July 24th 2022
Chapter 205
Our Haunting of Hallways
The next morning didn't start with a sudden mad dash to the bathroom, as though now that they knew that they were pregnant again the morning sickness would suddenly kick in, but there was definitely a bit of… queasiness. Right from the moment she woke up, and sat up, there was that far from unfamiliar feeling in the pit of her stomach, radiating out. It persisted as she got up and went through the weekday morning routine, with the baby, and the girls, and then breakfast… All the while, she could see Lucas keeping an eye on her, wishing he could do more, and she smiled at him to reassure him. This was nothing new for her, and she would deal with it. With any luck, after she'd eaten and they went on with the day, things would settle down.
The biggest trick was getting by without raising suspicions out of her sisters… or the little sheriff. Marianne would look to her mother like she could definitely sense something of unease, but she couldn't explain what it was. Whatever it was, she did not like the concept of unease in connection with anyone that she cared about, and she was in full clingy care mode, following Maya along as she got herself ready and worked with Lucas to get the rest of the girls ready, too, for drop off with their grandparents.
"Pumpkin, go get dressed, please? We don't want to be late," Maya told her with a smile.
"Okay, Mommy," Marianne relented, though she still looked back on her way to her room.
Her stomach remained a slightly troubled team player as they made their way out and got through the morning drop offs. It kept its wobbly steadiness as Maya arrived at the school, and ran into Dylan in the lot, as she so often did. He didn't call her on the pregnancy like he'd done the previous fall, but at the same time she suspected that he did figure it out again, but he'd decided to play it cool and wait until she actually told him. It definitely felt like a very Dylan thing to do.
He might have found out either way if he'd stayed with her after they went inside. She barely made it into her classroom that a smell found her, and it felt like it quickly went through her and then… then it was a miracle that she made it to the bathroom on time. She hadn't had a single day of this with Mackenzie, and she didn't know that she'd ever appreciated how much of a blessing that had been until she found herself right there, day two and retching.
As much as her queasiness hadn't helped matters, by the time she was able to collect herself and return to her class, she discovered that it wasn't just her and the pregnancy doing this. The quiz team had been late to arrive for their usual pre-class morning session, and as Maya approached the room with apprehension over what had just happened, she found them all stood there, not going in, and with a look on their faces like a couple of them might have been feeling sick, too.
Ava was the one to brave going back in, and so she came upon the 'culprit.' Someone had left food in there on Friday afternoon, and it had remained undiscovered all weekend until the very bad smell came to spread across the room. When she pointed out where it had been to Maya – who was still in the hallway with Nika, Rolly, and Maia Bennett – it narrowed down the list of potential students who could have been responsible from the various groups. The rotting thing was disposed of, and the windows thrown open as far as they would go, but it would only do so much. There was no way Maya was going to be able to hold her class in there, as much for her own issues as for the kids, who would suffer through the period, too. This was not going to be aired out in time for the seniors, and there was no telling how long it would take after that…
"Okay… right…" Maya tried to think as they all moved away from the room. "You guys go ahead and use the music room; I'll clear it with Mrs. Molina. And I need to find us another class…" she looked to her senior in the team.
The run-up to first period was a lot of running around, and phone calls… Maya soon secured the auditorium as a back-up class – which was more than fine by her – and went about gathering materials for her to bring from her classroom. She had to wrap her vest around her nose and mouth to shield herself, which worked better than she might have hoped; it smelled like home. A note was left on the door to direct the students once they arrived. She also called Michelle Day, letting her know about the situation. The knitting club was back again this year, still using her classroom, and if the scent hadn't cleared out by lunch time, then she'd have the auditorium open to her as well.
Oh, how she wished she could have had just a couple of minutes to sit and breathe by herself by the time everything was settled for first period. It didn't matter that this was her fourth pregnancy and her sixth baby, the start was the start, especially when the nausea kicked in. This one seemed like it was going to be intent on making her just miserable enough to count, at least for now. Not even her trip to the bathroom earlier had managed to get everything back on track. Today was going to be so strange.
"How come we're here today?" Anton asked when he arrived, one of a few who'd made their way over to the auditorium together.
"You tell me. There was a sandwich and a thing of milk under your station all weekend, was that you?" Maya tipped her head back from where she sat in the front row. It wasn't, and it wasn't any of his station mates either, so that ruled out the seniors. "Anyway, you don't want to be back there right now, trust me," she explained with a scrunched up face.
They would have the whole of the art classes out here today. Possibly by lunch time and further along the smell would have gone away or been 'manageable,' but Maya decided not to tempt fate. She was good here, so here she would remain. She would have been in here a couple of times throughout the day anyway: it was musical day, audition day. While the knitting club exceptionally met in the music room – hosted as the quiz team had been by Morgan – there were auditions at lunch and after last period, and as ever, Maya and her fellow muses sat to listen to their potential cast members.
They had plenty of returning hopefuls. Anton Day auditioned for a second year running, while Kelsey had her third audition, for her fourth role. None of them could forget why she hadn't gotten to audition last year, with her mother's illness, least of all Kelsey herself. The way she sang up there, it felt like she was trying to make up for lost time. She would get her 'four for four' award this year. Meanwhile, from the juniors, it was a third go for Maggie Hillard and Lara Sullivan-Reyes, and Maya was pleased to have them back, to see that they were sticking with it, Maggie especially. She'd been known already as a serial joiner and quitter in many teams and clubs at the school, so much so that they would refuse her now.
Among the sophomores, Gracie and Ethan auditioned again, as did Desi. There had apparently been some great campaign to try and convince Nellie and Bobby to do it, too, but it had eventually failed. The way they talked about it, Maya doubted that they'd ever had any genuine hope of convincing them, but at the same time it wasn't a total loss. It could have been that they would have surprised their respective twins and their friends. And even though they didn't, there was a sense like maybe it would work… if only to a certain point… in making other things happen for those two.
Now with the freshmen, that was the part that Maya was most curious about. Sure, there would be some among the other grades who would surprise them by auditioning when they hadn't done it before, but it was different with the freshmen. They were still new, not quite two months among them, which made their potential a completely untapped and unfamiliar source. That never felt so true as when Angel Ríos came up on stage, the very last of their auditionees. For having had an eye on the audience along the way, Maya was almost sure he'd only just shown up, like he'd debated whether or not to do it before finally hurrying in, cutting it close. He hadn't put his name on the list, could he still do it? The three of them exchanged a look. It was their call, and they decided to give him the go ahead.
For what contact she'd had with him both in her classroom and in the years before, where she had known him through his mother and his older sister, Maya guessed that he would not like the expression, inspired as it was by his name, but that didn't stop it from being true. Angel sang like an angel. He had been in the church choir for about as long as he could remember, and that was definitely what they got from his performance, enough so that even he knew what they had to be thinking: could he actually do the whole musical type of performance? It would feel like such a shame to let a voice like that go, but if they were realistic about his stage presence…
"I can coach him," a voice sounded from the row behind them, and the three muses jumped, startled. When they looked back, there was Ash Bell, looking right at home in the dim light. They didn't want to audition, didn't want to be part of the cast, but they had been willing to be involved somehow, so… maybe this was the way.
"Think you can get him ready in time?" Maya asked, a discreet challenge. Ash looked at her, at Angel back on the stage. The boy was only growing more nervous for having to wait while they all whispered to one another. With a sigh, Ash moved into the aisle and jogged up the steps to the stage. They approached Angel and whispered to him for a moment. He nodded, started to sing his song again. Ash spoke to him as he sang, moved around him, and he did as he was told. It wasn't a sudden switch, but it was better already. Ash nodded, continued to incite him. Angel kept singing, followed their lead even as his uncertainty shone through. After a few seconds, Ash's posture changed, and they breathed, and they joined their voice to Angel's.
With the two of them in harmony, everyone in that auditorium was quiet and focused on them. No one was looking at their phone, or talking to a friend… Ash sang, and Angel was elevated to meet them, match them as best he could. They could both tell that this was working, and they were both smiling by the end of the song, only remembering where they were and what they had been doing when their audience clapped and cheered. Then Angel became his shy self again, while Ash became awkward and wouldn't look out at any of them. They had said how they didn't do anything like this anymore, but now they'd shown to all these people here that it didn't mean that they had lost their skills or even all of the pleasure that they got from singing. For all that, they still wanted to help Angel.
"Alright, Coach Bell," Maya told them when they got off the stage. "You're on."
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
