A/N: [December 24th 2024]

December 24th 2023

Chapter 358
We Dance With New Beginnings

Summer was sailing well on its way, something they felt more and more as they moved into the month of August. It was as loaded of a month for the Friars as any month could get. The kids had camp, the XCs they'd had in Austin for the past year would be heading home even as the next year's group would be coming along… They had birthdays upon birthdays to celebrate, and so much dealing with both the high school and the ranch, this year maybe more than they'd had in a while. The list could go on. They were alright though, more than alright. They had each other, and they'd been at this long enough now that a loaded schedule like that was not overwhelming in the slightest. It was thrilling, and they couldn't wait to have more of it, whatever came next. They were getting closer and closer to the start of school, every day that went by, and for that the only thing they could do was enjoy those days they got, to spend more time together than they might while school was in session.

They weren't always at home, all together, not even now, and while she was constantly busy with school things as of late, there would be times when she'd be home, and they wouldn't be. When this happened, she would go to the Hex. She'd been doing it more and more lately, not even just when she was home without Lucas, the kids, her siblings… She'd been drawn out there lately like her brain simply demanded it. So she'd go, and she'd sit in the studio they'd built out here, all those years ago. Sometimes she'd sit at the console, and she'd pull up some recording or another, maybe fuss at it a little. Other times, she'd go into the booth, and she'd pick up one instrument, start to play whatever she thought about, one of her songs, someone else's… Sometimes she'd sing, with or without her accompaniment, sometimes she wouldn't. As busy as life got, it would be easy sometimes to forget how much this place meant to her. It was a haven, just as her desk up on the second floor could be, with the view from the large windows…

And sometimes she wrote. Actually, every time she went into the Hex lately, she spent some of that time writing, whether she sat at the console, in the booth, on the couch… She wrote back in the house, at school, in her car… She hadn't written so much in a very long time, not with this much fervor, like something was just begging to be let out. She knew better than to stand in the way, and seeing as she actually had time to devote to the effort, she wasn't about to go and let any of this go to waste. She didn't know what it would all turn into this time, but that wasn't the part that mattered right now, was it? She was being into a conduit to melodies, to lyrics, and she had been here before. She couldn't be anything but grateful that she could have moments of inspiration like this. She had gone through different periods where nothing would come, and this was the complete opposite. It made her feel the way art had done throughout her life, enough to make her trust unfailingly in how important it could be.

Looking back through the pages she had filled, not yet looking back to see what she really had, or what might benefit from some editing, not yet thinking about recording, arrangements, nothing… She was just happy for what she got to do. As silly as it might sound to some, she was more and more aware of the fact that she would be following up in her husband's trail in a matter of months, turning forty at her next birthday, and it meant so very much to her that she could have made it to this point in her life and still have her creativity there by her side, her constant companion.

She'd been thinking a lot about her band, too. TXNY had now been together, in one configuration or another, since the summer of 2017. Next year, that would make twenty-five years. Every milestone felt bigger than the last, sure, but that still seemed impossible. How had they been at this longer than they hadn't, had breached this already almost a decade ago? They could not have asked for more than the fact that they still had so many people following them, some who had done so as long as the band had been active, who had grown along with all of them. They were the ones already very aware of the coming anniversary, the ones who were already counting on their honoring the anniversary, and the ones for whom they would be doing whatever they did do next summer. Who knew, maybe they would get to make something happen they hadn't done in so, so long. They had become TXNY because three of their members were Texas based and the last was back in New York, where two of them had spent the first part of their lives, but that had changed. Now, the four founding members of TXNY were all in Austin, Texas. The possibilities were right there.

Maybe this inspiration burst would benefit this event, maybe it would become something else. It certainly wouldn't be put in the hands of the Hexes, as they had their own songwriter and were well in control of their own sound. They really were coming into their own, the further time went on, and Maya just had so much pride in her heart for all of them and what they did together. They'd had roster changes, too, over the years, and a name change, too, and whether or not they'd stay in this lineup or not, they would still be doing their thing for as long as it was in them to do it.

