“Braun? Could you—”
I could see why he kept saying smart men were sexy…he’d already reached for Emeric and had them take several steps back.
“Thank you.” I wasn’t sure what else I should’ve said in the moment but I didn’t get the chance to figure it out before Principal Reed came charging out.
Very confidently.
Until he saw Braun and squeaked.
Not mouse shifter squeak but a clearly startled sound.
Ugh.
The pressure changes around him when he panicked were always tough.
Opening my mouth wide, I popped my ears and did my best not to shake my head like Braun had in his shifted form.
“Good morning, Principal Reed. I have a special situation to discuss with you.” Like Emeric being in danger and needing to be educated and being in a half-dozen different grade levels in his online classes and being slightly younger than the rest of the freshman.
Homeschooling could be done very well, but it was going to make placing him in the right grade very difficult.
As he did the open mouth-close mouth routine as well, Braun held very still and spoke quietly. “Hello, Mr. Reed. We need to discuss a new student.”
Well, the tail that popped out when he was nervous stayed hidden but his entire body vibrated for a few moments before it settled back into looking solidly human again. “Yes.”
Standing straighter, he glanced between us and then blinked a few times. “We’ll get the situation figured out.”
That didn’t seem to mean actually going anywhere, though. Wait patiently while he processed and distracting Emeric seemed like the best plan, so I focused on the wiggly pup. “Once we’re done here, I’ll show you around before Braun takes you home.”
Nearly bouncing with excitement, he charged right into the conversation. “And then I’ll work on your office while…”
His voice trailed off as he glanced up at Braun who nodded. “While Alpha gets work done. I’m going to get a lot organized for you. Don’t worry.”
That was almost frightening but I nodded and didn’t let it show. “Thank you. Just take notes of anything we need to discuss tonight when I get home.”
Oh.
I turned back to Mrs. Pierce who was still staring at us with her mouth open. “I need to update my address in the school system. Can you help me with that or do I need to do that online?”
Well, her mouth closed at least.
Deciding to come back to that one since their system was so backward I might have to actually mail in a change of address form, I turned back to the principal who seemed to have collected himself as he stared at Braun. “What is he?”
Who?
Principal Reed’s question didn’t make any sense to me but Braun shrugged. “Human as far as he knows. Which was kind of why I was surprised when he said he was a math teacher here.”
Oh.
Me.
Swallowing hard, my nervous principal stood straighter. “He went around two ghosts during his initial interview and didn’t react at all to young Mr. Atley when he walked past us.”
Oh, could I ask why that young man looked almost human but almost like an alien-robot thing?
He was easily startled too and would flash into something gray and androgenous looking before quickly shifting back to almost human again. It wasn’t hard to ignore, but I’d never seen anything like it and the internet hadn’t been particularly helpful.
Unsurprisingly, searching “startled gray blob” hadn’t gotten me any useful results.
