October 17th 2022
Chapter 290
Our Peace in Song
In all the activity of her return to school, it wasn't until her free period after the seniors that Maya was able to go and find the list. She had been aware that the auditions for the musical had come and gone, just last week, and while she hadn't been able to be there, she was deeply invested in seeing what had come of it all. This would be the first year in what felt like forever that she would actually be there through the whole of the process, bringing the cast and crew through the weeks and months that would follow and then finally attending the premiere, right there in the auditorium. As fun as their little home viewing parties had been over the last two years, they just did not compare to the live experience.
She almost had to laugh now, thinking about a day like this, three years ago, when the idea of Maggie and Lara joining the musical had brought her concerns, or at least Maggie specifically. She had been notorious for picking up an activity or a hobby of some sort and never really sticking with it, and Maya had thought that perhaps the same would happen with the musical. But it hadn't, not after three years and three productions. And now she was back for her fourth and final turn, just as Lara was, both of them looking to hit four-for-four status. The actual surprise, when it came to the senior class, was that Nika had both auditioned and been cast. She had never participated in the musical before, and that was sort of understandable as far as her freshman year, when she'd been pregnant and trying to hide it, but she had never auditioned in either of the years that had followed, not until now, and with the conversation they'd had earlier, about the band and what would happen if/when she went to England, maybe she had decided that this was the thing for her to do.
Where the juniors were concerned, there were no big surprises, with the likes of Gracie, Ethan, and Desi all taking their third tour through musical land. And then the freshmen, well, they were all new, so surprises were the name of the game. Of her own class, while a few more had auditioned than had actually been cast, there was one she knew of for sure… MJ… Oh, her little brother had been dreaming of getting up there for years, since he'd been nine years old and she'd told him about working with the cast, helping them prepare… He had attended each production with their parents, even before his older sister had started appearing in them. And now he not only got cast but had the lead male role.
With the sophomores now, well… They almost had drama, from what Morgan told her upon finding her at the board. Angel was back, thanks to Ash's coaching of the previous year. That wasn't the issue, no, that came from their brand new stepsiblings.
Luke Ryan had been of the musical in his freshman year. He'd been a standout, one of those kids you imagined would have been more adept tossing a football than holding a note, but he could sing. He was outstanding, and it was no surprise to see him back again this year. The one… problem… to him if not to the rest of them, was his new stepsister. Meadow Bailey had also auditioned, and while she was brand new to their school, she was not new to musicals, as she'd performed at her old school just last year. She could also sing, and she'd swiftly collected the lead female role from nearly note number one.
This all had left Miranda and Morgan in a great sort of conundrum, because as they'd started out, they'd been eyeing Luke for the lead male role, however this year's production told a love story, which would end with the two leads exchanging a kiss. They had no one among the girls they felt as strongly about as they did Meadow, so she was a lock, but then what about her partner? They couldn't well make her kiss her brother, could they? Sure, they weren't biological siblings, but that didn't change anything, did it? And they were sure neither of them would want that either. Luckily, when it came to the boys, they had been hesitating between Luke and MJ, so that was how they'd finally made up their minds. Luke would get his shot at being the lead next year, they felt confident about that, and they knew that MJ would be phenomenal this year.
The problem had come from the fact that they'd told all this to Luke. They'd figured that he deserved their honesty, and that it would be good for him to know that they thought so highly of him and of his performance abilities. He'd been so shocked, but more than that he'd appeared to turn all his reaction toward his stepsister, like it was her fault. He hadn't lashed out in any way, just left very quietly, but they knew he was deeply upset. It was to wonder what the last couple of days at the Bailey-Ryan house would have been like. Maya would get to see for herself when the two of them came along in third period.
"Hey, how bad is it?" Maya whispered to Maia Bennett as she came along first and, most importantly, on her own. She and Meadow had started becoming friends over the past few weeks, as the new girl had taken the seat left empty at her side. Maya had been there to see it, naturally, on the first day, and she remembered the girl's hesitation, like deep down she meant to keep it empty, for Ash's sake. But there were only so many seats, and everyone else was returning to where they'd been, so she'd had no choice but to accept. Since then, her presence had helped Maia to not feel so lonely without her enbyfriend.
"What?" she blinked now, first happy to see her teacher and then puzzled at the question.
"Meadow and Luke," Maya quickly explained, in case either of them arrived.
"Oh!" Maia Bennett blinked. "Well, he's been super annoyed all weekend from what I heard. Like, he's not been a jerk about it, but he's still angry about what happened, so he's been stomping around, and loud with objects without saying much, staying in his room mostly. That's what Meadow told me. She ended up coming to sleep at my house last night because she couldn't take it anymore."
"Right…" Maya sighed, thanking her student for the information with a pat to the arm.
She could understand where Luke was coming from, she could. He'd had his whole thing figured out with high school last year. He mostly did his own thing, and he was fine by that. He loved doing the musical maybe more than anything else. And now there was the stepsister and the stepfather encroaching on that simple life with just him and his mother, moving into their house, and now going to his school… No matter where he turned, he couldn't get away from this thing he still couldn't bear, and now not only had she come into his safe space, but she'd caused for him to lose out on the lead role. As far as he saw it, this wasn't on the teachers, because they would have given him the role if Meadow hadn't been there.
But on the other side, there was Meadow, who had been forced to leave her school and her friends when her father had moved the two of them in with his new wife and her son. She'd had to start all over, but lo and behold, here was this thing that felt very familiar to her, this thing that made her happy and excited all over again. She could do this and do it well, better than well. And she had known, oh, she had been certain, just from the way they looked at her when she auditioned, that she was in good standing for that lead role. It had been the best moment of her brief history at her new school… and then she'd been made to feel terrible for it all weekend, in this place that was still foreign to her in many ways but was supposed to be her home.
There were not many places where their teachers could intervene quite the way that Maya could in her class, and she knew this had to be the way forward, so she didn't hesitate. When the other students arrived, she kindly asked the fourth student sitting along with Meadow, Maia, and Angel to swap places with Luke, giving some quick excuse and very little space to argue with it. The whole request went about as she expected it to go as far as Luke was concerned especially, which was that he tried to calmly argue against it but, when denied, he finally grumbled and went to sit where he'd been told to sit, bringing him to sit opposite his new stepsister. She hadn't made them sit side by side; surely this would be a start.
Did she expect the occasional disruption because of this? Oh, very much so, and she didn't have to wait long to be proven correct. That didn't change anything. If she had to treat them like a pair of squabbling kids and put them in time out together to work out their problems, she would do it. In their case, she was certain, it would be the only way.
"Mrs. Friar?"
"Yes, Mr. Ryan?" she looked up from where she was already collecting materials to put them away as everyone made their way out.
"Can I please go back to my old seat tomorrow?" he asked, and she could appreciate that he was being the picture of politeness, all in his efforts to get her to agree.
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid not," she told him with a sigh.
"Why not?" he asked, and his voice raised just a tick. When she looked at him, she could see he'd realized it and was trying to pull himself together again. Maya kept looking at him.
"I think you know. And whether you like it or not, this thing needs to be sorted out. So, you've got a choice to make. Hoping you make the right one. If you ask me, it shouldn't be as hard as you think it is."
"How can you be so sure?" he frowned.
"Well, the way I see it, you two have so much in common. You both had your own lives, with your own parent, and everything was fine. Then that all changed and neither of you had a say in it. But I know you're looking forward to meeting your new baby brother or sister when it comes, and she is, too. And no matter how everything ended up with your roles, you clearly love being in musicals." She paused, shrugged. "She's not the enemy here. No one is. Your parents were alone, and they found someone that made them happy. In my book, that's a great thing, and I absolutely speak from experience there, a couple of times over… three times even…" He looked at her, puzzled. "Long story, tell you later," she brushed it off. "My point is… Change sucks, and it is what it is. But family… family can surprise you if you just give it a shot."
He didn't know what to say, and he didn't try, but he took her words and went on his way with a nod to her. Whatever happened, he would try. She couldn't ask him much more than that. She didn't expect a quick turnaround, but there was space for progress, and that was what they had to hold on to.
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
