August 18th 2021

Chapter 230
Our Loss of Friendship

The afternoon was more or less what they'd expected it to be. Some of the initial shock had had time to dissipate, but it wasn't gone, especially not for the sophomores, who'd lost one of their own, and then the seniors, keeping their classmate in mind as he dealt with the loss of his brother.

Maya had already seen those groups today, so it might have been that the freshmen and juniors would have been on a different wavelength, that they might be better off. But it wasn't so simple, was it? Someone had died, someone near enough in age to them as to make the whole thing feel uncomfortably close. In the gym meeting, there had been a debate as to whether or not they should disclose how he'd died, what they knew of it. They had chosen to tell them, if only to remove the element of speculation, which could be just as disruptive to their already affected minds.

The truth only helped so far though, didn't it? They now knew that Lambert Day had died in his sleep, and it could sound like the most peaceful way to go, yes, but at their age... it was terrifying. With her freshmen, Maya found herself fielding questions she would rather not think of, until finally she managed to introduce the idea of letters or cards for the family, and the questions were replaced by the scratch of many pens and pencils.

She went back outside during her extended afternoon break. Now and then, other teachers with a free period found their way outside, too, and they joined her on the bench. Finally, she had to return inside for her last class of the day with the juniors.

It came down to letters and cards here, too, and not because of her suggesting it. With their other two members down for the count today, Maya guessed that Rochelle had told Bodhi about what the other classes had done, and so he'd come along and spread the idea among his classmates.

For them, she realized, it was personal, too. They had been freshmen the year she had been absent, before and after Marianne's birth, so although she had very much been their teacher, the one they had interacted with on a daily basis was Barton Day, and he had been very good to them, too. They knew about Lambert even before he'd started coming to their school because his father would talk about him. He was just so proud of his boys, all of them...

Maya had just dug out a box from the supply closet, the better to put together the day's load of letters and cards to deliver that evening, when Summer arrived, carrying a small load of her own. It made Maya take what felt like the hundredth tremulous breath of the day, seeing more testimonials of care from the kids. As she learned now, several had been written by other teachers.

"Thank you so much for doing this," she told Summer. The girl gave a quiet nod and Maya wondered if, in a way, her motivation might have come from a motherly place. The very idea of losing one's child would have hit her as much as all the other feelings her class and schoolmates had experienced.

"We're going to see Taylor now, yeah?" Summer asked.

"Yes," Maya nodded as she closed the box, now holding the entire load of messages for Lambert's family.

"I wrote to him at lunch. He hasn't responded," Summer revealed. She was concerned for her friend, which was entirely understandable, and Maya shared in this concern, too, from her own perspective.

"He's taking it very hard, from what I've heard," Maya pointed out. Summer nodded.

It would be easy to see for anyone who had seen the best friends together. They'd had all of a year and a half together, but to see them go, you would think they'd had a lifelong bond. Now it had been severed, and Taylor had been thrown off balance.

Summer shared her own experience of the day as she and Maya started on their way to the Munroe house. She'd been in the eye of the storm, with those most affected among the student body, all day long. Maya could hear in Summer's voice how she needed to share these stories as a way to lessen their weight on her, and she didn't interrupt her.

They were greeted at the door by Phoebe Munroe. She'd come right back here after her classes ended in early afternoon, though she had one more in the evening. Her presence had allowed her father to head back in to work after he'd stayed home to be with Taylor. She thanked her former teacher for the lunch, even though Maya had not really been the one to send it. As far as Phoebe saw it, her presence had made it happen. Neither she nor her father had been able to get Taylor to eat that morning, but the pancakes had drawn him out of hiding, to silently consume about half of the stack. She suspected the other half would be his dinner, to no complaint whatsoever.

"Has he said anything at all?" Maya asked as the three of them stood together at the bottom of the stairs. From above, they could hear music loudly emanating from what would have to be Taylor's room.

"No, not even to me. It's worse than when we had the blow out with Mom and Dad," Phoebe revealed, the worry in her brow feeling so unnatural on her. "I've been checking on him, but he just sits there, like... he's trying to listen to the words to distract himself, but it's not always working."

With that in mind, they climbed up the stairs toward the first floor. The door wasn't even closed. Phoebe explained in a whisper that Taylor had initially closed it, but at one point their father had left it open and he hadn't tried to close it again. It made it easier for them to look in on him without intruding.

From what Phoebe had told them, they found him in much the same position he would have occupied most of the day. He sat on the floor, his back to the side of his unmade bed, staring out the window. They could barely see the side of his face, but it was enough to gather how far away his thoughts were, enough so that he didn't become aware of their presence until they walked into the room proper. Then, maybe, the sight of several feet in his peripheral vision convinced his head to turn and discover who was there.

He blinked, registering his sister's presence, and his art teacher's... His gaze stayed on Summer though, and as far as his mind was, a part of it looked sort of relieved. At once, Summer crouched and then sat next to him. She took one of his hands in hers, and though he said nothing, he gripped back, looking at her, and it was enough.

"Hey, Taylor," Maya crouched and then sat on the floor, soon joined by Phoebe. The boy looked at her. "I'm going to leave you your diary. You can just leave it there, or you can use it, for whatever you want to put down. It's up to you, okay?" He nodded.

Together, Maya and Summer caught him up on what had been going on at school that day, how everyone had been dealing with the news. It was the best they could do until he was able to speak back to them. They really just wanted him to know that he was not alone. When Summer told him about the box full of letters and cards for the Days, he looked glad. Maya also mentioned how they were planning to take the box to Lambert's family that evening after dinner. After a moment, he looked from his teacher to his friend.

"If I... I want to write something, too. Can you come and get it on the way?" Sitting at his side, Phoebe reached over to squeeze her little brother's shoulder.

"Of course, we will," Maya promised him at once.

Now that he'd spoken, he looked like he'd pulled himself out of whatever bubble he'd kept himself in most of today. His emotions were slipping from his control again, and he looked restless as he tried not to fall apart.

"I talked to him on Saturday, he was fine..." he closed his eyes, forced them shut tight to keep from crying. "We were writing on Saturday night, and he was looking forward to going with Anton to help him on a project for school. I checked in last night to see if he could come over this afternoon and he never replied, but I... I didn't think anything was wrong, just... But he was... He's..."

The tears wouldn't be held back any longer, and they came from him like a deluge. Phoebe barely had to come closer before his head tipped on to her shoulder. On the other side, Summer kept hold of his hand, joined in both of hers now. Maya could only sit before him, bowing her head. She made contact, showed her support, by reaching for his other hand. Losing Lambert had made him feel as alone as ever, and here they were, showing him that he was anything but.

Phoebe remained with Taylor when it was time for Maya and Summer to leave, so they saw themselves out. Sitting back in the car, Maya looked to the girl at her side. She had that underlying frenzy in her, the same one Maya had been experiencing all day. She needed to be back with her daughter, and now the moment was so close that they could barely keep it together.

Their visit with Taylor had been rough, as they had imagined it would be. Imagining was not the same as experiencing though, and now that they had been there with him, it felt like the first solid blow to the facade they had needed to keep on all day just to keep going. It would all crumble out from under them as they went home to their girls, and then later, when Maya and Lucas would go see the Days... Summer had been offered the possibility of going with them, but she had decided it would be better if she didn't, and Maya understood. She wasn't ready, and she didn't need to be, not today.

They arrived back at the house to find Marianne in the midst of demonstrating the dog training tricks she had learned thanks to her father and Mateo. Crowley, Artie, Jax, and Squeak were all putty in her hands already, which only made it easier for the two-year-old to inspire participation. Her audience consisted of Granny Lizzie on the recliner and Lea on the couch, with Tori in her lap. The great grandmother was as encouraging as ever, while the cousin looked to be enjoying the display as best as she could, despite the lingering grief. The most energized audience member was the baby girl, who batted her hands together and squealed at almost everything the dogs did.

As soon as she saw her mother, Marianne Friar forgot all about her tricks. She bolted toward her, and Maya scooped her up at once, holding her close and pressing a kiss to the side of her face. Had she ever been so glad to see her, to hold her and feel her warm and alive in her arms? She could see Summer as she went over and collected Tori from Lea, and there the feeling was echoed.

"Mommy, Uncles coming?" Marianne asked her mother.

"Yes, your uncles are coming over, and your cousins, too," Maya confirmed with a smile as she brushed at her daughter's hair with her hand.

"Daddy, too?" Marianne asked.

"Yes, Daddy is coming, too," Maya chuckled. "I have a feeling that he's really looking forward to seeing you, like I was. So, when he gets here, you go ahead and you give him a good, good hug, okay?"

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners