April 17th 2022

Chapter 107
Our Spirit of Friendship

After its more… rocky start, the school year seemed to level out toward something more 'normal' by the end of the week. The aftermath of the incident on Monday afternoon was still being felt, yes, but everyone was getting to the point where they could start and set it aside, into the past, and move on. It was really the best way to go, rather than to remain stuck up to their knees with it, unable to keep going.

This shift was made all the more possible, in various circles, by other things happening around them. Nika Petrelis had her best friends and Ava Nash had hers. On Nika's side, Maggie Hillard and Lara Sullivan-Reyes seemed to work overtime to help her put what had happened behind. This couldn't be achieved so easily, as though they would tell her to forget that it had ever happened and this would be all that it took. They understood, maybe more than anyone, what she'd gone through and what she needed to get herself back on track, and they were helping to provide that for her. Meanwhile, Ava had Olivia Zhu and Kelsey Farrell doing their part, which seemed to resolve itself in showing her how thankful they were to have her as their friend and to be her friends in return. Ava might still be difficult to read at times, but anyone even slightly fluent in her moods could say that it meant a lot to her.

When Maya saw the junior girl on Monday morning, she had no difficulty reading her… Something was off.

One week into this new pregnancy, which had been good and confirmed on Friday, Maya was feeling about as good as she'd ever felt this early on. Both times before, she had already been dealing with the 'joys' of morning sickness, but this time… not even a twinge of nausea. She knew that this could happen, it just felt surprising… a good surprise, very good. She did not miss those wake-up calls, and if it kept being that way, no one would hear any complaint out of her. It definitely helped as far as keeping things secret for the time being. The only real challenge to her keeping this pregnancy under wraps was Lucas and his happy Dad face… That thing was going to give them away if he kept it up, but she wasn't about to discourage it from him when she knew it came out of so much love… Plus, he was really cute that way.

As that first week had progressed, Maya had taken up a shift in her morning routine… a bit of a dip back to past routine, technically. It used to be that she'd kick off her mornings with a trip to her favorite bench, outside the school, but then she'd started doing things differently, especially with the quiz team meeting in her class. Once they had their new freshman locked down, that might change again, but right now, she liked driving up, parking her minivan, and then making her way to the bench, where she could enjoy a bit of morning air before heading in to start her day.

Only when she walked around from the parking lot to get to her bench, she spotted a lone figure sitting out there already. Ava sat on the bench, legs crossed beneath herself, long auburn hair left to fend for itself against the autumn breeze. She had a book in hand – assigned reading for the juniors in English, Maya knew – but if she'd set out to do a bit of reading before class, her mind was not on board. There was an overwhelming air of restlessness about her, like something wasn't right and she didn't know how to cope with that.

"Ava?" Maya addressed her as she approached. It took a moment, but she looked up. When she saw it was her, she automatically moved to gather her things and get up from the bench, like she knew this was her spot, and she should have it. Maya stalled her haste and took a seat next to her. "Can't get into it?" she casually started, nodding to the book. Ava looked down to it and shrugged.

"I already read it once, this is my second read," she dismissively explained. They were quiet for a few seconds. The book was stuck back in Ava's bag, which she kept in her arms, almost like a plush toy or pillow, held for comfort.

"What's on your mind?" Maya tried again. Ava couldn't even pretend like there was nothing. On most days, she had the best poker face, but whatever this was, it was different, enough that she couldn't make herself act aloof convincingly. The next barrier was whether she'd confide in her teacher or not. Maya patiently sat by her, leaving it entirely up to her whether or not to speak. Finally, she let out a breath, tipping her head back to look at the sky, which only made her nose hurt and made her look back down.

"I… I'm worried about… about Kelsey," she slowly explained, frowning to herself.

"Why?" Maya sat up a bit. If there was something wrong with her student, she wanted to know, too. The last she'd seen of her, on Friday, everything seemed alright, but then there was the weekend…

"I haven't heard from her since Saturday. It's not like her to be completely offline like this, not without telling us. She's not responding to calls, or texts… She should have been here by now…" Ava explained, sounding more and more like the question had been the opening that brought down more and more of the concern that had been stuck in her throat.

Maya felt a rush of goosebumps. She didn't like that her head went there immediately, but hearing Ava's story, she was very suddenly drawn back to January, two and a half years ago. It couldn't be that… They would have heard, surely…

"Something's not right," Ava stated with frightened determination. Maya considered things for a moment, then she made up her mind. She pressed her hand to Ava's shoulder, and she looked at her.

"Go on and get to class, alright? I'll see what I can find out… if there's anything to find out… and when I do, I will come and let you know." Ava hesitated, but Maya insisted. "I'll find you," she held her gaze, and Ava let out a breath. Fine.

They walked into school together. Ava went off to her locker, and Maya went to the admin office. Had they gotten any calls from Kelsey Farrell's parents? No, but at her request they would let her know if they heard anything. In the meantime, Maya went off to her classroom. She called Olivia, who was on her way into the building at that very moment and gave the same story. She was worried, too. She called Kelsey's home but got voicemail. She called her phone, got voicemail, too, but two minutes later, as she was setting up her class for the seniors, she got a call. Kelsey.

"Kelsey?"

"Hi, Mrs. Friar," the girl replied, and Maya felt like she'd been holding her breath for several minutes. She took a seat on one of the stools.

"You've got a lot of people worried, you know that?" she asked, not unkindly.

"I know, I'm sorry, I just couldn't…" she slowly explained. She sounded tired and sort of… spaced out. "But then I saw that you were calling, and I realized I was supposed to be going to school this morning, so I called back."

"Kelsey, what's going on?" Maya asked, her voice melting into something like a hug from a distance.

A few minutes later, Maya left her class to keep her promise. She tracked down Ava, finding Olivia at the same time. The two of them were both just quietly sitting outside their first period class, waiting to go inside. The way they were, Maya suspected that Ava did not feel like talking, so Olivia was being quiet, too, for her sake. When they saw her approach, they hurried to stand. She had news, they could tell, and they wanted to know. So, she told them what Kelsey had told her.

Her mother was rushed into the hospital, in the middle of the night on Saturday. Kelsey had been out there with her father and her younger brother all of the previous day and was still there, now. She'd been aware of her friends trying to reach her, and she was sorry that she'd worried them. It hadn't occurred to her that her continued silence would have this effect, she just couldn't ever bring herself to pick up her phone until now, when the real world had sort of reconnected with her mind.

"Is her mom going to be alright?" Olivia asked, her face showing an abundance of sympathy for her best friend as well as concern for her mother, who had always been so good to Kelsey's friends. Meanwhile, Ava's face was little more than a mask, as she stood there, silently thinking to herself.

"I don't know, Kelsey didn't get into that when we talked," Maya explained. "Look, there's nothing any of us can do for now except get through the day. But if you'd like, I can drive you both to the hospital after last period, okay?" She looked from one to the other. Olivia nodded at once, while Ava still looked like she'd heard nothing of their exchange. Olivia nudged her shoulder and she flinched, looked at her. When she was told of their teacher's offer, she nodded without a word.

So, the day carried on. Classes started, a welcome distraction from having to wonder in wait all day… for some of them at least.

"Ava's gone," Olivia walked into the art room, a few minutes after students around the school were dismissed to lunch. Maya looked up from where she'd been sitting and drawing throughout her free period.

"Gone where?"

"Where else, the hospital," Olivia revealed. "She was barely paying attention in class all morning, and then we were going to the cafeteria, we split up for a minute, and then I got a text. She said she wasn't feeling well, and she was going home, but I know that's a lie. She's going to the hospital to check on Kelsey."

"Okay, come on, let's go."

They left the school together, got into the minivan and took off from the lot. They knew where she'd have to go to catch a bus headed to the hospital and, thankfully, as they approached the stop, they both saw that it hadn't come yet. Ava stood there, impatiently waiting. When she spotted the minivan, she tensed, like she was debating whether to stand by or run. Maya caught her eye. You wait right there. Ava sighed, but she waited. When the minivan was able to pull over, Olivia rolled her window down.

"You know, you could have asked," Maya told her.

When they reached the hospital, the trio went in and were directed to where they might find the Farrells. They first saw Mr. Farrell, though he was in conversation with a doctor and didn't notice them. Through the open door, they saw into Mrs. Farrell's room. She was laid out in bed, asleep or unconscious, they couldn't say. Sitting bent over his phone, earbuds muffling the volume of the movie he was watching was eleven-year-old Max. And by their mother's bedside, drawing on her tablet…

"Kelsey…" Olivia whispered, and the girl looked up and over her shoulder. When she spotted her best friends and her teacher there, she looked like the courage she'd barely had in her grasp since Saturday was crumbling. They were here, and she was so glad to see them all. Stowing her tablet and stylus in their usual place, she turned her chair and moved into the hall.

"What are you doing here?" she quietly asked.

"We were going to come at the end of the day, but then someone couldn't wait," Olivia explained, tipping her head to Ava, who looked ready to deny this claim. But Kelsey received it with so much gratitude turned toward her that she instead took a knee to get at eye level with her and asked how her mother was doing.

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners