October 10th 2022

Chapter 283
Our Advance Toward Returns

Could she have left Mackenzie with a grandparent or some other sitter today? Yes, for sure. But then she was bringing Aubrey with her, had to if she was going to feed her, and with all the other girls at school, when it used to be at least four of them together during school and workdays… She couldn't bring herself to leave Mackenzie behind. So, here they were. The plan was not to bring the two girls with her into class, not today. It was the start of the year, which meant introductions, and catching up, and handing out diaries, all alongside her substitute, Barton Day. Not to worry though, no. There were plenty of takers in the school to watch the girls while those four art classes were in session. She practically had to turn them away by the end. First things first though, they had to get to the class along with the boxes and, thanks to past experiences, she never worried: she knew the assistance would be right there.

"Hey, hey!" Dylan was all smiles when he approached to find her in the midst of lifting Mackenzie from her car seat into the two-seat stroller to join Aubrey. This turned the relatively calm girl into a wriggly one, as she turned and tried to locate the source of that voice she knew. Dylan saw this and sped up at once, the better to take the girl into his arms and proceed to loudly 'eat her face,' and so to set her giggling. If the whole of the school's current occupants didn't already know that they had arrived, they might now… "What do you think? Ready for gym class? Huh? Show them how it's done?" he asked the girl, who only had eyes for his cap at the moment. He lifted it from his head and planted it over hers. It was too big, but you wouldn't know it from looking at her and that smile. She could barely see out from under it, but she'd turn her head this way and that without complaint.

"Great, you take them, I've got Grandpa," Maya tapped the handle of her cart with a grin.

"That's a good deal," Dylan declared to the sleeping Aubrey. He got hold of the stroller, and they were off.

It was probably a good thing that the girls would be watched while Maya was with the art students that day. Oh, she didn't see Aubrey being much of a problem even if she cried, but then there was Mackenzie, who started running around and trying to touch everything as soon as she was put on her feet inside the classroom. Barton finally caught hold of her, and seeing it only as a game, she laughed. Oh, she was a funny little hellion when she wanted to be, but then people would look at her and she'd make them smile…

"Michelle is just about at the point now where she is waiting to be a grandmother," Barton told his fellow teacher, even as he made funny faces at the small girl in his arms, which suggested he wasn't so far behind her for being a grandfather.

Maya smiled, thinking of the Day boys, their avenues toward grandparenthood. Anton was barely out of high school, which hardly seemed like the time. Roman had just finished college and might not be there yet either. That left… Dakota… He was twenty-five now, not entirely out of the realm of possibility, but then again… He was dating Emma, her twenty-one-year-old sister, and she was on her last year, now that she was back in school. Their relationship was still very new, much too new to consider anything near babies, but then who knew, right? It could be that there would be some child born that would unite their families… one day.

"Guess we'll have to wait and see…" Maya told Barton, and his smile told her he knew what she'd been thinking.

It was none other than Vice-Principal Ríos who came along to take the first 'shift' in looking after the Friar girls, and she collected them both just before the seniors started to arrive. As soon as they came along, all Maya could think was 'oh, here we go.' She couldn't escape it, could she? They'd be there, first thing in the morning, never giving her the chance to settle into her day with other groups first. Instead, right from the beginning, she'd be reminded that they were on their way out. This would be her last year with them.

And who was she saying goodbye to this year? Her connections varied, as they always did, but in this group… She was seeing off her second Sullivan-Reyes girl, even as the third was out there, somewhere, starting, and she was seeing her second and final Hillard, for only having had the two of them in Austin once their family had relocated. Lara and Maggie had been a constant, never making great waves but at the same time unforgettable. And then Nika Petrelis… Oh, what years they'd had together…

It didn't seem possible that just three years ago there had been this uncertainty around her. She was Theo's sister, and, at the time, Theo was someone Ella was afraid of, thinking he might try and take Tori from her. To think that Tori was now living with her father and aunt, the better to attend school in Austin… She'd been out there this morning, as they dropped off Marianne. She was doing well with the move so far, though they knew she was still adjusting to everything… especially being away from her mother for days on end.

This whole idea they'd had of what Nika's presence at school and in Austin would mean, her, and her brother, had completely changed when they had discovered that she was pregnant. From there, they had rallied around her… They couldn't not. And from there, she'd become part of the family, as she would continue to be. Like Maggie, like Lara, she might be gone from the school after this year, but she wouldn't be gone from their lives. And the same, Maya knew, went for Jenny Marshall.

She had existed out in the world as herself for a whole year now. It had not been easy, and in parts it had been painfully difficult, but she had gotten through it, and she was the better for it now. The way she came along today, Maya could feel that she'd set out with a mindset that wouldn't be shaken. She would have a great senior year, and no one would make it otherwise.

Outside of the nostalgia bubble, Maya was happy to welcome their senior XC, Lupe Acevedo. She would get to see plenty of both the exchange campers this year, seeing as they were hosted by the Sullivan-Reyes family, and so far, Lupe still had something of the 'extroverted version of the shy kid around strangers' about her, but already by today Maya could see that she was starting to open up. She couldn't wait to be back here, to see who Lupe was beyond that.

After getting the girls back from the vice-principal for one period, she handed them off to Miranda, who would very likely treat them to some songs back in the theater room. Now the sophomores would be coming along, and this group, too, was one she regretted being away from, and not only because she loved her job and her students. This group felt like it had gone through such a shake-up. First, there was Angel Ríos, who had found a best friend in Raj Patel, only to lose him from his day to day at school when the XC had gone home. Now, the boy looked like he felt at a loss without him. He wasn't alone in feeling this way, and perhaps it would be helpful for him and for the other…

Maia Bennett was trying not to let it show, but it was plain to see that she felt adrift without her sweetheart – her enbyfriend – now that Ash Bell was being forced to repeat their freshman year. She almost felt responsible, like she of all people should have been able to see what was happening and stop it. Maya would see her outside of school, at the basketball games and gatherings for Lucas' team, where she'd be there to support her mother just as Maya was there for her husband. Ash's situation felt to the teenage girl as much her situation as it was theirs, and that wasn't something they could fix with a few well placed words.

A year ago, all these kids had been new in these hallways, so whether any of them had only been recent transfers in the area or not, it was impossible to say. But when they had new students coming into sophomore year and above, they kind of stuck out. Such was the case this year, only this one wasn't a stranger to everyone. The girl came into art class trailing after one of last year's freshmen who Maya knew. Luke Ryan… Had she had a good laugh with her husband at the fact that in this one class she had a Maia and a Luke? Oh, very much so. The two of them did not hang in the same circles, not even a little, but they were there, and it would be a random reason to smile every time she remembered.

He wasn't much of a smiler, to be sure. He was a decent artist, and she could tell that he liked to draw, but she also knew that he would much rather get to put on his headphones and block out the room while he worked. Today, as he came into the room, he looked particularly annoyed. Maya had barely noticed him when she spotted the girl coming along behind him. Even when they weren't in her class, especially after one year done, she knew everyone by face if not by name. This one was a complete stranger to her, which could only mean that she was their new student. Maybe Luke had been set to be her guide, not unlike her own Lucas had been for her, back in middle school. When she and Barton approached the pair, he looked like he wanted to go and sit at his station but was somehow obligated to stick around.

"You must be our new girl," Barton greeted her first. She nodded. "I'm Mr. Day, I'm substituting this month. This is your art teacher, Mrs. Friar," he introduced them, and Maya extended her hand.

"Meadow Bailey," she smiled as she shook with her. "You're the one who had a baby, right?"

"That's right," Maya nodded.

"That's awesome," Meadow declared, already showing herself to be as mellow as her name might indicate. "Our parents are having one, too," she pointed to herself and to Luke, who immediately looked like he really wanted to step away.

"Oh?" Maya blinked, looking between the two of them. "So, you two are…"

"Step siblings," Meadow smiled.

"Is this… recent?" Maya had to ask. She'd met Luke's mother at parent night last fall, had missed the spring session, but as far as she knew, it was as it had ever been… just the two of them.

"Very," Luke muttered.

"My father and his mother got married last June, after they found out they were having the baby. The two of us moved in with the two of them, so here I am."

"I see," Maya slowly nodded. She was sympathetic to this sudden change for Luke, but it was what it was, wasn't it? "When is she…"

"December, near Christmas," he volunteered the information, which made it sound like, while he was not too keen on having Meadow and her father come into their lives, he wasn't opposed to a baby brother or sister.

"That'll be a nice present," she gave him an encouraging look. He didn't say anything. "Well… Welcome, Meadow."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners