Chapter Text
Early August
Rachel Evans was enjoying her summer break. Well, not so much of enjoying, more like sleeping through it. Last year had been treacherous for her. It had only taken one year of teaching to figure out that summer break was more for the teachers than it was for students.
Since school let out, she’d barely left her apartment, expect for occasional errand and even more rarely, bar hangouts with a few friends. She had, however, caught up on all the shows and movies she’d missed out on throughout the last year, her summer tradition at this point.
It was the middle of the day when her phone rang. She almost ignored it, assuming it was a junk call, but happened to glance down before it stopped. She paused her TV, answering her phone.
“Hey.”
“I need a huge favor.” Her cousin, Maggie Wilson, stated immediately. Rachel could tell she was running around on the farm she’d taken over last year after her grandfather passed away.
“What kind of favor could you possibly need?”
“Can you send me your chocolate cake recipe?”
“Why?”
“I want to make it for a date with my girlfriend as a surprise.”
Suddenly there was barking in the background, Maggie shushing her golden retriever, Ranger.
“Why don’t you just Google a recipe?” Rachel asked her. She heard Maggie sigh, annoyed at her.
“You know yours is way better than anything I’ll find on the internet. Stop being a bitch and just send it to me.”
Rachel laughed at her favorite cousin. They were a few years apart in age and Rachel had technically grown up more with Maggie’s brother than her, but she’d always been closer to Maggie. Plus, she wasn’t wrong about the cake recipe, something she’d spent a lot of college perfecting from her dorm kitchen.
“Fine.” She said, putting her phone on speaker so she could send the recipe over.
“Thank you! Emily will love this!” Maggie said, clearly reading through it on her phone. “I still can’t believe you teach instead of baking.”
“Don’t remind me.” Rachel groaned into the phone.
“Not excited about school next year?”
“No, which sucks because I need to start getting myself together for it. Can you believe I already need to start getting my classroom together in a few weeks? I feel like I still haven’t recovered from last year.”
“The kids aren’t that bad, are they?” Maggie asked, before frustratingly yelling, “Ranger! Get out of there!”
“It’s not really the kids fault. There’s just too many of them. I got a call from the principal saying I’d probably have another three in my room this year. On top of the four they added last year, and the two the year before.”
“Damn, that’s a lot of kids in one room. Are they at least giving you extra money?”
“Nope. Same salary, same amount of resources as when I started. I can only spread so many crayons between so many kids.”
Rachel heard Maggie hum lightly before going quiet a moment. “What?” She finally asked her
“Well, I mean, you haven’t loved that school for a couple years. Have you thought about leaving?”
Rachel shrugged to herself as she leaned back further onto her couch. “I mean, maybe. I don’t know. It could take months to find another job, and the school year is too close to starting. I’ve got to just stick it out at least another year.”
“I’m sure it’ll all work out one way or another.” Maggie told her, before giving a frustrated sigh. “I’ve got to go. This damn dog is chasing my chickens around again.”
Rachel laughed as they said goodbye. She couldn’t help but feel mildly jealous of her cousin. Yes, her dog was a bit wild, but she was thriving in the chaos of running her farm. Based on what she’d heard, Maggie had truly found her place. As much as Rachel loved to teach, it was waring more and more on her with each passing year. She wasn’t sure how she was going to get through another 30 or more years if she was already burning out at 28.
The next week, Rachel forced herself to start getting her lesson plans ready and buy some of the supplies she would need. She was nearly out the door when her phone pinged.
Maggie: You’re about to get a call. Answer it.
Rachel furrowed her brows at her phone, stopping in her tracks. She was about to text back when her phone did indeed ring.
“Hello?” She said, hesitantly.
“Why hello! Is this Rachel Evans?” A man with a deep voice responded on the other end.
“It is. Can I ask whose calling?” She set her keys down on her counter, dropping her bag to the floor.
“Rachel, lovely to meet you. This is Lewis Carson, mayor of Pelican Town.”
Pelican Town was in Stardew Valley, the tiny town where Maggie had moved to.
“Oh, hi. How can I help you?” She asked him, confused.
“Actually, I’m hoping you might be able to help me.” He replied.
“Oh?”