She had to wonder now if any of those changes would be happening in the near future. Olivia Zhu was settled well enough, with her job at the ranch, but maybe she wouldn't want to keep doing this? Jenny Marshall had just graduated from college and had her future ahead of her. Kelsey Farrell and songwriter Ava Nash had both been out of college for a year now and were making strides. Ash Bell was halfway through their college degree and just doing the most they could not to stumble. And youngest member Kinsey Miranda was about to start senior year in high school. Of all of them, she might have been best placed to have to choose between staying or leaving in the near future. Whatever they all decided to do, it would be their choices to make and no one else's. All Maya and her bandmates could do was be there and give whatever advice might become called on by the junior band, and they would be there, no question to it.

When she wasn't in the Hex – which might have been part of the reason why she was drawn to it as often as she was – a lot of the time her brain would feel locked down in school mode. That wasn't surprising at all when there was so much happening out there, so much that still needed to happen, as they were all pulled into the effort of the post-Davenport transition. Maya wouldn't have thought that there could be so much to it, but then it wasn't just about undoing some of what the former principal had done that needed undoing – and there was plenty more of it than she would have anticipated. A lot more of it had to do with seeing what she'd done, seeing how wrong it was, and figuring out how best to go about turning themselves around to sail into the other direction. Lita Ríos was getting so much of this done, finding her footing after having been away for the past four years thanks to the many more years she'd had in her of being in the vice-principal's chair. She and Alistair Song were working so well together that it was a wonder this hadn't been the solution all along.

They had set off early on to take a look at the breadth of Sandra Davenport's work in the time she had been in charge of the school, finding the many things that had not worked and the very few ones that had likely only worked through the involvement of others who had kept it from going completely off the rails. The biggest example of this was of course the cheer squad, who would not have made it anywhere near to where they'd gotten by the end of its first four years if not for the introduction of Maya and Betsy, replacing the original coach. When they looked instead to the slew of new teams she'd attempted to push in, to squeeze everything out of the arts, they had been a complete and utter failure and were the very first thing to have been removed from the coming year's lineup. Would some of the students be upset at this? Maybe, but they would not be left without support and something would be done to see to it that they had solid alternatives as they continued on with their high school days moving forward.

Maya had kept in touch with the former vice-principal in the four years she'd been gone from the school, of course, so much so that once it had been revealed that she had been hired back on to take the post of principal, Maya could not believe it hadn't come up before that day when she'd presented herself to the faculty at large. The first time they went and had lunch together after that announcement, Lita had come in with such a sheepish smile, as though she – jokingly – expected to be chastised for keeping secrets. Maya had only hugged her, the way she might have done in the gym if they hadn't been surrounded by all their colleagues. She had nothing to apologize for, not at all. The only thing Maya would wish to hear about – if she was free and able to do so – was what had happened, when she'd gotten the call, what she'd been told…

She had the very strong impression that she might not have been told much more about the circumstances of her being brought back on if she hadn't pushed to be told. After the way she had been so unceremoniously removed, it was the least they owed her and, as she spoke with a friend, she could freely share some small satisfaction at seeing them squirm just a bit. She hadn't needed this in order to agree to return though. When it came down to it, she had always loved their school and taken great pride in being part of it, and after what they had seen in the years she'd been away, she wasn't going to pass up a chance to get back in there and help make it better, not just returned to its former glory but taken further, as it should have done all along.

Lita had wanted to hear from her when they got together, her experience of what had been and her hopes for what was to come. They'd had many a talk about Sandra Davenport over the years, so it wasn't as though her successor didn't know about some of it, but now that they were in the position to actually make something happen, they needed to get to the heart of it all and see what was most important to deal with at the start. For Maya, as far as her own class was concerned, there could only be one thing, and that was the long-heard tale of the cap which had been quietly placed on her class and the number of students who had been turned away without her knowing.

As she told it, none of her groups had at any time been big enough as to fill every single seat at every single station or even bringing in an extra station or two, which was absolutely something they'd done in the past, in the past four years. She hadn't made much of it at first, never wondered why some of her students had not returned across the years, because that always happened, with whatever personal requirements or tastes would have dictated. That hadn't been it though, not this time. This had been purposeful choices made without her knowledge. Could she have understood if there were legitimate reasons brought to her about why they needed to shrink her classes? Honestly, probably not without a bit of arguing, but that was beside the point. This had been done behind her back, and it had kept a surprising number of students from entering her classroom. She didn't know how badly any of them had wanted it or not, but it didn't matter. She should have been able to welcome at least some of them.

This all had been a topic of conversation before, and as they talked about it that day, it became clear to Maya that her friend and colleague had been thinking about it all already, and that she'd approached the subject now in order to then go and make her proposal. She had every intention of making it happen anyway, as she explained. It would only be a matter of figuring out whether she needed to hire a second art teacher or not. When she said this, Maya was at once intrigued and a bit baffled, so Lita just went about revealing her plan to add a second set of art classes, filling up those periods where there had not been classes in the past, the two on either side of the sophomore period in the morning and the two in the afternoon that had constituted Maya's long breaks for over a decade. They weren't going to be more of the same though: Lita was proposing for there to be AP Art across grades, allowing any students with a more vested interest to receive teaching that would match it.

Maya was stunned to hear the idea as a whole, her heart drumming along with her mind. She was not expected to give an answer right in that moment, and in fact she had been instructed not to do so, to instead take some time to consider it. This would be a big undertaking, and while Lita fully believed that Maya could excel in it, she also realized that it would completely alter how she went and did her job. If she didn't want to have double the classes she currently had, they would find someone to do the other half, but not until she'd had the time to decide if she wanted it for herself.

She'd gone right to the ranch to find Lucas after leaving the restaurant, and she'd pulled him into his office to tell him about what Lita had offered her. He had guessed that she'd come for something that was big enough as to be initially overwhelming, that she'd needed to talk it out with him, but he was just as surprised by what it actually was as she had been when she'd heard it. She could not have been told anything better, regardless of whether she chose to take up this new load or to split it with someone else. To have more opportunities in their school, to cater to their more dedicated students, too… There was so much more to it than simply making new classes, and already she had been thinking about what they might do with these advanced students that would differ from what they'd do with the regular placement, the classes she'd led for nearly fifteen years.

"It'd be a lot more work," Maya reflected. "And I wouldn't have my free periods to get things done anymore. I'd have to do more of it at home, or in class… and if I do that, then I won't be as involved…"

"What if you collected diaries every other week instead of every week? You can alternate, then you'll have the regulars one week, and the advanced the other, or mornings versus afternoons…" Lucas offered, which was as sweet as it was telling of what she couldn't admit herself. She wanted to be able to say yes, but she was stuck, and here he was, trying to help her find a way where she could reasonably say yes, and the more they spoke, the more he brought it into clarity… Maybe she could…

Before long, she'd gotten deep enough into thinking about this, by herself and with Lucas, that there was only one answer to give, so she'd called Lita back and told her she would take up the AP classes along with her regular load. She also advanced the caveat that she would see how it all went and, if it came to be that she needed help after all, she they would adjust the arrangement. Lita was fine by that. Actually, she'd fully expected this to be the answer from the start. With the decision made, the next step became to get the word out to the students, to give the option for those not yet in art to be added to one or the other of the classes, and for those who were currently in regular placement to choose whether they would remain there or seek to be given advanced placement. It made Maya strangely nervous to consider the letters going out and what it would mean for all those students… and what choice they would make. She could make guesses on some of them, but she was sure to be surprised, too.

Both the Dixon girls had come up from their house to the Friars shortly after getting their letters, excited to hear about the change that would be made, the newly added classes. Both the soon-to-be senior Amy and sophomore Julie were choosing to stick with the regular placement, which Maya had more or less figured would be the case, but they still loved it, knowing some of their friends would jump at the chance of AP Art.

They weren't the only ones to descend upon the Friar house that day, which had led Maya to joke with Lucas that too many people knew where they lived. Haley came, as she would, along with Madelyn and Hunter of her class, and Rafa from his own, all of them having called one another when they'd gotten the mail and immediately deciding they needed to go see their teacher to hear more about this from her. Rafa chose regular placement, not thinking he could rearrange his senior year, which was fair. Both Madelyn and Hunter chose the same for their junior year, while Haley was the first she heard from who chose AP. Maya didn't want to insinuate that she was only doing so because it was new, so she managed to ask as casually as possible why she'd chosen it, especially seeing as her two best friends had gone the other way.

"Because you'll be teaching it," Haley started, then off her sister's pointed look, "You've been teaching me so much about art all my life, and I think it'll be just as good of all that and even better. So, I have to be there." Maya pulled her little sister into a hug. She could not have given a better response if she tried, and Maya loved her that much more for it.

"Are they going to bring back the theater class?" Hunter asked.

"Yeah, is Mrs. Ortiz coming back?" Madelyn asked with the same hopeful curiosity.

"Why would she?" Haley shrugged. "If I had to choose between being a superstar on Broadway and teaching out here… I'd do whatever I wanted," she course-corrected with an awkward smile, stealing a look to her sister when she realized what she was saying. Maya just snorted and reached to send her ponytail to flip over her head. Haley flinched and batted it back into place with a small yelp of surprise.

"You're right… about it being her choice," Maya finally replied. "I haven't heard from her or Lita about it, and she wouldn't be able to come now, but maybe later? As for theater class… I think you have a good shot about that one," she told Hunter and Madelyn. She had spoken to Miranda after Davenport had quit, and the sound of her former fellow Muse's laughter had been the most beautiful thing. If she needed allies in snarky joy for the former principal's removal, she could always count on Miranda and Morgan both.

Talking with them, with Lucas, her siblings and bandmates, she'd started coming up with some new ideas of her own about what they might do now that there wasn't a target at the arts' back anymore. She thought about that a lot when she sat in the Hex. She'd been toying with this idea a lot longer, even back when it was little more than fanciful thinking of things that would both be great and guaranteed to annoy Sandra Davenport into a fuming little rage. Now though, it didn't have to be an idea, it could be real. It could be real, it could be wonderful, and if she could make it happen, oh… She almost didn't want to think of doing this without Miranda being involved, but then she would tell her she was being silly, and she had to do it, her and Morgan and whoever would have taken her place. That was what Morgan thought when Maya told her what she wanted to do. She also thought that it was brilliant, and the best way to kick off their new era.

They were going to make their own musical. The thought had come out of the year when they'd performed the MSC musical. She'd created it with her siblings, and her students had been so fascinated to know this. And they could all be so creative, in every way that one needed to be creative to bring an idea from minds to a stage. So why didn't they do it? The students could put it together, the story, the characters, the songs… How long would it take? Could they make it happen in a single year? They could give it a shot, they could work it out… This was going to be a year for taking chances, no shadows climbing at their backs.

They don't even know… It's going to be so much better… They don't even know… Of all the things that were planned for the new year, there was one that the faculty had been told about but asked to keep quiet. It would change a lot, and there was a possibility that it would send a ripple through the school, would have some parents wanting to transfer their kids to another school, but she truly hoped they wouldn't. If they just gave it a chance, they would see that nothing had to be different, that it could be the best thing for everyone. They were doing their best to get everything aligned, to see to it that when they did send those letters out, they would convey that message in the best way possible. It had sent the last of Davenport's remaining supporters to follow in her track and resign, which was no great loss as far as Maya was concerned, and it had opened the way for some new blood on the faculty. She couldn't wait to see who they would get to join their school. Oh, she really couldn't wait for September.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners