2 Months Later
Autumn broke off her conversation with Aria in mid-sentence as the two of them entered the orchestral room with Heidi. Miss Devons was sitting at her desk, looking tired and defeated. When she saw them enter, her face lit up with a smile.
"Heidi, It's great to see you again," Miss Devons said with true affection. "Who are these two?"
Heidi laughed with a twinkle in her eyes. "This is Aria. I believe you already know Autumn."
"Oh my god, is that you, Autumn?" Miss Devons gasped in shock. "What happened?"
"Good food and stimulating activity," Autumn replied, beaming at the reaction. "It's so good to see you back! I was worried you wouldn't be back for the rest of the year."
In the three months since Autumn had met Heidi, she had dropped to half her former size. While she still felt she had a lot more to go, the reactions of everyone around her were extremely flattering. She had been asked out no less than five times from some of the boys at the junior high, which had done wonders for her self-esteem. Aria had told her she had one of the most beautiful faces she had ever seen, and that if she never lost another pound she would still be a major attraction for any boys in her vicinity.
"Wow," Miss Devons said, shaking her head slowly as she looked Autumn up and down. "I mean really, wow."
Heidi was staring at Miss Devons oddly, her eyes losing their mirth. "How are you doing?"
Miss Devons looked at Heidi and her smile faltered. "I'm okay, Heidi, thanks for asking."
Heidi stared at Miss Devons silently, causing the older woman to shift uncomfortably. Finally, Heidi looked away and muttered something under her breath, looking more irritated than Autumn had ever seen her.
"You two go ahead without me," Heidi instructed, meeting Autumn's eyes with a steely gleam. "I need to take care of something."
Autumn nodded, feeling more than a little confused. Was she mad at Miss Devons?
"What was that all about?" Miss Devons asked in perplexity after Heidi left.
"I have no idea," Autumn replied in a mystified tone. "I've never seen her get irritated like that before."
"Odd," Miss Devons said, looking a little hurt. "So have the three of you put anything together in the studio yet?"
"You could say that," Aria answered with a wide grin. "Heidi has been trying to turn music into a fifth element."
"Really?" Miss Devons said, her eyes alight with interest. "Do you mind if I listen to some of it?"
"Sure," Autumn replied, grinning with Aria. "But brace yourself—this is not for the faint of heart."
Miss Devons looked at her oddly as she walked over to the studio and turned the Mac on. "That's a lot of songs," she noted as she looked at the folder with all of the source files. "Any suggestions on where I start?"
"The Great Renewal," Autumn asked Aria questioningly.
"Definitely," Aria agreed with a firm nod.
Miss Devons put the headphones on and opened the file. "Wow, that is a lot of tracks."
Autumn and Aria just waited as they watched silently. Miss Devons clicked the play button and sat watching the progress bar move across the tracks. By the end of the track, her hands were shaking as she pressed the stop button. Her eyes were filled with tears as she slowly shook her head over and over.
"How can anything be so beautiful?" Miss Devons asked, shuddering from the overpowering emotion.
"A shudder before the beautiful," Aria said absently, her eyes thoughtful.
The two of them didn't get a chance to do any recording over the next two hours. Miss Devons monopolized the studio, listening to song after song. She finally came out of the studio with a calm resolve on her face.
"I need to speak with Jen," She announced, her eyes far away.
Autumn recognized the first name of the principal as a result of her brief airing on the news several months ago when she had been shot.
Before Miss Devons could leave the room, an older woman entered. There were enough similarities that it was obvious she was Miss Devons' mother.
"Mom!" Miss Devons gasped in shock. "What are you doing out of bed?"
"Looking for you, actually," her mother said with a shrug. "I thought I would come see how your first day back at school went."
"How are you even walking?" Miss Devons asked in amazement. "Come over here and sit down."
"I'll do no such thing," her mother declared indignantly. "I've just spent the last six months lying around in bed. It's time to get some exercise into these old legs."
Miss Devons' mouth worked, but no words came out as she stared at her very healthy looking mother.
"Are these the girls you told me about?" her mother asked, studying Aria and Autumn interestedly.
"Two of them," Miss Devons replied in bemusement. "I don't know where Heidi is."
"Heidi?" her mother asked with a frown. "I just met a woman named Heidi. I think I did anyway. It's all kind of fuzzy now. I couldn't understand what she was saying to me anyway—she was speaking a foreign language, and the damn military had a bunch of sonic booms going off that made it hard to concentrate. I thought they were only supposed to break the sound barrier in unpopulated areas."
Miss Devons suddenly clapped her hands to her mouth and her eyes filled with tears as she regarded her mother. "How are you feeling, mom?" she asked in a voice choked with emotion.
"I'm feeling right as rain," her mom replied, studying her daughter with a frown. "What's the matter with you? Why are you crying?"
Miss Devons could only shake her head as tears poured down her cheeks, unable to speak. A moment later, Miss Devons was holding her surprised mother in a tight embrace, sobbing in relief.
"My goodness, Wendy, are you all right?" her mother asked in concern.
"I'm more than all right, mom," Miss Devons sniffed as she finally reigned in her tears. "I'm just overjoyed to see you feeling so well."
"Well, I can tell you that it's good to be feeling this well," her mother said dryly. "I should have ignored the doctors and started walking around more a long time ago. All that lying in bed does is make you feel more ill."
"Shall we leave them to it?" Autumn murmured quietly to Aria.
Aria nodded, and the two of them unobtrusively left the classroom.
"Let me show you something beautiful, Mom," Autumn heard Miss Devons say before they were out of earshot. Autumn shared a glance with Aria and smiled.