June 13th 2020

Chapter 165
Their Choice of Promise

Maya had been waiting on this day for weeks, maybe months, maybe since the previous summer and the end of that first run of the Stage Ready Summer Camp. The whole exercise had been possibly her favorite part of the entire project, and to know that they would get to do it all over again the following year… It had been something like a trial run last time, but now… Now their test had been shown as a success, as far as Siobhan and the theater but also for people attending. Registration had turned into an affair of having to turn people away when they had reached capacity. Maya had felt so bad, seeing how many more wanted to sign up and having to tell them no. She had worked extra hard to find ways to increase their capacities, and she had succeeded, to a degree. It would have to be a consolation of sorts.

Another loophole she had pieced together was to record some sessions like workshops, uploaded to the camp's page on the theater's site. These had come together as she'd seen to their various mentors for the summer. They were getting most of their people from the last camp, as well as a few new additions, but also a handful of what might be called star mentors. The very first of those to offer up her services was Ree Forster, who would be coming to spend a few days with them at the end of June.

"A week later and I would have missed it," Maya had told her, the day they had spoken over the phone to confirm.

"Right, yes, the wedding!" Ree had replied, sounding like she had the biggest smile.

"Yeah," Maya had laughed, and before she realized she was saying it, "Hey, if you're still in town…" She'd had about a second to realize who she was speaking to again, before Ree Forster had given an excited sound and accepted the invitation. Maya was so startled for a moment and had to make sure she'd heard right.

"Of course I'll be there," Ree had told her. "You just send me the details."

Two days later, she'd had to call Sophie again. Her wedding planner had threatened to quit, until she'd learned about the new additions and offered to go sit in the back in order to give them a good view.

Maya left early the first morning of camp, all the better to get everything set and allow her to devote all her attention to the campers. Sitting at her desk for a moment, she leaned back in her chair, swiveling about as she picked up her notes for Nadine and Zay. She couldn't pretend as though this wouldn't be running through her mind throughout the day, too.

Zay had been the first one to see her, to speak to her, the day she'd started school in Texas. Sure, he'd been sitting just eight or so feet behind where she'd been standing, but even if he'd been further away, he would have clocked her for being new and he would have reached out. That was just who he was. He had opened the door for her, an easy invitation into their inner circle.

She vividly remembered that first week, as she'd been finding her way in this new world. The first couple of days, even as her soon-to-be friends were fairly strangers to her, they had made her feel safer, more welcome. It had been enough so that, by the third morning, she had been secure enough to approach them herself. Lucas and Zay had been there on the steps, and for a few minutes Lucas had stepped away when called up by his mother, who'd shown up out of nowhere because she had forgotten to give him something. It had left Maya alone with Zay and led to their first proper one on one conversation.

"It must be weird, being the new kid," he'd told her, out of the blue. She'd had no idea how to respond to that, really couldn't put it into words. He'd seen this, realized he might have said something he shouldn't, might have upset her, and he'd worked at once to divert away from this. "Nadine, she was new last year, too. She didn't come from anywhere as far as you did, but no one knew her either… except us," he'd nodded with some satisfaction, giving her a brief rundown of how they'd met her at the park and started hanging out. "Once you're one of us, you're all good. A year from now, it'll be like you were always there."

"That'd be nice," she'd said, becoming very interested in the strap of her bag, sitting in her lap.

"Hey, you know, there's the Fall Festival starting up, just wait until you see it," he'd picked up the thread of conversation again before it could be dropped. "If you want to go, you don't have to…"

"What do you do out there?" Maya had asked, thinking back to her mother pointing out the poster when they had come in the first day.

"Oh, well, you know, there's all these games, and live shows, and some years there's a scavenger hunt, and then there's food… So much food…" he'd sighed, with the goofiest little smile. "Yeah, so, it's pretty great. Might be fun for someone new in town to get to know the place…" There was zero subtlety in the statement, but it also had one hundred percent genuine kind-heartedness, and it had left Maya feeling like she definitely wanted to go, especially with Zay, and Lucas, and the rest of the group.

That first Fall Festival remained some of her most cherished memories tied to the city itself. It had also been one of those seminal moments in her first year transitioning from New York Maya to Texas Maya, to one of that group of friends that felt plenty more like a family. She had come to Austin and very early on been blessed with three brothers, and a… might have seemed like a brother until feelings became a thing and then that word was forgotten… And she'd been gifted a sister, too, in the form of Nadine Zhu.

Those four guys were very nearly her whole world when she'd been new to Austin, and she wasn't the kind to denote any difference between having guy friends and girl friends, but she couldn't deny Nadine's presence and her relationship to her was different than the one she had with the boys. Nadine became many things to her over time, a friend, a sister, a bandmate, a teammate... Given the chance, they would have loved to have been roommates at one time or another.

Very often she would find herself thinking about those sleepovers they'd have, in that first year especially. It might have been that having five relative strangers spending the night at her house, four of them boys especially, would have been strange, but she'd welcomed it, again and again. The boys would be relegated to the basement, of course, a clear warning that nothing inappropriate was to happen and a ridiculous notion, at least with the six of them at that age. And then Nadine would be upstairs, in Maya's room. This was before the second floor had been built on to the little house, or else they just might have been shuttled up there, too, an additional set of stairs between them and The Boys.

The two of them had been talking for a while, up in the bay window, and then because it was a sleepover and the rest of their friends were 'banished' to the basement, the natural option was to gather up the laundry basket and go pelt them with rolled up socks. The battle had been short and swift before Maya's mother had happened and the two of them had been left to dash back to her room. Giddy and out of breath, they'd gone to settle in for the night. Eventually, and especially as Riley and others would be added to the mix, sleeping bags would be involved, but for the time being Maya had been happy to scoot over and share with her new friend. After a while of lying there and not falling asleep, they had both turned on their sides to face one another.

"Can't sleep either?" Nadine had asked.

"Nope," Maya had shaken her head. "What do we do now? Do you think the boys are asleep yet?"

"No way," Nadine had snorted.

"What do you think they're doing then?" Maya had wondered and, after pondering for a few seconds, Nadine had declared in a confident whisper…

"Either they're trying to spook each other to see which one will make a noise first, or talking about the turtles again…"

"As in Ninja?" Maya had been forced to cover her mouth for fear of her being the one to make a noise and rouse her mother. Nadine pressed her lips together for the same reason as she nodded.

"Everything I know about those turtles, I learned it from them. Summer before last, they made me watch movies, and cartoons… They're so silly about it, they keep changing their minds which boy is which turtle. You have no idea how happy I am that you're here now. Can you keep a secret?"

"Don't like the turtles?" Maya had guessed.

"Can't stand a single one," Nadine confirmed, sending them both in quiet giggles.

"I'm happy to be here, although…"

"You're on their side, aren't you?" Nadine 'squinted' at her.

"Not obsessed like they clearly are, but yeah…"

"Please, can we keep this between us, we will never hear the end of it otherwise."

"My lips are sealed," she had vowed, and she'd kept her word. To this day, the boys had no idea. Well, Lucas knew, but he was Lucas, so of course he'd found out eventually.

That night though, as they'd lay there in the dark, two new friends staring at each other, Maya had been curious. Maybe it was the spirit of the sleepover, the mischief of the sock war. Either way, she'd ended up asking a question that had been on her mind for a little while.

"If you had to date one of them, who would it be?" It had surprised Nadine, though only briefly, and then it had just made her laugh. "Hey, we're sharing," Maya pointed out.

"No, that's fair," Nadine had agreed, all the while holding up her little finger, like a contract of secrecy being extended. Maya had hooked her finger with hers. This stayed between them. "Well, that summer after I moved here, I may or may not have had this tiny dumb crush on Lucas," she confessed.

"Wow," Maya had smirked, thinking to herself 'well, he is kind of cute.' "So you've moved on, huh?" The way she'd hesitated, like the truth was right there on the tip of her tongue and she sort of felt the need to push it back in, to protect it, Maya had known this was more than a 'tiny dumb crush.' To show her she was safe to share, Maya had presented her with not one but two little fingers, a double promise.

Nadine had smiled, and she'd hooked her fingers with hers, and she'd told her the truth, that after having him in her life for just over a year, it had gotten to feel more and more like her feelings could only ever be directed toward the boy who'd first made her feel welcome, who'd invited her to play with him and his friends. They weren't just Z and Z because it was a funny nickname. It was them, they just fit together, always had. At the time, Maya doubted she could know just how true this would turn out to be. For better or worse, they had stuck through it all. Their adventure had been going on for more than half their lifetime, and there were so many chapters left to be written.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners