6 FEBRUARY, SATURDAY, LYCAN STUDY GROUP
Today, Mrs. Beta, Teacher Rose, and Teacher Steve had decided to combine classes.
Teacher Rose was my teacher last year. She was a very polite and proper wolf and the nurse manager at Gate City Hospital. When she became my teacher, I went home and told Mum that my Lycan Studies teacher was a nurse.
Mum wondered, "Which nurse?"
"Teacher Rose," I said.
"Who?" Mum tried to think of a nurse named Rose and finally guessed, "Do you mean Rosalind?"
"I don't know," I answered.
Lycan Study Group teachers were usually volunteers from our pack. They might volunteer for any number of reasons (a lack of personal challenges, a desire to influence the future, some dark memory from their own youths, or a delusional idea that they would be loved and respected by all their students).
Over the years, I've met a great many Lycan teachers. They might start off with all kinds of reasons, but the ones who stayed with us, ungrateful brats, year after year were the ones who really cared.
Teacher Rose might just be one of them. This was her second year teaching. Last year, Dean and I would steal her notes whenever her back was turned so that she couldn't continue her lesson.
"Now I can't continue the lesson," she would say as if it were a bad thing.
"Aren't you a teacher? Teach us what you know," I said.
"They're in the notes," she said.
"If you're reading off your notes, you don't really know it," I told her. At that point, I was just pointing out an obvious fact. Now that I'm writing this a year later, I wonder if it was mean of me to say (even if it were true).
Sometimes we went up to class early to jump out at her when she turned on the lights. She would scream, so it was funny. When she realized it was just us, she shook her head and sighed, "Oh, it's you kids again."
And then we would laugh. "Yeah, of course it's us."
Or, when it had rained enough for the fields to be soaked and full of puddles, we pretty much rushed her through the lesson so we could leave early to catch the tadpoles in them.
Mum was horrified when I got home muddy and soaked. (I mean, those were the days before rogue/vampire fights, so that was the worst condition I could possibly come home in.)
I'm not sure how Flora (Dean's mum) took it when Dean got home equally muddy and soaked, and with a plastic bag of puddle water containing at least 50 tadpoles.
I had nothing to worry about. Darlyn told me that she and Drew had helped Dean hide and take care of them... But they turned into frogs one day and escaped the bathtub where they were kept.
Their mum had screamed the house down. Dean was grounded until the last frog was caught and put out of the house. That lasted roughly a week. And when Flora found out that we had caught them while we were supposed to be at Lycan Study Group, she confronted Teacher Rose about it and kicked up a big fuss.
I'm not sure about the details, but Teacher Rose was very careful not to let us out early again.
Yeah, come to think of it, we didn't give her an easy time last year, but she still smiled like she was happy to see me whenever we met.
"Is she a beautiful wolf with fair skin and dark curls about this long?" Mum asked when I first told her about our new teacher last year.
Was Teacher Rose beautiful? I hadn't noticed, but when I thought about it, I realized that the description matched. "Yes. That's her."
"Oh, she is a very lovely lady," Mum said.
"Who's she mated to?" I asked.
Suddenly, Mum's expression changed. There was a pause, and then Mum said, "Rosalind isn't mated."
"Why not?" I asked.
"I don't know," Mum lied, and changed the subject.
I could take a hint. No matter how many pranks we pulled, I never mentioned the 'm' word in front of Teacher Rose.
Usually, when a wolf was unmated in our pack, I would have known because adults liked to talk about it. These stories had floated into my super-wolf hearing from Mum's regular tea parties in the living room, from hanging out in the packhouse kitchen when Esther was cooking, or just from going with Mum and Dad to potlucks or barbecues where adults talked for ages.
Unlike Teacher Rose, there were some wolves with more than one backstory about why they were unmated. This would be Teacher Steve's case.
Teacher Steve had been teaching for years now. He started teaching Ben's group when they were in Grade 4. I knew this because he liked to boast, "These rascals, I've been with them since Grade 4."
Teacher Steve liked to talk a lot, and repeatedly.
Ben's group had given Teacher Steve a few nicknames over the years. I mean, it's not uncommon for Lycan teachers to get nicknames from their favorite students. I guess it's the same as how we called Teacher Willow Mrs. Beta, or Rosalind Teacher Rose.
Teacher Steve's name was Steven Olong. So the nicknames he had accumulated over the years went along the lines of Teacher SOlong-Winded (because his lessons always ended late), Teacher Stevie Wander (for his penchant for wandering off topic), Teacher SoSo (because of his un-outstanding résumé), but he was most commonly known as Teacher S.O. (You need to say it aloud... It sounds like...)
Even though Teacher Steve seemed to believe in all good faith that his many nicknames were names of endearment, none of them seemed fair.
I mean, Teacher S.O. was the guy you called at 3 a.m. because you ran away from home and then couldn't find your way back. Teacher S.O. was the guy who would sponsor hot dogs if you couldn't get catering for your event (he owned a small hot dog shop). Teacher S.O. was the guy who would pick you up from school once a month and take you out for ice cream for one-on-one talks.
He probably deserved a better nickname, at least.
"He just likes having someone around to talk to." Ben would wave it off.
"We were horrible to him in his first year," Lizzy explained. (As opposed to now?)
"We just can't shake him off," Shannon said. "He just doesn't take the hint."
"I'm thankful I managed to earn their respect. It was hard-earned respect," Teacher S.O. shared at the end-of-year Thanksgiving celebration.
"I wouldn't say respect," Ben raised his hand and interrupted.
"Respect is such a strong word," Tim said.
"Well, maybe we respect his perseverance," Jonah said. "But that's all."
Teacher S.O. beamed. "Yes, yes... You can't get rid of me that easily."
So that's how it worked. Teacher S.O.'s relentless pursuit of his students made him the longest-lasting teacher for Ben's group. Before Teacher S.O., Ben's group had changed teachers three times in a year. So my class wasn't the worst group to teach.
But even Teacher S.O. could get mad... The funny thing was that when he finally snapped, it was nothing his students did.
The story of Teacher S.O.'s single angry outburst went like this:
One day, Teacher S.O. picked Ben up after school for their usual coffee. The café owner said, "It's so great that you take your son out for coffee like this."
"I'm not his dad!" Teacher S.O. exploded. He was that shocked to be mistaken for Ben's dad.
Apparently, all this while, Teacher S.O. felt that he was the young and hip type of adult. How could anyone have mistaken him for the father of a preteen? He wasn't even mated yet!
Ben had come back and told the whole gang, "I had never seen him so mad. He couldn't even eat his ice cream after that."
"Please!" Lizzy said. "Teacher S.O. is probably as old as our dad!"
After that, the gang modified his nickname to "Uncle S.O." just to rub it in.
Savy and I told the funny story to Mum and Dad.
"You kids should be nice to Teacher Steve," Mum said. "And I think he is definitely younger than your dad or Beta Lucas. He's probably around Flynn and Hank's age."
"What!!!" I exclaimed. Now that was a shocker.
Flynn had tried to talk to Ben's group about their disrespect for Teacher Steve last year. He had heard the boys refer to him as "That Teacher A*******!"
"I know he's kind of long-winded, and straight-laced... and boring... and uncool..." Flynn said (yes, he actually really admitted it out loud). "But you won't find another teacher who would answer your call 24/7, or let you crash at his apartment in Gate City just so you can queue early for concert tickets, or let you stay over to watch football..."
"That's because he's unmated," Tim said.
Flynn paused. "Nevertheless, you shouldn't call your teacher such names. It's disrespectful."
"Why? What's wrong with using his initials?" Lizzy asked innocently.
"What?" Flynn looked confused.
"Steven Olong. S.O.," Ben smirked.
"Oh." Flynn frowned. "... I guess that's okay."
And then Flynn grinned because Teacher Steve was just walking over to meet his class.
"Hi, S.O.," Flynn tried out the nickname.
Teacher Steve looked surprised, and then he smiled. "Morning, Flynn. Sorry, is my class giving you trouble?"
"Oh no, I was just headed to my own class," Flynn said and left. Flynn was teaching Link's group last year.
This year, they gave Teacher S.O. to Angela's group (that's why they were always late for lunch now). They gave Teacher Rose to Ben's group (I'm not sure how that's working out). And Mrs. Beta was given charge of our group. The older teens had Delta Simon. Flynn was taken out of the teaching rotation so he could adjust to his new Delta duties.
Anyway, we were combining classes and using the large conference room on the second floor today. That was new.
"Mum and the other teachers organized games," Lizzy told us while we waited for the teachers to put their finishing touches on their setup. "I think she wants to demonstrate how to teach students to learn through object lessons and also how to handle us."
"Lizzy knows everything," Timothy said.
"So... Are we going to let them handle us?" Jonah asked.
"This is my mum we're talking about, so whatever it is, it has to be worth the grounding when I get home," Ben said.
The truth about Lycan Study Group: In theory, it was supposed to be a platform for nurturing and grounding Lycan youths in Lycan history and culture, for the transfer of wisdom and knowledge, for the discipleship and guidance of young and emerging wolves, etc. In reality, it was a testing ground for everyone. It challenges the teacher's sanity and our creativity.
"Today, we are going to play a quiz game," Mrs. Beta started. "If you noticed, the room has been sectioned off into three smaller stations. You will all pair off. The first team to complete all 6 challenges will win something special."
"You said there were 3 stations. Why are there 6 challenges?" Jonah asked.
"Play and you'll find out," Mrs. Beta said.
"What's the prize?" Tim asked.
"Play and you'll find out," Mrs. Beta said. "But I promise it's something good."
"Something good like free pizza or movie tickets?" Angela asked, because those were the best kind of prizes.
"Something like that," Mrs. Beta promised.
"Come on, it's not the destination, it's the journey," Teacher S.O. tried to redirect our attention.
"Yes, but the destination has to be worth the journey, Teacher S.O.," Angela told him.
Carlie raised her hand. "I get car sick."
"Is this going to have physical challenges included? 'Cause that's not really fair," one of the guys in Angela's group asked. (I think his name was Jay, one of the better ultimate dodgeball attackers.)
"The challenges will test everything," Mrs. Beta said. "You can choose your own partner."
"Errr... Wouldn't the older kids win?" Darlyn asked.
"Except for the omega," Tim had to insert.
"You might be surprised," Mrs. Beta smiled.
I was so going to win this!
"Okay, I want to be on Sam's team," Jonah decided.
"Woah... No, no, no..." Shannon said. "You can't. Neither can Ben."
Ben growled.
"I mean, it won't be fair," Shannon said.
"Okay, Sam is only allowed to pair up with another girl," Angela decided. She grinned. "Like me."
"How dare you!" Carlie gasped.
"That won't be fair either," Lizzy said. "Sam's not only strong. She got full marks for her last theory test."
"She's like another Nolan!" Jay said. "I'm with Nolan, by the way."
Nolan looked confused. "Ah, yeah. Okay, buddy."
"Then I'm with Ben," Jonah decided.
"Wait, no! That's not fair!" Delilah cried out.
"We might as well just give the prize to one of them," Angela said.
"Yeah, let's fight this out," Timothy decided. "Drew, you're with me."
"You think you'd win?" Ben smirked.
"No, Drew is with me," Shannon contested.
"I called dibs first. You can go with the Omega," Tim said.
"I'm not playing if the team-ups are unbalanced," Angela folded her arms.
"Grow up, sissy," Tim scolded. "That's the world we live in. The strongest will always win."
"It's not fair!" Angela stamped her foot. She looked like she was going to have a meltdown.
This would be us being cooperative.
"The winner isn't necessarily the strongest or the smartest," Teacher S.O. hinted strongly.
Ohhh... So the win wasn't based on strength or intelligence. Then it could only be luck. There must be an element of luck involved.
I was so going to win!
I raised my hand. "I'm going to win!"
"Sam has to go with Dean," Tim said to ensure his own chances of winning.
I shrugged. I'd still win.
So we were set: I was with Dean. Jessica went with Angela. Lizzy and Savy, Ben and Jonah, Tim and Drew. Shannon took the opportunity to pair with Darlyn. I guess he figured that if he couldn't win, at least he got to be with Darlyn. Nolan was with Jay, Carlie with Delilah, who kept bemoaning their upcoming loss, and the rest of the guys were with each other.
Teacher S.O., Mrs. Beta, and even Teacher Rose were beaming, so I knew we were playing right into their hands.
Somewhere in this session, these three teachers were about to enlighten us whether we wanted to be enlightened or not.
Or perhaps they realized they'd already won half the battle. By splitting us up and causing us to fight among ourselves for the stronger teammate, they had averted whatever mischief we had meant to plot against them.
Divide and conquer. See, I was being enlightened already.