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The child said nothing, but offered his hand. He snivelled and choked on his tears as Sophie led him into her room.
‘You might get to be in this classroom when you get up to juniors,’ she said, sitting him down and reaching for the first aid kit. He had stopped crying and Sophie was sure she caught a hint of a smile playing at the corner of his mouth and thought that his injury didn’t look as bad as she’d first thought.
She was right. Once she’d wiped away the gravel from his face and hands, there was little damage done. But the shock must have surprised him. She found a Mr Men plaster and stuck it on his hand, even though it wasn’t really needed.
‘Good news,’ Sophie said, standing up. ‘You’re going to be fine. Shall I take you through to the reception classroom?’
The boy nodded and Sophie walked him through to his classroom. As soon as he entered the door, he skipped off, saying, ‘Thank you, Miss Lawson. You’re the best.’ Sophie smiled at that, the comment taking the edge off the past twenty-four hours.
Her spate of good deeds meant she was running very late, and she hadn’t set anything up in time for the morning bell. She raced back to her classroom, flung her coat into the craft cupboard and began welcoming the children into her room. She played with her hair and arranged it so that it covered most of her face when she realised the children were noticing her bruised cheek. She wasn’t entirely sure what her story was going to be, but by the time she saw another adult she’d have figured it out.
At break time, Sophie was pleased to find the staffroom empty. She’d spent the morning torturing herself with reruns of the rehearsal from last night and let herself fall into a grump. Boiling the kettle, she looked out the window at the children, screaming, running about carefree. When had she turned into a proper adult, and why was it so hard?
She jumped as someone came in the staffroom and turned around, brandishing a teaspoon.
‘It’s only me,’ Kate said, holding up her hands to profess her innocence. ‘God, what happened to you?’ she asked.
Sophie adjusted her hair to hide the graze on her face and hoped that her blushing cheeks wouldn’t draw attention to it like a neon bar sign.
‘Nothing. I’m fine.’
‘Come on, Sophie,’ Kate said, taking a few steps across the room towards her, their argument forgotten, and lifting her hair to see what was lurking underneath. ‘What happened?’
‘I fell into the brook.’ There, she’d said it.
‘What?’ Kate’s tone said concern. The grin that spread across her face was the precursor to mirth.
‘I tripped and fell by the flat.’ Even Sophie smiled a little when she heard the ridiculousness of it all.
‘You fell into a brook?’ Kate snorted and laughed for a long time. Tears pooled in the corners of her eyes and she held on to her rounded tummy with one hand and leant on the counter edge with her other.
Sophie was laughing too.
Kate wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘How the hell did you end up in there?’
‘I dropped my phone and tried to get it and one thing led to another …’
Cue another bout of laughter from Kate. ‘Oh, Sophie! You do get yourself into some scrapes. Is your phone all right?’
Sophie shook her head. ‘No. I covered it with rice and everything but I had no joy. I’ve ordered another one to arrive tomorrow.’
Kate laughed again until it subsided. Then she reached across and squeezed Sophie’s shoulder and they settled into silence. ‘I’m sorry about what happened the other day.’
‘You don’t need to be sorry. I shouldn’t have got angry with you.’
‘Maybe. But I think I was pretty insensitive. This pregnancy is turning me into a monster. I just didn’t really think about what I was saying. Of course it’s awful what Cassie and her dad had to go through. I don’t know why I reacted like I did.’
‘It wasn’t all your fault. I shouldn’t be so sensitive about these things.’
They shared a look, and Sophie felt guilty that she was keeping things from her friend.
‘Do you want to talk about it?’
Sophie shook her head. ‘Not yet.’
‘OK,’ Kate said, looking at her watch.
Sophie was grateful for Kate not pushing her. Since they’d met, Kate had always been there for her. She hoped that would never change. Kate wouldn’t disappear when she needed her in a time of crisis – not like Jordan.
