staff room gossip

the movie night

Games night occurred on the last friday of the month at the Knight Nursery. At first, the only people who attended were Marjorie, Carly, Charlotte and Jodie, but as the weeks went on, the whole faculty begun to attend. The staff room was always stocked with snacks and drink for them to enjoy, thanks to Charlotte, who took games night very seriously as it "helped your mental health" but Winter didn't quite understand that.

Friday 26th July 2024

The staff room was filled. All of the seats were allocated for games night, Charlotte and Carly sitting on the floor, leaning on the coffee table as they got very invested in a game of connect 4. Marjorie and Reece were sitting on a sofa behind them, laughing at the competitiveness of the pair. Sorscha, Winter and Autumn sat opposite Marjorie and Reece, the three of them in a deep gossip revolving a parent. Winter's arm was wrapped tightly around Autumn's waist, squeezing her everytime he was informed a new secret about the parent. They didn't really come for the games. Jodie sat alone at the back of the staffroom, just enjoying her apple juice and watching everyone else play games that she, for the life of her couldn't figure out. Agatha was there too, pretending to watch Carly and Charlotte, but was secretly listening to the gossip coming from beside her.

"Char your cheating!" Carly exclaimed, hitting the table and knocking her counter's to the floor.

Marjorie and Reece shared a look of confusion.

"Carly you can't cheat at connect 4, it's physically impossible." Reece said, chucking to himself. The look Carly gave him was murderous, so he stopped laughing and coughed uncomfortably.

Behind them, a much more heated discussion was going on.

"Winter i'm telling ya, she's definitely not 20."

"Sorscha, why would she lie about her age, especially to her daughter's key worker." Winter replied exasperatedly, sitting back on the sofa.

Autumn gave Sorscha a smirk and looked at Winter.

"Darling i have seen the emergency contact list, she's a year older than us, so definitely not 20." Autumn said, trying to surpress a smile.

Winter sat up again, looking confused.

"The parents at this nursery make me wonder if it's us that aren't normal." he said, standing up to get another red wine.

At any other nursery, drinking would not be allowed, but considering Marjorie and Autumn's coping mechanisms consist of 90% alcohol, they decided to bend the rules, without Roger knowing of course.

After a while, the games got boring and Carly had an excellent idea of watching a movie, so they all settled down and tried to pick one, but that was severely unsuccessful.

"What about Ice Age?" Carly suggested hopefully.

Everyone looked at her and shook their heads.

"Or how about something that isnt for babies." Reece recommended, sounding rather fed up.

"Ice Age isn't for babies, your just a grumpy old man." Carly retorted, scrolling further on Netflix.

No matter what she suggested, atleast someone had something to say about it.

So, she decided to pass the remote to Charlotte, who only wanted to watch Bridgerton, which everyone was happy with, except Reece, who was pretending he hadn't watched every season.

Charlotte then passed it to Marjorie, who clicked on Grease and Mean Girls, which Reece also said no to, pretending he hadn't watched them either.

When Reece got the remote, he had started to type in The Shining, which everyone except Autumn and Agatha erupt into complaints and moans.

It was Autumn's turn. She scrolled mindlessly for a few minutes, before clicking on The Notebook, which once again, everyone but Reece had an issue with.

"Come on Reece, just let us pick a film." Charlotte groaned. Everyone seemed to agree, so Reece slanmed the remote on the table and sat back in defeat.

"Fine! Since everyone wants to watch boring films, and you guys aren't graced with movie taste, il step out and let everyone else decide. Happy now?"

"Yes"

"Yup"

"Finally"

Reece sighed and stopped paying attention as soon as the film was selected, he didn't even know what they had put on.

Eventually, they had all fallen asleep, and the movie was left playing till the credits. Autumn's head was in Winters lap, Marjorie was sleeping on Reeces shoulder, Carly was sleeping on the floor, Jodie was sitting on a chair with her head on the countertop, Sorscha was sleeping sitting up and Charlotte was resting her head on her hand. The only one still awake was Agatha, who, shockingly, was laughing along to the jokes and crying at the sad scenes.

Who knew Agatha liked rom-coms?