October 19th 2020

Chapter 293
Their Work With Records

The month of September had been passing along as smoothly as anyone could hope it to go. Lucas was getting to feel something of a morale boost in his studies, whether he had actually needed it or not, with the arrival of Trooper on the Sandersons' farm. It was strange, but then maybe having the horse to look after in this way had really put him in the mindset of what his future could look like, after this last year, and working at the ranch, doing his residency… Whether he'd needed it or not, he deeply appreciated it, and he would use it for all it was worth.

Meanwhile, Maya was finding the rhythm of this new school year, and the shift of her groups from one timeslot to another was not so jarring anymore. She was getting to know her new students anymore, from the whole ninth grade group to the returned Helena with the seniors. As ever, some of those kids just caught her attention, showing her in one way or another that they might need that extra attention. And on top of getting to know them, and figuring out how she might help them, she had the preparations for the fall festival to see to. Thanks to Morgan's idea, this meant organizing a talent show on top of the scavenger hunt, and the maze, and any number of other items, along with Lindsay and the many other volunteers.

With everything in full swing like this, it was just as well that she'd gotten her final songs for Ree's album written, recorded in demo, weeks ahead of their next and final session. One afternoon, as she'd been sitting in on a talent show rehearsal, her phone rang and she answered to find the singer on the other end of the line. Quietly excusing herself from the English teacher and festival coordinator, she scurried out of the auditorium.

"Hey, sorry, I couldn't hear you back there. What's up?"

"Would I be putting you terribly out of sorts if I rescheduled our session for this weekend?" Ree asked, sounding like she had the most apologetic look on her face.

"Uh…" Maya thought for a moment, recalling what she had planned this weekend. Lucas would be out, working at the bookstore from opening to closing, Sam would be working on a project with some of his classmates on Saturday, working on Sunday, and she had a few things with her siblings, but these could be on either day, so… "No, I'm good, sure."

So, just like that, she was booked with a long day in the Hex with Ree and her daughter. From all she'd heard, Maya knew Christina was looking forward to sitting in on the session, not just for the part where she'd get to record a duet with her mother. They had two new songs, plus the mother/daughter duet, and then one more track: Ree wanted them to record a duet, too. She would joke and say that she simply didn't want to end up with thirteen tracks, but Maya knew she also wanted this for them. She'd told her to pick which one she wanted them to do.

Saturday morning, while the guys were still getting ready to head out for their own days, Maya was already in the studio, getting set up in a way that made her feel as though she was back in her classroom, awaiting the arrival of her students. Usually, if she had minutes to spare, she would end up doodling away as she waited. In the Hex, she picked up her guitar and practiced her song, her future duet. She didn't miss a note when the door opened and in walked her guests for the day. Ree led the way, with her mini-me of a daughter right behind her. The eleven-year-old had that spark in her, the kind Maya recognized for having felt it herself. The girl here had the added benefit of having grown up around places like this, and she walked into the Hex looking very much at ease, taking it all in not as though it would overwhelm her but instead like she just wanted to see everything that Maya had.

"Morning," Maya smiled, stepping out of the booth after setting her guitar down. "Welcome to the Hex," she turned to Christina, who was practically bouncing on her toes for how excited she was.

"Easy now," Ree laughed, trapping her in her arms as she stood behind the girl. "What do you think, should we do ours first or do you want to hang with her while I do my last solos?"

"Solos first, finish your supper," Christina looked up with a teasing grin and making her mother laugh that much more.

"I don't know where she gets that," she shook her head, turning to Maya. "Alright then, right to business apparently."

"Boss is in the house, got it," Maya waved her into the booth before moving to indicate the second chair before the console. Christina moved to sit at once, and Maya joined her. "Did she let you hear the songs she's doing today?"

"Yeah," Christina nodded and smiled. "I loved the second one best."

"Yeah, me, too," Maya confided quietly before turning back to find Ree was just about ready to start their first run through. She'd barely had a couple of days to do any work on them on her end, but this by no means slowed them down. Ree may have looked like she just jumped into things, but she did her work, showing the growth of her years in the business. By lunchtime, they were just about ready to jump into the duets. It probably helped that they had gotten right to it instead of sitting around a while to talk and/or have breakfast.

