February 9th 2024

Chapter 40
The Facts in the Morning

The sophomore round of meetings kicked off with Gabe Dixon's return, to speak of younger daughter Julie. It might have seemed easier to just talk about both daughters at the same time, or even to forgo either one and meet at his home or hers, being neighbors and all. But this worked well for both of them, and so here they were. Talking about Julie was easy anyway, especially here. Amy would agree that her baby sister was the artist of the family. She was great on paper, canvas, with just about any material she was given for use, though she was most recognized for the way she adorned her vitiligo and highlighted it rather than hiding it. She had a vivid imagination, and Maya loved nothing more than to sit there and listen to Gabe talk about his baby girl, so proud of her like he was in awe of her.

He told her about the stories she used to make up, and Maya laughed, remembering. She remembered Julie bringing her those stories with great, shining eyes, because she knew that her neighbor could make wonderful pictures. And Maya had drawn some for her, dropping them off at her house in such a way that for a while she'd started to believe that the Friars' stories about fairies at Christmas was real, and they visited her, too. Eventually, she'd realized it was really Maya, but she never said anything about it. She just received the art and was happy. They hadn't done it in so long, and now she kind of missed it.

After Gabe Dixon's second visit came Sydney Carter's, now to hear about how her middle son was doing. Willy was for sure one of the quieter kids in his class, but she knew him enough both inside the class and outside of it, outside the school even, to know there was so much more to him than whether or not he'd draw people's attention or even seek it. This wasn't to say that older brother Jake was an attention seeker, far from it, but he did receive it easier than most. It made her feel bad for Willy sometimes, but Sydney told her she shouldn't. Willy was so like his father. He was most like him, out of Maia, Jake, him, and youngest brother Marco. For looks, Jake was the spitting image, but in character, in heart… Willy had that same warmth to him, same kindness… He would be there, and the way he'd behave, respond to any situation, all of it just reminded her so much of her late husband that it took her breath away. Of all the children, theirs was maybe the strongest bond, which played no part in much she loved each one of them. He was deeply protective of her, and when he'd show it, she would feel the presence they both missed so much, right there with them. So no, she never worried about how quiet he was in the world.

She was already into the second half of the night, but she still had a first meeting out of two with the same parent when Carrie Sheridan walked in for her appointment about sophomore daughter Allie. Between her and Peggy one year below, Maya had been piecing together the great story of their family, and the girls had plenty to say about how much they loved their mother. Carrie was a lot like her daughters, not just in looks. She spoke about them both, sometimes more together than apart in her mind. The two of them had been born less than a year apart, one pregnancy after the other, and as much of a shock as it had been at first, she wouldn't have it any other way. The more they'd grown together, it was impossible for her to think of one without the other. Now with five younger children to care for along with them, they were essential some days to make sure nothing was forgotten… or no one.

They focused on Allie in time, and after hearing her mother talk about her and her other children, she could see why it would be hard for Carrie to stop and focus on any one of them on their own, but Maya did it with her. Allie had been one of her uncapped students this year, and she had not lost the excitement she'd had at the start of the year. She was becoming a wonderful young artist, and Maya showed her mother what she'd been working on, for what time they had left.

The one parent who did get to see her twice in a row that night would be John Yoon. Both of his children were sophomores, naturally, but Maya went ahead and discussed each of them individually. She finished out her regular placement tenth graders with Cait, and she couldn't help but hesitate as she began. For what she'd been told, Mr. and Mrs. Yoon had both heard about how Cait now identified as non-binary and used they/them pronouns, and the response had been… hard to describe. They hadn't come off suddenly hateful or anything, but Cait had mentioned how they continued to feel uncomfortable around their parents. There was no shouting, there were no harsh words. There was silence, and that might have been worse. In that silence, Cait found it much too easy to read what was going through their minds, and they couldn't even claim it as paranoia when their twin saw it the exact same way. Talking to Mr. Yoon, Maya was seeing it, too. She was seeing… indifference, like the man would continue to provide for his child, because that was what he was supposed to do, but in his heart… In his heart, they were not his child, not anymore, and the day would come, somewhere around their eighteenth birthday or their high school graduation - they couldn't decide which - where that 'duty' would expire. It left Maya feeling a pit of despair at the thought.

