July 10th 2022
Chapter 191
Our Signs For Students
Maya didn't know when it had become this way, but something about setting up her classroom in the mornings always helped to sort of center her again whenever she needed it. It wasn't all the time, but then some mornings would either start with her having to get a handle on some unruly daughters or they would be loaded with awareness for what was to come later on. This first day of the 2035-36 school year was definitely of the latter. She was buzzing around the room this morning, knowing full well that since it was the first day, they wouldn't actually do much of anything as far as actual artwork. She didn't need to go digging through the supply closet. All she had were the diaries, so she decided to go ahead and organize them in small stacks according to the stations that each group had kept to for the past three years. There had been some shifts here and there, reflecting a new or dissolved friendship or romance, but if that was the case then they would sort it out later. For now, the stacks were made, and she brought them to their stations.
Once this was done, she was still standing there, on her own, and resisting the urge to go out and see how Jenny was doing. She would have arrived by now, surely? Maya could tell herself not to be so nervous about it, but who was she kidding? A lot of these kids, they just… Well, they got to feel like her kids, at least in the sense that she got to feel so protective of them. It went back to her subject, she imagined. She was an art teacher. Most of the other teachers, the ones who taught English, or History, or Science, sure, they got to know the students to some degree, but here she was, asking them to express themselves in this class every day and in the work that they did in their diaries. She got to know them in a much more personal way, and she took that responsibility as seriously as she should take it.
"You will not reorganize the supply closet…" she muttered to herself. "You just did it a couple weeks ago, it's fine, it's good, it's…"
"Are you talking to yourself?"
Maya spun around and smiled when she spotted Ava Nash, there in the doorway. She had one foot on the threshold but most of her was still in the hall, suggesting that she'd come ahead and that she was waiting for others to arrive before going into the room outright.
"Sometimes you just have to," Maya gave a shrug, just as Ava finally walked in, followed as she was prone to be by Kelsey Farrell and Olivia Zhu. "Good morning!" Maya beamed at the three girls, trying so, so hard not to crumble into senior nostalgia on the very first day, before the day had actually begun. But oh, how was she supposed to pull that off when here they were? This was their last year in her class, and she was not ready to say goodbye…
One more year, it hasn't started yet. They're still here, so make it count.
"Where's our exchange…" Maya started to ask, right before the girl in question came along, looking as though she'd been running. "Hi!" Maya blinked.
"Sorry, I just ran into Raj out in the hall, wanted to see how he was doing," Britt explained, and now Maya smiled and nodded, understanding.
"How's your morning going, excited for class? Nervous?"
"Oh, I'm fine," Britt promised. "School is school, you know?" she went on with a shrug. She was going to be good no matter where she was, simple as that. She would integrate with her new surroundings like it was nothing, but she would also make sure that her new friend did, too. She had essentially adopted him as a little brother, if only for the span of a year, and beyond then, who knew?
Maya didn't have to ask the trio how their summer had gone. She would still ask it of them when class started, same as she'd do with everyone, but of course she knew. She'd seen them several times, mostly on band business, but even beyond that. Kelsey and Ava being Olivia's best friends, and Olivia being Nadine's sister, naturally, they had been integrated into the great collective of the Babineaux summer party guest list. So, she knew they'd had a great summer. She knew that Kelsey and Ava had been making the most of their free time as far as seeing their relationship breathe, and grow… It was really kind of sweet to see how much they brought to each other's lives, having bonified their existing status as best friends to now being girlfriends as well.
For Kelsey, it was easy to see her showing this open affection, as she'd been showing it in one way or another over the past three years, but Ava… Oh, the once ruling champion of the eye roll appeared like a tiny animal still learning to walk as she went around displaying emotion in ways that she'd previously been either unable to show or simply wouldn't allow herself to. Her smiles were shy but entirely genuine, coming from such an undeniable place… She liked Kelsey Farrell very, very much, and she got to say that this was her girlfriend, and that meant far more than she knew how to put into words, so she put it into action, and when she did, she lifted not only Kelsey's heart but her own.
With Olivia, Maya knew, the summer had been about all the regular things, the good things, like being with her friends, and being of the band, and practicing with her basketball teammates, but it had also been about introspection. She was a senior. Now more than ever, she needed to think about what she wanted to make of her future. It was something that they would all have to do, sure, and while there were those who had long known what they planned to do, and those who didn't know but didn't really worry too much, Olivia was one of those that fell somewhere in the middle. They needed to decide, and they wanted to decide, but they couldn't… decide. They didn't know what they wanted to do, and they would stress over the fact that they didn't know.
Having known her all her life, Maya had seen Olivia entertain the thought for a while of doing what this sister did, or that one, or that one… She had thought of being a doctor like Nadine, or an engineer like Marley, or going professional with her violin like Michaela, but now that she actually had to make the choice, none of those fit her, and the longer she stayed that way, the pressure would only get harder to bear. Nadine had been doing her best to help her sort this out, as had Marley and Michaela. This was a Zhu sister matter, and Maya would leave it to them, though of course if Olivia wanted her input…
"Hi, Mrs. Friar…" Anton Day greeted her when he walked into the room. He had that awkward look in his eyes, and she couldn't blame him. As much as he and Nellie were working through this 'transitional period' of trying to be friends again now that they were broken up, he felt uneasy now walking into the classroom taught by his ex-girlfriend's older sister. So, Maya did the only thing she could do in this situation and treated him as she would any student of hers.
"Good morning, Mr. Day," she smiled at him. "Welcome back."
"Thanks," he nodded to her before moving to take his usual seat. As ever, he did this only after a pause to look up where Lambert's art was still on display. It reminded him and her both, as so many things still would, that he'd been gone now… nearly four years already.
It was a notable mark of their relationship, ended as it was, that Maya spotted her little sister giving the same look up to the art on the wall when she came along, two periods later, with the rest of the sophomores. Nellie wouldn't have known much of Lambert when he'd been alive except for their families crossing paths due to their connections to her big sister, but in knowing Anton, and his parents, and his other older brothers, he'd become someone real to her, and she regretted not knowing him better.
Oh, how she was glad to have this group back. She'd known she would, but now that they were actually there… Nellie, Gracie, Desi, Bobby, Ethan, Tre, Rolly, everyone… Each class she'd come across had had its own vibe, formed of those who made up these groups in the first place, and she'd loved each one for where it stood, didn't go around playing favorites… She would be lying though if she said that she didn't have a soft spot for this group. It was not even about having her sisters there, or having so many kids that she knew among them, no. It was only ever what it had always been for her: there was not one of them who came into that room wanting to do anything other than explore their artistic side. They had their motivation, and Maya had hers, and they fed one another of it.
As she had done earlier with the seniors and would do that afternoon with the freshmen and juniors, Maya got to hear about what her sophomores had been up to over the summer. Nellie and Gracie both got to talk about having been in New York for a while, though since they had been instructed not to mention Haley and the movie, they were vague on the reason. As far as anyone needed to know, they had gone there because it was where their mother and sister/teacher had lived for a long while and they were still attached to the city.
Desi talked about going on a small trip with her brother and his wife, and Tre and Rolly talked about the work that was done at their stepfather/father and mother/stepmother's house, how they had gotten to assist in a lot of that work. Rolly especially had enjoyed the process because he enjoyed seeing everything come together, while Tre expressed how he'd had an ease for the actual work, and he was happy with how it all turned out, though there were definitely parts where he would have preferred to have had a more relaxing summer. Bobby and Ethan talked about how they'd had family visiting for most of the summer, which had booted them both to the basement with some of their cousins after having to relinquish their beds to some of their relatives.
Much as she tried not to go down that line, Maya couldn't help but look at Bobby Davis with a critical eye as he shared his own narrative. It had been a long established fact – whether all parties involved were aware or not – that he had feelings for fellow rider and former 'rival' Nellie, feelings he'd either been unaware of or forced to squash down for a while, watching her swoon over the older Scout Anderson for a while before she'd gone and started dating Anton Day. Ever since the breakup, he had been showing himself a very good and respectful friend, doing his best to see that Nellie would feel better, never doing anything to suggest he might try and make a play for her anytime soon…
But Maya did have to wonder if that was going to change, the more time went on. What must be going through his head now, as he contemplated it all? What if he didn't make up his mind and say something and then Nellie started seeing someone else? He'd be stuck… again… because he would never be the guy to put her in any position of having to choose, or to do anything to jeopardize their friendship. Having all these thoughts at her disposal now, Maya was in an awkward position of her own, the potential meddler but also teacher… If she were to intervene, it would almost be too easy. She could just sort of… lead Bobby to find that hidden, long lost figurine. It would give them somewhere to start, wouldn't it?
"Mrs. Friar?" Tre spoke up, and Maya blinked, looking around to realize that she'd been distracted… and the bell had rung. She covered with a smile, and she wished them a good rest of first day back.
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
