Nate honestly wasn't sure on that answer. He'd done reasonably well in school, not as good as Eric but not necessarily bad grades either, but for the most part nothing had really struck him as something do with his future. A real part of him figured he'd be able to make that decision by the time he got to college. In pure theory he could do that, but it was still something that would be rather critical for him now with becoming a werewolf adding potentially centuries to his lifespan. He'd been a great fan of the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA, and a part of him had mused over the idea of being their mascot, but much of that was only made in good humor and wasn't truly serious. Nate figured it'd be ironically funny if a team that had a wolf as its "nickname" having an actual werewolf as its mascot.
"Honestly," Nate found his voice after a few moments, "I really don't know. I figured I'd be able to find out what to do when I get to college or would figure that out while in college..."
"Well," Mrs. Johnson said slowly, "that IS possible, but it could potentially lengthen your time in college and raise the financial cost of college for you and your family. The world is changing and many of the basic requirements for positions are rising higher and higher."
Nate nodded in agreement to that. He might not fully know what he wanted to do, but he did know that the world was changing around him.
"Do you have any great interests that you're good at?" Mrs. Johnson asked.
"Well... growing up... I'd actually always had an interest in werewolves and that sort of thing," Nate answered, "the whole myth and legend and simply the ability to change from one form to another. I collected a decent collection of werewolf movies while my family was in Minnesota. Coming to Moon Lake and finding out that were-beasts were real and I could be one... it's sorta been a dream come true in that regard. Though I'm not sure that really leads to anything career-wise."
Mrs. Johnson followed him with her eyes and quietly nodded as Nate gave his answer. Though when he finished she gave a half smile.
"So... you must really be enjoying yourself since your welcome into were society," Mrs. Johnson mused, "Good for you."
"As I said," Nate said sheepishly and scratching the back of his head, "it's like a dream come true... or a fantasy made real. In many ways, it's actually better than I'd ever imagined it."
"Better than you imagined?" Mrs. Johnson asked.
"You know... like when a little kid pretends to be something," Nate answered, "that's sorta the way I looked at werewolves and being one when I was a normal. It lead me into enjoying the movies and any story or book that involved them."
Mrs. Johnson nodded while Alex stood by, mentally taking notes on Nate's answers.
"Have you ever thought on writing your own stories?" Mrs. Johnson asked.
"What... me?" Nate asked, "write stories about werewolves... wouldn't... wouldn't that be telling the secret? Expose myself or expose Moon Lake?"
"On a technical level, but since normal society has gained so much in the way of science and technology, the superstitions that made them believe in and fear were-beasts so much in the past have died away," Mrs. Johnson answered, "In many cases, most normals don't see us as anything more than old folklore tales to more modern science fiction/fantasy/horror stories. If you write stories about werewolves... be it your own life or a made up werewolf, so long as it's told as a story... you could probably hide in plain sight and NEVER have a problem."
Nate blinked a little at that. His best grades in Middle School and in High School had always been with regard to creative writing, though most of the stories and ideas that he'd written on outside of Moon Lake had been about him becoming a werewolf. Some of his teachers in Minnesota had talked to his parents at conferences that Nate's skills were there but his single interest wasn't that creative, which to Nate seemed like the teacher didn't like werewolves.
"And I could succeed with that?" Nate wondered, "People would like it?"
"They could," Mrs. Johnson nodded, "now... stories about werewolves aren't necessarily going to be best sellers, but they do attract attention and some weres do like them, from the old folklore, which could even include "Little Red Riding Hood" to the more modern tales, ranging from movie depictions in movies like "the Howling" to..."
Nate watched as the werecougar (pumas, mountain lions, and cougars are all the same species, just with a different name) shuddered before finishing.
"...Twilight," Mrs. Johnson finished.
"That was predominantly a vampire series," Nate answered, "written for teenage girls without enough drama in their lives. I was never into that."
