Virginia arrived early at the High School before any of the bells started, and while there had been some small rumors floating around the school the previous day, and would likely continue to grow about something "big," Virginia's mind was presently focused on one thing. The wedding on Saturday morning with Harold Jenkins at 10:30 AM, or at least that's when everyone was to be at the courthouse. It was something she was very eager for. After opening up her classroom door and setting her things down on her desk, she made her way to the High School's main office. She entered to find the secretaries going about their business to start the day and one was even brewing coffee. It smelled wonderful, but Virginia knew she couldn't have that in the classroom.
"Is there something you need, Ms. McCoy?" one of the secretaries spoke, looking up to see Virginia just coming in through the school's main doorway.
"I would need to talk with Principal Andrews about something before the day gets started, is he in?" Virginia asked politely.
Technically it was something that could wait, and Virginia also knew that Moon Lake High's Principal, Ian Andrews, often had a lot on his plate when it came to running the high school and its day to day activities, but Virginia's happiness at finding love with Harold Jenkins and that he bore her no ill will over how he entered were society wasn't something she could easily hide. She did her best to look professional, but with so many of the various pieces for the wedding coming together and the fact that Ian had already been invited to the wedding, Virginia wanted to let him know on what the plan and the timing was as quickly as possible.
"I believe he came in a minute or two ago," the secretary answered, "is this a disciplinary thing? Something that would go beyond just your role as a teacher?"
Virginia was quick to move toward the hallway within the high school's office area that would lead to where Principal Andrews' office was. She gave a small smile to the secretaries as she maneuvered around the desk that had been set up for them to work at. They looked back to her with a slight look of puzzlement but didn't actually move from their seats. Virginia mentally relax at that and couldn't hide her smile for the moment.
"No, this is just something personal I'd want to get out of the way before the day starts," Virginia explained, "I shouldn't be too long."
The path down that hallway wasn't long and Virginia moved calmly enough to notice some slight puttering going on inside the office as she reached it. She calmly readied herself and then reached forward and knocked on the door. It wasn't long before the principal, Ian Andrews opened the door and flashed a friendly smile to Virginia. Granted there was the general rivalry between werelions and weretigers as their members often had their contests over who represented the "king of beasts" and all that, but for the most part that was limited to wrestling matches and other such events that were organized for both to have the rivalry without it leading to open fighting. And even with that rivalry, there were plenty that didn't get to into it at all, and Ian Andrews was among them and always did his best to be fair when working with other members of the school's staff and so on. It was actually something that made him friends with many of the teachers, including Virginia.
"Good morning, Ms. McCoy... is there something I can do for you?" Principal Andrews spoke calmly.
"Not really..." Virginia answered, "this is more a heads up sort of thing... You remember Professor Jenkins and I telling you about our engagement?"
"At the Halloween Dance, yes," Principal Andrews nodded with a smile and opened the door fully to let Virginia into his office, "One of the good things that came out of that mess that Decrux caused... and thankfully the end consequences weren't too bad and no Statute 1A violations..."
He calmly walked around his desk, as Virginia remembered back to the whole incident at the dance. Virginia knew that she had gotten lucky and that the school wouldn't likely take too much flak given the statements given on how she and Harold had tried to keep the tainted punch from being consumed and that it was only series of freak circumstances that lead to it coming back. There might be some guideline changes for the future, but that wouldn't be too much trouble and the biggest thing was that there weren't that many unplanned normal human to were transformations. And on the personal side, Virginia was glad that her soon to be stepdaughter got to be the were of her choice and was happy.
"Anyway, you'd said then that this wedding was to be on Saturday?" Principal Andrews asked.
"Yes," Virginia nodded, "Saturday morning at the courthouse... at 10:30 AM. It'd be quick and simple... but it's something that Harold and I both want..."
"And he's happy as a weretiger?" Principal Andrews asked, mostly to make sure.
"Yes," Virginia nodded, "and that's made me happy too."
"And I wouldn't miss it for the world," Principal Andrews answered, "and hopefully you and Mr. Jenkins have a long and happy future together. I'll see you then... aside from the school functions through the week, of course."
"That would be professional though," Virginia chuckled as she stood up and glanced to a clock on the wall and noted that it wouldn't be too long before the first bell rang and students would be moving to their first class of the day, "and speaking of which... letting you know exactly when and where the wedding was all I had. And now, I'd best be back to my room and make sure no one is running amok."
"Come now, they're high school students," Principal Andrews gave a small laugh, "they are a bit more mature than we given them credit for..."
Virginia shared the chuckle and nodded as she made her way out as the first warning bell rang. She made her way out into the all to see Melissa briefly conversing with another student in the hall. She waved to Melissa, who had turned as the bell rang again and Virginia couldn't do much more than make her way to her own classroom...
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Melissa, meanwhile, didn't notice Virginia at the moment as she was still "processing" the start of what Rachel had told her. It sounded like it would lead to something, and something big, but she couldn't be quite sure what. There had been something in Rachel's voice that sounded relieved and worried all at the same time which made Melissa even more curious. Partially over some of the stuff that Rachel had worried over regarding her father, though so far, Melissa couldn't know what that situation was exactly. Hopefully the Van Direstags were adapting more to Moon Lake and that Rachel could go through with what research she had for her "choice" of were. As for what Rachel had begun to say... Melissa figured she'd have to wait until her study hall which was when she and Rachel could talk again... along with the others in the group of friends Melissa had made at Moon Lake. In theory that could also wait until lunch, but Melissa was certain that Rachel was supposed to meet with a werebear representative at lunch, so she left her curiosity for study hall... particularly when she had her own first period to get to.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The object of Virginia's affection, meanwhile, was making his way up the steps to Dean Myers' office in the college administration building. Things were quieter today than the previous day in which he had come to ask the College Dean to be a guest at his wedding to ask if he'd be willing to attend the wedding. Of course, remembering his own initial unease with Moon Lake's Mandatory Were Law, Harold could understand Richard Van Direstag's frustration. With weres being left to stories, and stories that often didn't portray them as much more than monsters, suddenly learning that weres were real and that the city required at least one member of every new family to join were society was something that would rub people the wrong way.
But Harold also remembered how things had been for him after he became a were and how he had been holding himself back, in a way. He could see know that he had been falling for Virginia McCoy, not because she was a were and was interested in flaunting it, but because she had the sort of personality that Harold was attracted to. In some ways, Virginia was very different from Melissa's mother, Eliza Jenkins, but in other ways they were very similar and in its own way, the combination of things that Harold liked that was new and old made Virginia more his choice, particularly when compared to Alice Decrux. All of that was happening before the fight that had saw him accidentally get clawed and lead to where he was now as a male weretiger. And after Virginia was freed from any suspicion for a Statute 1A violation, Harold was happy and had no desire to be a normal human again, even if he could. That was something where being a were was that good.
Getting the time to get to know Virginia had essentially allowed for that change in him. He hoped that what he'd been able to share with Richard Van Direstag made the other man understand that while Moon Lake could stand to change its laws or how it enforced them, that didn't make weres the bad guys or their fears without some degree of merit. He hoped that would be enough for Richard Van Direstag to give himself and his family the time to learn and adapt to Moon Lake and see more of what it had to offer than just at what the city demanded. It would probably surprise them... but for the moment, Harold's mission was more on completing his part in making sure that his wedding would have all its guests and that things could go as planned.
"You're here again, Professor Jenkins?" Dean Myers secretary asked as he came into the area just outside the door to the dean's office.
"Yes," Harold said slowly, "with more details... and the promise not to take up too much of the dean's time."
And with that, Harold then went over to one of the side chairs and sat down with the expectation of waiting for a few moments before being able to inform the college dean on when the wedding between him and Virginia would would exactly would be. Part of it was the fact that he would need legal witnesses and while his daughter and her boyfriend would be guests at the wedding, the necessary witnesses had to be legal witnesses. And outside of Virginia and Dean Myers, Harold hadn't yet met enough weres that could be close enough to be "friends" to come to the wedding with Virginia. He had some sympathy from the various officers that he'd met with regard to the investigation and interestingly enough Megan Decrux didn't seem too bad, but that was different. That was something that left him hopeful for when the next weretiger meeting came up and even more when the first staff meetings for the Spring semester would be. But for now, the biggest event on his calendar was the wedding with Virginia, and Harold was most eager for that. After a few moments, the door to Dean Myers' office opened and the college's dean came into view.
"Come on in, Professor Jenkins," Dean Myers spoke calmly and with a small smile, "this is again outside what would be normal... but some things have been a bit outside of "normal" so I'm more than willing to overlook that."
"Thank you, sir," Harold answered and followed the other weretiger into his office, "and I assure you this won't take long... in fact I'll only need one sentence."
The other man gave a rather friendly laugh as he shut his office door and then approached Harold, "well, I won't hold you to that."
"I'm sure... but you must be busy with other things," Harold answered, "anyway... I have been able to get things finalized with the timing for the wedding with Ms. McCoy... Virginia."
The two men nodded and Dean Myers then extended a hand to give Harold the room to then give the full explanation. As the invitation to the wedding had been what Harold had visited for the previous day, and that had been something the Dean had been happy to accept. Generally, Dean Myers was friendly with the staff that served the college, particularly those that were professors there. It lead to him being protective of them at times and particularly with new professors and those that were normal humans when they came to the college. It was something that kept him relatively close to men like William Anderson and Harold Jenkins, as while both had become different weres, with Anderson now a werefox and Jenkins a fellow weretiger. But both were new to Moon Lake and came in as normal humans and were at least uneasy with things and that made Dean Myers most concerned with helping them get used to things that related to Moon Lake and what they'd need to adapt to. That had made him relatively sensitive to the things that had gone on around both professors for the moment.
"Go ahead," Dean Myers said with a wave of his hand.
"Anyway," Harold continued, "the wedding won't be big or anything... just before a local judge at court this coming Saturday. And I was able to get the exact time... ten thirty AM on Saturday between Virginia McCoy and myself."
"And I'll be happy to be there," Dean Myers answered,"I might bring my family along, but I will be happy to be there. You said 10:30?"
"Yes," Harold nodded.
"Then I'll see you and Virginia then," Dean Myers finished, "and congratulations."