the middle of “cloud class.” After the first day with Jeremy, more of the kids wanted in on the game. They took a morning walk, and he gave each of them a chance to take a picture of their favorite cloud.
After the first day, when Ollie had followed him around jotting notes onto his tablet of every potential need Toby expressed, an instant-print camera had arrived. The kids could take their cloud picture and hold the film in their hand while it developed. The pictures already had sticky backs, too, which made the next part of their project easier.
They’d each created their own cloud journal, where they made notes about the clouds and the weather. Ollie had even started one of his own and had supplied a collection of glittery gel pens for them to use while they worked.
But were moments like these enough?
Toby wasn’t afraid to say aloud that this job should really be taken on by someone with a heck of a lot more experience than him. He’d only been teaching for a few years, after all, and these kids had needs he’d never had to meet before.
And yes, he was certified in the Montessori method, and had worked for the past several years at a small private school under one of the most talented administrators on the planet. However, being trained in the method and having a few years of teaching experience under his belt was a world apart from creating and administering a program, especially considering their troubled past and other… special needs.
Toby gulped. He’d not asked about the full moon. He really should. A quick search on his phone told him they were only a few days away from the next one. Would they have to be locked up? Would Toby even be safe?
“Toby?” Ollie drew his attention away from his phone. Most of the kids were staring worriedly at him.
“Yes?”
“Um, you okay?” Ollie tapped his nose, signaling…
“Oh, right. I’m okay.”
They could smell him. Another thing he’d conveniently forgotten.
Jeremy came over to him with a scowl. “Don’t lie.”
“I am okay.” Toby knelt down and showed Jeremy his phone. “Remember how I told you I didn’t know things about this world and that when I don’t know things I get worried? I just remembered about the full moon and how sometimes the stories about shifters say bad things happen on the full moon, and I got a bit scared. But I would have asked the alpha about it, or even asked you or Ollie about it so I could understand.”
Jeremy huffed. Marigold and Daisy leaned into him. “You get kinda stinky when you’re scared, Toby,” Daisy said. “I don’t like it.”
“But you still like me?”
“Of course,” Daisy said, matter-of-factly. “You make pretty braids in my hair, and you’re nice, and even though you’re sometimes stinky, you like to read me books, and you know things and—”
“She means you’re a good packmate,” Jeremy explained. “You take care of us.”
Toby smiled. “I try.”
“That’s all we can do,” Ollie said. “Well, except head inside because it’s time for school to start.”
The kids all gathered their journals and began walking toward the rec hall. Toby kept an eye out, but these kids were… different, somehow. Sure, they got loud and rambunctious sometimes, but it was always with a degree of caution. As if they were waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Although he didn’t understand what they’d been through, he did understand that feeling all too well. Brooks stood at the door of the rec hall and held it open for the kids to trudge into the building.
Yeah, Toby understood all too well. Good things often slipped away. Good things were often illusions.
Toby got it. He did. And yet, he still wanted… something else. Something more. Something scary, but maybe…
Toby paused at the door beside Brooks as the last of the kids went inside and headed for the rooms they used for schoolwork. Toby hadn’t taken the lead on anything involving the school yet, even though Nick had encouraged him to take part. He observed and made notes, gathering his thoughts for recommendations. He had a journal full of them already. Mostly thoughts and observations.
Brooks breathed deeply as he stopped, closing his eyes for a moment before opening them again and smiling down at Toby. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“You two are ridiculous and adorable.” Ollie gave Toby a push, and he wobbled into Brooks’s side.
Brooks stabilized him but glared at Ollie in a way that threatened bodily harm.