November 8th 2020

Chapter 313
Their Welcoming of the Stage

Of all the things Maya thought she'd have in mind as they set out that night, about the last one she'd expected was 'I hope there aren't any reporters hanging around.' But now… now it might actually have been a possibility, and she really hoped it would not come to be true.

At the start of the final week before the holiday break, she had awakened to an abundance of notifications on her phone, which was always very good or very bad, and this time should absolutely have been categorized as very good, although it did not come without a certain wrinkle in the middle.

Tickets soon on sale for the just revealed dates of the new Ree Forster summer world tour, featuring songwriter Maya Hart.

She'd woken Lucas up at once, even as she looked through the messages and replies, from fans and strangers as much as from people she knew, friends, and family, who'd had no idea that this was coming. It was amusing, seeing them freak out over this huge thing, when she'd had her own freak out months ago, when Ree had even asked her to do this. And there was so much love from them, so much pride… It warmed her heart and primed her to face the day at school, wondering how her colleagues and students would react upon finding out about it all.

As ever, her first contact had been Stella Buckley and Phoebe Munroe, the latter of which had come to school in her best TXNY shirt that day, opening her coat to show it. She was beyond excited, and so was Stella, in her own way. She had never been to a concert like this, and she wanted to go. Maya had asked her if she was sure, pointing out how crowded and loud it would be. She hesitated, briefly, but she still wanted it, which left her teacher to wonder if there'd be any way for her to get hold of some tickets for her students, even if she had to pay for them. Maybe it would have been weird. She would consider it.

Throughout the day, she was faced with many more excited people coming up to her. Some knew about her music career, others were only finding out about it. Only a handful realized she had already written songs that they knew and loved. And then at lunch time, the wrinkle had started to present itself. It had been coming along earlier, but she'd been so busy with her classes and then with a number of other things around the school in her free periods that she hadn't really looked at her phone. When she did, she found several missed calls and messages. Reporters were reaching out to her, wanting to speak with her about the tour.

She had no idea how they'd even tracked her down this fast, especially seeing as Maya Hart was the one they sought and she only went by that name for her music anymore, while Maya Friar was the art teacher out here. But then she only had to think about it briefly, about what would come up if they looked for Maya Hart. They'd probably find TXNY, and Stage Ready. Then, if they looked more into the theater, they'd find she now went by a new name, so from there the last leap to the school would have been a breeze, wouldn't it?

She hadn't known what to do about those. It wasn't that she'd never had any exposure to this side before, but this felt so different, so much bigger, and she didn't want to just jump in and end up making a mistake. She'd left a message with Ree, asking that she call her back when she could. This didn't happen until the evening, once she was back home, by which point she'd only seen the number of messages increase. Ree gave her what advice she could in navigating it all, mostly in seeing that it wouldn't all land directly on her like this, all the while promising that she'd get in touch with a number of the people who were trying to reach her, those Ree herself had had enough contact with over the years to make the process smoother for Maya's sake.

"I'm really sorry, I should have done this part before the announcement went out. I'm usually so much more on top of everything. Tell you what though, I'll get some tickets out to you for the Austin show. A hundred maybe? Two hundred? I'll get back to you with a number."

Talking to Ree had definitely been the right thing to do, and Maya had felt much better afterward. In the following days, she'd been able to get through a number of calls, answering questions… Now there were articles out there, talking about Maya Hart, who she was, how she'd come up to be so in demand as to work an entire album with Ree Forster. She'd asked each time that they keep her school and her married name out of it, and so far this had been respected. It was still so very strange to think that this was all part of her life now.

But tonight… Tonight wasn't supposed to be about her, and after a few encounters in recent days, she couldn't help imagining some person or another showing up outside the elementary school to ask her more questions. It felt like she needed to push the notion out of her head before it became an expectation that stalled her from going about her life. She was nothing more than a big sister tonight, going to see her little sisters' Christmas play.

"Hey, Mrs. Friar." They'd just walked into the school when the familiar call brought her to find Khalil Russell, standing there in a suit, accompanied by an older couple who would have to be his grandparents. Maya quickly excused herself from Lucas and Sam before moving to greet them. She had met the senior Russells before, from parent-teacher night to play times between her sisters and their granddaughter, and they were pleased to see her each time.

"Is Desi doing alright? Not too nervous?"

"She's been practicing her speech all week, any chance she gets," Khalil proudly revealed.

"And he does mean every chance," Mr. Russell added with a jovial laugh. "She'll be in the bathroom, taking her bath, and we'll hear her, going at it like she's going to get herself an Oscar."

"She's been repeating it so many times, we could all be her understudies," Mrs. Russell added.

Moving along, Maya, Lucas, and Sam came upon Katy and Shawn and Haley, the last of which was not looking cheerful in the slightest, crying as her father tried to calm her down.

"Hey, hey, what's the matter?" Maya asked her little sister, who sniffled and turned her head in response to the sound of her voice.

"She's just a little upset because she can't go up there with the girls and MJ," Katy breathed, looking sympathetically to her youngest. Maya was right there with her, imagining how the four-year-old would feel at being left out.

"Do you think she might like to join me over at camp?" she wondered aloud.

"At Stage Ready?" Katy asked. "The holiday camp?"

"Yeah," Maya nodded, smiling as she caught a curious look from her sister. "I could use a small but talented assistant up on that stage…"

"What do you say, Shutterbug?" Shawn asked the little Hunter. "Want to go with your sister to the theater?" Barely pausing between crisis face and happy face, Haley sat up in his arms and gave a nod.

"Good, you're hired," Maya chuckled, receiving her when she stretched out her arms toward her. "That is a nice dress you've got here," she complimented, clearing the girl's porcelain face of its tears.

As the audience of family members went ahead and got to their seats in the auditorium, Maya and Lucas both thought of their people backstage. Nellie and Gracie were both taking part in the fourth grade's piece, with their own roles to play, completely different. To anyone who knew them, their handling of the whole play and their involvement in it came as no surprise. Nellie was ready to take on the thing, head on, while Gracie looked slightly less sure. She was to do a dance solo, and though she did great in her classes, and among the rest of her group whenever they did showcases, this was the first time she'd find herself in the spotlight, and she was struggling to hide how much it frightened her.

Meanwhile, a couple grades down, the newly seven-year-old MJ was excited about doing a song, and he'd been getting his big sister to help him prepare it, because clearly who else would he want to ask for something like this? He did well enough for his age, and for all they knew he would get even better as he grew older.

Beyond the Hunter kids, they spared a thought for Zay, looking after his fourth graders even as he was riding that sleepless wave of fatherhood in its first weeks. Nadine was back home with the baby tonight, what with her being not even a month old, but she had made Zay promise her a recording of the show, and especially his group's performance.

"You're staying right here with me," Maya told Haley as they sat down and she set the girl in her lap, wrapping her arms around her. Haley didn't have any complaints on this whatsoever, settling back and turning her face up to find her sister's with a smile. Maya responded by planting a kiss to her forehead. "You know, in a couple years, you can go there, too," she promised her, and Haley looked thrilled to hear it.

"The first time you got up there, now that was something," Katy was heard chuckling, across the empty seat at Maya's side. It was to be Haley's if she ever decided to come down from Maya's lap, as unlikely as that was.

"You really don't need to bring it up, you know?" Maya shook her head, even as she had to smile.

"She doesn't need to, I've seen the video," Lucas pointed out, on Maya's other side. At this, both Sam and Shawn raised their hands to signify that they, too, had seen little Maya Hart's first 'spectacular' outing on to the stage at the age of six.

"Everyone's a critic," Maya shook her head to her little sister, who had no idea what they were all going on about.

Thankfully, they were spared from any more discussion of this as the lights went down and the evening began.

When MJ's group came along, it was anyone's pick which of his mother, father, or sister had the most trouble keeping their emotions in check. He had worked so hard on his song, and it had much of what might be expected from a seven-year-old, but oh if it wasn't the best thing… No, the best thing was definitely the smile on his face, when he finished and people applauded. That might have been the precise moment where the performing bug went and claimed him.

The biggest piece of the night – for the Hunter-Hart-Friar crew at least – was the fourth graders' play, as led by Mr. Babineaux. Desi Russell gave a rousing speech, putting it all out there for her family in the audience as well as those far beyond Texas that night. Nellie Hunter gave her very most best, which might not have gotten her any awards in the long run, but no one could fault her on her enthusiasm. As to Gracie Hunter though, Maya's little Mouse-Mouse of a sister conquered her fear, taking center stage with her dance and leaving many in the audience, family or no, genuinely moved. By the end of the night, Maya had completely forgotten about her concerns regarding reporters. Now, she couldn't stop thinking about days of seeing her own children up there on that stage… someday…

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners