March 27th 2023

Chapter 86
We Celebrate Cooperation

Dear Mrs. Friar,

I kept thinking how I wanted to write to you, just because I think it'd be fun to get to do that with you, but then it kind of felt weird, you know? We see each other a lot, especially these days, with the Hexes, and the album... (That's going great, by the way, and a lot of that is thanks to you, and getting to use the Hex. I don't think many bands like us would get to have that.) Anyway, I wanted to write to you, from me as I am now, and the rest of the band kept telling me I should do it, that it would make me happy, that it would make you happy, too, and that was all the reasons I needed.

I have actually been meaning to write to you, or even just talk to you, about this one thing for months now, but I never knew how. Maybe that was part of the reason why I wanted to do this letter so much, now that I think about it, and also why it took me so long to work up to it. This kind of goes for Mr. Friar, too, so if you shared it with him, I'd appreciate it.

Even though she's been better for a long time now, sometimes I can't help but look at my mother and remember what it was like when she was sick and I thought for sure I was going to lose her. I remember very distinctly one day where it came so close, remember my father coming to my brother and me, telling us to go and see her. He didn't say outright to go to say our goodbyes, but we knew that was what he meant. It was the worst moment of my life, but I didn't think I could show it. I didn't want my mom or my dad to see how scared I was, and I definitely didn't want Max to see it.

I don't remember what was going on that day that you couldn't make it, but you sent someone else to bring me back my diary, after I'd sent it to you. Actually, she said she volunteered, that she'd heard about what we were going through and she wanted to offer us some support. She showed up on that day, and as much as I tried to keep my feelings about my mom on the inside, she saw right through me. She took me down to the cafeteria, away from everyone else, and we just talked for a while, and then it finally just came out. I remember sitting there, crying, and her holding my hand through it until near the end. Then she came and hugged me, and I held on to her so tight. We barely knew each other, but she felt like she could have been part of me all my life.

When I heard that she had passed away, I was heartbroken. There were no words to explain what it was like, we had barely anything to qualify as a relationship except several isolated encounters, but she was just one of those people, wasn't she? She made you feel like you were so important, whether she knew you all that much or not, and it was never pretend. I've given you both my condolences before, but I really wanted to say again how sorry I was that she was gone, that it happened so suddenly, too. It would never have felt any easier if you'd known, I learned it that day even if it didn't actually happen in the end. Now I look at my mother and I understand more than ever how important it is to hold on to her.

I hope that these words find you well, and that they embrace you the way she did for that girl she didn't know.

Take care,
Kelsey Farrell

.

Dear Kelsey,

Thank you for all of your kind words, thank you for sharing your story. I knew that she had been to see you, but she never told me the rest of it. That just wouldn't have been her way. She would have safeguarded your privacy above all else, and hearing about it now touched my heart. I can barely deal with the fact that it's been almost half of a year since my mother passed. It still feels like yesterday a lot of the time, until I stop and think how long it's been since I've seen her, heard her, been held by her. And what you said about her was spot on. She'd say that the best of friends had been strangers once, so why not take chances on someone? It's the kind of thing I hope to teach my daughters as they grow.

Thank you again for your letter. I will show it to my father as well, and I know it will do him good.

Sincerely,
Lucas Friar

x

The end of summer was approaching fast, and it continued to give space for the new and unplanned. The biggest one lately was the ongoing relocation of Betsy Young.

She had said she wouldn't go back to Boston, and she meant it. She'd called on some friends back there to go to the house and pack her belongings for her, shipping them out. In the meantime, she'd taken up residence at the Hunter Hart house. According to Shawn, it was bringing out some version of his wife from before he'd ever known her, and he was fascinated by it. Maya and Lucas had both seen it, too, and they could see what he meant. It was particularly sweet to see for Maya… and for her grandparents. She could see how happy it made Tanner and Angela Clutterbucket to watch their daughter and their niece in full adolescent/young adult renaissance, even as they were neither one of them close to those New York roommates they had been. It felt like a peek into the years they had lost with their firstborn daughter.

All this aside, the search had been on for Betsy's future home in Austin. They wanted to try and have her living close by the Hunters, but if they couldn't make that happen, then that'd be fine; it would already be so much closer to what they'd had for many years already. They hadn't found anything that would work yet, but they kept their eyes open. They didn't know what they would do when Betsy's things were delivered, but it would more than likely happen before she had anywhere to put them in that would be hers already, keys and all.

There was plenty more to keep Maya occupied, though some of it involved Betsy, too. She had been very excited, among other things, to follow Maya as she made a visit to the theater to see how both the Stage Ready and Backstage Ready camps were faring, the ends of their seasons fast approaching. Right now, that would mean one thing: the big showcase, the product of their summer.

As had been the case in the past, the Hexes, formerly We Are Sisters, were there to mentor campers in many ways. This right here felt particularly fascinating to watch when she would spy Ash Bell on that stage. It had been many years since they had attended sessions with the program, years since they'd sung so beautifully and genuinely up there, years since then but not nearly as long since they had parted from the woman who'd compelled them to give up any and all association to music, regardless of the fact that they loved it so, so much, until very recently. Now they had been getting back out there, reconnecting with their love, and to see them up there… It was nothing short of a revelation.

"You weren't kidding," Betsy blinked in amazement after Ash had stood there, demonstrating with a song. "Where's their girlfriend?" she followed her curiosity, making Maya chuckle before pointing her out. Maia Bennett sat right up front, neither a camper nor a member of the band but sitting there as though there might not have been a single other person in the theater than her and her enbyfriend. "How proud are you right now?" she turned back to Maya, smirking, which made her laugh.

"Very," she told her.

To her, this moment of sitting by the older woman had her thinking about much more than pride for her student. It made her wonder if there might be room to make one big change to one of her ongoing projects, primarily her project with Portia Keller, the album. Maybe it was just a fleeting thought that felt nice, and it would only ever stay that, but it made her smile to imagine the timid songwriter's songs being put out into the world on the voice of someone who had lost and now regained their love of singing. If it wasn't that she was sure Ash wasn't ready for something like that… Oh, but would it be a terrible thing if a part of Maya considered it becoming a reality solely because it would annoy Ash's mother, after she had tried so hard to get them to sing again? Considering she was the reason why they had stopped at all, no, not really.

She wouldn't make the switch, not now. They had been at this, both her and Portia, and she knew that the teenager loved what they had done. But then, who knew? Maybe after this album, she would want to reproduce the framework, featuring another artist to sing a series of her songs. It could become her thing if she wanted to. For what she had come to know of her so far, it might not have been a bad idea at all. She might just embrace this kind of project, especially as it would accomplish what she'd always wanted. She wanted people to sing her songs, not her.

She had made a visit out to Austin, as she now did once in a while, and it was maybe one of the loveliest things, to see how she had grown – not just physically – since they had started out together. It really hadn't been all that long, but then that short time, like adolescence, felt like it would hit the odd growth spurt. Some of it may have had to do above all else with her growing comfort around her partner in this project, and around her family by extension. Maya would have to isolate herself away in the Hex if she needed to have a proper, uninterrupted conversation with the teen, or else she was guaranteed to have some small visitors trying to get close, to talk to her. Portia would be delighted to talk to them each time, never having it in her to turn them away anyhow.

"What happens when it's done?" she asked, one day, as she and Maya sat in the Hex together. The song list had grown, and it could be said that it was nearly done, per their plans together. It begged the question, and now Portia had asked it.

"Well… I've been talking about you, about this album, to some of the people out…"

"You have?" Portia asked, her shyness flaring before she could help herself.

"Yes," Maya smiled. "And they're looking forward to hear it."

"They are?" the shock continued. "D-Did you… Did they hear any…"

"Not yet," Maya assured her. "I wouldn't do that without talking to you first." Portia calmed down. She knew Maya enough to trust this much. "So, what do you think?" she asked. Portia blinked. "Should we let them hear some of it?" This was a big choice, especially for her, and Maya understood what had to be going through her mind. Her path may not have been the same, but she had for sure felt this in the past.

"Okay…" Portia breathed, reddened. "Let's do it."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners