Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OC
Friday seemed to be everyone's favorite day but for a teacher, it was their worst nightmare of a day, besides Monday of course. Everyone hated Monday. Friday, however, seemed to bring in the slowest of minds and an air of energy that wasn't directed at learning. All that was on the kids' minds was the thought that the weekend was close by and it was like pulling teeth to get any of them to focus on their lessons.
Kathy once told me that the true test of a teacher was trying to get the kids to do anything the day before summer break. Most teachers simply folded under the pressure, letting their class watch a movie or some sort but Kathy had specifically told me that I would not be one of those teachers. She had given me the task of planning a lesson for them that day, it was still three weeks away so I still had time but as the days inched closer I felt my stress level rise higher and higher. Kathy seemed almost amused as I continued to ask her for opinions on what seemed right and what definitely wouldn't work. Since this was my last assignment for the school year, Kathy refused to do a full review of any potential lessons that I prepared, saying that I needed to figure it out on my own and use all that I had learned to come up with something that would wrap up everything the kids had learned in a neat bow before sending them off to forget everything over the course of the summer.
I was currently sitting at Kathy's desk. She had already gone home for the evening but I had opted to stay later to review some of my notes. Once I went home, I knew I would fall right into the trap of cable television and a hot cup of tea and I really needed to focus. That thought was quickly scattered to the wind as a voice interrupted my note review.
"Coraline, I was hoping you were still here" It was Mr. Williams. I looked up from my papers, giving him a polite smile as he walked further into the room.
"Please, sit" I said, gesturing to one of the two adult-sized chairs that were in the room. "What's up?"
He took a seat, scooting the chair a little closer to the desk before speaking. "Since you're almost part of the staff," he began giving me a knowing look. I had half the mind to tell him that I hadn't been hired yet but I kept my mouth shut, letting him continue. "A few of us were just wondering if you wanted to join the little volunteering group we've formed"
My head tilted slightly to the side, "Volunteering group?"
"It's just a little thing that's been tradition for a little while, every Saturday morning we volunteer at the children's ward at the hospital, just helping out during arts and crafts and sometimes coming up with new projects for the kids to do, we also help out around the holidays to help the kids decorate" he said, smiling fondly. "You don't have to, of course, but we'd love to have you, usually it's a group of around five or six of us"
I was taken aback but I was also glad for the offer. I liked kids, if that wasn't obvious enough from the choice of my profession, and I had also been looking for a way to connect with the rest of the staff. Ever since I started, I hadn't made much friends with the other teachers and only really talked with Kathy, both in class and during staff meetings. It wasn't as if I hadn't tried to reach out but all I had succeeded in doing is making a bunch of acquaintances with no one I felt I could really trust. That was until I met Mr. Willliams. He was a sweet man, we had met at a staff meeting just before winter break had let out and he was always kind, talking in a jovial tone about his class. He was also madly in love with his wife of nearly twenty years. He certainly didn't look old, he was only 39 after all. Him and his wife were high school sweet hearts and it was really sweet how much he loved her.
I realized then that I had been silent for much too long as Mr. Williams continued to look at me, waiting for my answer. I shook my head, answering quickly. "Of course, I'd love to"
Mr. Williams gave me a wide smile, "That's great, I'll let the group know that you'll be there tomorrow." He said, his tone light as his features lit up with excitement.
"Tomorrow?" I had completely forgotten that tomorrow was Saturday.
He seemed to take my surprised tone as hesitation and quickly started to back pedal. "Or next Saturday, either is fi-"
I cut him off before he went too far into rambling, "No, tomorrow is perfectly alright"
"Great!" he said, springing from his seat. "I'll see you tomorrow at 9am, it only goes until around 11:40am-12pm"
"Do I meet you guys somewhere specific inside?" I asked curiously.
He shook his head, smiling. "Why don't I just pick you up tomorrow, just so that you don't get lost goin in"
"I couldn't impose" I said shaking my head.
"Nonsense, it's not imposing, it's much better than you gettin lost on your first day there" He had a point there. I was quite directionally challenged sometimes and would probably have gotten lost in the hospital despite having been given a tour before. Directions were just difficult.
"Okay, sure" I gave him my address, writing it down on a sticky note and he told me he'd be there at 8:45am to pick me up. I figured that I had enough time to finish up volunteering and then he could drop me back home, where I could just drive myself to the bookstore from there.
I thanked him waving to him as he left and wishing him a goodnight. I looked back down at the papers on my desk and sighed. I had to get working on my lesson plan.
The next morning found me tired and with a slight headache. I groaned as I looked at the clock; I still had an hour and a half until Mr. Williams would be picking me up. I rolled out of bed and headed for the kitchen to make breakfast.
I grabbed a pot, putting a bit of water in it before dumping a bowls worth of oats into the water. I took my oatmeal like I always did, packed with more sugar than oats and mixed up with strawberries. It was something I could eat everyday but often didn't just because I didn't want to give myself a sugar rush daily but I figured I could use the short term energy it would give me.
By the time Mr. Williams was outside, I had showered and changed into a lose pair of blue jeans, a blue flowy blouse with a jacket thrown over, and my normal brown boots that I wore to work at the bookstore. I would have work after this anyway, might as well dress prepared for it. I wouldn't have a ton of in-between time to change if we ran over time at the hospital. I grabbed my bag, pulling it over my shoulder as I closed and locked the door behind me.
I walked over to the car, smiling as I opened the door.
"Good morning"
"Morning, I hope you're prepared to meet the grand jury" he said jokingly.
"Grand jury?" I asked, looking at him as I buckled my seat belt.
"It's what we call the kids," he explained, smiling widely as he pulled out of my driveway. "If they like you, it'll make your job way easier but if they don't like you then you'll be sitting alone in a corner for the rest of the morning."
"I'm quite sure you didn't mention that to me yesterday when I signed up" I said, a hint of a smile on my lips.
"Well, you're great with the kids at school, I'm sure they'll love you here too" he assured. I laughed but said nothing.
Mr. Williams made light conversation in the car, asking me about little things here and there, talking about this or that as we drove along. I responded in kind, wanting to make a connection with the teachers at the school I wanted to work for. Dealing with the kids and lesson plans were only part of the battle, the other part was dealing with the faculty.
We made it to the hospital within ten minutes, walking out of the car together as we talked lightly. As we came inside, a few of the nurses recognized him and passed him a sign in sheet which he also handed to me to sign. After that, we were given two volunteering badges with pink cards in the back, signaling that we belonged in the children's ward. I followed behind Mr. Williams letting him lead the way, as he had been here much more than I had. As we weaved our way through the halls, I was suddenly very glad that Mr. Williams escorted me here because I defiantly would have gotten lost on my way here.
We finally made our way through swinging double doors that stretched into a small hallway of doors. The walls were lined with drawings and paintings, all looking to be from the kids who stayed here. There was a nurse's station not far off and one of the nurse's waved at us as we passed and made our way into the main area.
The main area reminded me of the kindergarten to first grade classrooms which were often more colorful and exuberant than the higher grades. There were chairs ranging in size in the circular space, a mess of colors blending together to make a rather cozy atmosphere. Some of the kids were already there along with a few other teachers from school that I recognized.
A little girl who couldn't have been much more than five years old, ran up to Mr. Williams and he hoisted her up, smiling widely as he did so. "You've gotten so big since last week, Marina, I'd like you to meet Ms. Parsons"
The little girl gave me a small apprehensive wave, looking at me with slight interest before he put her back on the ground. She took his much larger hand dragging him along to the play area while I followed behind. The rest of the teachers and nurses who were there came up to me, introducing themselves to me with a shake of my hand.
I knew the three teachers, there was Mrs. Tiana Tamanaha who worked teaching kindergarten, Ms. Lilia Flower from the second grade, and Mr. Peter Vanders who I think taught fifth grade English. I found out that the two nurses one with short blonde hair and the other with long dyed purple hair were named, Samantha and Alexandra. They didn't like all the titles and said that I should just call them Sam and Alex.
Like Mr. Williams had said earlier, the kids were the biggest judge of if I'd make it there. I was starting to worry when none of the kids seemed to acknowledge me in the slightest. Luckily, the little girl I had met earlier took pity on me and had convinced the others that I was a perfectly good adult and would be perfect in assisting them with making their paper plate masks.
The rest of the morning was spent cutting out pieces of colored construction paper and taping or gluing it onto the paper plates to make various masks. The children were very well behaved, perhaps even more so than the kids in my class. A few of the children couldn't come out from their rooms because of their condition and the other kids made sure to make extra masks to give to them later. It was quite endearing. By the time it was all over, I didn't even feel tired. I guess the boatload of sugar I had eaten that morning helped with that but still, I thought I would feel it more. I guess I just liked spending time with the kids, listening to their sometimes-incoherent ramblings and making them laugh. I had a lot of fun.
We ran slightly overtime but Mr. Williams still dropped me off back at home with enough time for me to make it to work on time. It was Saturday which meant that I was working with Ben again today and he usually came in an hour before I did and left an hour before I left. I would usually end up closing up alone on Saturday nights.
The shift started rather normally as I told Ben about my morning. He liked kids well enough but he didn't want to spend all day with them. There were a few people milling around on this gloomy Saturday inside the store. Ben was manning the cash register while I had decided to reorganize the new arrivals for the fourth time.
It was a couple hours later that Carlisle walked into the store. He came up to me automatically and I smiled in his direction.
"Were you at the hospital today?" he asked, skipping his normal greeting.
I looked at him, confused. "Yeah, I was volunteering in the children's ward, why?"
He shook his head, his expression lightening significantly. His eyes were slightly less golden than they normally were but that must be just because of the lighting. "I just thought I saw you."
"Oh, you should have said hi" I said, smiling up at him. "My co-worker actually invited me, apparently a few teachers from work go there every Saturday"
"Ahh, so you're finally socializing with the rest of the staff"
"I know!" I exclaimed excitedly. "It went really well, I think the children work as excellent glue to help the adults bond"
"I told you that you'd be fine"
"No one likes a know it all" I teased.
We spent the rest of the hour talking about my morning and about his day at work. He told me a bit about the different patients, well about as much as he could tell me without breaking any confidentiality agreement.
I don't think I would ever get tired of talking to him.
I know, I know, this chapter doesn't have a ton about Carlisle in it but I liked writing this chapter plus this just sets up more opportunities for them to see each other in the future. Tell me what you think by reviewing!