“Well you see, I’ve got a bit of a dilemma. We’ve got a couple of kids here in the town who are getting to the age that they need a formal teacher. We’ve had a girl in town, Penny, working with them until now, but it’s gotten to where we need someone liscened. Penny, has also decided to start working on her education degree, but as you know that doesn't really help us for a couple of years.”
“Okay…”
“We’ve been having a real hard time finding someone. It’s only two kids, and anyone we’ve talked to doesn’t want to have to move for such a small class. Your cousin, however, thought you might be up to the task.”
Ah, it was all coming together. Maggie was always someone who helped others, putting them before herself way to often, and had a bit of a complex with fixing everyone else’s problems. Her phone pinged again, she looked quickly at it before responding to him.
Maggie: You can live with me for FREE!!
Rachel tried not to laugh at this. “Isn’t there an elementary school near by? I think Grampleton has one.”
“They do, yes. And they kid will go there when for middle school. However, for elementary there aren’t enough other kids that age close enough to warrant sending a bus over. There is some legality I won’t bore you with around transporting them without a school official. Hence, the situation we are in.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Maggie tells me you currently teach second grade at Zuzu East Elementary?”
“I do. This will be my fifth year.”
“And how many kids are in your class?”
Another ping. Rachel looked at her screen again, where Maggie had sent a picture of Ranger.
Maggie: Don’t you want to see this cute face every day???
Rachel sighed. “Too many to list.”
“That’s what I figured. Here, you’d only have two kids. Jas and Vincent. They should both be starting first grade.” Lewis told her. “And they are great kids. Plus, Penny has agreed to work as an aide to help you if you need it.”
Shit, this was maybe a good offer. Way more personal, she could live with Maggie. But Pelican Town was tiny, and from what she’d heard very into festivals and shit like that. She wasn’t sure she wanted to really live where she worked. At least now, she was in a different neighborhood than any of her kids families, so she would never run into them. Then again, the commute would be a lot shorter…
“Well, what are you thinking?” Lewis asked her. Before she could answer, she heard another voice in the background.
“She’ll do it!” Maggie yelled, confirming Rachel’s suspicion she was in the same room as him. She rolled her eyes, but smiled.
“I’m definitely interested.”
“Great! Why don’t I call you in a few days, we can discuss salary, living arrangements, and anything else you might need.”
“Living arrangements already set!” Maggie screamed in the background.
Rachel let out a small laugh. “That sounds good.”
“Great, I look forward to talking to you again.”
They hung up, and Rachel took a deep breath. She wasn’t really doing this, was she? Her phone pinged again.
Maggie: I’VE NEVER BEEN SO EXCITED!!
Yes, clearly she was doing this.
Monday August 22nd
The last few weeks had been a whirlwind. The first time she’d gotten to just sit and breathe was on her drive to Pelican Town. She still couldn’t believe this was happening. After she’d gotten an official salary offer from the mayor (less than she made now, but with free housing from Maggie, she’d be saving money), she’d quit her job and ended her lease. Most of her stuff was packed in her car, though she’d managed to sell the majority of her furniture. Maggie promised her she had a room fully furnished for her so she wouldn’t need to worry about a thing.
She spent a lot of the car ride just fighting with herself on how crazy this was (insanely crazy) and if it was even really going to work. She’d be teaching a different grade than she had been, with kids who have never been formally in school, and she had to essentially create an entire curriculum from scratch. With only a week between her move and the start of the school year. Forget inanely crazy, this was bat shit.
Eventually, she just had to let those thoughts go for now and instead turned her music up and sang along. This was already happening and there was no going back. With all those thoughts out of her head, she got to Pelican Town quicker than she’d expected.
Per Maggie’s suggestion, she turned when she saw the bus stop and then again on the road leading to her farm. She looked around as she pulled up to the large farm house. The land was huge, way bigger than she’d imagined it. Suddenly the realization that she had moved somewhere she’d never been before was hitting her. But if Maggie could do it, she could too.
Before she was even able to get out of the car, Ranger was barreling towards her. He wasn’t even barking, but excited to see literally anyone. A great guard dog. She opened the door and quickly got out as he jumped towards her, excitedly sniffing her.
“Ranger! Get off of her!” Maggie yelled as she came running from the house. Rachel barely noticed though, immediately petting Ranger as he fell to the ground demanding belly rubs, something she was more than happy to give.
“Sorry about him. We’re working on manners.” Maggie told her as Ranger jumped back up, running to her for more pets. Rachel laughed at the doofy look on his face.
“It’s not a problem” She shook some of the fur off her, making a note that would be happening for the rest of time now. “Anyway, hi!”
The cousins quickly hugged, Ranger caught in the middle of it and refusing to move out of the way.
“I’m so glad your here! This is going to be great!” Maggie said excitedly as they let go. “Come on, I’ll show you the house.”
The headed towards the house, Ranger happily walking at their sides. As soon as they walked inside, Rachel felt like she was in another world. This was so different than the apartments she’d grown up in. It was rustic and charming, and very Maggie.
A small black cat slowly came towards them. Maggie quickly grabbed her, holding her up for Rachel to pet.
“This is Shadow. She’s still getting used to the farm.”
Rachel let her sniff her hands a moment, and the cat rubbed her face into it before squirming out of Maggie’s arm.
“A good start!” Maggie exclaimed. She walked further into the house, her arms lifting as she spoke. “So this is the place! Here’s the living room. Kitchen’s over there. My bedroom is behind me. There’s also a bathroom just over there.” She pointed towards each of the areas.
“Mags, this is incredible.” Rachel told her, taking it all in. As Maggie pointed a couple other spots out, she couldn’t help but watch Shadow curling up in a cat bed by the couch while Ranger was slowly trying to lay on it with her. It was comical how much smaller the bed was compared to him. Shadow even looked at him annoyed, but continued to lay there. At least she was already used to Ranger.
“Com me on, I’ll show you the upstairs.”
They headed up to the second floor where there were 3 doors, all opened.
“To the left is a spare bedroom in case anyone needs to stay.” Maggie pointed out. Rachel did a quick glance. Nothing crazy about the room, just a full bed, dresser, and armchair. But it looked cozy enough. After a second though, she realized there was a tattered blue sweatshirt on the armchair and quickly wondered if someone stayed there more often than others.
“Bathroom is straight ahead.” Maggie said, pointing to it, then turning to the room on the right. “And here’s your room!”
Rachel stepped inside, instantly smiling. There was a queen sized bed, a nice desk, dresser, and also an armchair. But Maggie had also given her a large TV on a stand that had bookshelves surrounding it. It was so similar to one she’d had at her home as a kid, just a much bigger TV.
“Mags…” She started, but was cut off.
“There’s an amazing carpenter here, Robin. She’s unreal. She made just about everything in my house and even the house itself. I told her you would need place for all your books, and she made that in like a day.”
Rachel took a small breath, and sat on her new bed. “This is great. Thank you, seriously.”
“I’m just happy you’re here!” Maggie told her, flopping on the bed next to her. “I figured you’d want to just move in today. I can take you to your classroom tomorrow.”
“Perfect.” Rachel said, also laying next to her cousin.
“I can even show you around town tomorrow if you want. Or we can spread it out. Whatever your more comfortable with.”
“Honestly, I’ll probably want to stay at the classroom all day. Maybe even all week. I have so much preparing to do.”
“I get it.” Maggie said, turning onto her side and propping her head up onto her elbow. “But you have to come with me to the bar on Friday. Most of the town will be there, and you can meet Emily! It’ll be a blast!”
Rachel smiled at her much more extroverted cousin. “Sounds fun.”
Tuesday, August 23rd
The following morning, Rachel allowed herself to sleep in a bit. The drive had been tiring and she’d spent much of the day moving her stuff in and getting clothes into her closet. Nearly everything else was still in boxes, but that would have to wait. She and Maggie had stayed up a bit catching up over wine and their favorite childhood films. The whole day felt like a vacation, to tell the truth. She was starting to wonder how long it would take to sink in that she actually lived there.
She got up, showered and dressed, and made her way downstairs. Maggie had left a pot of coffee on, so she made a cup and walked outside to drink it on the porch. Oddly, this was something she was most excited about, sitting on the porch with a mug and book eventually. Her apartments never had balconies, and it was always just one of her small dreams.
She sat in one of the adirondack chairs on the porch, immediately enjoying the warm breeze. Maggie must have been in one of her buildings, as she was no where to be seen. Shadow, however, came sauntering up the steps and quickly jumping into Rachel’s lap. She could definitely get used to this.
When she was finishing up with her coffee, she could hear Ranger barking. She looked up to see Maggie leaving her shed and Ranger running quickly to her, causing Shadow to jump down and run off towards the field. Ranger took her place though, jumping up to take up Rachel’s entire lap.
“Ranger!” Maggie called after him, shaking her head. Rachel just laughed at her cousin, and re-enforced his bad behavior with copious amounts of pets. After a few minutes, he leaped off, shook his whole body, and went to go lay in the sun. Maggie finally reached the house and sat in the chair next to her.
“Good morning!” She greeted her, a little too happily. Rachel was glad she’d already had her coffee.
“Morning.”
“Are you ready to see your classroom?”
“More than.” Rachel replied, genuinely excited.
“Great!” She pulled out her phone and sent off a text. “I told Penny I’d let her know when we’d be there today. She’s eager to meet you.”
“Penny is the girl whose been teaching the kids?”
Maggie shrugged slightly. “More like tutoring. She’s done a great job with them though. And she’ll be around to help you all year.”
Rachel nodded. “Well, she'll be a great resource.”
“Do you want a full tour today?”
“I think I’d rather have small tours through the week? Or maybe even the weekend, honestly.” Rachel replied. “I really need to focus on getting this whole thing together.”
“Sure, of course. I can just take you to the Center today. We can go from there!” Maggie replied. “You’ll learn the town fast enough. And the people. There aren’t a ton, but I’ll admit even I got confused by everyone for a while.”
They went inside for a bit so Rachel could grab the bag of books and supplies she’d brought for her classroom and Maggie could drink some water after being out in the sun all morning. After a few minutes, they headed out.
“This is the bus stop you passed yesterday.” Maggie pointed out as they walked. There was a small bus at the stop, and a blonde woman standing by it. “Pam, Penny’s mom, is the driver. Hi Pam!”
Pam waved back, going back to watching her phone.
“Where does she take you?” Rachel asked, curious as she knew this was a different bus than the one that went back and forth from the city.
“Mostly this dessert town nearby. There’s a cool shop there. Emily is friends with the owner, Sandy, so we like to go a lot. Plus there’s this crazy cavern that’s awesome for mining.”
They continued to walk towards town. There were a few buildings, and Rachel could see a few houses, but at the moment the town was fairly quiet.
“Just there is the clinic. Harvey’s the town doctor. Maru works there part time as well. That’s Penny’s girlfriend, and also the daughter of the town carpenter, Robin. She does a lot of building for me so you might see her around the farm a lot.” Maggie talked quickly, clearly wanting to get out as much information as possible. “Next to it is Pierre’s, the only grocery store in town. Anything I can’t grow or farm can be found there. Pierre lives there with his wife, Caroline, and daughter Abigail. You’ll like Abby, I bet.”
They took a turn and started to head up a small hill. There was a fountain, a playground in the distance, and a large building.
Sitting against the fountain was a young blonde woman. She smiled when she saw Maggie approaching.
“Hey Maggie!” The blonde waved. “Whose the new blood?”
Maggie smiled back at her. “Hey Haley! This is my cousin, Rachel. Rach, this is Haley. She’s Emily’s sister.”
“Hi.” Rachel said, much less enthusiastically than the other two had been.
“How have you been doing?” Maggie asked the girl, her tone shifting to more sympathetic.
“Oh, better than last week. I think we’re really done this time.” Haley responded. Rachel was having a hard time reading her face.
“Is that a good for bad thing?” Maggie asked her.
Haley shrugged. “To be determined.”
Maggie let out a small chuckle. “Fair enough. Well, we’ve got to go, but call me if you need to talk some more.”
“Nice to meet you!” Haley called out as she returned to her phone. They started heading towards the building when Maggie leaned over an whispered to Rachel.
“Haley and her boyfriend, Alex, broke up recently. This is like the fourth time this year. Emily and I have a bet going on when they’ll get back together.”
“You don’t believe is really is the last time?”
“She’s said that every time.” Maggie said, as they approached the building. She lifted her arms out towards it. “Welcome to the Community Center! This place was practically falling over when I got here, and now it’s been totally restored!”
Rachel smiled at her cousin. She remembered hearing all about this place. It’d taken her over a year to fix it up. And once she did, the local JojaMart left town, apparently wishing to buy the building for a warehouse and seeing no other reason to stay.
They walked in and Rachel nearly gasped at how nice it was. There was a large fire place with a few couches around it and a huge fish tank against the same wall. A small reading nook was in the corner, as well as more couches in another corner with a table of cards and games. A couple of rooms were around, but most had closed doors. Maggie pointed towards the right wing.
“Over there is technically the official Mayor office, though Lewis usually does everything in his house. Plus a boiler room.” She waved Rachel to follow her to the left.
“Then there’s a pantry where people can check for extra supplies if needed. I leave stuff all the time. A kitchen back there with a coffee machine. You can have lunches with the kids there if you want. And finally, your new classroom!”
She opened the last door to show her room. There was a standard teaching desk near a whiteboard, a couple of small desks, some cubbies, and a few bookshelves. Additionally, some toys were in a bin and what looked like a crafting table. Simple, but actually perfect for what she needed.
“This is amazing.” She said as she walked in. When she heard they were re-doing a room here, she was expecting the worst. But she could certainly work with this.
“Thanks! Robin made a bunch of this. I’ve really put her to work lately. Frankly, I owe her big time. We converted an arts and craft room though, so it wasn’t too hard.” She sat on the bigger desk. “I tried to get you a smart board, but it wouldn’t get here in time and Lewis already had the white board in storage. Sebastian, Robin’s son, said he’d come this week to help you set up a computer and projector so you can at least project onto it.”
“That would be great, thanks.” Rachel said, still taking everything in. “Do you think we could get a rug? And a couple pillows?”
“Oh, reading time with Miss Rachel! I love it.” Maggie said brightly. “Yeah, of course!”
There was a knock on the door frame, grabbing both girls attention.
A girl in a yellow shirt was at the door, looking slightly nervous. She had her bright red hair in a cute double bun fashion.
“Penny!” Maggie said, jumping off the desk. “What do you think?”
“It’s wonderful!” She said as she walked in. She immediately headed to Rachel, her hand out. “I’m Penny.”
“Rachel” She replied, shaking the girls hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too!” She smiled at her. “The kids are just so excited to meet you. They’ve talked about nothing else since we got the news.”
“I hope I can live up to the hype.” Rachel joked.
“Oh, I’m sure you will.” Penny stated, waving her off slightly. “I thought I could bring them here one day this week. We’ve been tutoring in the library mostly, so they’ll get to see the room. And I thought it’d be good for them to meet to you before officially starting.”
“Yeah, sure. Bring them tomorrow. It’ll be nice to get to know them a bit first. I can start working on lesson plans then.”
“Wonderful!” Penny said, clapping her hands together. “And I assume Lewis mentioned I’ll be an aide for you?”
“He did, but didn’t really say what that meant.”
“Well, I’ll be bringing them here everyday, taking them home. He’s letting me do my online classes in the office over there during the week so I’ll be around if you need any help. Setting stuff up, doing one on one work, whatever you need really. Or if you need a break, I can pop in.”
Rachel nodded as she spoke. That did sound helpful.
They chatted for a bit longer, exchanged numbers, Penny and Maggie heading out after a bit leaving Rachel to start working on her room. She added some posters she’d brought, a couple of books, and looked through all the art supplies. She decided she’d start working on her plan tonight, but otherwise spend the week there to get as much together as possible. Maggie came back after a couple hours and the two walked back to the house. She pointed out a couple other people from the town, but Rachel’s mind was so preoccupied with what she needed to get done, she hadn’t really taken in any of the names.
Wednesday, August 24th
Rachel managed to get up earlier the next day and got to her classroom on her own. She and Penny had texted a bit the night before to plan out times and confirmed that she would be bringing the kids over that afternoon.
The morning went by quickly. She’d brought a few more items she had and decided she was happy with how she’d decorated. A red-headed woman stopped by at one point, introducing herself as Robin. Maggie must have talked to her, because she had a large rug with her and helped her set it up by the bookcase. The woman was very energetic and excited and Rachel understood immediately why Maggie got along with her so well.
She ate lunch quickly, and then nervously futzed around the room for a while. It was dawning on her what a change in classroom size this was. Only two kids was very personal, maybe too personal. And it was going to be very odd for them once they left for middle school.
She was just starting a spiral on how weird it was there weren’t more kids around when a knock came to her door. She jumped slightly, seeing Penny standing there.
“Hi! Are you ready for us?” She asked.
Rachel pulled herself out of her thoughts quickly, and nodded.
“Yes, of course!”
Penny smiled at her and turned. She heard her telling the kids to come along. “They're a little nervous.”
Rachel put on her best teacher smile as two kids rounded the door and walked in slightly. One was a dark haired girl with small pigtails, purple dress, and a green bow in her hair. She looked around cautiously for a moment, Rachel notifying her eyes drifting to the bookshelf more than once. The little boy was wearing a striped shirt and had strawberry blonde hair, heavy on the strawberry. His eyes immediately darted to the toy chest. In just the few moments, Rachel felt like she already knew a lot about them.
“Hello! Welcome!” She said, throwing herself into teacher mode. “I’m Miss Rachel.”
Both kids smiled up at her, but the little girl spoke. “I’m Jas! And this is Vincent!”
“It’s so great to meet you both!” She said to them, and gestured towards her new rug. “Do you want to sit and talk for a minute?”
They both nodded and ran over to sit on the rug. Rachel and Penny sat with them. Rachel was glad she’d decided to wear a nice pair of jeans so she could sit cross legged.
“I thought you’d like to get to know me a little before we start school.” She told them.
“You’re Maggie’s cousin!” Vincent chimed in. Penny laughed lightly at how excited he was.
“That’s right!”
“Maggie’s dating my cousin! Does that make us cousins?”
Rachel laughed lightly as well. “No, not really.”
Vincent looked down at his feet, slightly disappointed. “My mom doesn’t seem to like them being together.”
Classic kid overshare. Rachel and Penny made quick eye contact and tried to move on. “I met your other cousin yesterday. I think her name was Haley?”
His eyes lit up again. “Yeah! But she’s not as fun as Emily.”
“Well I can’t wait to meet her. Tell me more about your family, Vincent.”
“I live with my mom and dad. Dad was away for a while, but now he’s home but also kind of weird. And sad lately. I think being away made him sad. But I also have a big brother whose the best in the world!”
Rachel took that in for a moment and wondered what must have happened with his father. She made a mental note to ask Maggie later. “Sounds like you and your brother are close.”
Penny nodded, confirming this while Vincent just smiled at her. She turned to Jas.
“And Jas, what about your family?”
“Well, I live with my aunt Marnie and uncle Shane.” She said, kind of quietly. A lot of kids did this when they lived in “non-traditional” families. Rachel hoped one day she wouldn’t have to feel weird for it.
“Do you like living with them?” She asked, hoping for the best. You never really knew.
It must have a positive question because Jas perked right up. “I do! We live on a farm and have so many animals! Like cows and chickens!”
Rachel laughed. “I live on a farm now too! It’s a lot to get used to.”
Jas happily nodded at her. “But it’s so fun! And there’s a giant tree nearby with racoons in it.”
“That certainly does sound fun.” She took a bit of a deep breath. “Well, you guys know I just moved here, and it’s very different from where I used to live and where I used to teach. I’m a little nervous because it’s such a big change. This is a big change for you too, huh?”
They nodded, included Penny. Rachel nearly giggled at it. “I know. But, we are just going to have to stick together and we will all get through this big change. All change is scary for everyone, but I’m excited to be your teacher. Plus, we have Penny to help us along the way!”
They all cheered, and Penny stated it was probably time to get them back home. They all said their goodbyes, and Rachel immediately felt a weight off her back. They both seemed like great kids, and they’d be able to learn a lot from each other. She sat at her desk, and spent the rest of the day starting to dig into her lesson plans.