August 22nd 2022

Chapter 234
Our Hearts in Tandem

Maya had developed something of a reputation at the high school as their prime chaperone. Field trips were great, and she had enough of her own school day self still in her to navigate how to keep an eye on each student put in her care while also giving what freedom she could, but her favorites were the school dances, the proms… A semi regular occasion to get a bit dressed up and go out with her husband, get to dance with him now and then? What was not to love?

When February had rolled around, it wasn't just the Equestrian Ball they soon had to look forward to. The high school was to hold a Valentine's dance… the day before Valentine's, so the day before the ball. It all worked out as far as Maya and Lucas were concerned, though it had puzzled some of the students that the dance was not on the day itself. Whether that was the reason or not – there actually wasn't one that she was aware of – Maya had floated the idea that, this way, they could have the dance and date night on the 'real' day. That seemed to get everyone at ease… and eager. A dance meant finding a partner… or not finding one… or deciding not to seek one outright, whether that had been the plan all along or circumstances that made this into the plan to save face.

She'd had the great pleasure of witnessing Ava Nash ask her girlfriend to the dance. It could have felt like a much more likely thing for Kelsey Farrell to do, but then she'd hesitated to do it. Never mind that the two of them were already a couple so it could have felt like a given that they would go, she'd debated making some big show of it for the sole reason that she didn't think Ava would be into that. She'd opened up more and more over the past three and a half years, she had, but then open displays of affection, the kind that invited people to look at them, were still a work in progress. Possibly, Kelsey did not understand quite how much Ava loved her, how her presence in her life had opened and expanded and brightened her heart, enough so that she not only felt unashamed to make this request openly but did it gladly… because it made Kelsey happy. It brought that smile on to her face that Ava couldn't get enough of. So, she had asked, and Kelsey had very easily said yes.

As to the third of their trio, Olivia Zhu remained as of yet dateless, and she didn't seem particularly bothered by it. Would she still go to the dance? Absolutely, any chance she got to go to one. Right about now, as they stood a few days from the dance, the new tactic seemed to be that she'd just grab one of the guys from the boys' basketball team who was in the same situation she was and go with him. It wouldn't be about Valentines or a date, only the means to have someone lined up to dance with. She'd briefly entertained asking Britt O'Connell, because why not, but the XC was not attending the dance, not when they'd be one day away from the ball. She would be at the ranch that night, helping with preparations.

When it came to the sophomores, now that, right there, was a mix of stability and… chaos. They had existing couples, like Gracie and Ethan, who either took the attendance as a given or went the route of still making an open request, which was what Ethan Davis did with Gracie Hunter, much to her delight. And then, like an echo of her never been kissed laments at the surprise Sleepster, Desi Russell had been blindsided to show up for lunch in the cafeteria one day to find the lunch lady handing her one of her favorite treats there, the carrot cake. In the frosting, she found a small figure planted in the middle, holding a sign, asking her to go to the dance. And when she'd turned around, there had been Tre Whitley, one of her best friends since the start of freshman year, with a very awkward teenage boy look about him as Desi realized he was the one asking. She was so shocked that it had taken Nellie elbowing her before she'd found her voice again to say yes. Did he mean as just friends?

"If that's what you want," he had told her. "But if you wanted more than that, I would, too," he had admitted, and Desi had done her very best to play it cool as she'd voiced her desire for 'more than that,' though anyone with eyes and ears on her just had to feel the rush of butterflies happening inside her.

So that was four out of seven in that cluster of friends handled, but what of the other three? That was the chaos. It had been enough time by now since Nellie and Anton Day had broken up, there was nothing awkward between them anymore. They were good friends, and they would stay good friends, but nothing further. He hadn't made up his mind yet whether he would go to the dance, but she definitely wanted to go, and it was the first time since the break-up that she actually had it in mind to look at another boy. Did she expect to find someone that would sweep her off her feet again? No, not at all. She wanted someone to go and dance with her, nothing more.

On the one hand, they had Bobby Davis, Bobby who had been her rival at Sullivan Stables, and then somehow one of her best friends, but also through all that… Through all that, he'd had this crush, and he hadn't even realized that this was what it was, not for a while, but he definitely knew now. He'd known as he'd watched her date Anton Day for as long as she'd had, and he'd known as he'd respectfully kept his distance while she recovered from the break. But now here they were. Time had passed, and there was this dance, and Maya could see the thoughts in his eyes, the wonder… Should he do it? Could he do it? What if it went wrong? He could never work up the courage, and Nellie was blissfully oblivious.

