March 20th 2021

Chapter 79
Our Farewell to a Year

Maya truly wished she could have brought Marianne along with her over these next few days, but it really would not have been practical at all, would it? She'd be accompanying Barton Day in leading each of the four groups through a museum, as she had done in previous years, and it would already be enough of a task not to lose any of them. Adding a baby in a stroller would have been asking for chaos. So, instead, Marianne was left to Granny Lizzie, who would then take her great granddaughter to visit Riley and baby Nicky. Maya supposed she could accept the compromise in this way.

She would also have loved to have Lucas there with her, but then asking him to take time off work for this was not always possible, and this year, he just couldn't make it. They had one saving grace in all this, and it was that she'd have plenty of stories to tell him at the end of the days.

The first of the groups to get their turn were the sophomores. Maya spent a lot of time mostly being amused at the way Rochelle McNeil turned out to be the most excited about this field trip. Maybe it really had to do with the fact that she could never forget how wholly unmotivated the girl had been at the start of the previous year. She had essentially been forced into art class by the guidance counselor, and it was just not part of her vision for her future. It was a waste of her time. Maya had given much effort, in one way or another, to get the girl to lift her head and open her eyes to the world, and she had achieved it. She'd found a way to make it all fit for her.

When it became known that she would be going on leave, to have her baby, Maya had been worried for how it would come to affect the work she'd done with Rochelle. And when fall had started, it had been clear to see how close they'd come to it all falling apart. Luckily for all of them, Maya had no intention to leave her hanging, and to top it all off she had the best substitute she could ask for. He'd seen to it that the work she'd started with the girl would be continued, and now after nearly two years, Ms. McNeil was as steady as ever. She was still very much herself, and they would never seek to take that away from her. But she had found she could be driven and open her periphery on to the world rather than keep a tunnel vision toward success.

Today, she was on a mission, as her final assignment for art class would involve the tour they were about to take. She had her notebook, and she was ready to go.

"Trying not to take it too personal that he's keeping as far away from me as possible," Barton nodded to the other end of the group, where they could see his second son talking and walking alongside Khalil Russell. The two boys had grown to be great friends over the last couple of years, and by now you could hardly see one without the other at school unless their schedules made it happen.

"I'm not looking forward to finding out how Marianne will cope with having her mother as a teacher someday," Maya chuckled.

"The rule, the way the rest of us see it, is 'don't take it personal.' By the time you end up back home, they remember you're their parent and they love you… and you pay their allowance and can ground them if they give you lip."

"Maybe I need to send her to a different school," she laughed now.

"Or that," Barton agreed. "All kidding aside, I am going to miss this. Getting to spend a whole year with him and his brother out there… I appreciated it."

"The feeling's mutual, you know that, right?" Maya smiled. "If I had to put all these kids in anyone's hands, I'm really glad they were yours. And, hey, you've got two more boys coming up the years, and I am not done with needing a sub while I'm off on maternity leave."

"You have my number," Barton nodded.

The sophomores gave them little to no trouble along the way. A few of them wandered off, mostly for getting distracted by some painting or another, other times because they just weren't that interested in being here. Maya's 'punishment' for those who left their buddies was known, and it continued to be enforced.

"Do we have time to go to the gift shop?" Khalil came to find Maya as the tour was wrapping up.

"Uh, the bus will be here soon, and we can't delay," she told him after checking the time. "Why, are you after something in particular, or…"

"There was just this painting, and I thought if they had a poster or something, Desi would like it in her room." He showed her the information he'd scribbled down in his notebook.

"Oh, yeah," Maya smiled. She knew the one, and knowing Desi as she did, she agreed with his assumption. "Look, stay with the group, I'll go check it out." Khalil nodded and started to reach in his pocket. "We can worry about that later, go on," she stalled him and indicated the group. She would have happily treated him to it, but she knew it wouldn't be in him to accept, and he'd want to pay.

Maya was known well enough at the gift shop that it took next to no time for her to find what she was looking for. She found a compromise in using her museum member discount, and then she was off to the bus, to complete her transaction with a thankful Khalil.

The next day, it was back to the museum again, this time with the junior class, her soon to be seniors. They would always be special to her that way, wouldn't they? They would always be the first group of kids she'd seen through from freshmen through graduation. Sure, she hadn't been at school this year, but then she'd still been part of all those months with them, as much as she could. Now they were just a little over a year away from leaving the school and carrying on with their lives. How would anyone who knew her at all expect for her to take this easily?

If nothing else, she could comfort herself in knowing not all of her kids in that year would completely disappear on her. Missy Sanderson would continue to be her neighbor, at least until she went off to college, leaving her parents' farm, but they'd still be there, and she'd keep visiting her and Lucas. All the same, Kai would continue to be seen around his parents' house, across the street from the elder Friars', and if nothing else, if he and Missy continued seeing each other, something very likely for what current evidence showed…

Then there was Stella Buckley. Her shy bird… It remained unclear as of yet exactly what she'd do after high school, much as the case was with most of her students, but no matter where she went, Maya somehow didn't see her completely straying away. Stella was a creature of habits, and those included people. She wouldn't be surprised if she saw the girl popping up now and again. Now, as for her best friend, as for Phoebe…

To see her that day, when they were all gathering to get on the bus, Maya had to work so hard not to get distracted. It was the first time she saw her since those conversations with Melinda Friar, and with Dylan… Whenever she'd gotten her diary in these past weeks, the thoughts had been present in her mind, naturally, but that was fine, she wasn't looking at her at the same time. She was looking at her now.

"Are you okay, Mrs. Friar?" Phoebe asked, and Maya had to blink. She even sounds like him sometimes. Not even the voice, but the inflections…

How was it that the two of them could be so like each other without ever having known one another? Genetics were one thing, but this was so much more, it felt like… punishment. She was forced to recognize how she was made to hold something back from this girl and how she hated it. Regardless that it was 'for her own good,' it just felt wrong to her. It was not Dylan's fault either. They were all trying to make the best of a situation where there could be no winning.

"Oh, yes, more than okay," Maya promised, pulling on her smile to combat the faltering it had suffered. "I'm on my way to a museum, with all of you guys? I'm so okay, I need a different word."

"Oh… okay," Phoebe smiled, and it knocked at Maya's resolve again. She had that quality of his, too, didn't she? That little way he had of disarming you, because as so deeply kind and lively as he was, Dylan Orlando was by no means a dummy, and he would understand very well when someone was not okay. He'd know, and he'd want to make it better. He'd generally succeed, too.

Seeing it coming off of Phoebe now, it only made Maya feel worse for not being able to explain. It was like some cruel joke.

"Hey, you and Stella want to sit with me up there?" she caught her again before she could wander off. Phoebe's smile returned at this, and she nodded at once.

"Stels! Get over here!" she called out, startling Maya into a laugh.

The invitation to share the ride could have been like cornering herself into a trap, but right now she wasn't worried. She had always been able to talk to those two, had spent so many lunch periods and shared brief morning conversations outside the school with them, enough so that they all had an easy rapport together. Maya asked the girls about their plans for the summer, and they were good to go. In return, they asked about what she was planning for the summer, and she told them about her return to music, with the band, and with her song writing. She was just about ready to send the demo to the Marvelers.

Maybe for this being the third of these trips the group had taken with her, she didn't have to hand out a single 'punishment' to the juniors. They were a tight group, and they followed her and Barton Day, stayed with their teams when they were dispersed, and finally returned when they were expected to return. She almost wanted to tell them to run off wild for a couple of minutes, because they'd earned it. Instead, she went to the gift shop, picked out a number of items, and raffled them off on the bus trip back to the school.

"So, how was it today?" Lucas asked her that night as she was putting Marianne into her crib.

"It was really good… some weird moments…" Maya stated.

"Phoebe?" he guessed.

"Yeah…" she sighed, moving into his arms as he'd opened them to her. This right here, this was the relief she'd needed, and he knew it. He held her, and all was well. "You know what I've been thinking?"

"A lot of things, probably?" Lucas ventured, which made her chuckle.

"Yes, always. But also that, since you didn't get to come with us this year…"

"Right, that's true," he nodded, then, "Capital D Date?"

"You, me, a museum, it never fails," she smiled up at him.

"Unless it rains," he added, before she could even say it. "I'll keep an eye on the forecasts."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners