July 20th 2022
Chapter 201
Our Legacy of Discovery
A lot of the start of a year with the freshman class felt like what Maya imagined it would be like becoming roommates with a stranger… or about two dozen of them. Neither of you knows what to expect at first. You have hopes and expectations, having chosen one another… sort of… but you still don't know, so a lot of it is about finding out how you'll do together. Mrs. Friar and her newest freshmen had been 'living together' for over a month now, and today they were headed to the museum together for the first of somewhere about eight times in the four years before the freshmen went and moved back out. Maya had never gone to the museum with these kids, didn't know what they would be like out there, but as ever she went by the side of optimism. She loved taking her students out here.
Of course, it wasn't just her students, it was them and the rest of their classmates, but luckily, she and Lucas were not the only chaperones. This time, she had arranged it so that her students would be nearer to the two of them than the others, so she could interact with them better where needed. As they arrived and the buses unloaded, Maya and Lucas both counted heads and turned to one another. Numbers matched? Good, then they could begin.
"You know, a lot of these kids I'm sure have been here before over the years," Maya told Raj Patel as she shadowed him into the building. "This is your first time, so if you have more questions, it just so happens we have an excellent former tour guide on hand," she went on, gesturing toward Lucas with an amused flourish. As surprised as he was for the call-out, he took it and returned a humble tip of the head.
"Thank you," Raj replied with a nod. "I don't go to museums often; I get overwhelmed a lot… or distracted… or both."
"Well, then, you're definitely going to want to stick around this guy," Maya smiled. "Unless you've got this one, Angel?" she asked, noting the Ríos boy. From what she'd heard out of his mother, he was a habitual visitor of this place, too. According to her, he might have been a prime candidate to become a guide like Lucas had been in a couple of years… if not for how he would freeze up giving any kind of presentation. Remembering all this right now, Maya wondered… Maybe that was something she could help him with. He was fifteen at the moment, so it wouldn't be happening for a while, right? Today, he looked like he was up for the challenge but at the same time uncertain. "It's just the two of you, right? You can hang back from the group a bit. So long as we can see each other at all times…" she motioned behind them.
So, as the tour group went along, it was the non-art students, and then the art students, and then Angel and Raj. Every once in a while, Maya or Lucas would peer back to check on the boys, and they would find Angel pointing something out and talking about it while Raj listened. When it was just the two of them, it was easy for Angel to say what he had to say, and for Raj to actually stay focused on him. It was the ideal match for the situation, and they were happy to see it.
Maya was kind of glad they had worked things out the way they'd done with the group, keeping her students all together. It allowed her to see that those disturbances in the whole of the tour group did not come from them but the others. Oh, they weren't entirely blameless on their side, and she had to intervene with a couple of them, but as far as she saw, it was only a very small fraction from the whole. By now it was clear to her that she didn't have the same kind of freshman group this year as she'd done last year, but it was just as she'd expected. This was the norm, a majority of kids who were interested in art, casually or actively, and then a few who just wanted to fly through what they figured to be clear skies. That never tended to be the case, and they'd soon realize it, but then they'd be stuck with her at least for a year. After that, it'd be up to them to decide if they still took art the next year. This would go one of a few ways, either they'd never return, or they'd be back only because there was nothing else that they could do, or they'd be back because she'd won them over.
"You know, I was sure you two were going to be the ones to pull a disappearing act on me today," Maya confided to Maia and Ash as the two freshmen came to line up at the gift shop register with their purchases. When they both looked at her like they didn't understand, she explained the common practice among students to try and ever so casually separate from the pack to go and see things on their own.
The looks that came on their faces now told her they had been playing coy and they had been thinking about it, possibly tried it. Now this felt more in line with what she'd seen. All through their time in the museum, the couple had been going around, holding hands, often pressed shoulder to shoulder and whispering to one another… And the two chaperones who were tailing them and their classmates knew from great personal experience that this was an ideal precursor to 'weird hunting,' or at least a more solitary, romantic sort of stroll. Yet for all that, they had never actually tried it.
"Alright, fine, we wanted to," Maia finally sighed, looking to her friend and sweetheart. "But they didn't think we'd pull it off." Ash leaned to whisper something at Maia's ear, which made her laugh quietly, the way one might when the one they liked said something that sent their heart aflutter and their cheeks blushing. "Anyway, we stayed because this was already good," Maia turned back to tell their teacher.
"Well, that's good then," Maya replied, giving a look in return to recontextualize her response somewhere about 'yeah, let's go with that.' Had there been anything to be genuinely upset over, she doubted she could have pulled it off.
Those two were on the whole one of the most sort of… plainly sweet and loving couples she'd seen come through her school, right out of the gate in freshman year. To see them going around, here in the museum today or any day at school, there was always this aura to them like, if they were ever to break up, it would hit everyone with a shockwave. The way they were going right now though, there was no fear.
"I told Maia about last night, the theater…" Ash revealed, and Maya looked from one student to the other, eager to hear where this was going. "I don't think I want to do the musical," Ash shook their head, meeting the teacher's eyes with apology in their gaze.
"I understand," Maya assured them, but Ash shook their head. They weren't finished.
"I was thinking, maybe I can still help… somehow… I would like to be involved, just not performing."
"Oh, you can do that, yes," Maya nodded. "Anything in particular you'd like to do?" she asked before rattling off any number of behind the scenes tasks that Ash might want to take on. They looked at her like they didn't know where to turn. "Just keep thinking about it. When auditions are announced, feel free to drop in, yeah?" That worked. "What about the other thing?" she asked, unsure whether it had been discussed with Maia, too, though she really didn't know why. Those two had all the markings of believing in putting all cards on the table at all times.
"The basketball team?" Ash asked, which answered that question. The tryouts were happening in a couple of days. "I'm still thinking about it," they replied, though with a tone that suggested a leaning toward 'no.' "But it's fine if I don't. I'll get to cheer her on," they turned a smile to Maia, who presented them with a last minute find on the counter by the registers. It made Ash smile, showing they had not worn the fangs here as they'd done last night, before stealing a glance toward the teacher, like they'd had it in mind to kiss their girlfriend before remembering they weren't alone.
"Why don't I go see if there are any stragglers?" Maya innocently declared before moving off and giving them space to do as they pleased. "Hey, straggler," Maya hummed upon tracking down Lucas. "You have a basket today?" she blinked.
"Yeah, but look what I found," he turned to her, and she didn't know if it was the look he gave her, or the tone of his voice, but he was so deep in girl dad mode that she knew this had nothing to do with either one of them but everything to do with their girls. One would think, after three runs through this place in a matter of days, that there could be nothing new for them to find and want to buy, and yet…
"Okay, that was not here last time," Maya gasped, leaning to get a better look at the box. When she stood back up, she turned a look to her husband. We're just hopeless at this point, aren't we? He grinned. "Fine, fine," she sighed, surrendering to the madness. It wasn't as though they spoiled their daughters, but every once in a while, a special thing felt appropriate. And anyway, this was museum week…
"I wasn't just looking to grab something, you know? We're supposed to move Mackenzie soon, which is going to mean moving things around a bit…" Lucas started.
"Moving them more, you mean," Maya turned a smirk to him, and he chuckled. From the top of her near six years and her above average height, Marianne had already started attempting to clear the space they'd need to bring the crib, changing table, and other items belonging to her baby sister into her room. More than once, they'd heard the telltale sounds that sent them over to find their daughter at work. At least she hadn't tried to move anything too big or heavy that could have gotten her hurt.
With all purchases made and all kids present and counted on the buses, the freshman trip was over, everyone was on their way back to school. There was no telling what was going on over on the second bus, but on their bus, Maya decided to tempt the waters and see how this crowd felt about a singalong. They were receptive… most of them.
"Okay, challenge for tomorrow," Maya told Lucas as the bus was unloading. He looked at her like he already knew what she was going to say. "No gift shop," she confirmed his suspicions.
"Is that just me or both of us?" he gave her a look, and she made as though she was hurt at the mere suggestion.
"Both of us," she replied.
"So, you won't try and pass anything off to one of the kids so that they'll buy it for you?" he teased.
"Lucas Thomas Friar, I resent the accusation," she replied in mock indignation, which got him laughing and in turn broke her act. "Anyway, you know when we go with the girls, it's going to be a mess," she added, and at this his laughter returned. Just imagining Marianne and the triplets in that shop, all those big blue eyes turned on to their helpless parents…
"We're going to need a bigger basket."
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