If that wasn't bad enough, they then moved on to Clare. Already as they'd been talking about Cait, Maya had known for sure that Mr. Yoon was not all that aware when it came to his daughter's weight loss, and the likely cause for it. His tune changed as he went from one child to the next, making it sound as though, once Cait had come out, he had shifted any and all affection he'd had toward them and added it to their sister's lot. This did nothing to make it all feel in any way genuine, and it made Maya uncomfortable to see him smile as he did. She had really hoped that the twins would have had some level of support at home, with what they were both going through, but it was clear now that the only support they were going to get was going to come from one another.

She hadn't pushed Clare to talk any more than she felt willing to. The most 'conversation' they had on her changing relationship with food came through the pages of her diary. It was one occasion that made her regret the two-week gap between diary collection days, knowing how much could happen in the span of two weeks, and for that she'd made it clear that any of them were free to leave her their diary at any time in between. Clare had taken the habit of doing so at least twice a week, and so they communicated in art. Maya so rarely drew in the diaries except at the end of senior year, but she hoped that it would help.

The meetings became lively again after this, but they took another dip when Maya met Jesse Durant's mother, Beverly. It wasn't on the woman herself, at least Maya tried not to think of it that way. But she had been seeing more and more of the boy's quiet introspection as of late, and she'd been looking forward to this meeting with his mother, hoping to talk to her about it, or at least to get an idea of what was going on in Jesse's life outside of class and maybe piece some things together. Her students had been able to trust in her confidence over the years, and she never wanted to give any of them reason to think they couldn't talk to her, that she would turn right around and tell everything to their parents. She would talk to them, of course, if she felt that there was no other way, but the rest of the time…

Beverly listened to her speak about Jesse's work, and to some degree, Maya trusted that she cared to hear it, but at the same time, she looked like she wanted to be out of there as soon as possible, like she hated having to do this. It wasn't as though every other parent loved the idea of taking the evening to go from teacher to teacher, but it was for their kids' sake, right?

After Jesse's mother, she only had two more sophomore meetings, and these at least she knew would go well. She was joined by Lisa Anna Bowles, who had given both her looks and the latter part of her given name to her daughter. Angie Anna had been absent from class the last two days, after having taken ill again, but Lisa Anna promised that she was starting to make a turn and should be back soon. In the meantime, this left their guest, Deanne, to come into school on her own, which was not easy for her, but she did it with the mindset of being her host's eyes and ears in the school while she was gone, bringing back both knowledge and a healthy dose of gossip.

It was strange to consider how much Angie Anna's ongoing health problems had become familiar to Maya and her planning for that graduating class moving along. She factored in the possibility that Angie Anna's seat would be left to sit empty for days at a time and always did her best so that the girl never felt like she'd be left behind. So far, this had been going well enough, and Lisa Anna echoed her daughter's gratitude for this. It was a bittersweet sort of gratitude, and Maya felt it deeply. Every time that stool was empty, there was a dark fear that settled in her that her student might never fill it again. She never wanted to think that way.

She could not have asked for a better closer to the sophomores, especially after her thoughts had gone where she didn't want them again, than Margaret Willows. She was so like her daughter, Katie, who sometimes gave Maya a Phoebe Munroe sort of vibe, minus the clumsiness. She just had an easy happiness about her, and she was wonderful to have around because of it. She mentioned it to her mother, and Margaret beamed. She knew exactly what she was talking about. And Katie always had such kind words to say about her teacher, enough that her younger sister, Lexie, was already looking forward to having her as a teacher. Maya had been hearing about her, too, through Marianne and her stories about school, enough that she had an image of a smaller version of Katie in her head, meeker but with the same happiness about her.

Katie had been so happy to have XC Cate Ngo living with them last year, and Maya was happy to hear that the two of them were still in contact. To hear Margaret tell it, the two of them may have gone and developed feelings for one another by the end of it, especially as they'd faced the prospect of going their separate ways. If that was the case, then it would explain a few of Katie's diary offerings so far this year. Was there any room to suggest any XCs getting a second go? She didn't want to suggest it and get anyone hoping for nothing, but she knew at least these two would jump at the chance. Maya didn't know if she wanted it more because she was a romantic like that or because she wanted to see what those two would get up to if reunited.

TO BE CONTINUED

See you tomorrow! - mooners