A/N 1: Hey, I'm coming close to finishing this year's story and will soon be planning next year's, so if you have anything you'd like to see happen, let me know!
A/N 2: Having some minor computer issues at the moment, hoping it won't get in the way, but if I miss a day, I will get everything caught up ASAP! :)
August 27th 2022
Chapter 239
Our Exploration of Mind
Dear Mrs. Friar,
I wanted to thank you for the flowers you sent for my grandmother's funeral. My parents have sent out cards, so I'm sure you'll get one if you haven't received it already, but I wanted to write to you myself. My parents are not always on the same page as I am, and they still get caught up on the fact that they have a son instead of the daughter they raised, but they've gotten better over time. A lot of that came from my grandmother and how hard she fought for me, even when it was just about a haircut. Anyway, I know that my grandmother always liked you and appreciated you for all you did for me back in high school, so I guess I wanted to say thanks for the flowers on her behalf. You had some of her favorites in there and I know I told you about them once, so I guess that you remembered.
It's been hard since she passed. It feels like such an oversimplification to say it that way, but if I tried to put it all into as precise of words as possible, I think I'd need a whole notebook to write this letter. I always had it in mind that I'd get her to move in with me and Rochelle sooner or later, and I could take care of her the way she's always taken care of me. Turns out she's still taking care of me because she's left me everything. Some of the family's been pretty upset about that, and sometimes I think even my parents resent me for it deep down, even if they try and pretend not to. I don't know what I'm supposed to do about it. Honestly, it's not like I was looking to get all that, and I might be fine just letting them have it, but at the same time I think about all the things I could do with it, with the house, and the money, and then it feels like giving it away would make it so that it didn't matter as much. It feels like I can hear her voice, telling me to 'go do the thing.' And I really want to do that, for myself and for her, too.
The first part of that, I think, has to go to my transition. I spent a long time figuring out what I wanted to do about that, what I would or wouldn't do, and when I finally got my top surgery last year, I still didn't know what I wanted to do about the rest. But then Rochelle is graduating in a couple months, as you know, and we've been discussing what will happen after. I've still got a year to go, but I've already talked with the university about finishing my degree remotely, so the plan as of now is for me to have the bottom surgery, recover enough so we can go, and then Rochelle and I will go and travel a while before coming home, settling in again, and just figuring where we'll go from there. It's a good start, could be a great one, and I know it's what my grandmother would have wanted. You knew her, you know how not shy she was about any of this. More than anything, she always wanted me to get to be who I was and who I wanted to be, and that's exactly what I'm going to do.
I only wish she could have been there to see it, to live it with me. I think of her every day, and I try and feel her spirit with me wherever I go. Some days it's harder than others not to just feel her absence, and then sooner or later, I'll hear her voice in my head, telling me to pull myself together. It's not always easy, rarely is, but I get there, little by little.
Thanks again for your flowers and kind words,
Much love to you and your family,
Bodhi Thompson
.
Dear Bodhi,
Yes, I did remember you telling me about the flowers, although I have to admit there was a moment, when I put in the order, where I was afraid that I'd gotten it wrong. I'm glad to hear that I didn't. Your grandmother was truly one of a kind and I am so glad that I got to know her in what small way I did. I think the most I got to know of her was through you, and you spoke of her with so much pride and reverence that I could only feel it right back. I think that so long as you're out there and you continue to be the young man that she knew you to be, then she will never be gone. She'll be with you in all your journeys.
As to your plans for your final year at university, I think it sounds wonderful. Let me know where you two are planning to go, I might have some suggestions along the way from previous trips. Whatever comes after you return, knowing yours and Rochelle's plans, I'm looking forward to finding out what you will do.
Keep me posted and feel free to drop by, you and Rochelle both,
Much love to you,
Mrs. Maya Friar
X
"I am not looking forward to facing off against you at the Olympics next year," Nika breathed out and laughed as she sat back, across from Ava. Today, as the quiz team sat in their teacher's kitchen, the junior was joined by freshman Maia, as the two of them were pitted against their senior captain and the sophomore Rolly, with their teacher and advisor in the middle as quiz master.
"It is what it is," Ava gave a humble shrug, though she couldn't hide a proud grin.
"What Olympics, what…" Maia Bennett blinked, looking between her teammates and teacher.
"It's a thing we did, about three years back now," Maya explained. "The quiz team as it stands now is in its eighth year, and when the last of those original four members was going to graduate, there was this idea that, after every four years, we would have our own sort of Quiz Olympics. The four most recent graduates versus the present team. With Ava graduating, it means that next year's team – Nika, Rolly, you, and the new freshman – will face off against her and the three that came before her, Rosemary Adewumi, Lea Sullivan-Reyes, and Bodhi Thompson."
"Oh! Okay, that sounds fun," Maia smiled. "What do we get, like, bragging rights?"
"A bit of that, definitely," Maya replied with a laugh. "But also, each team chooses a cause they want to raise funds for. We sell tickets, food, and drinks… and both sides get a share of the earnings to donate, of course, but the winners get the bigger share."
"That's even better," Maia's smile brightened now, and Maya suspected that she already had a few candidates for who her team might donate to. It wouldn't be until the following year, so she would have plenty of time to figure it out along with the others. "Who won last time?"
"The graduates," Ava nodded like she remembered it well. It had been her freshman year, which felt like forever ago now. "Came down to one question, so it wasn't that bad… But we still wanted to win." If Nika had been concerned about facing off against her before, she was even more so now. Their captain really wanted to win, and she would, even if meant beating the three of them and their future fourth. "I wouldn't be against a rematch," she looked to Maya, who gave an easy grin at this.
"I bet you do," she nodded. She couldn't make any promises about managing to get Helena, Ariel, Stella, and Rochelle to converge into town and make it happen, but she would certainly try. It was already strange to think they were this close to a second round of Olympics and now having to consider what to do about everyone who'd come before the competing eight.
They had taken the kitchen table to work today, instead of going up to the second floor's art room, which was the long-held location of the quiz team meetings, which Maya now came to realize might have been her subconsciously recalling Ava asking her why she went to the trouble of having their practice up there if going up the stairs was getting to be more trouble for her, late in her pregnancy. Last time, with Mackenzie, yet here we are again, now with Aubrey… The one side effect of this, which was by no means an issue to any of them, was the increased incursions of the Friar girls.
It had never been unheard of, from all the way back when Marianne had been a baby, and the presence of their teacher's daughters would be part of the routine for the team. Each of her baby girls had found herself at one time or another held by whatever members were active in their lifetime. Marianne especially had always been very involved whenever the team would be at the house. Even when she was very little, she would sit there, either in her mother's lap or one of the students', and she would listen as questions would be asked, and answered… She was picking up small facts in such a way that she'd catch people off guard. In particular, it had gotten something started between her and Patty Robinson, who was very enthusiastic at the thought of feeding her great granddaughter's mind.
The triplets had started off as babes in arms, too, during these sessions, though as they'd grown up and their interests and disinterests had started to assert themselves, their response to the team being there had started to differentiate. Lucy liked to sit in with them, mostly because of getting to be with them. Kacey would just sort of listen to them talk, trying to follow. Remy just had no patience for it, and she'd sooner try and get one of them to come and play with her than sit and listen to them talk back and forth.
Now they had Mackenzie, too, and she'd had her period of being passed around since the sessions had resumed after she was born. She wasn't so little anymore, coming ever closer to eleven months and then to a whole year, which felt impossible, even as her little sister was kicking away in Maya's belly, bringing so many little sisters' hands to feel as to make it difficult for all of them to get a proper feel when she did kick. And now her little Macademia, her funny girl, was half crawling, half dragging herself around, like she was determined to get herself around far more than realizing how close she was to being able to walk. Her Pappy Tom already declared that this girl right here would be unstoppable, always with a sort of smirk to his son and daughter-in-law to suggest a lot of chasing after their little one in the near future.
As to the quiz team, all it would take would be for her to find herself on the same floor as them, not kept away by stairs, and suddenly they would hear the telltale sign of her crawl-dragging herself to where she could see them. Then she would just sit herself on the floor and look at them, no other expectations. Did she like it even more when someone would pick her up? Oh, of course, but she was okay with just sitting by in audience, too. Today, she was spotted and lifted up by Rolly, which pulled a happy squeal from her. Mackenzie liked the boy very much, especially when he did his voice like at the school's basketball games.
"I wish you could come with us," Nika told Maya, as they gathered their things to leave once the session was over. Born Curious would soon be flying off for a competition out in California, hence this day's house session, and Cory would be accompanying them along with Topanga, leaving Hunter Matthews to go stay at his big sister's house for a couple of days.
"I wish I could, too," Maya told her with a sigh. "But I'll be watching, I promise. You might even hear me cheer from all the way back here."
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
