August 20th 2023

Chapter 232
We Write About the Past

Dear Mrs. Friar,
I was walking around, trying to put Cal to sleep, and I thought about whenever you told us that we could write you letters. Some days, once I get both babies down, it's like I don't know what to do with myself, and today was kind of that way, so here we are.

I can't stop thinking about everything that's going on with me right now, with Daisy and Callum, with me and them. Sometimes I'll look at them and think how these are my children, and I'm their mother, that I'm a mother at all. Me. But I can't say that out loud, can I? If I do, they're going to think that I regret having them, or that I'm just some stupid kid who got knocked up and I'm no good as a mother. But that's not it, I swear it's not. I never planned for any of this, but it happened, that's all. I'm sure any first time mother feels a little unsure sometimes, right?

And my babies, they're the best, you know? Every day, I look at them and I think how they're only two months old, but also they're already two months old. They're still so small, but not as much as they used to be. Their smiles are exactly the same, and their eyes are almost the same, but they're different when they look at everything. Daisy always looks like she's super awake, and Callum is such a little dreamer. Yesterday, they spent an hour just looking at each other, and it made me think how I can't wait for them to be older together as brother and sister.

It's all so much though, and that's what I get caught up on. I know eventually I need to get back to school, that it's the best way for me to make sure I can provide for them, but then I also think about how I could do that so much faster if I just got a job now. I could always get my diploma another way, and then I could take care of them. I haven't decided either way, but I'm going to have to sooner or later. My moms have been trying to talk with me to figure out when I might go back to finish this year, and I just don't know. Every time they bring it up, one or the other of the babies starts to cry and I go and help them and we never get back to it. That's not going to work forever. I'm going to have to make a decision and I just don't know what I'm supposed to do.

I don't mean to put that all on you. I'm going to figure it out, I'm sure I will, but I needed to say it, or write it, so I did. I hope you're having a good day.

Max McAllister

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Dear Max,
I remember very well how I felt, the first few months after I had Marianne. I would look at her, and she was just this perfect little thing, and it would really feel like someone had to have made a mistake, as though she couldn't possibly be mine even though she clearly was. Now, I realize our situations were completely different, but this at least is something we shared, so you don't have to let any of it get to you. From everything I've seen and heard, you're well on your way with your son and daughter. That doesn't mean that, if you ever feel that you need help, you shouldn't be able to ask for help, because you definitely should, and I'm glad that you reached out the way you did.

I can't make this choice for you, but I will do whatever I can to help you make it. I'm not in the same place you are, but some of the people I hold dearest were there. You know it already, and you know them. My mother got pregnant with me when she was a senior in high school, and my eldest daughter had her first child, she was about to start her sophomore year. One of them gave up school, the other one is still at it today. They both did what felt right to them, and none of it was easy. They both did the best they could for their kids. I didn't realize it when I was younger, but eventually I did, and I never forgot it. As for Tori, she might not realize everything about her mother, all that she did, but someday she will, and I think she'll be as proud of her as I have become of my own mother.

You are fortunate enough to have a lot of people around you, people who love you and support you. Whatever you're going to decide, I'm sure you're going to think about it long and hard. And if you ask them for help, they'll have advice, they'll have opinions. In the end, some of that will be worth listening to, some maybe less, but the decision will be yours, as it should be. I think you'll make the right one. Just remember, it might not always feel as though you did now and then, but when you get there, you won't be alone. We'll have your back.

Whatever you decide, you can always write, or call, or visit. And if you need a change of pace, both you and Marie, you can always reach out to my husband. You guys can get all those babies together, take them to the ranch, see the horses… And if you do get back to school with us, we'll be very glad to have you back, the quiz teams most of all… right after Mr. Maximillian, of course.

All the best to you, to Daisy and Callum,
Mrs. Maya Friar

X

"Get off, come on, it's fine," Haley sighed, pulling her face away from her sister's probing hands.

"How did this happen?" Maya couldn't help it. She'd heard the story from her mother the night before when she'd called, but it was something else to see her kid sister come along with that bruise crawling at her face.

"Training accident, that's all. If anyone doesn't believe me, I've got the video to prove it. I didn't move when I was supposed to, and then… this," Haley gestured at the side of her face. "I was going to try and cover it up, but MJ pointed out that if I did that, people might notice, and it would only make it look like something else happened. It's no big deal, it'll heal. Can I get to class now?"

"Yeah, alright, might as well, just… You know, maybe get some ice on or something," Maya sighed.

"No worries, I know what I have to do."

"Well, while I'm still your big sister and not your teacher, I'm just going to…" she pulled her into a hug, and Haley chuckled, hugged her back. Then she was off running to class, leaving Maya to do the same.

As she went, she didn't know what was likely to distract her more that day, her sister's face, or the same thing that had been on her mind since the morning she'd gotten the call from Caroline Renshaw.

It hadn't gone any further than her and Lucas as of yet, that was the deal they'd made, and maybe it would stay that way. Unless they had no choice, they weren't going to involve her, but it was just as important, if not more so, that they saw to it that Sandra Davenport was removed from her post in their school… or any school if they could help it.

At no time had Maya or the vast majority of the people at school been under the impression that their new principal was some virtuous woman, the well-mannered, professional, promising new hire that she'd presented herself as, so when they'd started to uncover some tiny bits and pieces of this 'cheerstery' of theirs and signs pointed to Davenport having been involved in all of it, or suggested it at least, no one had been surprised. It all made much too much sense, enough that they'd managed to put together a scenario that felt one confirmation short of genuine.

They hadn't been so far off even before they'd traced the connection between the principal, the former cheer coach, and Melinda Sullivan. They knew that Davenport had been at another school when the old squad had been removed, knew that this other school's cheer squad had been their biggest rivals in competition, though they'd always come out second, no matter what they did. But then their competitors had just… gone away… and all of a sudden, they were the top squad, unopposed. They had no proof, one way or another, that she'd played any role in this, or that it was just as they assumed.

Enter Caroline Renshaw… Thanks to MJ, Lydia, and Ash, they'd tracked her down, and thanks to Lucas, they had also managed to connect a few more lines as to where she belonged in this whole story. She'd gone to school with both Sandra Davenport and Lucas' mother, had known them both and been casual friends with both, in different ways. She'd had a great relationship with Melinda Sullivan while they'd been in school and beyond, but then Sandra… She'd never had anything against her specifically, but there'd always been this awkward feeling whenever she had to interact with her. She never wanted to be mean to her, which later left her wondering if she might have inadvertently led her on.

Their paths had diverged after high school, and Caroline had put her old classmate far into the back of her mind. Years had gone on, all the way to the point where she had found herself leading the old cheer squad. It had been easily her proudest achievement, the greatest time of her life. And then all of a sudden everything had started going very bad, until her pride and joy was ripped from her. And when she realized who had been at the center of it all, when she'd understood why it had all happened… She couldn't stay, not anymore. She hadn't been back once, and there were occasions she regretted, but that was how badly she could not make herself return, not after what Sandra Davenport had done to her and to the people she cared about.

The details of it all, those that Caroline had shared – which at no point felt to Maya as though they had all been shared – had made it clearer than ever that they needed to get rid of Sandra Davenport as their principal, but that was all easier said than done, wasn't it? As of now, all they had were rumors, claims. They had no proof but their word, and Maya was smart enough to know what the principal would say if they went and accused her. She probably was counting on it, figuring they would bury themselves if they ever tried to accuse her, and they would make it very easy for her to rid herself and the school of those who'd stood in her way.

"You know something. I know you do," MJ had declared, the first day he'd seen her after she'd spoken with the old coach. Her brother may only have been eighteen, but he had the instincts of an ace detective when it came to his sisters, which was really annoying when they wanted to keep things quiet around him.

Maya had done her best not to take the bait, and she'd succeeded so far, but her brother was watching her now, and he wouldn't stop watching her until he got to the bottom of things. She might have just gone and told him, but she knew it wouldn't have been wise. At this point, he could have gone and gotten himself in the kind of trouble that would jeopardize his diploma, and she wasn't going to do that to him. He was better off staying in the dark.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners