Class of Oddities

After School – The Café

"Wulf?" A voice called out.

"W-Wulf...?" The voice repeated.

Wulf slowly opened his eyes. Upon opening them, he was greeted by the other human teacher he had spoken to earlier in the day hovering over him.

Wulf jolted up in alarm.

"Oh!" The woman cried.

"I'm sorry if I scared you...!" She said.

"W-what time is it?" Wulf asked, rubbing his eyes.

"Five o'clock." The woman smiled.

"By the way..." Wulf began, sitting up.

"I apologize, but I didn't quite catch your name earlier," he said.

"Ah!" The woman smiled.

"My name is Caitlin!" She beamed.

"Caitlin..." Wulf repeated.

"Well, Caitlin, I appreciate the wake-up call." He smiled.

"Anytime!" Caitlin giggled.

"Say, if you have nothing better to do," Caitlin began.

"There's a really nice café down the road if you maybe wanted to grab a bite to eat...?" She asked curiously.

"Well, that doesn't sound too bad," Wulf said with a smile.

*

As they arrived at the café, Wulf plopped down in a booth.

"Thanks for this; I was pretty hungry." He chuckled.

"You mean you were hungry even in your sleep?" Caitlin asked.

"Wow, that's pretty impressive!" She giggled.

Wulf smiled sheepishly.

"What can I say? I'm a growing boy." He grinned.

Caitlin laughed.

*

Peeking her head out from the kitchen was Olivia.

Of all the restaurants you could have chosen...! She thought to herself.

"Olivia, honey, is everything okay?" A woman called out.

Olivia jumped.

"Y-yes, mother...!" She cried.

"Can you do me a favor and go check on the customer's sweetie?"

"B-but mom...!" Olivia stammered.

"Socialize!" Her mother scolded.

"A-ah..." Olivia whimpered, once again peeking her head out.

*

As she slowly approached the booth where Wulf and Caitlin were chatting and laughing, her knees began to buckle.

Maybe he won't recognize me...! She reassured herself.

"E-excuse me..." She whispered.

Wulf and Caitlin quickly looked up.

"C-can I get either of you anything else...?"

"Oh, hey, Olivia!" Wulf beamed.

Crap...!

"H-hello Mr. Wulf..." She blushed, looking down steadily.

"You work here?" He laughed.

"N-no, that's against the law since I'm only thirteen," she began.

"M-my family owns this place..." She whispered.

"I see." He smiled.

"Looks like I'll have to come here more often!" He smiled.

No! She thought.

"T-thank you...!" Olivia stammered, bowing her head.

She then quickly shuffled away.

"Know her?" Caitlin asked.

"She's my student!" Wulf smiled proudly.

"How lovely!" Caitlin beamed.

"She seems like a good kid." She smiled.

"Mm…" Wulf nodded, taking a forkful of his meal.

"How are your students?" He asked.

"A bit rowdy, but they're great kids!" Caitlin said.

"Listen, Wulf," she began, her tone shifting to a more serious one.

Wulf quickly looked up with a mouthful of mashed potatoes. He quickly swallowed.

"Y-yes?" He asked.

"I've been teaching at this school for three years, and I just want you to know..." She frowned.

"The way Rouge treated you earlier is the same way she treated me at first," she said.

"Unfortunately, we humans have a bad rep at this school due to those who quit while teaching your class." She sighed.

"But!" She continued.

"The minute I saw you, I felt something different; something that I can't quite put into words..." She bit her lip.

Wulf looked down.

"Passion!" She cried.

"That's the word!" She shouted, banging her fists on the table.

"A-ah...!" Wulf blushed.

"C-Caitlin people are staring..." He whispered.

"Eh?!" Her face quickly turned red.

"S-sorry...!" She said, embarrassed.

"Anyway," Wulf began, clearing his throat.

"Rest assured, your speculations will prove to be true," he smirked.

"I'll prove to everyone that these girls are worth the headaches, the frustration, everything..." He narrowed his eyes.

"I may not know the full details, nor do I care, but what I do know..." He closed his eyes, smiling.

"They're going to make it to graduation, every one of them!" He exclaimed.

Caitlin's eyes widened.

A smile slowly spread across her face.

"I'll hold you to it, Mr. Wulf..." She whispered as tears filled her eyes.