Mrs. Johnson nodded, and Nate thought he heard her breathe a sigh of relief to that before she answered, "Well... that doesn't mean that ways of telling such stories don't have some interest... In fact Trevor Gold, a werepanther... or wereleopard, depending on which name you prefer for their exact were species... wrote a whole series of science fiction books that were loosely based on Moon Lake. So it isn't as though no one enjoys stories about were-beasts or related creatures."
"Interesting," Nate said slowly.
"Yes," Mrs. Johnson nodded, "and in a sense a literary career could allow for a more generalist education to learn as much as you can on a broad spectrum... though it might still be a good idea to take plenty of courses in English, be it in grammar for understanding sentence structure and so on, as well as with literature for ideas and understanding what others have written stories on..."
Nate slowly nodded.
"And we do have a good English program here," Mrs. Johnson spoke, "not necessarily the best in country... but still good. We recently hired a new professor who's focused on English literature and specifically on Shakespeare and the literature of the "Elizabethan Era" as I was told..."
"That's my father," Nate commented, "the new professor."
"Then I'm he'd love to have you in his classes," Mrs. Johnson replied.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Meanwhile, William Anderson was finishing over his first period of the day. The class had done well though he had made his way through the day's discussion and assignments somewhat shakily, mostly as wondering over what would happen with regard to his youngest son. The love he had for Julie Stovall was obvious, and if the two remained in a long term relationship Eric would have to become a were and would likely become a weremer anyway. A part of him even mentally chuckled over things on how he, Martha, and Eric had rejected wanting to be weres when they first moved to Moon Lake. Nate had been the only Anderson interested in weres and being one.
Yet, William had become, and loved being, a werefox and Martha was enjoying a similar change in herself from normal to werecat. Now, it was likely that his youngest son was going join were society as well. A part of him sincerely wished that Eric could wait, but he also felt that if Eric went through with it for love that at least his first time... both sexually speaking and transformation into a were wouldn't be too bad. William figured that he and Martha could talk with Eric and Julie about those things later if they found Eric's scent to be different before the Skulk ceremony.
"Troubles, Mr. Anderson?" came a soft voice from across from his main desk/counter area that marked the front area of his classroom.
William looked up to find Jenny and Harry standing quietly across from him.
"Ms. Harper..." William said slowly, "Jenny..."
"You kinda stumbled through things today," Jenny spoke, "Just wanted to make sure you were okay."
"I'm fine," William said slowly, "just some things that I've had on my mind... Nothing wrong, but not something easily put aside."
William watched as the two young werefoxes looked and shrugged to each other. After that, both of them looked up again.
"You will be at the Skulk meeting tonight?" Harry asked.
William nodded, "Of course... it'll be an interesting experience as my wife and I continue to integrate into Moon Lake."
Both of them nodded.
"You're sure you're alright?" Jenny asked.
"Yeah... just worried a little bit over some family things," William answered, "but as I said, it's nothing bad."
"Okay..." Jenny said slowly, "If you need any help... Harry and I can..."
"No, we'll be fine, thank you," William replied. "I'll see you at the ceremony... and you can meet Martha and discuss over what we talked about the other day."
Jenny nodded as she remembered William's offer that if her parents did reject her, that he and his wife would be more than willing to take on the role of a surrogate family, should she need it. A part of her was genuinely interested in the idea, but she wanted to put some effort into finding a way that her folks would accept Harry and her choices. In fact her appointment with Frances later that morning was to begin going over some of the strategies to convince her parents that her decisions were her own, and that that was a good thing. As she and Harry departed, they both waved to William and left the classroom.
William waved back as they left, and while he had a break between classes, moved to check his cellphone to see if Akane had responded to the call he had made earlier in the day. He had it on a setting that would send any incoming call straight to voicemail so that way it wouldn't interrupt class. As William checked it, he did indeed find a response to his earlier call. With that, he moved to access the voicemail and crossed his fingers.