May 4th 2021

Chapter 124
Our Surprises For Buzz

It took all of a few days before rumor started to spread along the halls and classrooms of the high school that a musical was being discussed. There was no telling exactly who had heard what when, how the word had gained its wings, the better to float from ear to ear, but it was there now, no doubt about it. No official announcement had been made as of yet, and the whole thing felt like a holding pattern. None of the students asked and none of the teachers confirmed or denied. All Maya could think was 'well, at least they clearly look excited, so that's a good sign.'

No, alright, that wasn't the only thing she was thinking about. These days, she had so many other things to think about, all the time. If home, and her work here, and the Russells, and the Munroes, and her music, if all of that wasn't enough… now she had one more secret in her vault. She was going to be an aunt.

No one knew it yet, not even her brother, just her and Lucas and of course Dora. As far as they knew, she hadn't told Sam yet, nothing had changed. Whatever she needed to get through before she wasn't so scared anymore, before she felt able to tell him and receive what was bound to be shock followed by immense joy, she hadn't gotten there yet. And they had to respect it.

Maya still remembered that night when she'd told her and Lucas. Just getting Dora back to a place where she'd look like the same person Sam had left at the house before going to work once he returned… They had to pull that fear back into hiding, clear her face of the sign of tears… As much as they felt compelled to ask more, they had to go on without any sort of mention of the pregnancy or the baby if they wanted to get her to where she needed to be. They got her about as close as they'd be able to get her, and the rest they could blame on her being tired and needing to get some sleep, which wasn't so far out of the realm of reality.

When Sam had arrived to get her, he had shown himself at once more attentive than they'd given him credit for and just as blind as they'd needed him to be. He accepted the leftover tiredness excuse because he'd noticed that Dora had been tired for a few days, and he was very intent on getting her back to their apartment and looking after her. Seeing his attentiveness and love in action, both Maya and Lucas felt they could see the thoughts spinning through Dora's head. She felt guilty for withholding this information, but at the same time his nature proved her need for this secrecy. She wasn't in the same place he was, not yet. She needed to catch him up before she said anything, because oh how she loved him, just as he did her.

After they'd gone, Maya and Lucas had said goodnight to Granny Lizzie and headed up the stairs back to their room. Once they were there, it was like breaking the surface again after being underwater and holding their breaths. They looked to one another and it was in their eyes, this question of what they were supposed to say or do now. They'd just been talking about Sam and Dora, this notion of his proposing to her in the coming summer… Now there was a baby, and they could have discussed the subject on and on, but what use would it be? Until Sam knew, until they knew more about the next steps… They were better off leaving it alone.

Did that mean they stopped thinking about it? No, of course not. For one thing, in Maya's case, there was comics day coming up, which meant that she was in contact with her little brother every single day, the two of them going over their plans for the four classes. Every time they spoke or wrote, Maya felt like she needed to slip a mask over her face. It had been a practiced habit, when she'd been much younger, and she never liked doing it now, but it still came relatively easy.

At the same time, neither she nor Lucas had heard a peep out of Dora. They didn't know what was going on with her, if she was progressing toward telling Sam, and they didn't want to pry, to push her to do anything before she was ready. All they could do was wait, wondering how long it would take. Sooner or later, if it took that long, she wouldn't exactly have a choice anymore, would she?

"Is it okay if I still…" Phoebe asked, when she and Stella arrived in the art class at lunch time on Monday. Today was a Born Curious lunch session day.

"Your sketchbook? Sure," Maya nodded at once. "Here, just sit at my desk," she retrieved it and handed it over. Phoebe went, taking a seat before pulling out her lunch. Meanwhile, Stella went to the square station and did the same. She would steal looks to her best friend, like she would have wanted her to get to sit with the rest of them anyway, but she understood why she needed to keep to her own corner, too.

In no time, the rest of the group would arrive. Lea came along, her cast and one crutch gone, though she kept the other as she still needed its support. She definitely knew about the musical rumors. There was just no way that she of all people would be able to hide it once the whispers reached her. She was practically the poster child for Stage Ready, and if she wasn't another Broadway-bound student at their school, following Joey Garcia, Maya would be very surprised. And now there could be a musical, right here at her high school? Oh, she would be all over that… once her foot was good and healed. That was really all the motivation she needed to keep getting better. Until then, she would steal glances to her cousin's wife, like she hoped to catch her talking or even thinking about it, so she could finally ask. Maya was exercising the best of poker faces. The announcement wasn't out yet, and that was how it had to stay.

Rochelle and Bodhi walked into the art room hand in hand. They'd started dating over the summer, that wasn't a secret, but the holding hands part was newer. Maya never wanted to think of anyone out here causing them trouble, but she also knew from interacting with the both of them on a regular basis that it was a concern they shared and expressed in their own ways. Rochelle very much toed the line of 'if you have a problem with him, you have a problem with me, and if you do then I won't stand for it.' Bodhi, for his part, would do his best to keep to a mantra of refusing to give anyone the power to make him feel like his being himself was wrong. It wasn't easy.

There were students in the school who would harass him, call him names, and from what Barton Day and others on the teaching staff had told her, there'd been a few physical altercations the previous year. They hadn't told her at the time, but they didn't have to. She could see it in his diary, like a spike on a heart monitor. As best she could, without pushing where she shouldn't push, she'd kept the lines of communication open with him through notes in the diary. If he needed to talk, she was right there. He'd taken her up on it once.

Now that she was back, she made it clearer than ever. If anything happened, he could come to her right away. So far, there'd been nothing, but to see him walking with Rochelle's hand in his… It made him so happy, and he hated that it also worried him. He shouldn't have had to worry. Here at least, in the space of the Born Curious sessions, he could set aside his burden.

"Hey," Maya smiled as they came in, "How was your mor…"

"When are they going to say about the musical?" Rochelle cut in at once. Maya blinked. Bodhi bit back a laugh. Lea's head whipped back toward them. Stella looked confused, surprised. Phoebe closed her sketchbook and turned around. "What? Someone had to say it. She's being all fidgety over there, and we have a match coming, so she needs to focus," Rochelle gestured toward Lea. The two of them had been getting along surprisingly well, although maybe it wasn't too much of a surprise. They were both the bearers of very… intense personalities, direct and to the point. How could they not see and recognize that? How could they not respond to it? If they were ever put on opposing teams, they would be very fierce competitors, but they were not. They were teammates, and they were a one-two punch.

"Right, shut the door, will you?" Maya sighed. There was no point denying it now, was there? Yes, she had a great poker face, but Rochelle had a great… well, poker. She'd keep hitting away until she broke through. "How do you even know about… any of that?" she asked the group.

"I didn't know," Stella declared even as she turned to see if Phoebe knew. She shook her head; she hadn't known either. Maya would be willing to guess that her mind had been too preoccupied elsewhere for her to have caught on.

"Alright, how about the rest of you?" Maya asked the others. None of the three could recall exactly where they'd heard it first, which only showed their teacher that the word was really getting around. "Great…" she sighed.

"Then… it's real?" Lea asked, cautiously eager.

"Might be," Maya volunteered. The freshman girl sat up on her stool, eyes faraway. Maya would be willing to bet she was considering audition songs. "I didn't confirm anything to any of you," she pointed to all her students in turn, and they agreed, even as they had to keep from laughing. "Lea?" she asked, and her cousin blinked and looked over. Maya gave a zipping of the lips, and she responded by a crossing of the heart. "Great," she sighed. "Now, can we get back to the quiz team?"

She would have gone to check in on Miranda, who would be the one in charge of making the big announcement, to find out if she was any closer to it, but she didn't have to. All of an hour later, as everyone but Lea had gone on to their respective classes and the art room was occupied by the whole of her freshman group, Maya's lesson was interrupted by a message over the PA. There would be a musical in the spring, and auditions were the coming Friday. This caused an immediate rush of whispers around the room, the epicenter of which could only have come from one Lea Sullivan-Reyes. She had five days, no, four days to prepare, she needed to get a move on that as soon as possible.

"Okay, okay, hey!" Maya called her students back to attention. "Time and a place for everything, yeah? Let's get back on track, please? Thank you." Alright, so she was very excited, too, especially now that it wasn't a secret anymore. She would have loved to have been a student still, to get to actually participate, but that time had come and gone, so the next best thing was exactly this. She would get to see those kids bring it all together, and she couldn't wait.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners