Connor prepared to head to school. It was a Sunday, but he still had to be there for a few hours to do some classroom prep. The exams were coming and he wanted to update the info boards with notes on example questions.

The walk to school turned out to be anything but peaceful. Connor could feel people giggling as they looked his way. That couldn’t be right could it? There’s no way they recognize him from a random internet video. He tried to dismiss it as nothing more than self-consciousness, but the truth became harder to ignore. People really were staring at him.

He had hoped the oddness would fade as he went, but it followed him instead. Actually, the closer to the school, the worse it got. There were students there, doing some weekend extracurricular activities, and one of them greeted him with unusual enthusiasm. He could have brushed it off as typical teen antics, but it quickly became clear it was tied to the morning’s weirdness when the student squealed and bounced with their friends after his reply.

He was already exhausted, even though he hadn’t so much as entered the classroom yet. As he stepped into the teachers’ lounge for a cup of coffee, a colleague stopped him with a message, the principal was looking for him. He immediately had a bad feeling about it.

When he entering the room the principal greeted him brightly.

“Good morning, Connor! I called you several times, but you never answered.”

“I accidentally left my phone behind. I was a bit out of it this morning... " Connor replied. "Was it urgent?”

The principal seemed his usual self, but it was too soon to relax.

“It’s nothing urgent,” he said. “I just wanted you to know ahead of time. You don’t need come to school tomorrow.”

He smiled as if it were nothing, but Connor couldn’t understand. A day when he didn’t need to come to work? That was unthinkable. Why would he not be needed here? His work here was vital. He taught history.

Even if many students dismissed its value, that did not lessen its importance. To Connor, it was nothing less than the most important task in the world.

“Sir, I’m sorry, but I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t I need to come in?”

“That’s an important question,” the principal said. “You’ve been here four years. You’re one of the best teachers we have. Honestly, my favourite. Which is why it pains me to say this. We can’t keep you on as a teacher any longer.”

“What? Why?”

Connor’s voice rose, sharper than usual. He normally kept a flat, low tone through every lecture, something that had, on occasion, unintentionally lulled some students to sleep. They would be shocked if they could hear him now.

The principal put on an apologetic look, though his poor acting skills made it far from convincing, as he began to explain.

“I’m sorry, but we’ve had too many complaints from parents.”

“About me? Complaints? I haven’t done anything.”

The principal rolled his eyes.

“Well, not exactly something you did. It’s more… about your condition itself.”

Connor’s hands tightened. His condition. He assumed that the man meant his being a werewolf.

“Are you saying a werewolf cannot be a teacher here? That’s discrimination. My identity has never been a problem in all my years of work.”

The principal gestured as if the idea were absurd.

“What? A werewolf? Of course this has nothing to do with that. If it did, you wouldn’t have been hired in the first place. You know what? I actually forgot you were even a werewolf.”

It was an obvious lie. He remembered the mock howling, perfectly well. He worked to control his emotions and just offered him a disbelieving look. The principal waved it off with a flimsy excuse.

“You’re putting me in a difficult spot. I don’t want to hurt you by saying exactly what the parents complained about, but, to put it briefly, you violated the code of conduct expected of a teacher. Personally, I don’t think it’s such a big deal, but the parents disagree.”

Connor couldn’t understand. “What code of conduct are you talking about?”

“Connor… I trust you understand what I mean. Parents don’t like it when a teacher shows up on the internet in an inappropriate way. I personally don’t care, but the parents do, especially the ones who make generous donations.”

Connor thought back to the one thing that had thrown his entire morning into chaos. It was that damned video again. It had to be connected, and yet… he couldn’t be sure how. He hadn’t done anything improper. It wasn’t as if there was some unspoken rule that said teachers must never knit on a beach. When Connor pointed that out, the principal flexed his face, and put on an expression of forced seriousness.

“Too sexy. That’s the problem.”

He completely failed to hold the expression, and suddenly started to laugh, as if he’d just told a funny joke. He repeated it, unable to believe the words coming out of his mouth. Too sexy. What a ridiculous problem. Wasn’t it hilarious?

It wasn’t funny at all. Connor felt insulted. The principal laughed so hard he nearly cried, then wiped his eyes and said, “Ah, the problem is that you’re just too sexy a werewolf. They claim it’s harmful to have you around the students.”

Sexy or not, Connor could see the fact that he was a werewolf was a contributing factor. All that talk about being “too sexy” was just prejudice against male werewolves, twisted into something negative. Before Connor could protest further, the principal spoke again.

“Ahem, yes, it’s nonsense, of course. But in reality, when a teacher receives parental complaints for reasons like this, the school can dismiss them on grounds of professional judgment and being a role model for students. In our case, unfortunately, we have no choice but to let you go.”

Connor argued further, but it was no use. He was dismissed. Connor had lost his job. He had no choice but to return home, completely lost. On the way back, the curious stares around him hadn’t stopped, but his brain was so full that he no longer cared.

Back home, Connor turned on his phone and began job searching. Pop-ups announcing new messages kept flashing at him, a constant irritation. He might have been a bit happier if they were job offers, but no, they were all about that video.

There wasn’t a single posting looking for a history teacher. History teachers had nearly always been in high demand, but apparently not now, when he needed a new job.

Another pop-up appeared. Connor was about to ignore it, but the sender’s name caught his eye, and he opened the message.

[I heard the TV show people sent you an email. Please consider it positively. And if you’ve got any questions, let me know.]

Apollo wasn’t letting this go, he was like a dog with a bone. Connor no longer had much reason to refuse either.

[I don’t have any questions. I think I’m willing to give it a go. I’ll join.]

After much hesitation, Connor sent the reply. He immediately regretted it. The weight of having to appear on a TV show pressed down on him. This was completely against his nature. Then Apollo instantly reacted with a heart, and Connor’s heart lifted.

[I’m so glad you’re joining. If you hadn’t, a werewolf from another wolf pack would have come. I really didn’t want to be stuck with them. They are idiots.]

Connor didn’t know much about the other wolf packs, so he had nothing to say. He simply typed, ‘I see.’

After a moment’s hesitation, he added, ‘I’m glad I get to be with you too,’ and sent it.

Soon enough, he replied to the email he had received that morning, confirming that he would appear on the show. The contract arrived in only a few minutes.

Reading through it, Connor considered most of it to be fine. A few things did stick out though. One clause stated that participants had to be single, and if it was revealed that they had lied about it, they would be penalised with a fine. Another clause declared that ‘monsters’ could not date other ‘monsters’ during the show.

These seemed like weirdly specific rules. Still, Connor was single, and he figured that if anything happened between him and Apollo during the two weeks of filming, they would only really be dating after it had all wrapped. He dismissed it without much concern.

After sending back the signed contract, Connor opened his chat with Apollo again. At some point, Apollo had already reacted with another heart to Connor’s last message. Connor sent a reply:

[All signed. I’ll see you on the day the show starts!]

Connor began to feel more and more that he had made the right decision. That is until the next morning. On receiving a follow up message from the production company, Connor started regretting it all over again. The subject line read:

‘Welcome to Monster Dating Show!’

Connor reread that line three times before he was sure he hadn’t misread it, and then, with a sinking feeling, opened the email. They repeated again how happy they were to welcome him to the Monster Dating Show, followed by a reiteration of all the rules.

He buried his face in his hands. “Oh, no.”

The contract he had signed yesterday had only referred to TMDS (working title). In hindsight, of course it was never going to be a knitting show. Of course, they had to be single if it was a dating show. Had Apollo mentioned it was a dating show? Connor wasn’t sure. He remembered asking if all he had to do was knit.

He muttered to himself, “Cancel it. Maybe if I do it now, I won’t have to pay a penalty.”

It wasn’t as simple as that though. There was Apollo to consider… What was he supposed to tell him? Apollo had seemed genuinely happy that Connor was joining. More than that, this was the first real chance Connor had to get closer to him.

Clutching his head in frustration, Connor spiraled into a mess of thoughts before finally giving up. He would stick with the plan and go on the show. When he thought about it, maybe being on a dating show wasn’t the worst thing. What was the worst-case scenario for a contestant? Not being picked by anyone and walking off alone? Honestly, that was exactly what Connor wanted, so maybe it wouldn’t be so bad.