Christina had wanted to see the horse as soon as she'd heard about him, and while lunch was on its way, Maya had called Missy to come and grab the girl to accompany her up to the farm. To see the look on her face when she not only realized who Christina was but then in turn met her mother, oh… Maya had to resist the urge to take pictures.

"I tell you, I'm going to miss these days, you and me," Ree breathed as she assisted Maya with the meal. "Might just drop in now and again, for no other reason than to have ourselves a jam back there," she nodded to the window, through which they could see the Hex nearby.

"You are welcome anytime," Maya promised with a smile soon returned by the singer. "And you sort of picked the perfect time for this one, the fall festival is starting today, so depending what time we finish those duets, you could take Christina up there."

"I might just do that, if she can handle that much excitement in one day. A studio session, a horse, and a festival? Spoiling that child…" she shook her head. Maya chuckled. "So now, how's it going with you and your school? Last I heard you were so looking forward to your new students. What are they like? Any troublemakers?"

"Not exactly, no," Maya laughed on.

"What does that mean?" Ree curiously inquired.

"Doesn't mean anything, except I'm starting back from blank slates with one group, when the other groups are just getting to the point where it really feels like I know them. This new group, some of them feel like a new puzzle I have to figure out, and I don't have the picture to look at to help me put it together."

"I do love a puzzle," Ree nodded, before giving a small 'sorry, go on' wave.

"Well, I have one boy who recently moved here from out of state, him and his sister. They're living with their grandparents now, both their parents are in the Navy, their mother was already overseas and then their father had to go as well. It's the first time both of them have been gone at the same time, and now they're here, new school, new everything, and it's been harder on the sister." Ree made a noise at this, a mother sympathizing. "But then it's been hard on him, too. He feels so responsible for her, and I don't think he knows how to express how he feels about the whole thing, because he needs to put her first." All she could think of was Sam, when their father had been about to die, and after they'd lost him, the way his focus would be turned on Cara, Eliza, Wyatt, and their mother, rather than on to his own grief, his own loss.

"Can't even imagine…" Ree breathed, their cheerful exchange brought to a standstill. Maya silently nodded.

"Then I have this girl… She's so bright, like really clever, more than she knows what to do with. But she's also just so focused on her studies that the school counselors went and made her take my class, so she'll just lift her head once in a while, you know?"

"I do, yes. My brother was sort of that way growing up. Used to drive me mad."

"From day one, she's just been sort of… resistant to the whole thing, so I've been keeping an eye on her, trying to pick up what little she put down for me, so I could figure out what to do about her. And I can almost see it, but I'm not there yet, so until then I have to watch her sitting there and being so frustrated. She shows up, she does the work as best she can," Maya had to note. "It would be so easy for her to skip class, or just phone it in, but she doesn't."

"That's a good thing, isn't it?"

"Maybe, but… not really… She hates every minute of it, I can tell. And I don't want to force it on her, like she has to love art or else I won't understand her, no. Maybe she'll get to that point where it all clicks for her and she starts to love it, but maybe she won't, and if she has to drag her feet through this whole year, through however long she'll be with me, all it's really going to do is… pull her apart. I don't want that for her."

When she'd stopped speaking, and silence held, Maya turned her head to find Ree looking back at her, smiling.

"What?" she laughed, confused.

"I was just thinking, any kid should be so lucky as to have a teacher like you. Even last year, you were brand new, and you just jumped in with both feet at once," Ree told her. Maya almost felt like she might blush for the compliment. "You will find your solution, I know you will. You won't let her down, or any of them."

Maya let out a breath. She really hoped that Ree would be right about this. Khalil, Rochelle… even Desi, even if she would not be anywhere near her classroom for about six years, if she was still in Austin by then. She was in Zay's class though, and one whisper to him had brought the Russell girl to be teamed up with the Hunter twins for an exercise. Whether the three of them would gel would be entirely up to them, and by the end of the week, when she'd gone to visit her family, Maya had learned that Nellie and Gracie had a new friend. It was all just a matter of chance, wasn't it? The potential was all there for them to see take root, and then it did.

Christina soon returned with Missy in tow, and the girl gave Roman Day a run for his motormouth money as she told her mother and Maya about getting to see Trooper, and getting to feed him, and touch him… Maya would later joke how they might have jam sessions and horseback riding lessons to bring Ree back around on Austin visits once their recordings were done.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners