Omega's Teacher

by Bella Bennet

  Chapter 6

  H arry flipped through his mail in the mailroom. Nothing, nothing, oh…a letter from the publishing company. His heart sped up. He hoped it wasn’t another rejection letter. This would be the sixth publishing company he had sent his manuscript to. The first five had rejected it. He didn’t lose hope though. J. K. Rowling was rejected who knows how many times and look at how well she’s done. Harry steeled himself to open the envelope .

  “Oh, my heavens. Who thought this up? A teacher basketball challenge ?”

  Harry turned around. A few teachers were crowded around the bulletin board. A big poster was stapled in the middle. He walked over and peeked over Bob, the Geometry teacher’s shoulder. Spirit Day this Friday with lots of fun activities all day culminating in the highlight of a teacher vs teacher basketball match. Harry frowned. Why would that be exciting? He shook himself out of that attitude. He knew why it would be exciting, students watching their teachers take on other teachers. If they hated math, they’d want anyone to slam dunk and push aside the math teacher. Plus, it would be a way to get closer to teachers he didn’t associate with often .

  Harry smiled. It was a great idea but there was one problem. Not everyone was good at sports. Harry’s coordination was not the greatest. It took skill to fill his Keurig without spilling water down the sides. Oh well, his inability at catching or throwing the ball would be comedic relief. He frowned. Hopefully Alex wouldn’t be on his team. He could pretend things were fine with Alex for short bursts, not for a whole game .

  “Hey, Harry you’re on my team.” He returned Bob’s high-five. Even if the game stank, it would still be something out of the ordinary. Plus the kids loved it, and it would bring the school together. He wondered if he could get the students in his classes to give him some game playing tips. Like how to dribble without losing the ball. He had never played much basketball growing up. He was of average height for an omega which meant that he wasn’t the first pick for anyone’s basketball team .

  “This will be fun!” Susan, the Art teacher was tall, she probably played a lot of basketball and volleyball growing up .

  “I bet you were on the varsity team in high school.” She was very tall for a woman .

  “High school? Try college! I had a basketball scholarship.” Susan smiled and winked at Harry. Then looked back at the board .

  “Are you on my team? I can’t see the teams with all these tall people in the way.” They all laughed and closed in even more so Harry couldn’t see any part of the sign .

  “I see how it is. You just wait until there’s a poetry slam or rap competition.” All the teachers in front of Harry turned around with wide eyes. “I’m an English teacher I could rap !”

  “I cannot wait to hear you rap. We’ll have to ask Dr. Stevens to put it on the agenda for the next Spirit Day !”

  Harry backed up with his arms spread out. “Do it! Just call me the next Eminem .”

  He walked out in a good mood. Even if he could barely play basketball, it would be a fun game and a fun day .

  * * *

  I t was not fun. His team practiced Thursday night in the gym, but the other team showed up and watched the last 10 minutes of their ‘practice’. Which was nothing more than a lot of horsing around. Harry was glad no one was really taking it seriously. But that didn’t mean the alpha Alex wasn’t .

  “Come on you guys, you don’t need to practice. You have no chance of winning.” Alex smiled and bounced the basketball. The second he heard Alex, Harry lost all the happiness he had been feeling. He was self conscious of Alex judging his inability to play an easy child’s game .

  “Don’t worry, we’ll smoke you. You don’t have a chance without our star player here.” Susan took a bow and laughed .

  Harry picked up the basketball on the floor. He walked off the court with it until he heard “Give that to me Shorty .”

  He stopped and turned to see Alex waiting with his hands out. Harry was ready to deck Alex. The bullying was back. All that crap about growing up was just bullshit. Harry threw the ball at Alex. The thud when it hit Alex’s chest was loud enough for everyone to hear .

  Harry turned around and walked out of the gym. He was too mad to stick around and talk with his team. That and too embarrassed that he let Alex get to him. Dammit, he was an adult. He shouldn’t act like a child just because Alex was stuck being an asshole. That ass. Why did he have to come to his school and terrorize him again !

  He went in the closest bathroom, got in a handicapped stall and changed his clothes. Harry wasn’t going to get sweat all over his car seats. He had just finished pulling on his long sleeved t-shirt when he heard someone else come in the bathroom. It had better not be Alex. He didn’t know if he could control himself and not yell at him if he showed up .

  Harry opened the stall and peeked out. Oh good, it was just Bob. “Hey .”

  Bob nodded. “I thought I’d check up on you. It looked like Alex and you have some things to work out. Which surprises me as the school has barely started, and you’re the most mellow, easy going guy I know .”

  Harry looked down, grabbed his bag and walked out of the stall. He didn’t know what to say. Harry didn’t want it to get out that Alex had bullied him relentlessly in middle school. He ran his hand through his hair and looked up. Bob was half blocking the exit. Looks like he had to talk to Bob before he could get out of the bathroom .

  “Well…” He didn’t know what to say. What could he say to brush this off? Now more teachers had noticed the tension. He didn’t want to lose his job over this or get reprimanded .

  “I don’t know what’s going on, I thought I’d just check in on you. Sometimes alphas can be real assholes when they can’t get the omega they want .”

  Harry frowned at Bob. “What? You think Alex is taking out his frustrations that he can’t have someone else, on me?” That was crazy .

  Bob shook his head. “No. I mean he’s upset he can’t have you and is attacking you instead of just leaving you alone .”

  Ok, that was even crazier. “You’ve got it all wrong. Alex doesn’t want me. He doesn’t like me. He bullied me in middle school. He’s doing it again. Or at least he’s starting to. Don’t let this get out. I don’t want Dr. Stevens to find out .”

  Bob rose his eyebrows but nodded his head. “Ok, it’s your deal. But you might rethink the thought Alex doesn’t want you. He looks at you all the time. He was even trying to flirt with you in the first few weeks of school but I guess you brushed him off enough he gave up .”

  Again Harry was speechless. He didn’t think Bob could have read the situation so wrong. “No, I hate to tell you but I really think you’ve got this all wrong .”

  Bob shrugged his shoulders. “Ok. I’ll walk out with you .”

  How bizarre. Bob was seriously reading a lot into this and it was all wrong. Shaking his head, Harry left the bathroom and walked to the parking lot .

  * * *

  A lex swore to himself. He shouldn’t have said that. Every time he got around Harry, his frustrations overtook him and he blurted out crap. Dammit. He worked so hard to stop being an ass, yet being around that omega screwed him all up .

  He glanced around at the other teachers and couldn’t help but notice they were avoiding his eyes and not interacting with Alex at all. Dammit. This was not how he wanted things to go. He didn’t want to alienate the other teachers. He also wanted to win Harry over, for Harry to see him as improved, as a new person, not the same asshole he used to be .

  Alex threw the basketball at the hoop. The ball slammed against the backboard. The teachers looked at him. Yes, he was mad. He was mad at himself. Fuck .

  “I’m sorry you guys. I’m frustrated and taking it out on Harry. I didn’t mean to do it .”

  That seemed to work. Somewhat. “I don’t know what’s going on between you and Harry. I thought you guys would get together this year. I had a $10 bet on it .”

  A bet? The teachers were betting on this ?


  “But you need to get control of yourself. Dr. Stevens doesn’t tolerate any bullying, especially between teachers. We’ve never had a problem like this since he started the personality tests .”

  Great. Now he felt even more like shit. “I know, I’m sorry. It seems to just fly out of my mouth around him. He won’t even give me the time of day and all I want to do is to get to know him better .”

  Mick, the History teacher, laughed. “You will never get Harry to like you if you keep insulting him. You’re acting like a high schooler with a crush .”

  Alex blushed. That was true. His in control, cool, calm attitude took a serious nosedive around Harry. Just like a high schooler with a crush that they pestered to notice them. Why hadn’t he figured this out? He worked so hard on himself and it was unraveling so quickly thanks to one green eyed omega that was hot as hell. Fuck .

  “Thanks. Let’s concentrate on this game now. We can’t look completely pathetic out there tomorrow. They’ve got Susan on their team .”

  That seemed to work at getting everyone focused on practicing. They worked through layups, free throws and dribbling. Eventually Alex was able to completely focus on the game instead of how he would get himself out of this hole he dug himself into .

  * * *

  S pirit Day was here. Alex brought a coffee for Harry, from the coffee shop that Shirley told him was Harry’s favorite. He put it on Harry’s desk in his classroom with a note. In the note he apologized for his behavior the day before. Alex also wished him good luck in the game. He hoped Harry didn’t throw it straight in the trash. That didn’t seem like Harry from all the stories the teachers had told him. But then again, Harry had surprised them with his actions yesterday. It seemed like they brought out the worst in each other .

  Alex walked down the hallway and up the stairs to the second floor. He high-fived other teachers on his team as he passed them. Few students were at school yet. What kid would show up to school an hour early? A brown nose, but thankfully they didn’t have many of those .

  Alex put his briefcase down on his desk and saw a note with a little pom pom. He picked up the note and smiled. The Home Economics teacher had crafted little pom noms and notes for all the teachers on her basketball team. How cute. His old school did nothing like this. It was teacher against teacher with no team building. They all had to fight for more money for their classrooms and pet projects. Alex was glad he had landed here. This seemed like a happy, up beat school .

  He whistled as he got the room ready for the first class. He knew it was silly, but he was excited for this day as well. It was fun to break up the monotony of the same thing day after day, week after week. He wondered again if Harry would like his gift and note. Maybe he should have stayed there and apologized in person. Was it too late to go back downstairs and wait? He sighed and looked at the clock. 35 minutes before the start of class was not enough time. Hopefully he could catch Harry over lunch .

  * * *

  A lex closed and locked the door to his science storage room. The students were in the classroom, but he was sure he had at least 5 minutes to change without the students setting the building on fire. He couldn’t remember the last time he had played basketball, other than last night’s practice. The excitement of the day was getting to him .

  He was looking forward to being on the court. Probably not for the same reasons the other teachers were. He couldn’t wait to see Harry in shorts and a t-shirt again. Harry was adorably good looking as a teacher, but in athletic shorts and t-shirt? Alex had wanted to drag him to the lockers and let Harry know how hot he was. The guy was drop dead gorgeous, but Harry acted like he didn’t know it. Unbelievable. And the teachers said he had looked for an alpha like crazy all last year. Alex shook his head. What morons didn’t snap up that omega ?

  If only he could stop acting like an ass and get Harry to be around him. If only Harry could get over what Alex had done to him in middle school. And yesterday. Alex frowned as shame ran through him. He wanted Harry to be impressed with him, not ignore him .

  Alex folded his suit carefully and set it on a shelf. Time to go back in the classroom. He opened the door and jogged into the classroom. Alex jogged around the classroom while humming the theme to Rocky. He was doing his part to get the kids excited for the final events of the day. There would be tug of war, potato sack races, egg and spoon races, free throw contests and finally the big event, the all teacher basketball game .

  “Now I’m counting on you to cheer on my team this afternoon. Think you can do it?” The class cheered and whistled. This was fun. Now if only he could Harry to react to the same way about him .

  Chapter 7

  H arry was nervous. He didn’t want to make a fool of himself in front of the entire high school. But it may just happen since he wasn’t the most athletic. Susan and Bob told him not to worry. “Just focus on blocking anyone on the other team with the ball. And tell them their shoe is untied.” Susan nodded at Harry’s expression. “You wouldn’t believe how many times that’s worked for me.” Harry smiled. This might be fun after all .

  The student games were a lot of fun to watch. The student’s names were randomly drawn and announced over the intercom at the beginning of each class. This gave students time to mentally prepare for whatever sport they were assigned to. Plus, it didn’t take up time during the assembly. Harry had been getting more excited throughout the day, especially as he had two students selected out of his classes. One for the egg and spoon run and one for the sack races. Harry even managed to fool the class that Shakespeare had wrote a sonnet about sack races. Either he was good at impersonating The Bard, or his students were very gullible. It was a toss up .

  Finally, the student games were over and it was his turn. The butterflies in his stomach were threatening to fly out of his throat. He hadn’t been on stage like this since he read part of his poetry at a writer’s workshop two summers ago. Oh well, too late to do anything about it now .

  Harry shared back slaps and high-fives with his team. They all struck a pose when their names were called. And of course booed at the other team. He was so focused on not being nervous that he forgot to be worried if Alex would do anything. He hoped things would be fine today since Alex had brought him that apology coffee on his desk. It was exactly the kind he liked too .

  The referee, the Phys. Ed. teacher, blew the whistle, and the game started. Harry ran down the court. He jumped, waved his arms, blocking the ball from getting to anyone behind him. He didn’t know if he was doing a good job, but did his best. Harry spent most of the time laughing as he kept moving side to side trying to block the short Spanish teacher. She was laughing trying to shove Harry out of her way .

  Then Alex intercepted the ball and charged down the court, towards their basket. Harry frowned as he ran down. Trust Alex to try to be the center of attention and take this game seriously. Harry mentally shook himself. He needed to stop thinking like that and just be neutral towards him. He wasn’t going to turn into a negative ass like Alex .

  Alex scored 3 points, and the students cheered. It was now Harry’s turn to run down and make a goal, or basket, whatever it was called. Harry ran down the side. He tried to ruin the other team’s view so they wouldn’t be able to grab the ball. Or at least that’s what he tried to do .

  There was one other omega on his team, but he was slightly taller than Harry. Neither one of them could outreach the taller teachers, but their jumping, waving arms and acting crazy did a good job of distracting everybody. He didn’t know if that was why the crowd was laughing and cheering, but he could only hope they enjoyed his antics .

  Harry was suddenly in the middle of the action with players around him trying to get the ball. He kept his arms up and out pushing the other team back. Harry was knocked hard from behind, then thrown forward but Susan caught him with one arm. That kept him from face planting in front of the entire school. Harry picked himself up quickly but couldn’t figure out who did it. Besides, it was part of the game. At leas
t he thought so .

  Harry ran down to the other end and jumped up, blocking the French teacher. The other teacher didn’t have the ball, probably due to Harry’s excellent skills. Alex suddenly jumped up and slam dunked the ball in their basket for another goal. Dammit. Harry looked at the scoreboard and saw they were down quite a bit. He knew this was just for fun, but it would be nice to have a close score at the very least .

  Alex and the Government teacher did some complicated handshake and then ran down the court. Harry frowned. It was just an exhibition game. No need to pretend like this was the NBA. Alex looked at him then yelled “Have a little fun,” as he ran by. That didn’t make things any better with Harry. Did Alex know what an ass he was ?

  Their team scored. Harry turned then felt a hard smack on his ass. What? He turned around but only blurs ran by at the sides of his vision. He turned forward and ran as fast he could. The last ones ahead were Alex and Susan. He doubted Susan had smacked him on the ass though he had seen teammates do it on TV. But that was football. Harry would bet it was Alex. What did that ass think he was doing? He didn’t have permission to smack his ass or any other part of him .

  Harry ran down right into the middle of the action, which he had never done before. Alex was trying to shoot or pass the ball. He already had Susan guarding him, but Harry joined her bumping into Alex as he stopped. Alex swung his head around. “Watch yourself !”

  Harry glared. What. An. Ass. He couldn’t remember ever being this mad. Except that year when Alex made his life hell. Go figure it would be the same ass both times. Harry kept guarding Alex so close that Alex could barely do anything. Alex jumped but caught Harry on the way up, knocking Harry back and onto the floor. The players ran to the other end without cheers so Alex must not have made the goal .