January 10th 2023

Chapter 10
We Expand Our Curiosity

Leaving the house the next morning, there had been a heavy feeling in the sky, in the air, making it plain that the previous day's stormy forecast was due for a repeat. Some of the Friar girls were almost giddy about it while the others… well, there'd been a lot of crying and resisting the need to leave the house. Maya had come very close to showing up at school with one or two tiny blondes glued to her sides, but Granny Mel had, as ever, come to the rescue, with Pappy Tom for backup. Finally, though it always pained her to leave them while they felt fragile or emotional, she'd been able to go on and turn her focus to the day. There were some big things to take care of, team members to recruit…

"Oh, hello… good morning…" Maya blinked when she walked into her classroom to find three students already waiting inside. She should have seen this coming, shouldn't she? Never mind that they'd all been waiting on a response from her, but Rolly, Maia, and Lydia had all been in the gym the previous afternoon. They would have seen her and Stella up there, and she wouldn't put it past them to have pieced together just what the two teachers had been talking about.

"Did you find someone?" Lydia asked.

"Did you ask them?" Rolly asked.

"What did they say?" Maia asked.

After raising her hands in a signal and a request for quiet, Maya let out a breath and told them what she was already about to tell them before they'd cut in. She wanted them to either stick around or return here after last period, and that was all she would give them for now. Oh, they looked at her with a mock sort of annoyance, like she'd condemned them to wonder about the candidates all day long, but they agreed. Maia and Lydia moved to leave, having their own first classes to get to, but not before turning a look to their captain that read as something like 'find out what you can, will you?'

"Don't even try it," Maya pointed a finger at him as soon as he turned to her.

"Can I help set up for class?" Rolly asked, tipping his head in 'surrender.' She wasn't about to assume no more attempts out of him, or from his teammates when they'd get their own classes, but she wasn't so suspicious as to turn away an offer like that.

"Of course, you can," she motioned him toward the supply closet and told him what to grab.

It went about as she'd imagined it would. In first period with Rolly and the seniors, then later on with Lydia and the sophomores, she couldn't get near the Born Curious kids without getting queries, some more obvious than others. She didn't fall for any of them. Even between classes, if any of that trio came past her door, she'd see them look inside, like maybe they'd spot her talking to someone, or they could get her to tell them something… At lunch, to spare herself – and them – she shut her door. It didn't mean that anyone who genuinely needed her couldn't knock and be admitted – everyone knew that – but it would hopefully give the team the message: wait until classes are over.

Stella was taking care of inviting Sandy, Miley, Marie, and Kip, so all Maya had to do was talk to Agnes Killian. She waited until the period had started before asking her to come by after last period.

"Okay…" Agnes told her, nodding. "How come… I mean…" She wanted to know what this was about, understandably, and Maya didn't want to get into it all here and now, but she didn't want her thinking she might be in trouble either.

"I just need to run something by you, a… an idea I had about something, for you. Sound good?"

Agnes was intrigued, curious, but she didn't dig. She just said that she'd be there and that was that. Once the period was over, Maya may or may not have hurried on out, the better to head on her extended break and keep away from running into the team.

"Hey!"

"Later, not… Oh, hey…" Maya turned, ready to admonish, only to find Stella had fallen into step with her, heading outside. "How's it going with your end of it?"

"Talked to everyone, they'll be there," she nodded.

"Great, that's great, I…" She'd figured that was what she was following her for, but she was carrying on, and it wasn't until they passed through the doors that she understood. Phoebe was out there, with Myles in his stroller and a smile on her face to see them walking toward her. "Hey! I wasn't expecting you two out here today," she told her former student, hugging her, even as her other former student (and current colleague) went and picked up the tiny boy. Oh, how he loved his Aunt Stella, and how she loved him…

"Well, we had a check-up this morning, so I figured we'd stop and say hi on the way," Phoebe explained, reaching to brush at her son's cheek where Stella had him.

"Everything good?" she asked.

"Oh yeah, he's perfect," Phoebe promised. "Though he does have this thing, right under here…" she moved to open up his jacket. Maya moved in to see, even as Stella tipped her head in, too. They expected to be shown the boy's tummy, maybe some rash… Instead, they discovered a shirt, presenting him as a future big brother.

Their expectations flipped around like whiplash, Maya and Stella gasped, realizing the truth: Phoebe was having another baby, she and Khalil were going to be parents again! It was the best kind of news to take them into the rest of the day. As they learned, the couple had been hoping to make this happen while Khalil was home again. They wished they could have gotten to find out together, but they'd had to do with a test taken over a video call.

After some time outside with Melinda, Mackenzie, and Aubrey, and with the Russells' news still in her heart and mind, Maya returned into the school for last period with a good bounce in her step. She'd just like to see anyone try and get her down now. Maia Bennett took her own shot at finding out about the quiz team recruit, but not even her good mood would weaken her resolve: like Rolly, like Lydia, she'd have to wait. It was nearly time anyway.

Rolly and Lydia made it from their final classes back to the art room in near record time, and Maya had expected no less. She set them to join their teammate to help her clean up while they waited.

The first to come along was Sandy Abbott, which threw them for a loop. She was surprised, too, waving to fellow senior Rolly. She had no idea what was going on, though naturally she knew what connected the other three. She might have wondered if she'd been called up for quiz team business, but then... no, that wasn't possible, because she was a senior and they had one of those. The team looked to be thinking the exact same thing.

The confusion only increased once the Nilsson sisters arrived together. From the looks on their faces, Maya could imagine that the two of them had gone to tell the other about how they had to stay, only to discover that they were both bringing this same message to one another. None of the others had said anything when Sandy had arrived, not even her, really, but now that both Maia and Lydia found one of their classmates had joined them, there were too many questions and not enough answers.

"What's going on?" Rolly asked.

"You're not replacing us, are you?" Lydia's voice sounded like part of her had feared exactly this, enough to make Maya wonder if the principal had approached her, too.

"No, no, of course not," Maya reassured her even as Maia Bennett's face seemed to take on a relief that read like she'd started to think they'd been too pushy with their freshman questions and so their teacher and advisor had chosen to remove them. "All will become clear soon," she insisted. They nodded, though the wait remained perplexing enough that none of them really spoke, just stood there, and stared at one another where they stood.

They didn't have to wait too long before Agnes came along, Kip at her side, and Stella and Cory brought up the rear. Here they were now, three teachers and eight students, two each to a grade. The answer was practically there for them, but they couldn't see it.

"Thank you all for coming," Maya smiled. "I know you're wondering what this is all about, so I'll get to the point. As you might know," she went on, turning in particular to those of sophomore class and above, "The quiz team each year is made up of four students, one from each year, coming up as freshmen and moving up to captaincy by senior year. I've been seeing to finding a new freshman each fall to close up those ranks and, much as I didn't intend it, most of the time I found those candidates in my own class. And lately I got to thinking that I needed to change that because... well, it wasn't fair to everyone else, was it?"

They didn't say anything, mostly shrugged. Those who knew her, directly or indirectly, would know that she'd never be unfair on purpose. If anything, she'd try and rectify it the moment she perceived it.

"So, Mr. Matthews and I thought we might see about... doubling down, by forming a second team, selected from outside the art track. We brought on Miss Buckley here as our fellow advisor, to see to this new team. And that's where you all come in," Maya looked to Sandy, Miley, Marie, and Kip, before turning to Agnes and nodding to Rolly, Maia, and Lydia. "It's entirely up to you, take your time to think about it if you need to but we would need an answer as soon as possible..."

"I'm in," Sandy Abbott cut in, smiling. She'd only get a year out of this, but she didn't seem to mind.

The Nilsson sisters agreed, too, after exchanging some brief whispers. They'd both known about the team, naturally, and they'd kind of wished they could join, as freshmen, but they hadn't dared to speak up. Maya was glad to hear this, even as she thought of all the other kids over the years who might have found themselves in that same position.

Their two freshmen had no base of reference to lean on. They were brand new. But this was right up Agnes' alley, so it wasn't a long debate before she said she'd do it. Rolly and the rest of Born Curious soon pulled her in for a welcome to the team, and Maya saw them immediately as fitting together, the four of them. She could just about see it with the others, too, even if she didn't know them too well yet. Kip though... He was the only one who didn't reach an answer within a minute. He looked around at the others with anxious uncertainty.

"Hey, it's okay," Stella approached him. "Think about it tonight, yeah?"

"Okay, mademoiselle... Thanks," he quietly nodded. Maya smiled. She couldn't express how happy it made her to see Stella bonding with her students.

Kip Perreault would have quite the night to consider his options. Even as they all left the school, the sky and the air told them the hours to come would be nothing but calm. A storm was brewing...

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners