wrapping his arm around her.

On my first day I skipped my lesson plan and chose to spend the two hours with them, to get to know them. Jaz and Chris were both 21 and high school sweet hearts. They were good students that liked to cause trouble at times. That had made them my favorites.

"No," I say taking out my keys. "Not fired, at least not today." I was about to shove my key into the big brass door lock when Jaz stops me.

"What are you doing? The hall is already open." She explains.

I widen my eyes at her, "What? Who opened it?"

"One of the university's security guards was called to open the doorts by another professor." Chris says, pulling the door open. I instantly run inside, jumping up and down like a fool to get warm. "I guess he was watching your back."

"Well, that was awfully nice of them. Do you know who it was?" I ask, walking down the long downward aisle to the pit, where my long chalkboard, desk, and podium was. I toss the container of pancakes down onto the wooden desk, the sound echoing in the hall.

"Nope, he was wearing a cap and sounded like he smoked two packs a day!" Jaz laughs to herself. She hops up onto the desk and picks up the container, laying it in her lap. "Who made these?"

I place my bag on my desk, taking out my laptop as I say, "What?"

"Well, I thought you said you couldn't cook." She refers back to what I shared with the class on the first day. "Was it a secret admirer?" She wiggles her eyebrows at me.

I roll my eyes at her, "In a tubberware container? I hope not." I eye her on my desk. "Don't you have a desk tro sit in?" I ask sassily. She smirks at me and hops off the desk. She looks back towards the small hill-like of desks, to where Chris sat with their friends. She shares a secret look with him and then turns back to me, a sly smirk on her face.

"Who baked them then?" She questions.

"A friend." I say, taking out my assignments papers for the students.

"Oh?" She pauses, walking around the desk to face me. I look up at her strangely.

"What is it?"

"Nothing, you just seem a bit-" Jaz is cut short.

"JUMPY!" Someone yells from behind me. I let out a small shriek, clutching my chest in fright. I turn around seeing Chris behind me, "What's up chica?"

"You know if I wasn't your professor, I'd-"

"Watch what you say," Jaz taunts walking off to her desk with the rest of the students.

"You two drive me insane." I mutter, picking up the work once more.

"You'll love us soon enough." Chris walks away from the front, leaving me by myself.

I take a few deep breaths, tuck a piece of loose hair behind my ear and clear my throat. I guess it was time to start today's class session.

"Hey everyone!" I call, waving a hand for effect. "I'm so sorry I'm late, there were a few complications."

"Did you forget to pack diapers again?" Someone called from the back.

"No, I brought your diapers today, James." I smirk at the guy who winks back at me. I walk around the desk, suddenly feeling braver with my heels today. For the first three days of teaching, I stayed behind the desk or podium so no one would see me if I tripped. "So, today I have something new I want to try out with you guys."

I walk up to the front row and hand the first person the stack of papers, and he asks, "What is this?"

"This is a paper with a list of assignments-"

"Ugh," over half the class groans in annoyance.

"-that you can choose from. You all have to do any two assignments from this list. It'll be do at the end of the month. So, that means you have," I pause, running slowly to my messenger bag to check the calendar on my phone. Today was November 17, which meant they had about 13 days to hand it in; just under two weeks. "Roughly 13 days. Okay?" Most of the students nod at me, others rolling their eyes and mumbling curses at me. "You guys have the rest of the class time to choose what you want to do and begin your assignments."

I smile to myself and sit down in my desk chair. I finally had a moment to breathe in this passed week. Since the departure with my mother, I have been working non-stop on correction work for the students and trying to find some other job.

I didn't want to be a university professor my whole life. I wanted to do something great, but something my mother couldn't talk bad about. Even though I hate her guts at the moment, she was after all my mother.

"Lydia," someone whispers from the student area. I look up from my phone -which was still on the calendar app- and search for the person who wanted to talk to me.

"What?" I call out. I see Jaz up by the entrance/exit doors of my lecture hall. I stand up slowly walking to the hill of an aisle that led up to Jaz.

"There's somebody asking for you at the doors." Jaz tells me, her hand holding the handle mostly shut.

I walk up to her and whisper, "Who is it?" She shrugs her shoulders at me. She lets go of the door's handle, and walks off down the aisle towards Chris and the group. I sigh, and open the door, curious to see who wanted to meet me so badly.

I only wish I never opened the door, the person on the other side someone I never expected to see again.



*****
Oooh, who's at the door? Why does Lydia not want to see them?
How are you guys finding Lydia as a university Professor?
And again, where's Harry?!
Find out in chapter 31:
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I hope you all have had a great holiday so far :)

I LOVE YOU ALL MY LOVELY LOVES!!