He'd waited long enough that before he could finally go to her – and Maya suspected he'd finally been about to – Rolly McNeil had taken up his courage and asked Nellie to the dance, one friend and another, nothing more, just like she wanted, and Nellie had jumped at the offer, hugged him, and thanked him, and Rolly had laughed and told her that she was very welcome. Right away, they'd started working out what they would both wear, so maybe they could match.

Bobby hadn't taken it well. That wasn't to say that he'd been rude or hurtful in any way, but he'd just sort of shut down after his missed opportunity, and it had briefly sort of complicated things between him and Nellie, and with Rolly, too, who now got to see what she hadn't seen and seemed to feel bad about it. Nellie had tried to make things better by attempting to fix Bobby up with one of their classmates, but he refused. He wasn't sure he actually wanted to go to the dance at all. Nellie started to feel bad for her friend, and she didn't know what was going on with him, which only frustrated her. Whether she felt for him as he felt for her, that remained to be seen, but it couldn't be denied that he had become one of her favorite humans, and she couldn't stand seeing him miserable. If only she knew the true cause of it…

This dance was the second that the freshmen would attend after they'd had one in the fall. That time as this one, Maia Bennett and Ash Bell had gone together. The asking had been about the same way both times, which was that they'd seen the first signs go up, advertising the dance, and they'd stopped and looked at each other, and then they'd just smiled at each other, both holding a hand up to the other. They clasped them together, and that was that. Ash brought Maia's hand to their lips, and Maia reciprocated by using their joined hands to pull them close and share a quick kiss, there in the hall, before they could move along together.

As to the likes of Angel Ríos and his XC house guest, Raj Patel, the two boys had not attended the dance in the fall, but now it seemed as though they had challenged one another to actually go to the Valentines' dance… which would mean asking girls to go with them. It wasn't as though they didn't talk to girls. They did, plenty of times. But when it came to asking them out, it was like tapping into a part of their brains that just froze over, unable to talk or even walk properly all of a sudden. For now, that was still a work in progress.

When it came to the juniors, it was a mix of this and that. Sure-fire couples, and shy requests, and solo fliers… And then there was the station occupied by Jenny Marshall, Nika Petrelis, Lara Sullivan-Reyes, and Maggie Hillard. On the one hand, both Maggie and Lara had their eye on a couple of their classmates and would likely have no problem making a match with either of them. But then there were their two best friends. Nika did not want to really have a date, truth be told, and she was sort of awkward about dances in general.

It was known among friends that it was from one such evening that she'd ended up losing her virginity, only to find herself pregnant and abandoned as a result. She had attended some of the dances at school in the first two and a half years she'd been here, but always more to tag along with her friends. She'd never danced with anyone. Now here they were again, back where they always ended up: will you go, won't you go… By now, it might have been that she would have allowed herself to relax some, give it a try, but she remained apprehensive, and on that who could really blame her?

And if that wasn't enough, they had Jenny. Did Jenny want to go to the dance? Absolutely. Did she want to get a good dress for it? Oh, she had just the one in mind. Did she want to go and dance with a boy, to have the experience she'd long dreamed of? So much that she could barely take it. But… But… She hadn't even bothered to try in the fall, not after what had happened in the school basement, but now… Things had been better, not perfect, but all things considered… good. But… Did she think that any of the boys would ask her out, or that, if she worked up the nerve to do the asking herself, any of them would say yes? She wanted to think it was possible, but reality was too stark for her to deny it. No one would dare, and if they did, she wouldn't know if it wasn't all a ploy to isolate her and do something to her.

So that was the dilemma at the quartet's station, and Maya could see it well. Lara, Maggie, Nika, too, they all wanted to support Jenny, and as of now, the only solution seemed to be their eternal stance: strength in numbers. They would go, the four of them unaccompanied, no Valentines but Galentines, all the way. And who knew, maybe that would be better than any date they could have had. Now, they were all looking forward to that evening, just days away, where they could all get dressed up and have a great time as friends.

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners