July 19th 2023

Chapter 200
We Light the Halls

At no time had Maya ever expected to rely on the school in whatever she did for her students in her class for Halloween. It was never a matter of having Principal Davenport tightening the purse strings in her ongoing campaign against the arts and the art teacher. Even before their change in administration, she had always seen to the transformation of her classroom by her own means, whether it involved borrowing items from the theater, transforming, or outright constructing anything… Since the arrival of their new principal though, well… Maybe there was a part of her that felt the need to go the extra mile, that felt that she'd get a very particular sort of pleasure in knowing that she would construct this experience for her kids, and they would get such a kick out of it, so much that they'd want to go and grab their friends who didn't take art, just so they could see it, too. This year would be no different, except maybe that, once again, she would have come up with an idea that she executed well enough to exceed her achievements of the year before.

It was no surprise at least that the first people to benefit from it should be the quiz teams. Halloween wasn't going to stop them getting together in the art room before classes. If anything, that would only make them want to get in that room even more, because how could they ignore the hilarity of them sitting around the two stations they occupied, with all of their costumes on? All eight of them, even their two Mamas, had dressed up for the day, and the clash of tones and themes was everything that Maya could have hoped for as they kicked off another Halloween together.

"You know, with all of us sitting here like this, it's giving me ideas," Kip was saying as she walked in to find them all there. She couldn't help but be disappointed that she had missed the moment when they had all discovered the room, but there was enough residual excitement in them for her to still feel like she'd been part of it.

"I don't know, but does it involve a lot of dice?" Haley asked him, with a knowing grin. There was no teasing or malice in it, from her or any of the others, as Kip would know.

"It might…" he humbly admitted, before his teammates and the others all jumped in, expressing their interest and curiosity at the idea. Looking at them all, Maya would have paid big money to sit in on this game if they actually went along with the thought. It was definitely something that had passed her by, growing up, but any of her friends who played had always said she would be great at it. Who knew, maybe someday she'd go for it, and wouldn't that be something?

To no surprise, by the time there were only senior art students in the transformed classroom, Maya was accosted by the trio of her brother, cousin, and Ash. Her 'senior detectives,' as she would call them, had been more determined than ever lately – maybe for this being the last year they'd have to get to the bottom of everything while they were still attending here – to get to the bottom of the 'cheerstery.' Surely, they had to find a way and get the answer to the question that had been bugging them for as long as the new principal had gone and revived the cheer squad after taking up her post. More importantly, they had to find it before they all had diplomas handed to them.

Maya continued to be hesitant to hand them any of Melinda's journals as a potential source, just as Lucas was. They knew that it could all be helpful to MJ, Lydia, and Ash, but they also felt that they might have been leading them down a path that would only get them hurt in some way, or disappointed… Sure, they had found a couple of entries here and there that let them think that they might have been on to something, but very same inklings had them feeling like they might all have been better off leaving well enough alone without getting involved. Some might say that they were already involved, whether they liked it or not, but they didn't see it that way. They hadn't said that they would do anything. All they'd agreed to was looking through Melinda's things, maybe finding some clues, but… Whatever they did unearth, would it really be worth it to go and keep digging once they started to spot an outline? Maybe the smart thing to do would be to turn and leave well enough alone.

By the time the sophomores had their turn, the tradition had been held up, as the seniors had kept tight lipped about what they'd seen, them and the members of the quiz teams, too. From day to day, there was no escaping the occasional 'teenage attitude,' but then there'd be this room, in all its wonder, and there'd be this turn in them, like they weren't necessarily turning into children all over again, but they for sure went and got kind of giddy all at once, curious and reverent as they took it all in. There were plenty of days across the school year that would make her so happy as a teacher, but Halloween always had a most special place in her heart for that.

Of the many ways in which this one year's was special – as they all were, in their own ways – it was impossible not to stop on the younger of their two XCs. Brett may not have chosen to be here the way anyone in his position would hopefully have gotten to do, but he was here, just as he had been since the end of summer, and as they had all been doing their best to make it an experience that he would be happy for in the end – and succeeding on the whole, as far as they could see – this day was really maybe their best opportunity to see where they stood and to go beyond. Brett had always liked Halloween, sure, but he wouldn't say that he had really done much about it, not until this year. The day was still only starting for him and everyone else, but what he had experienced of it was already exciting, and what was still to come was even more so.

At lunch, a spirit settled over the art room that was befitting of the day in its own way. Specifically, Maya was visited by the Mamas. Marie, Max, and Madelyn, along with their friends, had been making their daily visits to join her over lunch, and they were always welcome. They had all come costumed, and it was easy to see the divide of who had done so in an attempt – successful or not – to cheer themselves up, or who had done it because they'd been talked into it. By mid-day, the hope was that those who landed at one end of the spectrum would have started to join the other, and in some ways this had been a success, whether or not the girls jumped for joy… figuratively speaking.

None of them were easy to miss by now. Even the one who still had the longest to go, Marie, was no more than two months and some dust from giving birth, while they had Madelyn at the other end, no more than a couple of weeks from getting there herself. It was really to the point where they had to wonder if she wouldn't be better off staying home, but she didn't want that, wanted to keep coming to school, and no one had the heart to tell her no.

Her classmates, when they came around for their art period, looked as though they'd been stuck in this middle ground, too with Madelyn Carter. A lot of them sympathized for her, wanted to look out for her. Of the rest, well, there were always the idiots who saw her condition as all the reason they needed to be mean to her. And Madelyn, well, she wasn't immune, nor was her best friend. Haley may have looked sweet, almost angelic in her costume that day, but oh did her angel have horns, ready to strike back if anyone went and upset her best friend. Madelyn would never want her to go to those lengths, but also she would have gratitude when she'd smile over at her. They'd had their estrangement for a while, but here and now they had never been stronger as a pair.

Maya always had a soft spot for the freshmen on Halloween. It would be the first time they got to experience it all with her, and she with them. She was not above pulling a jump scare with them, discovering which of them would barely bat an eye and which would scream bloody murder. Some of them reacted just as she'd expect them to, and others would be completely unexpected. There was a very good chance that she'd gone out of her way this year in particular, and it was no wonder. She'd for sure done it when MJ had first joined her students, and the same with the twins. Now it was Haley's turn, and even though Maya did her best not to create any scares near the girl so close to her due date, her best friend, now, she was free game.

Alright, so it was that much harder not to have a bias toward her visitors in her long break. All of her young daughters were in school now, so she couldn't expect for any of them to be brought to see her here and now, but she did have something very good in its own rights, and that was her baby granddaughter. Ella brought Sunny to see her, and because they were of the family, it was a delight if not a complete surprise to be presented with the two-month-old in a costume. There was nothing spooky or strange about her, only cuteness that promised to make her Nana Maya smile from ear to ear as she reached out and took her in her arms.

As they sat together, the three of them, Maya was so very happy to get to tell the baby girl all about her mother's first Halloween among the Friars, how her big sister had been no bigger than her at the time, a fellow August girl as she was. The entire visit felt entirely too short, but it was still enough to leave her feeling refreshed and excited as she went in for her last class of the day.

The end of the day rolled around as the juniors came to take their places in the art room, and they always felt like the best way to close out any day, but on this one maybe even more so, because of the mood, the vibe that came with Halloween out here. The last period and the sort of chaotic restlessness that came with the junior group, oh, it never got old. This year, they got to add Gianna's personality into it, and Maya couldn't think of a better addition. The girl walked around, day to day, with this bounce of discovery in her step, and in here it achieved anything from seeing right through potential jump scares and making her classmates laugh, to actually falling for one and breaking out laughing once she'd realize what was going on. She had been told all about the games and the costume contest at the Friar house, and she was looking forward to it with great energy. Maya was right there with her, even if the reason came from a much more personal place on her end. All she wanted was to get back to her birthday girl, and once the bell rang, that was exactly what she'd finally do.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners