October 11th 2022
Chapter 284
Our Advance Toward Afternoons
They had a very near miss in the period after the sophomores and before lunch, when Mackenzie and Aubrey were brought back to their mother's classroom. Returned to her field of exploration, the sixteen-month-old girl had managed to get into the supply closet. If Barton hadn't been keeping an eye on her while Maya tended to the baby, they could have faced a very unfortunate mess and a traumatized little macaroni. Instead, Barton scooped her up and took her around the room, showing her the art on the walls and telling her about their young artists. They had worked together, Maya and him, to curate this new display after they'd removed last year's pieces, including Lambert's long displayed memory. And because Mackenzie Friar was their funny girl, through and through, she greeted each new drawing he pointed to with a very drawn out 'ooooooh' of admiration, like she'd seen and heard people do. Coming from her, it just made Barton laugh, and every time she gave him another one of those, it felt cumulative. He just laughed harder, until eventually he had to pause and collect himself.
By the time lunch rolled around, Maya was trying not to think about it that way, but she was genuinely proud of herself for not going and getting in touch with the preschool to see how the triplets were doing on their first day. She couldn't help thinking about them and worrying about them, how could she not, but still… She hadn't forgotten how they had all reacted when she and Lucas had left them there, and even if she had gotten better at not letting her emotions get the best of her… Oh, it had been so hard to walk away. It was as bad as when they'd first had to learn not to run over the moment any of their baby girls started to cry, to let them calm themselves down.
She was very tempted to go look for her siblings. There would be three of them out there today now that MJ was a freshman. She didn't go, decided to let him continue to have his first day like any other kid. She would see him very soon as it was, wouldn't she? Anyway, Morgan had Paul send over some Ma Maggie's, and if she didn't stick with her, Mackenzie was bound to go at her food two-handed. So, they ate in the classroom, and after the girls were taken off with their third sitter of the day, it was time for the freshmen to start to arrive.
The first of them to come was Ash Bell. They looked like they'd been waiting for this moment all morning, like all they'd wanted from the moment they'd come here – other than to sit at lunch with their girlfriend – was to go to art class. Maya wanted so much to hug them, to show that she was there for them. Maybe it was there in her eyes, and it was enough. Ash looked happy to see her.
"How was it this morning?" she asked, and they shrugged. Same classes, different students… It was still only the first day. There was so much space for them to go, to learn, to do better than last time, but still, they already looked just on this side of afraid, like what if they failed again? What if they kept on taking freshman year over and over and couldn't move beyond?
"Everyone thought I was new or something. But then one of the teachers mentioned last year, so now they know I was already here."
"I'm sorry," Maya sighed. It wasn't as though it would remain a secret forever, but it would still have been better if they'd been able to say it themselves. Ash shrugged.
"Kind of stayed by my self. I know you said, about your brother, and your cousin, and all that, but I just… I don't know…"
"It's the first day, don't worry about it," Maya told them.
"I just don't know how to do this…" Ash admitted.
"Listen, I know what it's like, being the new kid when you didn't want to be. It's not the same as with you, but… Well, my husband repeated a grade," she revealed. She knew he'd gladly volunteer the story himself if he was in her place. Ash looked at her. "He was suspended for getting in a fight, had to repeat the seventh grade."
Alright, even that wasn't exactly the same, because it had had nothing to do with his grades, but even so, it had come as a consequence, which had left him unseated form his original path. In his case, of course, the consequences had eventually worked in his favor. For one, his friends, who had been a year below him, had risen up to meet him rather than being separated from him for going one grade above and leaving him behind, and… well, it had made it so that a young Lucas and Maya had met… But there was no reason for Ash's path change not to be a good thing, too. Maya told them if they ever wanted to talk, to her or to Lucas, they would be glad to hear them. Ash thanked her, went to take a seat, the same one they'd had last year, when their girlfriend had been with them. Maia had done the same thing in the morning.
"Hi, Maya," the voice reached her before she could see her, and it made her smile. Turning around, she beamed, and there was no stopping her getting in a quick hug with her cousin-in-law. Lydia 'Hypnoteyes' Sullivan-Reyes… She was fifteen now, sure, but she still had those same eyes she'd done when she'd been no bigger than Tori. Going by the way some of the boys and a couple of the girls looked at her as they came into class, they had noticed it, too. Of course, when she'd been little it had been funny and cute. Today, it had the power to knock a teenager speechless.
The boy who tagged along with her seemed immune, though Maya suspected this had more to do with the fact that he'd already set his eyes on an older girl, also residing at the Sullivan-Reyes house, his fellow XC Lupe. Matt Cullen, for what she'd learned of him so far, wasn't particularly into art, but he'd been put into the same classes as Lydia and he was fine by it, willing to give it a shot. It was only for a year, and then who knew what he'd do when he went home to New York.
She was waiting on two more familiar faces, one most of all, and she was taken by surprise when they arrived together… holding hands? It was impossible for her not to let it show on her face as she spotted MJ coming into her class, hand in hand with Lamar Whitley. The boys saw her and laughed as they let go.
"Relax, it's not what it looks like," MJ told her. Maya squinted at him. Why would she need to relax? If it was what it looked like, she would have been fine, just surprised.
As they explained it, the two of them had been aware of one another for years, coming up in school together, but it wasn't until this summer that they'd started becoming proper friends. And this morning, coming into high school for the first time, they'd stuck together, naturally. Some of the other boys had not wasted time throwing some intolerable words toward MJ over his being gay. Lamar was proud to say his friend was as unflappable about it as they came. They had it in mind that his sexuality was something he should be ashamed of? Well, they'd have another thing coming. Seeing that, they'd gone for the next target, asking if the two of them were boyfriends – again, with vocabulary that neither boy would repeat.
"And Lamar said 'well, what if we were?' And he took my hand, and we walked off," MJ chuckled. "We've been playing boyfriends all day, just to mess with them."
"Could have told them I was straight, but whatever. It's none of their business," Lamar shrugged. Maya laughed and nodded appreciatively. She was definitely seeing his big brother Tre in him, even his stepsiblings, Rochelle and Rolly. She had a feeling she was going to like this group. Hopefully, it would trickle down to Ash, bring them back out of their shell.
After the freshmen came and went, Maya brought Mackenzie and Aubrey outside, to the bench. It was a first for Aubrey, but Mackenzie knew it well. Barton came with them, which was probably for the best, as it made it so one of them was always with the baby if the other had to go and chase after her older sister. Even so, it led to Mackenzie tripping and falling, making her pitch a fit at once. She got away with little more than grass stains, but after that she was fiercely attached to her mother. They were so close to the last class of the day by then that Maya decided she might as well keep her and Aubrey in class instead of passing her to one of her colleagues. She supposed that, if she was going to keep them for one class, it would be this one, and not just because the day would be over afterward.
"Mack Attack!" Nellie dashed forward and crouched to pick up her niece as soon as she spotted her, coming into class. She didn't have far to go, as Mackenzie saw her and did the same. Gracie was right behind, and she came to greet the small girl before doing the same with the baby. How fortunate were they to have their big sister and two of their nieces to close out the start of their new year?
As happy as she was to see them here, to see Rolly, and Desi and Tre, and Ethan – who had still not managed to hold her gaze since the twins' birthday party – the moment she had been waiting on was when Bobby Davis entered the art class. He was still on crutches, though these were more of the type that Sam's ex-girlfriend Cecilia used, not the ones that went under his arms but that had a cuff around his arms. His walk was by no means restored, and from what she'd seen and heard, it was looking as though it would never be as it had been before the accident. But he was here, alive, back with his classmates, and that seemed to be all that mattered to him.
"Welcome back, Mr. Davis," Maya smiled when she approached him.
"Thank you, Mrs. Friar," he tipped his head to her. He had his own scars, the ones that people could see and the ones that they couldn't, and she knew that those who loved him the most would always see them, the way she'd still catch Lucas spying the scar at her forehead, even all those years later. She'd seen Mrs. Davis gently hold her son's face, like she couldn't help looking but she'd also make contact, to remind herself that he was right there, that he was alive and well. And she'd certainly seen Nellie looking at that scar, a flash of fear blooming at the back of her eyes like she was seeing the accident all over again.
She was so glad that he was back, and the same went for his classmates. Her gold star group had counted themselves incomplete without him, and now he was returned to them. It remained to be seen what his work would look like from here on out, but he had made it into junior year, and that was what mattered. Maya told the class how 'last period with the juniors' had always been very interesting, so she couldn't wait to see what they would make of this year. By their faces, she felt like she already knew… It would be amazing.
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
