May 1st 2022
Chapter 121
Our Development of Heart
It was a baffling sight at this point in time for Maya to walk into her class in the morning and not find the quiz team working away together. They didn't go and sit there asking each other questions all the time, no. A lot of the time they would explore a topic together, like a study session that had nothing to do with whatever any of them were presently studying in their respective grades and classes. Other times they would be 'school studying,' possibly helping one of their own to review for an upcoming test…
That morning, Friday, when Maya walked up to the room, she heard nothing, which was not necessarily out of the ordinary. But then she stepped through the open doorway and found only one person inside, and she didn't look like she was studying. She just slowly paced the floor, waiting maybe, lost in thought definitely as she absently braided and unbraided bits of her long auburn hair. Recently, she'd started wearing it unbound at school, which had not been her norm, in over two years as a student here. It lent a new sort of softness to her which was sort of stunning to see, but this morning… This morning, there was no softness, certainly not in the knit of her brow.
"Ava?" She didn't hear her, not at first. Either that or she didn't acknowledge her, but… Maya felt more like she hadn't heard her. So, she moved to step into her line of sight, thinking better than to make physical contact in that instant. This was sufficient, and Ava paused at once, looking down and letting go of her hair before sweeping it all behind her shoulders to sit as a curtain all along her back. "What is it?" Maya asked, stepping up within arm's reach now. Ava's eyes flickered away for a beat before turning back to her.
"Kelsey's mom, she's back in the hospital," she revealed, and Maya's heart grew heavy. "She hasn't been doing well the last few days, I mean… more than usual… Then, yesterday, in the afternoon, it got bad enough that Mr. Farrell called an ambulance. They came, and they took her away." Maya could have asked if she'd been there, at the house, when all this had happened, but one look at her and it was easy to see. Yes, she had definitely been there, with Kelsey, possibly Olivia, too…
"Hey," Maya finally did touch the girl's arm. "Are you okay?"
"Of course, I am, why wouldn't I…" Ava started, a reflex of deflection in her. Maya didn't buy this. She knew her too well, and she showed this with a pointed stare. They both knew that Mrs. Farrell meant a great deal to her, so it wasn't just that one of her best friends' parents was ill, it was Haruna… "I… I hate what it's doing to Kelsey, and her brother, her father…"
"Seems pointless to ask, but how are they doing?" She would be very surprised if Kelsey was here today, and later she would find that she was right; Kelsey was called in absent.
"Mr. Farrell is talking to people, most of the time," Ava reported, and Maya nodded, seeing flashes of Abigail, in the days when Kermit was ill… Not that Kelsey's mother will… "Max is trying to go around like everything is fine, but I think he's just scared about what's happening to his mother and he doesn't know how else to cope." Maya understood this, too. It wasn't easy for anyone to deal with a sick parent, but the boy was eleven… He wasn't small but he was still so young to be experiencing all of this, dealing with it. And the same could be said of Kelsey…
More and more as the situation had advanced with the Farrells, Maya had been made witness to so much, with Kelsey being one of her students, a member of the musical cast, and a part of their sister band, but also with Ava. Far be it for her to put labels on anything or anyone, but since September she had been seeing what Kelsey's being in pain was bringing up in Ava. Certainly, no one liked to see their friend in pain, and Olivia was trying to be there for her as much as possible, too, but it wasn't the same. Did Ava see it? Maya couldn't help but pick up on it, had been handed a front row seat to many a burgeoning teenage love story over her years at this school, and she had no doubt that Ava liked Kelsey, liked her as more than her friend. Was it mutual? That much she couldn't say for sure, but for now, it wasn't what mattered. Right now, what mattered was that she had a girl in front of her being overwhelmed by this sympathetic link to one of her best friends.
"Kelsey needs to be with her mother right now," Ava finally declared, with a firm nod, and Maya nodded back. "So, anyway, about this weekend…" she shifted the subject, and Maya paused. She'd completely forgotten. TXNY had a show on Sunday, and We Are Sisters were supposed to open for them.
"Hey, it'll be alright, don't even worry about that. We'll see what Cara, Olivia, and Nika think they should do, and…" Even as she spoke, she was watching Ava pull a folded piece of paper from her pocket. She handed this to her teacher. "What's this…"
"New song," Ava told her. "I thought, if they explain why Kelsey's not there, it'll be fine. She'd want them to do it, so that's for her," she indicated the paper. When Maya unfolded it and looked the text over, she struggled to keep from smiling. Ava had said that this song was 'for her,' and it was, not 'for her' to sing but 'for her,' in her honor. It didn't have her name or describe her, but even just in words it felt very much like Kelsey Farrell as a song.
