A/N: One day behind...

August 13th 2023

Chapter 225
We Bloom and Fade

It was the first day of February already. The next day would mark two months since Ezra had been left on their doorstep, but today… Today marked two months since he had been born. His one-month milestone had been a party by circumstance, but when they'd woken up and collected him from his crib, it had felt most important to happily note the fact that he was two months old. Would they do so every single month, every first day? Time would tell, but until then, their precious fairy boy was growing by the day and that was reason enough to head into a new day of school with a smile.

He was growing though, enough that he looked less and less like a newborn and more like… himself. It was impossible not to look at him now and consider his features, consider if he might have developed into himself enough that they could then turn around and consider what he might have inherited from his mother or father. It felt as though she had a list in her head, some names crossed out, others not, some with question marks. It didn't change that they still didn't know who it was, which might not have been as much of a thing for them if not that Maya was at school every day and fully aware that she was very likely looking at one or both of those young parents each time without knowing it. Some days, it would get to the point where she'd just want to drop the niceties and go 'alright, whoever it is, raise your hand.' That was never going to work, and she wouldn't actually do it, but… some days…

"Morning, Mrs. Friar," Haley greeted her when she walked into the art room, with that extra sweet smile that her older siblings had all used when they'd wanted to tease their big sister the teacher. Like with them, the response was a very unwavering call of…

"Detention, Miss Hunter."

… which made Haley laugh. She was a lot happier these days, now that Madelyn had returned to school. This would only be the second day, but the anticipation had been enough to keep her best friend smiling. This did not solve the situation with the quiz teams being down a member on both sides, with Max and Marie still home with their babies, but it generally went a long way when one of them would be in a good mood, and soon they would all be in a good mood, all ready to show one and all that they were great teams.

"I can't believe he's two months old already," Lydia beamed, thinking of her cousin and her teacher's baby boy. She'd gotten to see plenty of him for this connection, which had also afforded the truth of how he'd come to be theirs, and like her sisters, all of them adopted as they were, she felt a great connection to little Ezra Friar.

"Maya!" a voice called from the hall, then even as everyone in the room looked up, "Mrs. Friar!"

"Rafa?" Haley frowned, getting up. It was him, yes, and he came skidding into the art room, stopping all at once when he saw the others in the room. "What's going on?" Haley asked. He was closing the door, pulling the curtain down over the windowpane.

"Rafa…" Maya started to speak, only to have the boy's phone thrust toward her. She blinked, taking it and looking at the screen. He had it open on to his e-mails, to one in particular, which had been sent by Sandra Davenport herself. As she scanned through what it said, she knew that several other students would have received this same message, with their names in place of Rafa's, telling each one of them the same thing. There they'd been, trying to figure out what her next move was going to be, and this… this was definitely it. She still couldn't believe she was actually doing this though…

"She can't be serious, can she?" Rafa asked his teacher. Maya looked up and around, noting that Haley, Lydia, and the rest of the quiz team members had come to stand around her, to read what the screen said. There was no point shooing them off; they'd already seen everything they needed to see to understand what was going on.

"If we can be sure about one thing, she wouldn't have put this out there if she wasn't completely serious," Maya sighed.

"Can we appeal it? We have to, this isn't right, it's impossible," Rafa insisted. Haley moved from her sister's side, the better to lend her support to him. There was nothing to be said or done, was there?

By the time they'd all dispersed toward their first period rooms, Maya already knew what was coming next, and her seniors were instructed to hold off before getting settled in and grabbing supplies. Almost on cue, as they were asking why that was, the call to assembly was heard over the PA system, and everyone was directed to head to the gym. It took a lot longer for everyone to get their seats than for Sandra Davenport to announce that, after much consideration – much 'difficult' consideration, as she'd have them hear it – it had been decided that the student government would be dissolved.

The reaction was very much the same as they left the gym as it had been while they'd sat there and listened to the principal. There were plenty of those who never paid much mind to any of what their classmates did out there, so this did nothing for them except give them a shorter first period. Then there were those somewhere in the middle, who didn't exactly pay attention but now had to wonder what was going on, how they'd gotten there, and what it would mean. And then there was the rest, the ones who were very aware, for being part of that elected government or not, and who saw this announcement as very bad, rightfully so.

Once her group of seniors was back in the art room, Maya told them what was on the schedule for the day, but with the interruption they'd had, she didn't have many expectations for what would come next. They would do what they did, and that'd be fine. Meanwhile, she would have the announcement to thing over just like them. This could be very bad, yes… but also, in a sort of complicated run around sort of way, it could end up being good… eventually.

She'd have to explain herself in detail to make some people believe that, two of them being the ones who showed up back in her classroom at lunch. Though neither of them had gone and said it outright, Maya was entirely aware that her little sister and Lucas' almost cousin had started seeing one another. The big question was whether this was only about a date here and there or if they counted one another as boyfriend and girlfriend, but then Haley and Rafa walked in holding hands, so it was at least something.

Rafa still looked as though he was in complete disbelief over the announcement, and Haley was giving off a lot of supportive energy as she stood by him. She was already mixed up with the cheerstery thanks to their brother and his antics, and there was no doubt she was aware of everything there was to know about the principal, what she was up to, and how badly everyone wanted to get her out of their school. She would already have been in the fight, but now…

"This is my fault…" Rafa shook his head.

"No way, it's not you, okay?" Haley promised. "It's her…"

"No, but it is, or at least…" He sighed, looking between his girlfriend and his teacher and maybe just now remembering that the two of them were sisters, and he was holding Haley's hand in front of her older sister. To his credit, he didn't pull his hand away, but he did look as awkward as a boy his age would in this circumstance. "I know you said not to get deeper into it, but we couldn't leave it alone…"

He didn't need to keep going for her to understand what he was getting at. He'd gone digging further at this 'cap' situation, Davenport keeping kids out of art, keeping her unaware of just how many students wanted in on her class. It wasn't as though it would have been unheard of for a lot of students to want in on the same class and to be denied because there was no more space. But there was space, as there had always been… The one thing she could say was that there was maybe more of a gap this year… and the year before that… To factor in what she had learned from her 'sources' in the student government, it was clear that there was more demand than before. And the principal wanted to make it seem as though there was less. If there was less demand, then wouldn't she be in her right to decide to pull the plug altogether?

They'd gotten too close in their digging. Rafa, Freddie Jacek… And she must have noticed, must have finally realized that the elected students were loyal to her, helping her… and she couldn't have that. So, she'd put an end to them.

The strange mood continued on all through the day, all the way to last period with the juniors. There, she finally got a chance of seeing Freddie, checking how he was doing with this. He looked a lot like Rafa when he'd dropped in at lunch, and as much as Maya felt for Rafa, this one just… The student government meant so much to Freddie, she'd seen it. Over the past two and a half years, he had dedicated so much of himself to his post and, in return, the work he'd done there had really gone a long way toward helping him grow into himself, his confidence… He still struggled with his speech impediment, but it really felt to Maya as though it had helped him get it all under control in places where he would have felt hopeless in the past. Now he'd been out there, doing good, attempting to right a wrong, and he had lost something precious because of it.

"This isn't on you, okay?" she told him when she saw the flicker in his eyes like he was about to apologize, to say that this was because of him.

"But it…" he started, paused, "It kind of is." She gave his shoulder a comforting tap, as comforting as she could. She might have offered a hug, but it would not have been the way to go, not here, not today of all days. Maybe he understood her intentions anyway. He appreciated it, gave her a smile and a nod before moving to take his place. Noor looked as though she had been on cheer up duty all day with her best friend. Several others in the class had spoken to Freddie as he passed by, so maybe she hadn't been the only one doing so.

She hadn't gone and written or called Lucas about any of this, instead waiting until she'd see him again at the end of the day. He was outside with the boys when she arrived with the girls, and soon she sat with him, holding Ezra and feeling lighter for having him in her arms. As it turned out, Lucas had found out about the announcement already, as he'd crossed paths with Rafa on his way out of the ranch.

"What's your feeling on this?" he asked her. Maya took a breath, brushed at Ezra's back…

"It's going to be bad for a while, I know, but… I think that, in the end, it's going to work for us. I think our principal might have gone and knocked one leg out from under herself with this move instead of solidifying her position. Now we just have to keep knocking those other legs out… unless she keeps doing it for us."

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners