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Chapter 1: A Field Trip
[Laura]
“Cassie, Let go of Percy’s ears and sit down please!”
“It’s too late now, Nate, you’re going to have to hold it until we get there.”
“Emma--coat? It is the middle of March, you know.”
“Hayden! Don’t put that in your mouth… where did you even...nevermind.”
Teach first grade, they said. It’ll be fun, they said. Normally, Laura Hollis, elementary school teacher-extraordinaire, would tend to agree with them. She could honestly say that she enjoyed spending her days hanging out in a room full of tiny humans. The fact that she was closer to them in stature compared to a room full of other adults and, not to mention, the easy access to never-ending snacks, were just added job bonuses. She did doubt, however, that whoever this “they” was, never had to corral twenty-eight bouncing six year-olds onto a drafty school bus that forever smelled like maple syrup and then proceed to successfully lead them out into society for a field trip with just a teacher’s aide by their side. Most days, Laura felt like she was made to do this; today was not one of those days.
It was her own fault, really. Laura was the one who had added the unit about the universe and space into the curriculum for this year, so she should have foreseen the suggestion of taking a field trip to the distinguished local planetarium coming from a mile away. Which parent(s) she specifically had to thank for this gem of an idea was still a mystery, but Laura Hollis was nothing if not determined to find out. Sadly, the investigation would have to wait until after she made sure that everyone got to and from their destination in one piece.
…..25, 26, 27, 28. Perfect. Laura finished off her head count with a final survey of the mass of flailing, but at least mostly seated, children, then twisted around from her standing position to plop down onto the olive green vinyl-covered bench in the very front of the bus. Next to her, Lola Perry, the aforementioned teacher’s aide, was already seated and fussily paging through the three-ringed binder that held their agenda for the day, murmuring to herself as she went over the plan in her head. Not for the first (or last) time, Laura thought to herself how grateful she was for the fastidious red-headed woman. If Laura could have picked anyone to tag along and help out on such a stressful outing, it would have been Perry.
“Have you ever been to the Silas Natural History Museum and Planetarium, Laura?” Not looking up from the binder, Perry and her ever-so polite small talk pulled Laura out of her brief reverie.
“Nope, can’t say that I have.” Laura answered, albeit a bit absent-mindedly, as she glanced over her shoulder and caught the eye of a particularly mischievous-looking freckled boy toying with a rubber band, poised to fly off his little hands and into the back of one of his unsuspecting classmate’s heads. At this point in the year, however, the students at least knew not to play games with Laura when she gave them “The Look”, so the troublemaker conceded to shoving the rubber band into his coat pocket with a pout. She made a mental note to keep an eye on that one…
“Oh, you’re going to just love it!” Perry gushed, shutting the binder in her lap and turning to face Laura as much as the cramped bench would allow before continuing.
“My good friend actually works there in the Research Department of the museum, but also assists the planetarium director on occasion with the various presentations. LaFontaine was so excited when I told them that I would be accompanying a group of students on a tour! It has been a while since I’ve been able to visit them at work. Surprisingly, the scientists actually stay quite busy with all the upkeep and installation of exhibits, not to mention all of the public programming that they run as well on top of that.”
Laura chuckled at her curly-haired colleague’s enthusiasm, “Yeah, I’m actually really looking forward to it, not only for the students, but also for myself. Growing up, I didn’t live anywhere near such a renowned facility as the one here in Styria, so this should be a great learning experience for all of us!” No surprise, some of Perry’s excitement had started to rub off on her and as the bus pulled up to the curb in front of the museum’s impressive marble facade, Laura could almost feel that morning’s apprehension melting away and becoming something more akin to anticipation.
Taking her cue from the final hissing of the bus breaks as they came to a complete stop, Laura once again stood up and turned to address her class.
“Okay everybody, listen up! You should already know who you’re paired up with to be your buddy for the day. NO, you don’t have to hold hands, but YES, you must know where your buddy is at at all times. This is NOT optional. If at any point, you don’t see your buddy or know where they are, you come to me or Ms. Perry and let us know. Now, let’s get going!”
[Carmilla]
Why in the name of Skrillex there had to be an eight o’clock in the morning, Carmilla would never know. She barely liked to acknowledge any hour before 1:00 pm, let alone have to be a functioning human being with a job that she was expected to show up to at such a time. Only the fact that Carmilla was the Director of the Silas Planetarium and had the facility’s glowing reputation to uphold (something that she was immensely proud of) kept her adhering to her rigorous schedule. Work, she could do. She was good at her job and it was pretty much the only thing keeping her sane these days. Carmilla Karnstein was, arguably, one of the best and brightest astronomers in a generation and her leadership at the planetarium had only served to bolster that status many times over.
She made her way through the familiar building to her office, nursing her hot, black coffee as she did so, barely having time to plop down into her desk chair before LaFontaine, resident Research Specialist and sometimes-Assistant Director (when the programming schedule called for an extra hand) barged through the door. Carmilla almost spilled her coffee down the front of her dark blouse and tight leather pants at the abrupt entrance.
“Shit, LaF! What have I said about knocking?!”
“Sorry, boss. Just figured I would pop in and remind you that we have that tour coming through right away this morning….”
UGH. Carmilla was SO not in the mood to entertain the masses today.
“When will they be arriving?” the raven haired woman asked as she took a moment to boot up her computer and check the programming schedule.
LaFontaine cringed, not wanting to necessarily be the bearer of this particular piece of news. “Um, they're already here, the bus just pulled up out front. A group of first graders...”
At that, Carmilla steadied herself with one last precious sip of caffeine before reluctantly standing. LaFontaine watched as the familiar collected, all-business persona falls over their friend.
“Let’s do this,” the young director proclaimed as she moved to exit the sanctuary of her office and face her impending day, the ginger scientist followed close behind her.