February 4th 2017

Chapter 35
Her Way to Confidence

The morning of their presentation came, and Maya woke up early… even for her. She just couldn't sleep anymore, her mind was refusing to rest. She was nervous. How could she be nervous about a presentation? They had never been a problem before, had they? She would go up there, and she would say her bit and it would be over, however the cards may fall.

But that was the thing, wasn't it? Back home, whether her results matched her abilities or not, she always knew she was capable of more but she hadn't really done anything about it. But then they had come here, and she had been so destabilised by the move that she'd gone into that new school wanting only to make a good impression. She had been trying more, trying harder. Now she had to present her work in front of people instead of simply handing it over, and the thought of it was actually giving her butterflies. It was the strangest sort of feeling to her. What would they think back in New York, Maya Hart nervous about a class presentation…

She was ready to just head to school so early that it had caught even her mother's attention. Maya had told her she wanted to be ready for her presentation, which was as close to the truth as she was likely to get. Her mother had offered to take her up there and see her off for the day, and Maya might have said it was unnecessary, but then she accepted. Her view of school wasn't the only thing that was changing, was it?

So off they'd gone, riding the bus together, and Maya asked her mother how things were going for her at the theater. Her mother started to say it was all going great, and then she paused, remembering to tell her that in a few weeks they would have Career Day at her school, and she would be coming in to speak to her class. Maya received the news, only able to conjure up what those days had been previously looked like for her, and for a beat she was worried about what it would mean. As strong as her determination was that they had a new and different life here, maybe some things just didn't know how to be different.

They got off the bus, and Maya and her mother started to walk toward the school. As they did, her mother suggested that she should invite her friends over to the house sometime, that she hadn't really gotten the chance to know them and she wanted to change that. Maya hadn't even been aware she hadn't really had them over, except when someone had taken her back home. Was she ready for that? Riley had known about her mother, their home, since they'd been little, and it was always just how things were. Lucas and Zay and the others, they'd only ever gotten glimpses. She told her mother that she'd keep it in mind.

"Ah, good morning, Miss Hart, and Miss Hart." They looked up, just as they were coming up to the school to find the Principal standing there, as he'd been walking in, too. He instead came toward them, and Maya felt caught somewhere between New York apprehension and her Texas butterflies at her being with both her Principal and her mother. What would he say? "A bit early today, aren't we?"

"Well, Maya is getting ready for a presentation today," her mother declared, tapping her daughter's shoulder, and Maya pulled on a smile as best she could. "History, right?" She nodded quietly.

"Oh, well, of course. From what I've been hearing, you've been showing this level of dedication in all your classes," the Principal told her, and it took Maya a moment to connect with the fact that he was smiling, that he might have been complimenting her. She tried not to look stunned, and she could only guess what her mother looked like. If the Principal noticed, he said nothing except. "Good to see you again, Miss Hart" to her mother before going on his way.

"Maya…" her mother spoke after he'd gone and she sounded stunned, a little, but more than anything she sounded happy, maybe even proud?

"Mom, don't make a scene," she begged, a second before she was caught in her mother's arms as she was squeezed up close. "Mom… public… Mom, breathing!" her voice came muffled, and when she was let go, she breathed quickly. "You're not crying, are you?" she looked at her.

"I'll spare you and save it for later," her mother insisted. She smiled down at her, and Maya smiled back, smaller. "Break a leg," her mother said in parting, and as she walked off, with a sort of bounce in her step, Maya didn't know what to do with herself.

She sat out front, as she always did, and she waited, lost in thought. The praise had been spontaneous, and she might not have heard it if she hadn't shown up early, with her mother. But she had been early, and she had heard it, and now there was a sudden and noted absence of butterflies.

Was it too early to take those words and take them as proof that the morning's presentation would go well? Maybe. Was she going to care? Not even a little. As far as she was concerned, it was all she had needed to hear.

When Lucas and Zay arrived, she was as ready as they were to get through this and crush it. Lucas pointed out that she looked like she'd had loads of chocolate or coffee or something, and she told him she was just having a good morning. He was glad to hear it.

Nadine had made her earliest arrival to date, with her two partners at her side. She revealed they had shown up on her doorstep to make sure she wasn't late, and that she had still been sleeping at the time, which explained the annoyed look on her face. Finally Maya had understood the cause of her late arrivals was that Mr. Zhu worked very late, and when he came home, it would wake her up, and she'd have trouble getting back to sleep. Dylan had offered to have her sleep over, but then none of their parents had ever been at ease with this scenario.

"But there are two of us girls now," Maya pointed out, and maybe it was the Principal's words making her bold, but before she knew it she was inviting them all for a sleepover at her house. "Nadine can sleep in my room, you boys go in the basement, we'll lock the door if it makes your parents feel any better," she went on. The idea was gladly welcomed.

Before they knew it, they were headed into their history class, and the presentations began. When it was Maya's team's turn, they got up and went to stand in front.

After the drama of the previous afternoon, which looked ridiculous in hindsight, their presentation had gone as smoothly as any one of them would have hoped that it would. They had managed to combine all of their ideas, and it had turned into – in Zay's opinion – the best presentation of the class, although he did have difficulty not getting emotional when Nadine, Asher, and Dylan went on to talk about their conversation with his dear old GiGi.

When the class was over, they had gone off, the six of them, talking excitedly about the potential of this sleepover, and Maya was just as anxious as the rest of them.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners