A/N: The new chapter of "We Three Hearts" is now available!

June 17th 2021

Chapter 168
Our Reunion With Friends

Even though she worked at this school every day, her old school, there had always been some level of separation. Of course, she remembered being a student there, remembered it vividly. She could look at a locker door and see a dent in it that had been there back when she'd been a student, could remember seeing it as she walked by a thousand times. She could sit in one specific spot in a classroom and remember how she'd sat there, day after day, could practically see ghostly after-images of her friends sitting around her. But at the same time, it had been years since then, and she was distinctly aware of that fact. She was Maya Friar, art teacher, former student.

Today, as she walked into the gym with Lucas, with their friends all around them, she was Maya Hart all over again, high school student. It didn't matter that everyone had clearly aged a decade since she'd last seen most of them. It was like all this time she had been seeing these little things around her, the dents and the desks and the signs that hadn't changed in nearly two decades if not longer, but because she was for the most part on her own out of that old group, it was easier to look at it with distance. And now, just for one night, someone had dropped the old pieces back in. Surrounded by the senior class of 2021, this was her school again, not the one where she taught but the one where she'd learned.

"Never thought I'd be so happy to see so many people I went to school with," she stated, looking over to Lucas. He smirked. She would have teased him about it, like here he was, old Huckleberry Friar, her very own golden boy, back among the people, but… no. What was there to tease him about? He was what he was, and she loved what he was, every day of her life.

"Is that why you have that look on your face?" he inquired.

"It's definitely one of the reasons," she smiled, the better to let him fill in the blanks, as though there was any doubt of what she'd said without saying it.

"Anyway, there are weirder things to think about, aren't there? About being around all of them again? None of us are the same people we used to be, and some of us…" he trailed, giving her a look. She smiled. "Some of us have trophies in our attic."

"Yeah, I've definitely been skating around the subject until now," Maya admitted with a small cringe. "Not sure how I'm supposed to handle it here. I usually feel like I do, but this one just… I don't know. It's just that the last time they knew me I was just a kid, like any one of the ones I teach everyday, but now I'm… still me, I hope…"

"Definitely, you are," Lucas promised her, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips. It made her smile.

"But maybe they won't see that anymore, or they'll think that I don't, that I think I'm someone else all of a sudden, just because I toured with Ree, and worked with people, and… attic trophies…"

"Are you kidding? They saw you play out there before. How is anyone who saw you play on that court going to think that you're anyone else?"

They hadn't really gotten to talk about the games all that much since they'd left the gym to get changed again, and the temptation was so strong for her and him to launch into conversation about this play and that pass and every single one of their teammates and the opposing teams, but no, no, they would have to show restraint… for now. Later, when it was just them again, they would have to talk about it, and one look between them made it clear. That conversation would be lengthy, and they couldn't wait. For now, it was time for their reunion.

"This is for what you said," Maya told Lucas after stretching up to kiss him. "Okay, let's go."

They had seen a lot of their former classmates over the years, those who were still in Austin mostly, but even those… Sometimes they'd run into someone, and they knew they had run into them, in some way, at some point after high school, but they couldn't say exactly how long ago it had been beyond 'back in college' or 'after college,' and even that wasn't a guarantee. No matter how long it had been though, they would get a moment to talk here today, and if not for the discussions of what everyone had been up to since those old days, it could have felt like they'd never gone their separate ways.

That feeling aside, they had of course been living their lives these past ten years, and they would find themselves hitting the same talking points over and over. Absolutely no one was surprised that Maya and Lucas had stood the test of time and were today happily married, and Marianne's picture was requested so many times as soon as anyone heard about her that Maya almost spent the night with her phone constantly in her hand.

Not that they had to tell nearly as many people about the fact that they had a child to begin with. Anyone who had been to see Ree's tour two summers ago would have seen Maya up there on that stage, her belly expanding ever further, and so would anyone who'd seen pictures, or videos… That part, the awards, all of it, of course came up, but Maya didn't have to worry all that much. Some people were weird about it, yes, but they were usually the same people who'd been weird about the band, back when they'd been in school. Most people were just so excited for her. They took the fact that she'd been one of them, part of them, as a badge of honor. They were proud of her, and it genuinely touched her heart to know it.

The better to balance things out – and because she loved to see the look on her husband's face – she would gladly give some humble bragging over the fact that Lucas had a book out there. The way their old classmates would look at her, it would be like they were suddenly remembering exactly the way she used to be, which was more or less exactly as she was now, and they loved to see it. The best parts were when they'd run into someone who not only knew about the book but who'd actually read it. When they'd find those – and they had several of them throughout the night – oh, Maya's face would be shining at its brightest mischief, looking up to Lucas.

"We should hang out with these guys more often," he told her before leaning to kiss the side of her face as they walked toward the drinks table.

"Bringing back memories? Good memories?" Maya asked.

"Would you believe it, mostly ones of you," he nodded.

"I need to start a Huckleberry jar," she chuckled.

"What would you do with the money? Also, who would have to pay, you or me?" Lucas asked, rather than to wonder why she'd ever want to do anything like that, because he knew very well the reason, something that would be summed up to 'because it's her.'

"The who doesn't really matter, does it?" she waved off this notion. "And the what, well… I don't know, either we give it to some place that needs it, or we use it on something fun for the family. Once a year or something."

"Well, I like the idea, whatever way you choose to go with it. Can always do half and half, or 75-25 giving and spending," he suggested.

"And that right there is our first dollar," Maya hummed. Without a word, Lucas reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar bill to pass on to her. "Alright, then I'll add one of mine for earlier. Look at that, we're on our way."

"Now, hold on, we need to have a thing for you, too, to balance it out," Lucas insisted.

"True, true. We'll think of something, I promise."

For all the talking they did that night, and the dancing, the thing they'd remember the most was that, true to form as they'd always been, they finished out their night just as they would have done any dance back when they'd attended this school. They sat up on the gym stands, the two of them, Riley and Dylan, Nadine and Zay, Asher and Ray, Sophie and Chiara… Alright, Chiara hadn't been with them in high school. Everyone save for Sophie had only become aware of her over the course of their trip to Europe, the summer after graduation. But at this point she might as well have been here, like they'd somehow been able to splice her among their memories.

"You know, he's been writing down names and ages of everyone's kids he heard about tonight?" Nadine told the group, nodding to Zay. He gave a look like that was supposed to be kept secret because it could sound weird without context, but then the others knew the context very well, two of them especially. At once, Maya and Dylan moved in on either side of their fellow teacher until he'd present the list for them to see. Zay would get to meet them all long before either of them did, provided that they attended his school and he continued teaching at the grade he'd been teaching since he started, but that wouldn't be for a few years still, so what difference would a few more make?

"She wants to teach them a secret handshake," Lucas informed Nadine and Riley as he tipped his head to his wife. Maya didn't even shy from it, instead attempting to show the guys what she'd come up with.

"Be right back," Riley gave a sigh, still smiling over the handshake as she waddled her way off to the bathroom with the exasperation of one who'd had to go way too often in too little a time. The second baby Orlando wasn't due until September, but the way things had been going, you would think it was nearly due any day now.

"Hey, so you didn't talk to any…" Lucas asked Dylan as he watched his wife go. He turned back to his friend, the question catching up to him. He let out a breath.

"No, I didn't. And I don't think any of them saw each other, so that's something at least…" he stated, like he wanted to feel optimistic at the thought of his father, stepmother, and brother not running into his mother and her husband and causing a scene in the middle of the gym. "I'll see about my parents and Kyle later, I guess I'll see with Phoebe or Taylor about theirs…"

This wasn't the kind of thing where he'd tell himself 'well, it has to happen sooner or later, right?' No, it didn't have to happen, ever. It could, but it also might not. Where he was concerned… Was there a part of him that kept circling around the idea of one day sitting down and having a genuine conversation with his mother and Peter Munroe? Maybe, a little, but he was in no rush to explore that. If the time came when he felt compelled to reach out, he would do it, but only then. He knew where to find them, didn't he?

When the night ended at last, Maya and Lucas left the school and drove on to the elder Friars' to pick up Marianne and 'her new wardrobe,' as Maya would call it whenever her mother-in-law decided to contribute several new items to her granddaughter's clothing. If it weren't that it was so late already and they just wanted to get home as much as Thomas and Melinda would be ready to turn in for the night, they would have been invited in to sit and talk about their night, and the games. There would be time for all that another day. For the time being, they would pass on the sleeping girl and the bags and wish their son and his wife a safe trip home and a good night.

"Hey, I know you, I've seen your picture a lot tonight, you big star," Maya whispered as she carried her daughter back to the car.

"See where she gets that," Lucas smiled as he opened the door for them and Maya set the girl in her seat.

"Beats me."

By the time they got home, got Marianne settled into her crib for the night, changed out of their reunion outfits and crawled into bed, they were exhausted, breathing out with that sweet release of a comfortable mattress at the end of a long day.

"Is this what it feels like? Are we old now?" Maya complained with extra drama in her voice.

"I don't know about 'old,' I mean… I don't think we were ever exactly the type to stay up through the night without missing a step, were we?" Lucas asked.

"No, I guess not," she conceded. After an extra beat of silence, she turned on to her side to face him. "Today was pretty good, wasn't it?"

"Oh, better than good," he easily agreed. "Especially your game. My favorite part was when you scored that first time. You'd all barely started, and then…" he imitated the sound of the ball sailing through the net. "The look on those girls' faces," he recalled, which got Maya laughing as she recalled it, too.

"Yeah, that was great," she smiled. They'd always known that she used to play for the school, that she'd captained her senior year team, but that was all so long ago, they couldn't conceptualize it… not until today, when Mrs. Friar the art teacher had absolutely owned them.

"I forgot how much I liked playing," Lucas told her. "Not just at our hoop, in actual games," he explained.

"Well, you could still do it, couldn't you? There are teams you could join, somewhere," Maya shrugged, setting aside the spoons for the night as she settled her head to his shoulder. Lucas welcomed the change of pace on this special occasion and closed his arms around her.

"Yeah, I guess I could… If I did, though, you could do it, too."

"Can we find a team where we can both play together? Never really did that," Maya pointed out. Just by lying down, they'd invited sleep from the place where it had awaited them, practically looking on from over their shoulders. They drifted off to sleep with dreams of basketball, the two of them on the same team. It really would be something.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners