September 11th 2021

Chapter 254
Our Tribute to Seniors

It was dawning on all of them, Maya and the present junior class as well, that with this school year nearing its end at a steady pace, their year was on its way. They would be seniors in the fall, which meant that their senior trip, the thing they had been working toward since they were only freshmen, was just about a year away now. They would no longer be preparing for something very early anymore: now, they'd have a deadline, and they'd need to know for sure who was coming, so they could start making concrete plans, reservations...

With all this in mind, the committee came to Maya one afternoon, at the end of last period, with a proposal. They wanted to put together one last big fundraising event for this year, ahead of the fall's senior year starting. The reasoning went that, while they could wait for something closer to the end of the year, it would only clash with finals, not to mention the last stretch of the current senior class. And before that, they would have the musical, and they understood the importance this would have for all of them. They wanted to stay clear of that, too. So, this seemed like as good of a time as any.

"Alright, that sounds reasonable," Maya had smiled, looking to the four of them.

Bodhi, the Shelby twins, Talia Ríos... Their whole class had been part of those who had come on to the scene while she was on leave, and it had always felt to her like she needed to make up for her absence in some way. When the project for the senior trip had come about, she'd practically jumped at the chance. She could do this for them, happily so.

For nearly two years now, starting at the beginning of sophomore year, they had been consistent, determined toward their task. Maya had lost count of the number of events they'd held. Every month, they would hold a bake sale, or a car wash, or whatever other means to fundraising they could think of, like their table at the fall festival, and sometimes they would throw in additional, smaller events where they got the chance. By now, between everything they had done and the money they had all set aside for personal expenses from their jobs, if they had them, they were looking very good for achieving and surpassing their goal. It set them up so that senior year would be in great part about fine-tuning their plans, possibly increasing their opportunities for the trip. Better rooms, longer stays, more cities... They'd work it out in the fall.

"You know what we're going to need to do when we're out there?" Lucas asked, the morning of the big fund day, as he and Maya stood side by side at the bathroom counter, getting ready for work.

"What?" Maya asked.

"Funny shirts, you, me, Marianne... Like our senior year, when you and Asher lost the bet," he replied, making her laugh and nearly lose control of her hand as she applied her eyeliner.

"Oh, she'd look so cute in those..." she imagined it at once. She'd be three years old by then, three and a half actually. It would be such a wonderful family vacation, them and a load of teenagers just coming out of high school.

"Hey, what's up?" Lucas asked when he noticed she'd gone quiet, off in her own head.

"I just realized something."

"What's that?"

"We might not get to go on the trip with the rest of them," Maya told him. When he looked at her, seeming not to follow, she sighed. "Well, there's a good chance that by the time departure day rolls around I'll either be very pregnant, or we'll have just had a baby, and neither one of those is ideal for accompanying on a trip like that."

"Oh..." Lucas paused. How hadn't he seen it before? She was absolutely right. "Guess there's really no way around it, huh?"

"We're not going to push off our own plans just so we can go," she shook her head. "I should have seen this coming..." she breathed out.

"It's not your fault," he promised.

"No, I know. It's just that when we started planning for this trip, I'd just had Marianne a few months before, so it never occurred to me to think ahead and consider more babies just yet."

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," Lucas joked, the better to get her laughing. It worked. "So, what are you going to do?"

"I..." she started to think. "I could see if Mr. Matthews would like to take my place." Lucas would tease her at times, pointing out how she would call their former teacher by his surname when she was outside of school functions, even if she called him by his first name the rest of the time. "You know, it could be a good time for him and Topanga. They can take Hunter with them or leave him with Riley and Dylan, or my parents, then he and MJ get to have sleepovers for a while," she smiled.

"So, you're not too disappointed?" Lucas smiled.

"I'm actually not at all," Maya told him as she realized it for herself. Oh, she would have loved to be there, yes, but she was okay with the alternative. "Someday, we can go, just the family, no graduates."

"Count on it," Lucas agreed, and they got back to their morning prep.

The future seniors had set out to make this day into something like their greatest hits from past events. Technically speaking, it wasn't just a one-day thing. They had already been going around the city, like they'd been known to do, selling items they had made in art class - those most talented of their class - specifically for this purpose. They had also been holding an auction for a number of chores to be performed by members of their class, all within reason and as safe as could be. The more athletic of them had wanted to do a run, and they'd done so, over the weekend. Everything they had earned there would be tallied at the end of the day, along with the earnings for the two events taking place today, what they saw as the 'classics.' They would have tables for a bake sale throughout the day, and over lunch break, they would hold a car wash.

Maya's first task that day was to go and pick up Abby and Ruby Shelby from home, to help them bring out the many containers of cookies they and some of their classmates had made over the weekend. It had meant telling Summer she'd have to take the bus today, but she understood. She'd been at the house when the committee would come over from time to time, so she was well aware of their activities, more so than the common student.

Maya had been uncertain as to whether she should tell the girls or any of the juniors about her change of plans, especially before she'd had a chance to talk with Cory. But as they drove on toward school, with her former teammate's sisters going on and on about how today would give a big push, with the two of them discussing a new city they could fit into their schedule... She couldn't sit there and drive, pretending like all was unchanged.

They were surprised at first, understandably so. They wondered if there might be something wrong, to make her change her mind, but then that couldn't be, could it, not when the trip was a whole year away, unless... Was she sick? Very sick? Or someone in her family? Here, Maya couldn't help but see this response as an echo of the grief cloud constantly overhead.

She quickly reassured them both by revealing the real reason. Abby and Ruby received this news with relief followed by joy and instant understanding. Naturally, if their teacher had to think of her family in this way, then it was the right thing to do. Oh, they would be sad not to have her there with them, but they would find a way to make up for it. They would write her letters, all of them, all through the trip, or they would create something like a collective diary, filling it with words and pictures, drawings, and paintings... Maya liked this idea very much.

She didn't have to wait long for her chance to talk to Cory about her idea. It was a guarantee, whenever there would be a bake sale, from the committee, or the quiz team, or any other group within the school, especially when they'd set up before first period even started, that their first customers would be teachers. Cory especially would be on the prowl... a cookie monster... He would appear all of a sudden as though he'd smelled the baked treats from all the way back in his class, or the teachers' lounge, or wherever he'd been. It was enough, between him and the others, that it was a trick of the trade to have an extra tray especially for the teachers at the ready.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" Maya asked. Cory looked back at her, pausing with his first cookie halfway to his mouth. For a moment, he looked conflicted as to what to do first, reply or bite. Finally, he cleared his throat, put his cookie back with the others in his little bag, thanked the Shelby girls, and motioned for Maya to walk with him.

"What can I do for you?"

"Go on a trip to Europe next summer?" Maya opened with a simple smile. Cory almost dropped his cookies, which caused him to yelp. He breathed to find he had kept them safe. Maya decided to pretend like it hadn't happened.

"With..." Cory gestured back to the table with the cookies, where Ruby and Abby had definitely heard his yelp and found it hilarious.

"Yeah, exactly. It'd be great, right? You and Topanga would have a great time. You can take Hunter, or you can leave him here, with Riley, or my dad."

"What about you and Lucas? Aren't you and Marianne..."

"We can't go, or at least... We figured out it wouldn't be a good idea by then, so we were better off dealing with it now." For the second time, Cory looked like he was about to drop his bag of cookies, though this time he kept better control of himself.

"Are you..." he asked, and the intonation was enough for her to realize what he thought she was letting him know.

"Oh, no, not yet," she quickly corrected him. "But, well, we're hoping that... by next year..." she explained. It was almost impossible not to smile at the way he took all this in. Even after all these years, she was as good as another daughter to him, so the idea of her having another baby was on par with him having another grandchild. Officially, he had two, but unofficially, he had Nicky, Emily, and Marianne, too.

"Okay, well, I'll need to see what Topanga has to say, but we will get back to you with an answer," Cory told her.

"Thanks," Maya smiled. "Oh, can you not tell anyone about me and Lucas..." she let him fill in the words for himself. "My parents especially, I just... If they know, then..."

"Won't say a word," Cory vowed. "Back when we were trying for Riley, we made the mistake of telling our parents," he recounted. The look on his face suggested how chaotic this had been and it made her snicker.

"Good. Go, enjoy your cookies," she tapped his arm as they reached the point where they had to split off. Cory looked to the bag and remembered its contents. He would do just as she said.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners