December 14th 2022

Chapter 348
Our Cheers For Creation

It was generally rare for students to immediately know what they wanted to do for the art auction. Those that did, as was the case this year, had the experience to know that it was coming, and so they'd been thinking about it. For the most part, students would take a day, or a few days, before they came up with their idea, while the others would come up with their idea so near to the deadline that they'd work into the night to finish it. One of them had memorably handed in a painting that had yet to completely dry. A few along the years had missed the deadline altogether, having never started their submission or not finished it in time. Depending on the state of it, Maya had previously given them the means to finish throughout the day, ahead of the start of the auction, but that was a rare situation.

This year, as far as she'd seen, things were moving along well enough for everyone that had signed up. She got to see the progress on many of those in her classes, the closer they got to the auction. For a lot of her students, this was one of the projects they had in the year where they would challenge themselves the most, and the results made her happy to see what that meant for all of them.

With her seniors, she had kids like Jenny Marshall, who had spent nearly four years in her class and had notably grown as artists, kids who had not just found skill but also interest. Would art become their life, their career? No, probably not. But all the same, it could become a hobby, a release for them in their personal life. With Jenny, she knew that was definitely so. After the time and effort that she'd put into that painting for her parents, Maya knew that the senior girl had developed an appreciation for how relaxed it would make her, sitting at an easel, maybe listening to music, or a book, or a podcast, and paint. She had a new canvas she was working away at – back home this time – and every little while, she would bring in a picture of her progress to show her art teacher.

She could spot some of the kids who'd be running out the clock with their submissions. She'd been certain that Angel Ríos would be one of them, and so far, she was correct. Every day since the announcement of the auction, it felt as though the boy walked into her class working harder and harder to not make eye contact with her. It was like he fully expected her to ask him how his piece was going, and he was terrified of having to tell her that he was behind… that he hadn't started at all and didn't even know what he was going to do. Eventually, she'd just had to go right up to him and let him know that she knew, and that she was there to help him. They talked a while after class, a couple of times, and from there she was confident that he was on the path… Now he just had to finish on time.

With her juniors, her gold star group, well, that was like taking their normal drive and pushing it into overdrive. It was the one group she'd had, since they'd started with the auctions, where figuring out their auction pieces started with the class brainstorming together. Some of them had sort of developed this plan to create a series, each of them doing one piece that would fit in with the others, to see if they could get someone to buy the lot. Maya appreciated that ambition in them and she encouraged it.

Two of her juniors very nearly fell into the category of 'victims of circumstance,' those kids who might have had something going on in their personal life that would delay them. In some cases, it was due to something bad happening in their lives, and in others it was the opposite. Here, with Nellie Hunter and Bobby Davis, it was something that was the very opposite of bad. They had been dating now for coming on a month, and they were still in a stage of 'basking in the new.'

In the beginning, they had kind of wanted to keep their relationship private, not giving any public displays of affection whether it was a kiss or holding hands or even standing closer to one another than they used to do. It had been kind of impossible before long. This thing between them had been bubbling under the surface for so long that, now that they'd allowed it to surface, asking it to go back under was like asking it to stop breathing. It wouldn't do that. They were magnets, drawn to each other. Whenever they got together outside of school, as Maya had seen it or as her family reported it, they were rarely more than inches apart from one another, and more often than not, their faces were stuck together. So then, when they were at school, it felt as though they had told themselves it would be a lot easier not to do anything like that where they weren't supposed to if they pretended like they were still only friends… but that had only had the effect of making them look almost jumpy.

Forcing themselves not to do anything was only making them want to touch even more. It had led to their friends and siblings very lovingly – and pointedly – telling them to get a hold of themselves and stop pretending that they weren't a couple. They'd done that now, and it was working, for the most part, though a couple of times they had come very close to landing themselves in trouble and were saved only by the benevolence of being caught by a very understanding – if slightly disturbed – older sister/teacher.

Where their auction pieces were concerned, they'd had their ideas, and they'd been working on them, but then one or the other would lean over and whisper something that would make the other laugh, or try not to and fail, which would pull the first one in, because they had discovered the wonder of making one another laugh and what it meant to them.

"I will make you switch seats if you keep this up," Maya had finally come to whisper between them, which forced them to get back to work, even though the giggles still wanted out. When that happened, all Maya could see was her sister in such distress and the boy bleeding in the street, and from there… all she could do was let them be.

With her freshmen, it was the most involved she needed to be, with some of the kids seeming uncertain of what they were supposed to do that would be good for the auction. Maya had done her best to help them with that, but some still struggled and took longer to decide, sometimes coming close to pulling out of the auction. One she'd been sure would have had no trouble, as they'd done this before, was Ash Bell, and yet they'd ended up somewhere in the same area as Nellie and Bobby, only the opposite side. It was difficult to focus on school at all, much less the auction, with everything else that they were having to deal with, and Maya could see why they'd try to give the most attention they could toward their actual classes, the better not to lose what progress they'd made.

Maya had to wonder what was going on with them and the situation with their little sister, but she also didn't want to pry. Ash would know, as they'd done it before, that they could come to her at any time. She knew from having spoken with Topanga that things had been set in motion, but that was as far as she could go. The rest was up to Ash.

"Mrs. Friar?" they found her just as she was coming out of the minivan, arriving at school that morning. Maya was surprised at first, but when she spotted the roll in their hands, bound with a bit of twine, she became curious.

"Morning, Ash," she smiled, approaching them as she balanced her bag on her shoulder. "Is that for me?" she indicated the roll. Ash looked down, nodding before passing it over.

"It's for the auction."

"You finished your piece?" Maya asked, relieved, but Ash shook their head.

"No, I… I couldn't do it, and I'd never finish on time. But that's something else that I did, so is it okay if I just use that instead?" They carried a whole other train of thoughts in their mind, and Maya frowned, momentarily conflicted before finally deciding. She motioned for Ash to follow her, and they headed into the school. She knew that the quiz team would be in her class, so she directed Ash toward the teachers' lounge. There would be people there, too, but somehow it still felt more private. They sat together there, and Maya undid the twine. The roll unfurled, presenting a painting.

"When did you make this one?" she asked.

"About a year ago, I think," they replied, leaning to point at the corner, the date scribbled underneath their signature. Maya had seen this style in Ash's art before, a recurring theme, what could have been a series called 'Views from the window.' At their mother's house, they had often sat in some window or another and painted what they could see, picking some angle, a scene of people or animals if they were present, otherwise just of the world as they saw it. This one showed a nighttime scene and when asked if it had a name, Ash entitled it 'Sleepless 17.' It was very likely to refer to sequence, following Sleepless 1 through 16, far more than their age.

"Are you sure you want to sell it?" Maya asked. Ash silently nodded, and Maya might have decided right then and there to buy this one herself, in the event that they'd want it back. They sat together quietly for a few moments. Maya wouldn't ask unless they were willing to speak, but she had to wonder…

"Everything is just so messed up right now," they finally spoke, off in their own head. Maya waited, let them carry on. "When my mother found out what I was trying to do, she showed up at Maia's house. I'd never seen her so… out of control like that. She yelled at me, called me an ungrateful little…" They didn't say the word, but it seemed to flow from their eyes enough that Maya could understand. "She went on and on, no matter how much Maia's mom tried to get her to back off. I thought for sure she was going to hit me."

"Ash…" Maya couldn't help but gasp and reach out to hold their hand. "When was this?"

"Last night," Ash replied. "The messed up part is that it might be the thing to help us help Kennedy." Off Maya's confused look, they went on. "Maia recorded the whole thing on her phone. The moment we knew it was my mother. And she was too caught up in her thing that she didn't even notice. She left when Maia's mom threatened to call the cops, and as soon as she did, Maia said we should send the video to Mrs. Matthews. She thinks it could help settle this, so Kennedy can go live with our dad." Their face said plainly that they wanted to believe that this was the only important part, but at the same time… They'd been shaken up by the event, how could they not?

"Are you going to be alright?" Maya asked them kindly. Ash pressed a hand to their eyes, guarding against the ruin of tears versus their makeup. They could only nod, and Maya leaned forward to embrace them. They bowed to the hug with so much relief that Maya could only keep holding them, waiting until they were ready to pull back. They would take all the time that they needed.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners