January 12th 2022
Chapter 12
Our Leap Into a Premiere
For having spent the better part of a month now in a constant cycle of tending to a trio of tiny babes, of diapers, and feedings, and nap time and not so successful sleeping, Maya had spent the last few days with an undercurrent of… curiosity… gossip… Oh, she tried not to get so caught up in it, really, but what could she be expected to do? It was a break from the day to day routine, and it involved people she cared about, and… she couldn't be with them, not these days, not most times, so all she could do was wonder.
It had started the day Stella had been over to visit. After they'd gone through the freshman box, her guest had needed to go. Before she did go, she did her former teacher one more favor by bringing down the rest of the diary boxes. Maya still needed to go through all of them, and she knew better than to leave it for later. When she had time, she had to use it.
As the diary project had become a yearly thing, one of her favorite parts had been to see her students' evolutions, from freshmen all the way to seniors, and that all started with their covers. Some of them would be very different from year to year, as their tastes developed and changed, others were very regular. For example, her Star Wars fanatics. Cade Foster had been taken into that entire fandom, yes, but the real deep-divers of the group were Henry Hillard and Stevie Brett. It had shown in both their freshman and sophomore covers, and the junior ones continued the trend.
Maya had heard from Henry over the summer about how the two of them had actually spent a long time, both this summer and the one before, figuring out what they would do on the coming year's covers. The way he spoke about it, she could tell how much those times had meant to him. He'd sort of set aside his old crush for Stevie a while ago, once she'd become one of his best friends, but Maya knew better than to think that it wouldn't still be back there somewhere, and that there wouldn't be a part of him that loved those brainstorming sessions for how he'd be several hours in close contact with Stevie, the two of them animatedly discussing one of their shared passions.
This year's covers were easily the best ones yet, but beyond the aesthetics, what drew Maya's eye the most was the realization that they had both had a hand in one another's designs. She could tell their styles apart, and after each of them had done the better part of their own covers, they had swapped with their friend, so they could add some additional details, in a different color. One could look at it and only see it as a great expression of two fans for the world they both loved, and if she didn't pay close attention the way she always did, Maya would only have seen that, too.
But there were other things, and she saw them. Both sketchbooks were a story in two parts, a call and a response, whether each… speaker… realized they had been heard or not. Stevie's layer on her cover spoke of worries, of awkwardness and nervousness. With the series' premiere coming up, and her unveiling as a working actress to the rest of her school, it might be that she was worried about what everyone else would say, how they would treat her. Then, Henry… Henry's response felt like reassurance, a promise. No matter what, he would be there, him and Cade, they would have her back… him especially. And then on his cover, his layer had started, showing much of his own heart. He no longer saw himself as a loser, but he still didn't know just who he felt he was, as a person, so whatever self-assurance he had developed, he was too aware of his aimlessness not to let it rattle him a little. Stevie's response said a lot, it said that, whether or not she was personally aware of it, she thought the world of him, and she saw him going very far… hopefully not too far from where she'd be.
Was she reading into this more than there was? She could have, but she didn't think so. More than that, she knew these kids enough to see all these pieces and compose a very reasonable whole. It suggested that the status quo between the two friends was changing, evolving, and maybe… maybe something was about to happen between them, if it hadn't happened already. If she'd been at the school every day, she might have had her answer already, but she wasn't…
She would be seeing them today though, so maybe… She could get her answer.
This was the big day. Her mother's new show was airing its first episode tonight, and for that, the cast and crew were gathering with their families, their friends, up at Sullivan Stables, for a viewing/premiere party. Everyone was very excited for this, naturally, and it extended beyond the group who would be on hand that night. There had been a lot of buzz throughout the city, with how they had been filming out here and would continue to do so, provided that the series did well. Maya and Lucas had videos of Marianne and Tori watching Nana Katy being interviewed on one of the local morning shows, being very excited to see her there on the television. They could only imagine what it would be like at the viewing party, when they'd see the episode.
"I think you girls are all going to be the big stars out there," Lucas predicted, grinning to his daughter and granddaughter as they stood by. He was finishing up getting the triplets dressed up, too, and while they would in all likelihood spend the better part of their time out at the ranch asleep in one person's arms or another's, it still mattered that they got them at their very finest. It would be the first time Lucy, Kacey, and Remy Friar would be taken past that arch.
"Why?" Tori chirped, all the while looking on and stretching up to try and see her aunts. Eliza had once dubbed them Tori's 'infaunts,' making her big sister and brother-in-law laugh on and off for the better part of a weekend.
"Well…" Lucas considered his response. It went without saying that a pack of small girls, three of them month-old babies, would draw a lot of attention, smiles, and cooing noises… He didn't want to suggest that it was all they had to offer either, but right about now it was kind of hard not to get caught up on that fact, wasn't it? "All those dresses Grangie made for you," he finally pointed out, smiling. "You'll be the best dressed there." This was satisfying to them. Marianne and Tori laughed and ran off to find Ella, leaving him to finish up with the triplets. "You girls are going to love it out there," he promised.
They could have taken them out by now, but it really felt easier to have people come to them and not the other way around, at least for the time being. They'd had plenty of the people from the ranch drop by the house. Juliet, Donna, Carson, Mariko, Manny… They were already great admirers of the new Friars and, when they arrived on the premises that afternoon, they all greeted them with vast amounts of excitement. In no time at all, the babies had been taken from their seats to begin their time as some of the most anticipated guests.
"Hi!" Maya gasped, given all of three seconds to react before she was embraced by Daphne Brett. It had been three years already since she'd graduated out, but it really felt like no time at all had gone by, maybe for the fact that she had her little sister still counted among her students. "You and your dad must be so excited for this, huh?"
"Definitely. Dad's kind of all over the place, but it's okay, I've got him," Daphne confidently promised, making her former teacher laugh. "And Stevie's looking better now, not so worried as before," she commented in passing. Maya frowned with concern.
"Worried?" she asked. Daphne nodded, lowering her voice.
"Some of the kids at school…" she started to explain, and Maya breathed out. It was just as she'd figured, which got her thinking about the diaries again.
"But it's better now?" she asked. Daphne smirked, nodded out several feet to their left. When Maya looked that way, she spotted the young actress standing with her best friends, all of them in their best premiere attire.
It wasn't as though they were holding hands, but Maya had seen enough fledgling teenage couples, had been part of one herself, enough to recognize The Signs when she saw them. The way they stood together, the two of them, she had a feeling like something had happened, or would happen in no more than hours, to bring Henry and Stevie together. Going by what Daphne had said, and what the diaries had shown, Maya figured it was as she'd imagined it. She wasn't far off.
As she'd quickly learn, Cade had purposefully/unintentionally orchestrated it. He'd wanted to get Henry to admit what he was feeling, and he'd gotten him to say it, to explain how his feelings had never left, much as he'd made himself ignore them, as he figured Stevie didn't feel the same way. He didn't want to ruin their friendship. He'd also mentioned how he wanted so much to make her see that she had nothing to worry about, whatever the others said. It had all been a lot more than what Cade had expected to hear… and the same went for Stevie. It had not been Cade's intention that their friend should be in earshot of this exchange, but she'd been right there, unseen, and after that… After that, it was as Maya had interpreted from the second diary. Henry hadn't been the only one harboring private but very real feelings. Tonight, the viewing party, was their first date. They weren't on their own, off to dinner and a movie or anything like that, but they were at this big party, in fancy dress no less… If they wanted memorable, they had it.
"This is amazing!" Nellie was practically hopping around as they all went to take their seats for the start of the viewing. The Hunters were all there in their very best, too, eager to support Katy and the rest of the show's team.
The twins had helped their grandmother to make the little girls' dresses, which had led to their setting out for them to make their own dresses, too, and one for Haley, and a suit for MJ, all to their respective specifications. Eliza and Emma had helped, too, taking them shopping for fabric and other accessories. The Hart-Lane sisters had been growing close to Katy's mother since their arrival in Austin, maybe for missing Granny Lizzie as much as for the fact that they all shared an appreciation for clothes and making them…
"Hey," Maya slipped her hand in her mother's, when she was able to catch up to her. Katy hadn't stopped smiling since they'd arrived at the ranch, but she only smiled harder when she turned to her eldest. "I'm so proud of you, Mom," Maya told her. She knew that, of everyone here, the words would never mean so much as when they came from her. This right here, this was the product of their journey together, from days so long ago, mother and daughter against the world. Katy pulled her into her arms, kissed the side of her face.
"Thanks, baby girl."
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
