July 14th 2023
Chapter 195
We Cultivate Our Teams
Maya had briefly been visited by this thought that the principal would surely see through them sooner or later and, when the results of the school election would be announced, all of her secret allies would either have spontaneously been unseated, or the whole thing would be thrown out and the student government with it. That didn't turn out to be the case, and Rafa was announced for a second year, Freddie for a third… Maya would have preferred not being left with these thoughts like this could all have been a ploy, but on the whole, she was just happy for her students.
Even as this was announced to the school, they had something else to look forward to, another thing where they'd be left to keep an eye out for interference. After consulting with Cory, and Stella, and as many of the people she knew in the quiz world, the recruiting match had been arranged. They would have freshmen going in for both Born Curious and the Critically Bookish, facing off to see which of them would gain the open spot. None of the school's mentors had played a single hand in the selection of questions, and they had jumped through every last hoop in order to make it abundantly clear that they had done nothing to sway the competition in anyone's favor. This was done for everyone who might have argued, in the event that some people came out on top, not just for the principal. Maya and the others were certain that some people would still find the means to complain, to try and poke holes, but they were all ready for them with whatever they brought.
For her part, Maya was becoming more and more hopeful for her sister to win her way on to the team. Of the three students she had going in for this – and she had opened it up to the entire class for once – she couldn't say that the other two didn't stand a chance, or that she wouldn't be happy for them, too, but… Well, there was a reason why she wasn't involved in the actual competition. Of course, she would be biased toward her sister, of course, she would want her to win. She wasn't denying that. But on top of all that, she had a far greater vantage point in seeing just how much Haley wanted this.
It had been one thing to hear her say that she wanted it, but it was another to see how she was putting in toward getting ready. All week long, Maya had seen her little sister do little more with her free time than read up on this subject, and that one, taking notes, reviewing them, watching videos, and documentaries, anything to add to her knowledge. She'd seen Madelyn going around with a stack of flash cards, quizzing Haley constantly. Rafa got in on it sometimes, too, but seeing as he mostly seemed to distract Haley when he asked the questions, Madelyn would usually snatch the questions back and send him and his smile packing. MJ was apparently an inadequate person to ask the questions, too, though in his case mostly because he'd go and mess with Haley and they'd start arguing.
The closer they got to the big day, the more antsy Haley would get, but at the same time she wouldn't really crumble. No, she was just pumped. To look at her, it was like she was prepping to go into a fight, or a big stunt, and those were her favorite. She never looked so fearless as she did in those moments. She'd have fear, yes, she always said so, but the trick would be to use it.
Someone who definitely knew about that, though she'd used hers differently, was Stella Buckley. But now she was here, their full time French teacher and also the advisor for the Critically Bookish. Maya knew that she struggled somewhat to be away from her baby girl, her little Mattie, She was doing better about it now than she'd done in the beginning, but still, some days more than others she would be found on the phone 'with' her, as her father would be watching her daughter and he'd hold the phone up for her to hear, or to see if she did a video call… and when she'd get off the line, the quiet would gain on her, and she'd be left near tears, if not in tears. She found her like this, the day of the face-off, and Maya came and sat with her without a word.
"I'm fine, it's just…" Stella sniffed, taking the offered tissue.
"I know," Maya promised. "I remember." She tapped her knee. "Tell me about your candidates. Who do you think it'll be?" Her former student smiled, took a breath, considered the question.
"I mean, I wouldn't…" she started, but from Maya's look, "Susan Kendall." Now Maya's expression shifted from a nudge to surprise, and curiosity, which in turn left Stella confused.
"She has a sister in the first grade," Maya started, and Stella nodded.
"Yeah, Samantha…"
"Sammie," Maya smiled. "She's Kacey's friend," she revealed, and now the connection clicked for Stella, too. She had definitely seen the six-year-old in the past, and now that she thought about it, she definitely saw the resemblance.
Maya saw it, too, as they convened for the face-off. It wasn't difficult. If anything, it was startling, but not just for the fact that Susan could be a grown up Sammie, no questions asked. Same blond hair, same blue eyes, but also… When Kacey had first made friends with the younger Kendall girl – there were two brothers between elder and younger sisters – she'd started referring to her as her quadruplet. Sammie didn't look identical to Kacey and Remy, or Lucy either, but she did look just enough like them all that someone might have for sure mistaken her for being one of them, and so to see her big sister right here, looking so much like her… It had Maya thinking about what her girls would look like when they were fifteen, too.
Her looks were no more a factor here than Haley's being the sister to Born Curious' advisor. For both of them and for the others attempting to gain their spot on to the teams, it was all about who could answer the questions and show that they deserved it. Very quickly, so far as the Critically Bookish, it became clear to Maya that Stella had called it right. Susan was significantly ahead of the others on her side, and unless a major reversal happened – and it didn't seem likely – then she'd be the runaway winner.
On the Born Curious side, even as Maya tried not to allow herself to get too distracted, again being very transparent to show that she was not interfering in any way, she felt like she was watching the tensest of matches. Haley was not the clear leader in the score the way that Susan was, but she was keeping ahead of the others at every turn. It was just a matter of her staying that way until the end without anyone leaping over her. It came very close on the last question, but when it was over, Haley had won, fair and square, and Maya was impressed at herself for not whooping too loudly.
There were no hugs yet. Those would come later, when they were on their own. For now, the three advisors retreated, the better to discuss how the face-off had gone and its results. It was all a matter of their confirming that they were all on the same page before they'd go and tell the girls that they'd made the teams, but it still felt necessary, after having been observers and nothing further.
"How long do you think it'll take before she comes and tries to take this away from us?" Maya muttered as they moved to rejoin the students.
"Not long," Cory quietly replied, even as Stella did, as all three of them saw the woman at the same time, advancing toward them from up the hall. "You two go ahead. I'll take care of her," he told his two former students and present colleagues. Maya almost wanted to ask if he was sure. She didn't feel right about leaving him to deal with Davenport all on his own, but she had known him long enough to know that, when it came down to it, she had nothing to worry about. Cory Matthews could be very disarming when he needed to be.
As he'd already called to the principal and waved at her, the three women passed one another in loaded silence, with Maya and Stella passing the principal, arm in arm and meeting her gaze as they went. Sandra Davenport looked like came this close to finally losing her cool, but she kept going, and so she went to Cory, while the art and French teachers went to share some good news.
They had kept the current members of both teams away from the face-off, the better for them to find out who their new freshman member would be when the decision had been made. It was for sure going to be a bit silly and very fun all at once, so of course there was no alternative. The six of them were waiting in the art room, and Maya took a very great pleasure in escorting her little sister by the hand, into the room. When they saw her, Lydia, Agnes, and Max all cheered and fell in around her with cries of welcome and assurances that they had just known she would be the one. Haley could not have been more excited. She hugged her new teammates back as best she could, in the mess of the group embrace, so she got a lot of Lydia on one side and Max on the other, but even standing opposite from her, Agnes was clasping both her hands. They would all be great together this year, gold stars for the quiz world.
Stella had the privilege of leading Susan Kendall in to meet her new teammates. Marie, Kip, and Kinsey had a pretty good idea that she'd be their winner, and they said as much as they waited. They hadn't grown up with her, she hadn't lived in Texas until she and her family had moved out to Austin from San Francisco at the start of middle school. This thought had not diminished the comparisons that had been playing in Maya's head, with her having started out her Texas life at that age, too. In Susan's case, it hadn't been a matter of finding her academic footing, no. She'd come along and immediately been branded the brainy one, which had not done her favors as far as making friends.
But now she was here, and her new team fell in around her at once to welcome her, and her smile said just how unfamiliar this was to her, unfamiliar and absolutely wonderful. As they watched the eight of them mingling together, the two teams coming together, Maya and Stella both felt that they were in for a great year. With those eight, and the new student government, the school was in much better hands than through anything their principal would do. To hear it out of Cory, once he was finally able to join them, she had not outright tried to fish out the possibility of interference, but that was for sure what she'd been after, and he had answered the questions she never asked without doing it either. His prediction was that she had now retreated to her office, the better to sulk and scheme. And even if they knew not to take her lightly, this might have been the moment where they realized they'd gone and harnessed their fear, too. She didn't have the power over them that she thought she did.
TO BE CONTINUED
See you tomorrow! - mooners
