Somewhere Only We Know ✶ Diego Hargreeves

001. the whole wide world

Sophie threw her purse into the passenger seat once she was inside, and she took a sip from her mug before pulling out of the driveway. She waved at her neighbour as she drove down the road, and the sweet, widowed Mrs. Nelson waved back from her usual place on the porch swing.

It usually only took Sophie fifteen minutes to drive to work, but with people being extra cautious due to the heavy weather this morning, she arrived in twenty-five minutes. She parked and jumped out of her car, rushing towards the school before she would be completely soaked. Her co-worker, Chelsea Bradshaw, gasped when she almost slipped and fell on the sidewalk.

"Jesus, Sophie!" Chelsea shouted over the raging storm, rushing over and taking Sophie by the arm and ushering the woman underneath her umbrella. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good," Sophie reassured, cheeks flushed from embarrassment. "Thanks for the assistance, that wouldn't have been pretty."

"Don't mention it," Chelsea replied.

They reached the front of the building and found themselves safely under the awning where it was mostly dry. There, Chelsea shook out her umbrella and closed it. Not wanting her umbrella to leave hazardous puddles along the school hallways, Chelsea grabbed an umbrella bag from the rack by the door and shoved it inside.

"So," Sophie began as she opened up the door, allowing Chelsea to walk in first, "how was your weekend?"

"It was okay," Chelsea replied. "I finished some errands that needed to be done, did some laundry, and saw a movie with Erin. What about you?"

Nothing. As always.

Sophie shrugged. "Nothing much. Just hung around and watched movies with Patsy. Oh, and by the way, I'm going down to the farmer's market tomorrow if you want to join me," she offered kindly, knowing how much Chelsea enjoyed going with her.

Chelsea's eyes lit up at the mention of the farmer's market. "Count me in. Erin has been on a real health kick lately. She signed up for a marathon next month and started training last week, and honestly, this whole thing is driving me up the walls."

"Why is that?"

They entered the teacher's lounge and Chelsea immediately got to work brewing a fresh pot of coffee for the staff. "She's been making these kale smoothies that taste like absolute shit. Don't get me wrong, I love the woman, but I literally cannot stand this new health kick she is on. I think I've lost about ten pounds myself just throwing up all the shitty smoothies she makes us for breakfast."

Sophie chuckled. "The things we do for love, right?"

"Tell me about it," Chelsea scoffed.

"Well, I better get my classroom situated before all the kiddos show up," Sophie sighed, pushing off the doorframe. "Have a good day, Chelsea. See you for lunch?"

Chelsea gave a thumbs up in response as she sipped on her freshly brewed coffee.

Sophie left the teacher's lounge, making her way down the hallway towards her classroom. All the lights were already on, courtesy of the principal. He was an early riser and always showed up before everyone else to get the school ready for the day. She walked inside and looked around to make sure the cleaning crew hadn't messed anything up. Thankfully, they hadn't.

Sophie shed her coat and threw it over the back of her desk chair before sitting down for a moment. She got everything situated on her desk, making sure that she had everything she would need for today before putting her purse inside one of the drawers so that it wouldn't get in the way. Then, she got to work preparing the classroom.

Today, they were going to practice their alphabet some more, as a few of the kids were still struggling with it. She planned to read another book as well, this one about found family. But first, she was going to give her students a family tree assignment. She was going to let them draw some pictures of their family for a while and then send them home with a tree ⎯⎯ which they were going to make today out of construction paper and glue and whatever else the kids wanted to use ⎯⎯ to decorate with pictures and whatever else they wanted. Then, later in the week, the kids would bring their trees in and everyone would get a chance to talk about their families to the entire class.