June 19th 2022
Chapter 170
Our Time to Dance
Dear Mrs. Friar,
I never wrote to you before, even though I remember you telling us we could. Phoebe's been reminding me about it, which makes me think sometimes that she thinks I need to do it, that there's something I need to say and you're the one I need to say it to. I don't know if she's completely right about that, but she's definitely not completely wrong either. The truth is that I've been thinking it over for a while now, whether I mean to or not. Then today when I went out to get lunch, I ended up in this place I'd never been to. I saw this painting on the wall, and it reminded me of your class. Maybe I don't believe in signs or anything like that, but when I saw that painting, I changed my order to eat in instead of grabbing it to go. That's where I am now as I write, sitting across from the painting like it'll help me put things into words, like I can pretend that I'm sitting and talking to you. I'm not sure yet if I'll type this before sending it to you. I think a letter like this feels better, less formal. I don't know. I haven't written a lot of letters before. Guess it explains why I've filled half a page already and said nothing… or did one big paragraph like this. Anyway…
I've eaten all my lunch between the last bit and this one, trying to figure out what comes next. I guess rambling is easy, but in the end, it doesn't actually help, just prolongs things for no reason. I tried to think of what you would say… I stared at the painting the whole time while I was eating, so now I think the guy at the counter thinks I'm having some kind of artistic revelation. I wish… Maybe I can describe what I see when I look at it. What I feel…
That's really what it is, I guess. A feeling. If I let it pull me in, then I'm back in class, with Ella, and Lea, and Lambert, too. When we'd be there, all of us, it would be like everything was alright, and it would stay alright, maybe not forever but at least for one part of the day, every day of the week. Then Lambert died, and we lost so much more than time in an art class, but it was still important, enough that going back, even only in my head… It felt really nice. I think I'm going to try and get a print of that painting for my room.
Ever since I came here, there's been this feeling like I didn't come all the way, or just that a part of me didn't follow along, so as happy as I can be here, and I am, I'm just… I'm incomplete. I don't think it would be presuming too much to say that you probably know exactly what I'm talking about. And maybe I shouldn't send you this, maybe just writing it down will be enough. I haven't decided yet, so if you end up reading this, then I changed my mind. If I did, then… good. I hope you're doing okay, you and Mr. Friar, and your daughters, especially the baby right now.
Hope to see everyone again soon,
Taylor
P.S.: I'll see if I can include a picture of the painting.
.
Dear Taylor,
I think I know why the painting inspired you. It's on the cover of one of the books I've had in the class shelves for years. If I'm not mistaken, it was facing out when you were here, so you must have seen it many times while you attended my class.
I'm really glad to see that you chose to send your letter in the end. I know it can be difficult to get your point across in this way sometimes, especially if you don't express yourself in this way a lot. If you ask me, you did very well for yourself and… Yes, I do know what you meant, so you can count on my discretion. There's only so much I can say on the matter, but I'll do what I can and say that, were I in your position, I would feel the exact same way. I'd go so far as to say that now if you know what I'm saying, then what you're feeling is as normal as can be. As for a resolution, well… Trust that, regardless of distance, that missing part of you is not lost or broken off but waiting here, holding strong, an anchor planted firm while you're out there at school. What happens next, we'll just have to wait and see. I'm here if you ever want to practice your correspondence skills some more.
Until next time,
Mrs. Maya Friar
P.S.: Everyone is doing great, Mackenzie, too, thank you for asking!
X
For the first time in several years, Maya and Lucas would not be in attendance at the high school's prom nights. They supposed they could still have found a way to chaperone, all the while accounting for the needs of their not quite two-month-old baby girl. But when it came down to it, neither saw themselves as the most vigilant of chaperones, Maya especially, if their minds were with their youngest daughter. So, while the school had still asked her if she and Lucas would want to do it, Maya had finally been left to decline. Better luck next year…
"We'll make it even better," Lucas decided. "The perfect prom."
"Yes," Maya laughed, only to get this look in her eyes, barely five seconds later, a familiar look to her husband, one that said that she'd had a brilliant idea that would make everything even better.
They weren't going to the school prom this year, fine. It didn't mean they couldn't get creative with their own crowd. They would just hold their own… very exclusive… graduate free… home prom. Everyone in attendance would either be already out of high school or still years away from even starting their freshman year. All they needed were people – the two of them, their daughters, and their granddaughter if daughter #1 could make the trip – and decorations, music, food, and drinks… and formal wear… the more sparkles, the better. Yes, they could so work with that.
"Leave it to me, Huckleberry, I've got it all under control."
"I thought you might," Lucas grinned.
Being at home most days did help a lot. Even as the 'real' prom was approaching, and everyone who'd be attending was helping with the planning here, looking for a dress or a suit there, working up the nerve to ask someone out… Maya was a one-woman committee. Either because it was an old standard or because they so happened to have more than the average amount of available props (turtles especially), the home prom's theme was cemented as 'Enchantment Under the Sea.' From there, decorations became a breeze. Did she go just a bit overboard? For a prom, with this target audience? No, she'd gone well within reason. Some might say she could have gone bigger.
For the snacks and drinks, as it turned out, catering to several small children was easy, and not so different from teenagers. Since Ella and Tori would be in attendance, the eldest Friar sister had insisted on providing some of the food herself. Her mother wasn't about to say no… especially if she hit those places that took her and Lucas back to their college days back in Houston.
And the dresses… Oh, the dresses… Sure, getting hold of a dress to make one's husband's jaw do that thing where it became just a bit unhinged was always, always fun. But putting several small girls in formal wear, now that might have been just as good, if not better in some ways. It wasn't even just about how sweet it would be for them as parents and grandparents to see the girls in their special dresses, though of course it would be, too.
The part that just brought this night of theirs into the next level was getting to watch the girls themselves. They got to find their dresses, and then put them on… run around the store for several minutes because they felt like great princesses or fairies… And that was just the beginning, wasn't it? They got their hair done up as they wanted it. They got to have their nails painted, even Marianne, who continued to generally not care for it but wanted to show it as something her little sisters might want, because just because she didn't care for it, it didn't mean they wouldn't.
So far, all three had been very intrigued by the process, though as was to be expected, it was not easy to convey that they should be careful until the polish had dried. Remy unsurprisingly was the first to find out what would happen to her new colorful nails if she didn't wait. She cried until it was fixed, and then she did just as her big sister showed her, with big blinking eyes. Even when she was assured that it was done, she wouldn't let anyone check and prove it to her. She just ran and hid, hands in the air.
To top it all off, they needed flowers, of course. That was wholly in Huckleberry the Girl Dad's territory. He went away to work the morning of home prom and returned in the afternoon with several of the little flowery arrangements that could then be fixed to their wrists, 'like for real prom,' as Marianne called it. She knew all about what those were by now, with her parents being habitual chaperones, just as she recalled the tale of Ella's prom, where Taylor had given her The Prom. Marianne, with her exposure and her big sister's stories, was becoming as fascinated about it all as Ella was. And now she got to do it! Sure, it wasn't an actual school prom, but she could play pretend with the best of them.
A good portion of the evening's entertainment was spent in watching Marianne, Lucy, Kacey, Remy, and Tori dance around, getting such a kick out of their outfits. The snacks were a big hit and, to everyone's relief, did not clash in any unpleasant ways with the aforementioned dancing. The triplets showed as much of their own styles as they watched their two older sisters and imitated them in what they did. Then their father would get in on it, giving his best of funny dance moves to see if they would imitate him, too, or just giggle. It was mostly a bit of both. Kacey sometimes would try and stop him, as though he'd finally been too silly and needed to be stopped.
"Getting in on this?" Lucas smiled as he approached Maya where she stood, lightly swaying as she held Mackenzie. Even the littlest Friar had gotten the prom treatment, though no polish. Her flowers were mostly symbolic. They would be pressed, like the others, to commemorate this night.
"I'm chaperoning," Maya insisted. "I almost had to step in with those last moves," she tutted. "Good thing little cub got you first."
"Ah, come on, even chaperones get to have fun," Lucas pointed out. "Plus, aren't you curious to see what they'll do when they see our moves?" he grinned, even more as he caught how close she came to breaking out into laughter.
"Fine, alright, you win… Giant cowboy man…" she mumbled the last part even as Ella stepped up and merrily relieved her mother of her baby sister. Lucas offered his hand, Maya gave him her own, and they danced, giving no mind to whether they were following the actual song that played in their living room. In their heads, they heard a song they'd danced to before, long ago, outside their school…
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
