July 28th 2023

Chapter 209
We Open Our Minds

It wasn't often that she ended up at school on a weekend day, but then every so often an occasion would come along, usually a good one, where she would be needed, and this was one of them. The bonus this time around was that it got to happen with the approval of Vice-Principal Song. Their principal had been under the weather all week, leaving Alistair to step up in her place, and it very much had everyone in school feeling as though they could breathe again all of a sudden, like they'd been holding their breaths. She'd returned only the day before, and Maya was sure that she'd done everything she reasonably could to stop this workshop with the musical team, but to no avail. They were here, and everything was going great. It was even better, as far as Maya was concerned, because she had her bandmates around her, listening to the kids who took the stage.

She was so very happy to see Jonah Killian up there, to hear how he had some of the same qualities in his voice as older sister Agnes did. It only made her wish that she'd have them both up here this year, but Agnes had opted out of the musical this time around. She wanted to focus on her studies, and Maya could not blame her for it. In the meantime, her little brother was holding up the family name on their stage, and as nervous as he often looked being there, it was clear that he wanted to be there and that he was happy to be part of the musical.

The same went for Hunter Matthews, though he had been a tougher sell. Maya couldn't be sure if someone had talked him into it or if he'd just decided to follow his friend. Either way, he was there, and he was finding his musical legs, which was amusing even as it brought back memories for his art teacher, thinking of Hunter's older brother and sister at a time like this. There was no denying that this boy was their kid brother. And if all that wasn't amusing enough, she had MJ and his vibing with the song as he and the others listened on. He would be such a goof a lot of the time, and this was one of her favorite versions of it.

Seeing kids like Hunter and Jonah up there, watching them grow into this thing they'd taken a chance on, she was more determined than ever to make it so that Sandra Davenport would not get to take any of it from them. She could feel things closing up around her, possibilities starting to feel a lot more like fortunate accidents. Her new teams were doing well enough that she would have felt like she was coming out on top, but that was never enough for her, would never be, not so long as her target remained standing.

As the workshop drew to a close, Maya made her way up toward the door and peered outside, finding just what she'd expected to find. Inside the auditorium, they had a few members of the academically unattached LGBTeam. The other basketball players, all from several Austin schools, had parked themselves on the floor outside the doors, making it very clear what they were doing: they were playing lookout in the event of a Davenport alert. Whether or not they went to this school or had her for a teacher, they all knew Maya and greeted her in kind.

She had so many reasons to be proud of those kids, but one of the big ones was just the knowledge of everything they had been doing since they had first come together. It wasn't just about getting to play in a team where they felt at ease in being themselves, thought that was of course a big part of it. That was where they had started, yes, but then beyond that they had come together and become something much bigger. They were involved around the city and beyond, and they were showing themselves to be a group of young people worth looking up to. Some of them played on their school teams as well as this one, others had tried and had been forced to choose between one or the other. Those who chose to stick with their school were not shamed, and the same went for those who chose their team here. Whether or not the people who wished to be on the team got to play, they would be counted as part of the team, and they would go around with their logo displayed on them, wherever they went.

"Hey, Mrs. Friar, I'm ready to go," Kip Perreault came jogging up to meet her. Maya turned to respond to him even as she spotted Stella Buckley coming up the hallway, pushing her stroller along. She smiled and motioned for Kip to follow her as she went up to her colleague and former student.

"I'm not late, am I?"

"No, you are right on time, both of you. Hello, Miss Mattie, hello," Maya crooned, looking down to the tiny bird in her stroller. It felt impossible that she was just over a month away from turning a year old, but then she supposed that it always felt that way, even as possibility reared its head. "Looks like you're coming with us, huh? I know some people who are going to be so happy to hear that. You ready?" she asked, holding her closed fist to the girl, who squealed and reached out, maybe not returning another fist for her to bump but grabbing hold of her like they were in a game of rock, paper, scissors, and she'd played paper over rock.

With Stella, Mattie, and Kip in tow, Maya took off from the school, the better to pick up those of the quiz teams who would not have made the trip to the Friar house already on their own, here being Marie Nilsson and Max McAllister.

The Critically Bookish team was already on its third year of existence, and though in competitions further out from standard matches they had to merge and split themselves along with the other team, there was no denying that they were as worthy of a team as their predecessors. Just now, the nearer they were getting to the turn of the year, they were having to deal with the fact that their captain would very soon be out of commission for a little while. There was no worry so far as the team going on without Marie while she was away. They would continue on just fine, and if competition was involved, well, they had their fellows, the original quiz team at their school.

As they worked together, up in the Friar house, Marie, Kip, and Kinsey were doing all they could to help new member Susan Kendall to acclimate herself to the position she'd been granted. The freshman didn't need so much help, but she showed enough humility that she would welcome any and all help that they'd give her. That was who she'd been all year long, for what Maya had gotten to see of her. She wasn't in art with her, but she'd see her around, she'd hear about her, and through her being Kacey's best friend's sister, she had even more chances of getting to know her. She was just the kind of person they'd want on the team, so Maya was very glad to have her around. Stella was just as proud if not more, as Susan and the others were part of the team she advised, just as Maya had her own.

On the other side, they had Born Curious, who had been around so long now as to have held two 'Olympics' and were already halfway to a third. For having gone into that school to be an art teacher, she could easily say that this team was one of her proudest accomplishments as a teacher, and it continued to be every year. And now this year, to top it all off, she had her little sister as their newest member. Haley had wanted so much to be part of them that she'd fought to earn her spot fair and square. It wasn't as though Maya hadn't known that her sister was able to do anything like that, but it had still been such a surprise to realize just how good she could be. Her tactics would be true to her, naturally, always so awake and aware of everything around her… Her favorite thing was to allow her opponents to underestimate her, to look at her and her porcelain doll face and think she would be easy to get through, and then to make them regret it at every turn.

They were all about to hit the same situation, and much sooner than the others, too. Max was only a handful of weeks from her due date, and with her twins coming along together, it could be a lot sooner than that when she went and had those babies, which would leave Lydia, Agnes, and Haley to fend for themselves. They could do it, sure, and as they talked about it that day, they all agreed to sub for one another when their Mamas would be down, Lydia replacing Marie with the Critically Bookish and Kinsey stepping in for Max. They were family, all of them. They looked out for one another.

"Did we miss it?" Marianne's voice announced the arrival of Lucas and the girls, as they'd all been out for groceries together. They filed in now, everyone with their own bag to carry to the best of their abilities and Lucas there to bring the rest. Haley, Kip, and Lydia soon rose to go and help him.

"Well, we started, but we're not done," Maya promised her and the others, as the bags were set on the floor near the counter so that their carriers could hurry over to the table and the gathered teams. Lucy hurried over to Stella at once, who smiled and held out her arms, the better to lift the six-year-old into her lap and keep her there. Kacey and Remy went and sat in Lydia and Haley's spots, making it clear where they wished to sit. Aubrey approached Agnes, as she always loved being near her when she'd be at the house, and the junior greeted her with an extended hand for a good high five before pulling her chair back, knowing that her buddy liked to stand in front of her, to look at the table from her vantage point, and so she would.

"Are they moving now?" Mackenzie asked Max. Their partnership had been born of Max pointing out the closeness in their names. Mackenzie had been most fascinated now, as most kids would be, about the twins. She still had trouble imagining that all three of the triplets had been in their mother's belly at once.

"On an off," Max reported with a hum. "If they start and kick, I'll let you know, okay?" Mackenzie was on board with that, and she stood next to Max's chair as the afternoon wore on.

Maya already had a 'buddy' in Mattie Lejeune, but Marianne didn't seem to mind. She knelt by her mother's chair, the better to talk to the baby girl, telling her about how she used to sit in on these sessions when she was very small, too, that all her sisters had done the same, too, and now so would she.

"Maybe you'll be on one of the teams when you're older," she told her, and it made Maya and Stella both grin. They had thought about that, too, naturally, debating on which side she would end up. Sure, it only seemed natural to think she'd be an artist like her mother, but even if she only took art because she felt like it, oh… Those eyes said Born Curious…

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners