There's Gnome One Like You ~ A Gnome Alone Fanfiction

6) Somewhere She Belongs

Chloe suddenly awoke to the sound of her alarm. With a groan, she sat up in her bed and turned it off. After sitting there with a blank look for about a minute, she stood up and went to her closet, grabbing a nice dress suit . She put it on in a hurry and made her way into the garage and into her car.

******

"Good morning, class!" Chloe exclaimed, entering her classroom. She looked at the clock on the wall, telling her she was one minute late. 

"Good morning," the class replied sluggishly. 

"Today we are going to discuss art." Chloe began. The class sat up in their seats, a little more alert than before. 

"Now, before we do any projects, we are going to read a little bit about Monet and write a short essay on his achievements." 

The class slumped back in the chairs, with a few in the back of the room letting out a long moan. 

Chloe bit in her lip and frowned. 

"This isn't fair. How am I supposed to engage these kids when the ciriculum sucks?!" Chloe thought. She went ahead and handing out the essay assignment, knowing that the kids were dreading it just as much as her. "This isn't fair."

******

It was break time again. Chloe grabbed her lunch and headed for the break room. She didn't feel very hungry, or motivated to do anything at all. She walked into the lounge and saw Erin and a few others sitting at a table. She looked around, hoping to see Liam, but he was nowhere to be found. 

"Hey Chloe! How's it going?" Erin asked. 

"It's going," Chloe replied.

"Ha! Isn't that how it always is," Erin responded. "I tell ya, I could use a week off after the first month of school."

"A week? Only a week?" one of the other teacher's spoke up. "How about a month?"

The teacher's all laughed at each other. Chloe was disengaged as she ate her turkey sandwich. 

"I bet that's how you feel, Chloe. It's always rough for newbies here," Erin chuckled.

Chloe lifted her head and gave Erin a fake smile. "Yeah, you're right."

"Well, anyways, Chloe, if you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm here for you." Erin suddenly said with a serious voice. 

Chloe nodded. "Thanks." 

Chloe ate her lunch as fast as she could and headed for the restroom. While she was there, she wondered if this was the right job for her, where her life was headed, and what Liam was up to.

******

Class had resumed. The children worked some more on their essays. Chloe sat at her desk, grading papers. She noticed in the corner of her eye, a little girl raised her hand. It was the girl who always wore ribbons in her hair. 

"Yes?" Chloe spoke, looking at the young girl.

"Teacher, when are we going to get to make our own painting?" the girl asked.

Chloe stared at her for a moment, and looked around at the sea of bored faces all across the room.

"You know what," Chloe started saying under her breath, before speaking louder. "We're going to do it now."

The class breathed a sigh of relief as they looked up from their desks. Even the kids who were sleeping woke up and paid attention to their teacher.

Chloe told the class she would be back, and ran to the supply closet, in hopes that no one, especially her boss, would see her. She came back with two boxes filled with different colored paints and brushes. She passed around the brushes for each kid and gave them a pallet, as well as a piece of thick, white paper.