NEWSIES: The Ultimate Modern AU

How Caffine Saved The Day Again

The staff room was empty on a Tuesday night as it often was. Katherine wondered why Tuesday was so silent, why it was such a lame day. What were weekdays anyway if not a concept made to control time? If Tuesday was after Monday - the day everyone had been forced to hate - but then before Wednesday - the centre of the week where everyone celebrated - and then from Wednesday it was all uphill and easy. So why Tuesday? Tuesday was forgotten, abandoned and hated... sometimes Katherine felt like a Tuesday, but she knew she was a shiny Thursday.

Not completely hated at all, and definitely not adored by all; but she was looked forwards to and bought good news often. She snapped out of her philosophy and set her laptop on her desk.

Placing her glasses on and tying her hair up, she prepared for the long night ahead of her. Opening her computer, she opened PowerPoint and started on the rest of the weeks lessons, scanning every textbook for extra info and fun facts.

Normally her lessons were fun, filled with colour and life which her students enjoyed very much. She never saw herself as a teacher when she was younger, in fact she had started in journalism. It wasn't enough for her, and knew she needed to compete with her father somehow. Teaching was a good window for her; allowing her to still write, educate and inform but instead of old boomers reading her work in the outdated papers, she was sharing her passion with the new generation.

She looked out the window, unable to focus on the planning. On another night she might have had some sort of company. This would have made things a whole lot easier considering they could both share their Monday stories and nightmares of the classroom. There wasn't a sound in the office, and it made Katherine uncomfortable. Sure she was used to the quiet, she was often alone if not at work or with Jack, but an empty school at 10:30pm on a Tuesday was eerie. She put her headphones on and played some calming music. Closing her eyes she leaned back in her chair, exhaling.

After what seemed like hours of trying, she was too tired. She grabbed her bag and coat and went straight to the diner down the street. Placing her now damp, from the drizzle outside, bag on the counter she put her head on the bench.
"Can I help you ma'am?" The diner owner asked her, sighing.
"Coffee." She muffled, not moving her head from the polished counter where the server had his hands rest on it. Bowing their head with a puff of laughter and a shake of their head, they went and got to it.

As soon as the caffeine hit the desk, it was hungrily consumed by Katherine who was acting as if she'd been deprived of water in the desert for weeks on end. "Thanks, Chuck." She said, smiling at the server.
"Any time Katherine. Now tell me, what brings you here... again."
"My father has been getting on my nerves. I've been heading to work extra late, I don't know why I haven't moved out yet. It's not like I'm struggling too much." She looked at her mug half full now.
"Well... you're always welcome here. Plus, we just got free 24/7 wifi. It also gets kinda lonely late at nights and the druggos outside can get on my neves."
"Ha I know about that! Empty school halls on a Tuesday give me the creeps."

Practically chugging her coffee, she then ordered a small cake and got out her laptop again. Finally the words made sense and she took a deep breath. 'Time to write an inspiring lesson Katherine... it's not that hard, you've done this hundreds of times.' She said to herself. When she looked at the black line flashing on her screech on the blank document, she was left blank. No way she going to let her kids have another white boring presentation. They had enough of them from Mr Darcey; who as much as Katherine loved, she had to admit he could be a bore.

'Just write what you know...' she reassured herself, and soon she had a beginning, a middle, and then an end.