A/N: [October 10th 2024]

October 10th 2023

Chapter 283
We Aim For a Team

"Good morning, Miss Angie Anna," Maya smiled when she saw the girl walk into the art room. She had been her student for just over a month, in which time she had been absent, whether at home or at the hospital, for a total of six days, four of those having been the previous week, where she'd been in attendance on Monday and looking on the edge of something being off enough that, when she didn't show up on Tuesday, no one was surprised.

This didn't stop anyone worrying about her as one day had turned into two, and three, and four, before they'd split off for the weekend. But now she was back and Maya couldn't speak for anyone else, but for her part… Oh, the pull was very strong for her to want to go over to the freshman and pull her into a good squeeze of an embrace. She resisted, for propriety as much as the knowledge that it could make her student uncomfortable, not because she didn't care for her art teacher but because she never liked for there to be this big deal made of her health problems. She had previously confided how she dreaded first days back, especially after having been gone for a few days, so Maya's entire mission just now was only exactly one thing: give her a good day.

That wasn't going to be today though, at least as far as classes went. Today was Saturday, and Angie Anna was at school per her art teacher's invitation for two special reasons. The first of those would be for her to be involved in the decorating of the school along with Maya, a few other teachers, and other students… And as for the second reason, that was because the other students presently on their way to assist with the decorating effort were the members of the Born Curious and Critically Bookish quiz teams, the first of which would soon count Angie Anna Bowles as its newest freshman recruit. It generally went that that the teachers would do the decorating, but Maya had always been able to count on a few of her quiz team kids to come and assist, and by now it had become a teams wide activity for them to join in.

They had no idea that they were finally going to have their new members on this day, that the pair had been selected, that they'd both already said yes to the offer. But both Maya and Stella were confident that their respective teams would get along great with their new picks, which would be a good thing, especially seeing as that would mean they would no longer have to go and ask their advisors about it as often as they'd done it over the last couple of weeks. Maya had been inevitably amused to hear Stella talk about it all from her point of view, when she had been one of those kids not so long ago.

Stella's team, as it stood, was going into a year that would be important and memorable for a few reasons. One of those would naturally be something true of every year, being that they'd have a new member, that one of them would be the new captain now that the previous one had graduated. But beyond that, this year was to be the fourth for the Critically Bookish, which meant that, by the end of it, they'd be seeing the last of its original members graduate. Kip Perreault was a senior now, if they could believe it. The boy himself looked like he was having trouble believing it, too. Sure, he'd be as glad as any senior to finally be through with it all, but at the same time the nostalgia train was right on time for him. Stella had told her colleague how her new captain felt very nervous at the prospect of being in charge, but then he had Kinsey and Susan by his side, and his younger teammates believed in him plenty to guide him along in his new leadership.

They arrived, the three of them, even as Maya and Stella were greeting the arrival of the new Critically Bookish freshman. In the end, it had come down to someone that Maya was already familiar with, as she had been for the past year, when she had signed up Aubrey at what was Hazel Yasuda's mother's dance studio. Now, Aubrey had been developing into a determined little ballerina in all that time, as Midori Yasuda had been teaching her, with her teenage daughter there to assist her, and the youngest Friar girl could not say enough good things about the both of them, so much that when it'd be time for her to get ready to go to dance class, no one would have to tell her a thing. She'd be right there, at the ready, before they got to her. And then she'd just want to hurry up and go already.

It was almost too bad that Hazel wasn't in art class, because Maya could only imagine how Aubrey would have wanted to look at her diary every week. Hazel had been in Maya's periphery nonetheless, since the start of the school year, so she knew that it wasn't so much a disinterest in art that had kept her away so much as conflicts in schedule, thanks to other classes and other goals for her future. Maya did not fault her on this in the slightest, and she was always happy to run into her whenever she did. When the offer had been advanced toward her to join one of the quiz teams, the girl had been very happy to know that they had considered her, and she had finally accepted the spot. Today, she got to meet her teammates and become part of them, and her excitement was quick to be matched with theirs.

Where Hazel had been eager and giddy at the prospect of meeting her team, Angie Anna had been deeply nervous, and Maya understood where she was coming from. She didn't know how they would feel, knowing that their new teammate could possibly be out of commission on a semi-regular basis, for a day, for weeks, and anything in between. She didn't want to let them down, but she also wanted to do this, wanted it very much, and on that alone, Maya knew that she had nothing to worry about. She counseled her new quiz team freshman to be honest about all this, about her motivations and her desires. She had known and worked with Agnes, and Max McAllister, and of course her sister Haley, long enough to trust that they would all welcome her with open arms and a promise that they would work it all out, no matter what happened.

Even knowing all this, Maya left Hazel to her new team and went back to check on Angie Anna, waiting back in the art room. She'd set her up to start and work on some small signs to go around the school, at one of the stations, and Angie Anna had been happy to do it. She had a very steady hand, most of the time, and her lettering was unmatched. When Maya came around to see her there, she kind of didn't want to speak up, to disturb her in her work. She had recently expressed a desire to be involved with the musical, even though she didn't see herself taking to the stage. Maya had met this request with the thought that she could instead be very good to have among the backstage team, doing set and prop work. She would do great.

Maya had been thinking a lot about what this year was shaping up to be for her Born Curious team. They'd been doing their thing, the three of them, up to this point, all along with their own baggage, whether or not they had it out for all to see. Haley was Haley, making her way along and sharing her time with her growing career as a performer, developing her stunt work, all the while balancing her regular high school life with it. Max was doing all she had to do in order to stay on top of her education, all the while providing for and raising her twins. It was hard to believe that Daisy and Callum were both getting so close to their first birthday, but then she'd see them, teetering along together… They'd be having that first birthday not too long after Ezra had his, and that thought, as much as it made her heart flip, would make her look at Agnes from time to time. She was captain this year, a senior this year, but there was also that little spark, at the back of her eyes, that was really just unavoidable to Maya now, knowing what she'd given up, what she'd given them…

"Maya, we're here!" a voice from up the hall startled her, even as it startled Angie Anna at her work, causing her hand to skip and leave an unfortunate streak across the sign she'd been working on. The realization made her gasp and immediately try to salvage it, but there was no use, and she set her brush down with a disappointed look on her face. She looked up, finally realizing her teacher was there.

"I'm so sorry," Maya nodded to the ruined sign sympathetically, a moment before Haley came hurrying over, her teammates behind her.

"Ready to decorate!" she announced enthusiastically. After a beat, she seemed to catch on to her sister's expression and she looked into the room. "Oh, hey! Are you here to help us?"

"I'd like you all to say hello to… your new teammate," Maya nodded toward the still frazzled fifteen-year-old. Haley perked up at this, a moment before she noticed the signs and figured out what her call had accidentally caused.

In the blink of an eye, there was the trio, moving in around the station, throwing ideas around, ways to salvage the sign after all. Angie Anna was too much of a perfectionist not to simply start over, but not so much that she couldn't appreciate their attempts to help and thank them all with a genuine smile. Maya watched the four of them together as they looked at the signs Angie Anna had completed, and she knew deep down that she had made exactly the right call in selecting Miss Bowles. Born Curious would have a wonderful year together, whatever would come their way.

Now with both Hazel and Angie Anna introduced to their team and the other's, the day could truly begin, and it was just what Maya and Stella had hoped it would be. It got the school all set for their spooky days, and it gave the newly increased teams a chance to really get to know one another. The freshmen were told all about the way things worked with the teams, from the morning sessions to competitions, whether friendly, or local, or not so local… And of course, this year, as it had been a whole other cycle since the last one, they would be heading into a quiz Olympics match up with the four captains preceding their present one. The Critically Bookish team wouldn't have their own Olympics just yet, but as for Born Curious, Agnes, Max, Haley, and Angie Anna would be facing off against Lydia Sullivan-Reyes, Maia Bennett, Rolly McNeil, and Nika Petrelis. Maya was so looking forward to the face-off, too, for her own reasons, but she loved seeing it all from the students' perspectives, too, a mix of giddiness, anticipation, and deep, curious unknown…

"So, when do we get our Olympics?" Kinsey asked, intrigue rising in her eyes.

"Well…" Stella paused to think for a moment. "I guess… next year? Sandy, Miley and Marie, and Kip, against you three and whoever gets recruited in the fall," she nodded toward Kinsey, Susan, and Hazel.

"You'll be captain then," Kip turned to Kinsey with a smile.

"You'll be the opposition," she retorted with a smirk that held power enough to make the present captain blink.

"I already can't wait," Hazel laughed, even as Susan tried not to, and the others let out a mix of snickers and laughter.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners