Gentle breezes flow in through the cracked window, and the curtains nearby flow freely in response, with the sun taking the opportunity to shine directly on William's back. 

He briefly thought that if he were sitting properly, it would be in his green eyes. Casting a blinding light down his brown skin.

However, instead of doing so, he is drowsy and half asleep, slouched over his desk with his arms crossed around his head like a makeshift pillow. His Dark brown and fluffy ears poking the threads of his sweater softly. 

"Yawn." He yawns to himself, but it seems the teacher's heard him. "Is my lesson boring, Carver?" The teacher scolds him lightly, but William just smiles with his teeth. "No, it isn't, sorry, teacher." He puts down his pillow fort hands and instead lays them flat on one another to lay his chin on them. 

His teacher scoffs as if amused and returns to the lesson, William's eyes closing as soon as she turns around. He can usually get away with dozing off a couple of times, and if she caught him again, he wouldn't know since he awoke to the lunch bell, a brash ringing through the classroom. The teacher is reminding them about something he's still too groggy to hear, most likely to find out tomorrow anyway. 

"Guess it's lunch time," He spoke to himself quietly as he rubbed his eyes, grabbed his jacket, and wandered off to the cafeteria with his tail swaying in tow. The fluffy appendage usually had a mind of its own.

He approaches a table with a Ginger, Black, and Black-grey haired group of two Wolves and a wolfdog and sits down. His tray clangs slightly as he does so, alerting them to his presence. 

"Oh hey, we were just talking about Mr. Holt's science project." Noah started, her hazel eyes lighting up when she saw him. 

"It's messed up that we not only have to make a 30-page explanation of our scientific reasoning behind our experiment, but we also have to make whatever we experiment about "Unique", whatever that means..." Noah huffs, plopping over the table dramatically, careful to avoid everyone's trays with her outstretched arms. Her Ginger ponytail flitting in the air, her bangs sprawling out with her. 

"He means extreme, in either temperature or species dissected. You could try observing a rare species." Oakley supplied, pushing her arms away from his steak, drizzled with expensive sauce, his muted grey-blue eyes eyeing it. 

Noah stares at him for a moment before she speaks. "How did you know that? I would have never figured that out." She lets out a small, open-mouthed laugh, the corners of her mouth pulled up to smile. Oakley just chuckles and cuts up his steak. "I didn't do much, it was on his whiteboard in class, I'm more surprised you didn't see it." 

His grey-black ears perk up to tease her. Will turns away for a moment to cut up his own steak, pondering how big a budget the school has to shuffle them out for every student. Distantly remembering that time, the cafeteria had a buffet installed. It was a field day for everyone involved.

Eveline chimed in, capturing Will's attention. "What are you thinking of doing for Mr. Holt's assignment, Will?" She asked, tilting her head inquisitively, her black hair shifted at the movement. 

Her mostly impassive face leaned curiously for a moment, her dark blue eyes looking at him with a sort of fondness. "I'm thinking of doing an experiment based on the effects colored light has on plant growth." He looked back at her, finishing his tray and sliding it forward a little. 

"I can help you find every light bulb color for the rainbow, if you want." Eve offers, scooting closer to him. 

"Oh yeah, it does need to be extreme, doesn't it? Why not add indigo and violet then?" He huffs out a small laugh at the thought, the air leaving his nose as he giggles, sliding his hands into his jacket’s pockets. 

"Sure, let's go another day, though, I have another shift after school." On that topic, he yawns, his arms crossed over each other as he leans on the table. "Are you getting enough sleep?" Oakley questions him, a worried look on his face. 

"Nope, but don't worry about it, Oaktree." He smiles, his canines flashing, and his eyes closed. Will seems to drift off briefly, only to wake up at the bell for classes. His eyes are blurry, and his mouth is dry as he sits up and stretches, his tail following suit as his ears shift minutely. 

Everyone stands up to go to class, with Will following after Eve, feeling slightly more energized than he was before. The rest of the day is sluggish until they're on their way back home, the bus ride bumpy but soothing as his head falls to Eve’s shoulder unintentionally. Eveline herself finds no fault in the action, lets it happen as she stares out the window.

On the day's Oakley and Noah take the bus, they play Uno, and sometimes they hang out at the park and look at the stars. However, with Will having to go to work today, they don't do that, instead going home after chatting for a bit on the way. 

Returning to their appartment Will and Eve are home, each going to their own rooms after taking off their shoes and jackets at the door, likely studying before leaving their respective dens for dinner. Around the time they usually have food, he hears a knock on his door, quiet and soft. 

"Hey, I made broccoli and cheddar rice, let's eat together." Will immediately whoops in excitement and light surprise that his favorite dish was made. He doesn't know what it is, but broccoli and cheddar rice with steak reminds him of his grandma's cooking. The cheesy vegetable combo reminded him of fuzzy and cozy memories.

"Thanks, Eve." He thanks her, getting up from his desk to follow her into the kitchen. 

Sitting down again, Eve slides a plate over to him, the food steaming still. "Be careful, it's hot." She warns him lightly, sitting down across from him, with her own.

"Is it good?" she asks him after they take a couple of bites. "Yes, the seasonings are perfect today, you're getting good at cooking, Eve." Will complements her, appreciating how hard she tries to be normal and cook her own food.

 "If someone told me you burned the pan before, I wouldn't believe them." She chuckles at that, her face giving him an almost incredulous look. 

"How was today?" Eveline likes to make sure he's okay, because she knows wolfdogs aren't liked by uptight people, which just happens to be the demographic of a little less than half of their school.

"It was fine, no one made strange comments." He was mostly asleep, so if they did, he wouldn't know or care. 

"It seems they've learned their lesson." She joked about the last time they both almost pummeled a guy for calling him a mutt. The guy running off before they could fight. 

It makes him happy she cares if he's in trouble, but he knows that's just how she is, so he doesn't assume it means anything more than them being close friends. 

“It’s my turn to make dinner tomorrow, right?” Will glances at the chore calendar next to the fridge. “I think so? Sandwiches please.” Eve politely made a grabby motion with her hands turned so he could see her palms. 

“Alright then, your favorite for tomorrow.” Reminding himself to stop at the grocery store, along with a couple of other things, tomorrow. 

William has known her for a while, 2 years now. Meeting all of his friends along the way, with Eveline being the first to be nice to him during group assignments. 

Ever since they started to be more comfortable around each other than around other people. Collectively agreeing that people who care about what amount of wolf they are, are dumb, instead, they like being friends and hanging out, not really caring about stuff like that.

 He remembers them discussing moving in together since Eveline's house was too far away, and he wanted to leave his situation anyway. So, they had agreed to split the rent and live together, and it's been a little over a year since. 

He's friendly if a little silly at first. Contrary to what most would think, since he sleeps during class, he does okay in school, not getting on the dean's list, but there are no Ds on his report card. Oakley always wonders how he does it, and Will honestly doesn’t know either. 

After dinner, he walks to his part-time job. It's hard to find them after school hours, but he's managed so far. His sleepy, relaxed, and puppy-like demeaner at school leads people to think he's laid back, and he is, but he can also be focused when he wants to. Just like that one time, he focused long enough to make a tower of cards and run through them in his wolf form. Not his finest moment.

The next day feels different. Will doesn't know how to describe it, but it feels off. He doesn't realize that feeling was warranted until everyone is getting ready to have a movie night at Noah's apartment. 

"Are we watching Legally Blonde again? I swear I've heard Elle Woods girlboss too many times." He starts the conversation. 

"No, I think we're watching Avatar today, Oaktree requested it," Noah adds with a smile, going to unlock her door, but stilling for a second. 

"What is it?" Eve asks, her usually impassive face displaying a slight worry as she walks closer to her. 

"Do you see that?" She points to a teddy bear on a table of pamphlets. 

"What about it? It looks like a regular teddy bear." Oakley inquires, a little confused. 

"I guess so, I just thought I saw a camera lens in its eye." Noah nervously looks at it for a moment before unlocking her door and going inside. 

They set down the microwaveable popcorn box they bought and the seasoning they got with it. "I don't know how to describe it, but that Teddy bear is weird," Noah whispers to them. 

Oakley tilts his head with a concerned face. "I'll check it." Will, wanting to ease Noah's worry, goes into the hallway to check with Oakley, following after him. 

The same white hallways and, oddly, the same Brown teddy bear with a blue ribbon tied around its neck. They sit at the same spot on every table they find, in every hallway. 

It would feel like the backrooms if not for the slightly different welcome mats in front of their respective doors. 

He can feel his fur shiver as a chill goes up his back. A sort of disturbed feeling was settling into his stomach.

When he bends over to check their eyes, he sees it, a square-looking lens shape in the eye of all of the teddy bears. "Look, it's the same." Will gestures at the teddy bear to Oakley. 

"Hmm, let's head back for now and let them know," Oakley suggests, his face pensive. William agrees, and they walk back to Noah's apartment. 

"It's in front of everyone's hallway," They explain what they saw, but it's odd information. "Why would they use teddy bears for surveillance cameras? Wouldn't it be more reasonable to just outright show them?" Noah Reasons, confused. 

"It would, unless they don't want people to know they're watching them," Eve adds. "Did they ever mention surveillance?" Oakley asks. 

"I think...I remember it being mentioned.” She supplied, pensive. “But they never said it would be teddy bears,” Noah adds, sitting down on her couch. Silence hung heavy between them as they followed suit and sat around Noah’s furniture. 

Sighs and concerned faces shared as they look toward Noah. The one who actually lives there. Her lips were flat, and her eyebrows were knit together. Despite the newfound discovery, there wasn’t much they could do other than think about it. 

“Let's just watch some movies." Noah gave a noncommittal shrug, electing to put off thinking for later. It's understandable that Noah, who lives here every day, wouldn't want to consider the thought that her home is being surveilled by weird means just yet.

 The group collectively agreed to watch a movie or two instead of worrying about it. Despite that, it still sits wrong with them. The teddy bear is looming in the back of everyone’s mind for the next week. With it being off-putting just enough to stay in the periphery of their group.