“Have you got all your books?”

“Yes, Dad.”

“What about your pencil-case?”

“I’ve got it, Dad.”

“Timetable?”

“I’ve got it memorised and it’s in my pencil-case as well.”

“Your mobile?”

“I’ve got it.”

“What about…”

“Leave the kid alone, Jeremy. He’s fine.” Tomlin’s mum interrupted his dad’s frantic questioning. Tomlin’s dad was a real worrier. He always double and triple checked things, he had lists, and ticked things off them. Tomlin learned to do the same, just so that he could reassure his dad. And save some time. If he couldn’t give his dad an answer of whether he did have all these things and where exactly they were, he would be made to go and check, and that would take aaaaaaages. Tomlin made sure he was facing away from his parents as he rolled his eyes. His parents were saying their morning goodbyes, kissing or doing some other silly adult things, and Tomlin was waiting impatiently before the front door. It was first day of school today and he couldn’t wait to meet with his friend Eli again. They hadn’t seen each other in for ever! Tomlin had gone to visit his grandparents for a couple weeks and before that Eli was on holiday with his family.

“All good to go?” Tomlin’s dad asked as he came towards the door, having finished talking to his mum. Tomlin nodded.

“Have a great day at school, love.” Tomlin’s mum, Sara, said as she waved at him and headed back to the kitchen. His mum was an IT specialist and some days, like today, she worked from home. Tom’s dad would take him to school on those occasions. It wasn’t that far from his dad’s job. He was a solicitor. His company was located in the bigger town near Fulsham, so he would drop Tom off on his way to work.

“See you later, Mum.” Tomlin waved back at her as he followed his dad to the car. They settled in the front, his dad turning on the radio.

“So, what lessons have you got today?” Tomlin’s father asked, pulling out of the driveway. Tom gave it some thought.

“I’ve got English with Mr Speister, then Music, Maths with Miss Meyer, DT, Drama, Spanish and finally Tutor Group,” he listed them all out from memory.

“Oh, Mr. Speister? Isn’t he that teacher you really like? The one you were hoping to have again this year?” Tom’s dad asked.

“Yes. They were reshuffling the groups some after Miss Heading left at the end of last year so I wasn’t sure whether he would be teaching me again. I’m really happy that he is though!” They chatted more about Mr Speister and his other teachers on the way to school. He knew most of them as it was his second year in the secondary school and there hadn’t been many changes amongst the teachers. The time passed quickly and soon they were pulling to the drop off section in front of the school. Just before Tomlin was about to open the door his dad seemed to remember something.

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“Oh, right! Remember when I told you about the Alpha’s nephew, Son?”

“What? The human one, who didn’t turn into the werewolf?” Tomlin was a bit confused about why his dad was mentioning the kid.

“Yes, him.” Tom’s dad had an unusually serious look in his eye. “He’s your age and might be in some of your classes. Would you mind keeping an eye out for him?”

“What do you mean” Tomlin was even more confused now. His father’s serious expression didn’t lighten in the slightest. This was his work face. The one he had whenever he was discussing solicitor business.

“Like you said, he is human. His transformation into a werewolf failed. That is very strange. Unheard of. It might have some people scared of him. Those people might have mentioned some things around their children. And now these children might fear him. So…” Tom’s dad paused as if unsure how to continue.

“Oh, you’re worried he might get bullied?!” Tomlin realised. “Yeah, OK. I can introduce myself to him and maybe show him around the school. I’ll make sure that there is no bullying. The school has a strict no bullying policy anyway and we have anti-bullying student-mentors.” He told his dad, proud of the program. “I signed up for it, but I didn’t get chosen, only a few students from each year group got to become a mentor.” He gathered his backpack and opened the door. “What’s the kid’s name again? Is it the same as the Alpha’s?”

“No.” His dad’s frowny expression turned into a strange, soft one Tomlin didn’t recognise, but it soon disappeared as well, and his dad smiled at him before he answered. “It’s Robin Blackwell, he is the Alpha’s late sister’s son.”

“Ah, got it. Gotta run, now, Dad, or I’ll be late. See you later!” He vaguely heard his dad wishing him a good day over the sound of the door slamming door, but Tom was too busy rushing towards school to be paying it any attention. He wondered where he could find Eli at this time of the morning.

*****

Tomlin decided he liked Robin Blackwell. The boy was nice, very polite, and friendly. He was curious about everything supernatural, but Tomlin supposed he was equally curious about the human world. They found they had most of their classes together, and they even managed to sit together most of the time. Both of them and Eli were also in the same Tutor group which was even better! Robin liked Mr Speister as much as Tomlin did and he was as much into reading as Tomlin was. They liked slightly different types of books, but they did find they did share some of the same favourite classics.

“See you guys tomorrow!” Robin waved at them as he headed towards a car that Tomlin recognised as belonging to Alpha Foster. Tom’s dad and the Alpha were friends, so Tomlin did meet him every now and then.

“Yeah, meet you in front of school ten past eight!” Eli shouted and waved his hand in the air madly, until Robin jumped into the car, and it drove off. “He’s cool, right?! I really like him! I never knew humans could be so cool!” Eli shot out with his usual speed. “Do you think he’ll want to hang around with us? We’re not werewolves and his uncle is the werewolf Alpha. What if Robin prefers werewolves?” Eli frowned.

“I’m sure he likes us just fine. He seemed happy enough hanging out with us today.” Tomlin reassured his friends. “Oh, look, seems your mum’s here to pick you up.” He pointed to a silver car pulling up nearby. Eli perked up and grinned.

“Oh, yeah, you’re right. I’ll see ya later, then!” He waved at Tomlin and shot off in his usual speedy manner. Tom only chuckled. Eli’s brain was quick to come up with worries but just as quick to discard them. It didn’t take much to reassure him. Just a few minutes later his own lift showed up. Unlike his best friend, Tomlin approached his mum’s car at a walking speed. He chucked his backpack in the boot and jumped in the front seat.

“Hi, Love, how was school?” his mum asked as she pulled out and started driving home. Quite happily Tomlin told her all about it.