"You know, I can already tell this is going to be one of my favorite songs you've done," she told Ava, and she could practically see the girl's heart go thump. "I think it'll make Kelsey happy to hear it." Thump, thump…
"Good, that's… Will it be ready in time? I know it's short notice…"
"We will make it work; don't you worry. Just leave it to me."
Maya would spend the better part of her free periods either in the auditorium, the music class, or the theater class, depending on whether Morgan and Miranda were also free. She called on her fellow muses so that they might help her along the way as she fine-tuned Ava's new song. Under normal circumstances, she would have preferred to take up refuge in the Hex, relying on her instruments and her equipment to set her on her way. But it was very important that she be able to hand Ava something to take away and give her bandmates by the time she saw her in last period. This may have been pieced together in the space of hours, but she did not want it to come off as a rush job. It was much too important.
Either by the power of the very inspiring lyrics – as she'd already told Ava that morning – or the urgency and the awareness of Kelsey being out at the hospital with her mother again today, Maya was successful. When she saw Ava again, she presented her with what she'd asked for, and she was as surprised as she was relieved. She mumbled a quick thank you and moved to talk to Olivia.
Maya didn't see or hear much from the sister band until Sunday afternoon. What she had heard told her that they had been rallying, out at Cara and Mateo's place. Her little sister may have been a whole six months pregnant by now, starting to think about stepping back for a few months and considering what they would do for subs, but this was a special circumstance. She couldn't let Olivia and Nika down, and she definitely couldn't let Kelsey down. So, Ava, Olivia, and Nika had all spent both Friday and Saturday night at their older bandmate's home, save for part of Saturday afternoon, which they had spent at the hospital visiting Kelsey and her mother. They had practiced their new song, all the better to join it to their opening act for the TXNY show on Sunday. Did the rest of them grasp the meaning of this new song as Maya had done? Maybe, maybe not, but they at least understood the part where they were doing it all for Kelsey, and that was good enough.
"Hey, you two," Maya smiled. She'd been backstage a moment ago, but she'd snuck out just enough to wave a pair of audience members over to where she could talk to them. Carina had put on her best 'going to a show' outfit and looked wonderful. Echo may have been in 'Cody costume,' but she looked very happy to be there, to no surprise. The girls of We Are Sisters had been there for her since Halloween night, so how could she not be right here to watch them perform? "How would you like to be VIPs for tonight?" Maya asked them, and she chuckled at the excited looks on their faces.
She escorted them backstage, where they could meet the rest of TXNY – those who weren't their art or music teachers – and Cara, and to see their schoolmates from the sister band. Olivia and Nika scurried up and hugged them both, all dressed and ready for the start of the show. Ava came along to join them, less of a hugger but no less earnest here in showing she was glad they'd come. Maya overheard her explaining how she'd be in the front row, recording the performance for Kelsey, and suggesting that they come and join her for that. Echo and Carina gladly accepted.
The sister band was keeping Kelsey in mind when they went up and did their part, but then so were TXNY. By now, they had a very good idea of which of their songs were Kelsey's favorites, and they had built their performance for that night with those in mind. When she stood up there, Maya could already imagine Ava sitting at Kelsey's side, watching the recording of the night's show with her. She also thought how she wanted to go and visit the Farrells. She wanted to go, and Lucas did, too, and Marianne… Marianne already had drawn a new get well card for Kelsey's mother – with turtles, naturally – and would have probably been fine with them bringing it for her like last time, but maybe she'd like even better the possibility of bringing it to her in person. Maya didn't know that there was any genuine healing power in the presence of a bright-eyed five-year-old, but she had a feeling that Haruna Farrell would be very happy to see her and receive her new card.
"You all did great tonight!" she told the sister band as they reunited backstage. She bit back a laugh, sympathetic as she was to the sight of Cara, sitting with her hands around her belly and looking this close to dozing off. "The new song especially," Maya added, turning a look to Ava, who treated them to a small smile. She still looked like she was learning to walk when she did it sometimes, especially with so many eyes on her like this, but there wasn't nearly as much of a wobble to it now as there had once been, so that was something.
"Thank you for letting us come up front," she heard Echo tell Ava as the two of them and Carina left together that night, and she smiled to herself, hearing the way her student was getting just a bit more confident at dislodging the Cody mask enough to be herself around friends.
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
