Keeping in Line (17 page)

If only I had known that’s all it would take to gain acceptance, I would have arranged for a car accident a long time ago!

Hey now, would J.D. have trusted you then?

Until now, Bronwyn hadn’t really considered the impact of J.D.’s decision. There were many other upperclassmen or section leaders he could have chosen – but he picked her. That alone said more about how he really felt. For the first time in the season, Bronwyn felt really good about her place in the Line. She caught up to Mark and asked, “Have you heard anything from Lance or J.D.?”

“Nah, but I’m sure they’re okay.”

Watching Mark walk away, Bronwyn found herself alone, when someone approached her. She turned around and was surprised to see Geoff standing next to her. They both leaned on the fence surrounding the track.

“Good job tonight. Too bad you aren’t in charge of the Line all the time.”

Bronwyn’s keen eyes swept over the band, enjoying their break time. She didn’t want to, but her gaze was drawn to the new golden couple, holding court with the seniority of the band. Drew and Christina. Then she realized she still hadn’t responded to Geoff’s comment, and finally replied, “Thanks! I guess things got a little out of control this week.”

“I just still can’t believe Pete would…”

Bronwyn interrupted, “Would what? Want to be a drummer? It’s not like he’s dead – you have to cut the kid some slack.”

“Yeah, but he was a strong player.”

“I know. He’s already a strong player for us.”

Geoff sighed and finally said, “Y’know, I could let everything go. If only J.D. wasn’t—”

“Such a dick?”

Geoff turned to look sideways at her, a mixture of surprise and approval on his face, and said, “You took the words right out of my mouth.”

“Well, take it from someone who knows.”

“Let me know if he ever crosses the line…”

Bronwyn couldn’t help herself, “Then what? You’ll cross the Line?”

Geoff hung his head and said, “That was terrible, but seriously just let me know.”

Bronwyn said softly, “I will.”

Balancing a Coke and some popcorn, Bronwyn returned to the stands and was almost back to the Line when she overheard Dana say, “Yeah well, to get Captain tonight, I heard she—”

What Bronwyn heard next was the most ludicrous and perverted thing ever – which was a lot, considering she was a member of the drumline.

You’re in uniform. You’re the acting Captain of the drumline. You cannot punch her in the face.

This is my reputation we’re talking about. I don’t want people thinking—

Do you trust your Line?

Yes.

Will they believe this kind of slander?

No.

There’s your answer.

The look on Bronwyn’s face must’ve told Ben and Mark everything. They weren’t the only ones watching. A familiar pair of blue eyes were focused on Bronwyn as well.

Ben was immediately at Bronwyn’s side, “This way, Captain.”

Bronwyn forced a smile on her face, when all she really wanted to do was thrust her head into Dana’s face.

“But she—”

“Shake it off, B,” said Mark.

“I wanna—”

“Now’s not the time, Bronwyn,” said Ben.

Having missed their friend during the third quarter, Meredith and Megan had been looking for Bronwyn. Seeing the stormy look on her face, they immediately rushed to her side. Meredith looked at Ben shyly and said, “We got it from here, boys.”

Megan said, “Thanks for your help.”

Bronwyn allowed herself to be led to where the Pit was seated, far away from the other sections. Megan asked, “So, what happened exactly? I thought you’d be happy. Everyone’s been talking about how well you did.”

Bronwyn grappled for the right words. Finally, she sputtered, “It’s not about that, apparently, Dana believes, well… She, she—” After finally whispering the implied and completely unfounded acts she had carried out to become Captain for a night, Meredith and Megan were appropriately shocked and outraged on Bronwyn’s behalf.

“How could she even…” Megan was blown away.

“I don’t know. It just makes me feel sick.” Bronwyn wiped away the one or two frustrated tears that had leaked out and admitted angrily, “Tonight, I did good and now she’s taken it away from me.”

Meredith patted Bronwyn gently on the shoulder, “Everyone knows it’s not true.”

Seeing Drew climb up on the drum major podium, the redhead looked up and said, “Well, girls, one quarter to go. I just thought my first time as Captain would be less dramatic.”

Her friends made their way back to their respective spots in the stands, while Bronwyn contemplated her next move. She glanced over at the Guard and rolled her eyes. She was still glaring when Tony nudged her, “What’s the deal, B?”

Bronwyn looked at Tony, took a deep breath, then said, “Nothing. Just some stupid girls. Good job tonight.”

“Yeah, by the way, thanks for helping me.”

“No worries. The sophomore snares have to stick together.” Bronwyn continued, “Now, pick a cadence and let’s make some noise!”

* * *

CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Hollaback…Boy?

For the final fifteen minutes of the game, Bronwyn forced herself to concentrate on the stand's songs and cadences instead of her rapidly declining reputation. Fortunately, her technique worked and the fourth quarter went by quickly. The Flyers football team won, which helped divert some of the attention away from her, but when she was supervising the loading of the percussion equipment a group of Guard girls passed by giggling and whispering and her bad feelings quickly returned. Bronwyn willed the tears back until she got on the bus.

Standing with Christina, Drew watched the scene. He nudged the Guard Captain, “Who are they talking about?”

Christina’s perfectly arched eyebrows went up and she asked, “Why do you care?”

“Just wondering.”

Dropping her voice low, she murmured, “It’s about Bronwyn and well, apparently they’re saying…”

As the girl he was dating revealed the sordid details, Drew’s eyes widened, then darkened in anger. He could see now why Bronwyn had been so upset earlier in the evening. Not bothering to hide the rage in his voice, he asked, “Who the hell is behind that messed up rumor?”

Christina looked away and answered, “I’m not sure.”

Drew crossed his arms, “That’s the most immature thing I’ve ever heard. I mean, everyone knows Bronwyn is a decent drummer. I’m sure J.D. had his reasons for choosing her.”

“Isn’t this the guy who revealed your evil plan to everyone? I thought you guys hated each other.”

Drew said quickly, “We do. I just think it’s crappy someone would mess with another person’s reputation like that. Especially when it’s not true.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Don’t ask me how, I just know.”

Closing his eyes, Drew was instantly brought back to the kiss he shared with Bronwyn. Surprising himself, Drew was secretly honored that he had given the pretty redhead her first kiss. He knew later in life Bronwyn would probably be a heartbreaker, and he was glad he got to be first on the list.

“Drew…?”

The drum major snapped back to reality, realizing Christina had asked him something, “What?”

As the bus pulled up to the school, the Line began cheering. Bronwyn looked out to the window to see what everyone was yelling about. Sitting in the parking lot were the missing snares: J.D., Lance, Scott, and Adam.

Bronwyn smiled to herself as they piled off the bus. Proving there was some hidden gallantry within him, J.D. took Bronwyn’s snare case and, looking her up and down, commented, “You look like you’ve had a hell of a night. What happened?”

Too tired to get into the alienation of another section from the Line, Bronwyn shrugged and responded, “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

J.D. nodded and they walked into the school together. The percussion room was full of band members trying to return their instruments to their upright and locked positions. J.D. nodded at Lance, who shut the door, “Alright, so let me fill you in on what happened. We were enjoying a little pre-game dinner at WaHo and decided we would all take one car over to the school. On the way, someone pulled out in front of us from nowhere and we kind of couldn’t stop in time and ended up hitting them. The air bags deployed and we were all advised to go to the hospital. Seeing as though none of us want an injury to go unnoticed this close to competitions, we decided to go and get checked out and we’re all fine.”

The room was quiet, when Mark asked innocently, “So, who was driving?”

J.D. turned a very uncharacteristic shade of red.

Lance pointed to the drumline Captain and answered, “That would be him.”

The semester continued forward, and it was apparent to everyone that the band was not overcoming their differences. For the first time in a long time, it looked as though the band might not come together and be a force for the upcoming competition. Drew, Geoff, and J.D. could just not agree on anything. Rivalry wasn’t just concentrated within the leadership either. Bronwyn was finding new levels of patience she never knew she had…especially where persons named Dana and the Guard were concerned. She was finally gaining security on the Line, but the annoying looks and idle gossip were wearing on her patience.

To clear her head, the sophomore snare signed online, hoping to see Lucy’s familiar screen name and was excited when the former bass drummer immediately wrote to her.

bassgirl17:
Hey there!

redheadedsnare:
Hey yourself.

bassgirl17:
How’s the season? I haven’t heard from you in a while.

redheadedsnare:
Just dealing with rumors, nothing you haven’t been through.

bassgirl17:
Eww… Want to elaborate?

redheadedsnare:
Not really – its just typical girl stuff. Also, the show is a complete disaster. All the sections hate each other, and Drew hasn’t talked to me in weeks.

bassgirl17:
Dude…

redheadedsnare:
Don’t get me started.

bassgirl17:
Why not? There’s got to be a solution to at least one of these problems.

redheadedsnare:
…

bassgirl17:
No, seriously, I’m not getting offline until we’ve got something.

redheadedsnare:
I can’t scheme any more! Not after what happened last time…

bassgirl17:
This time will be different. Now, which do you think is the most realistic to fix?

Bronwyn thought a moment, trying to decide how the season could still be salvaged. Whatever J.D. and the senior snares had discussed at their botched trip to Waffle House had not materialized into anything specific. Furthermore, still smarting from the bet J.D. had made against her, the sophomore was unsure if she really wanted to do anything to help the remainder of the marching season. However, deep down, she knew some of the blame was hers. But, how to fix things? She typed frantically, hoping Lucy could help.

redheadedsnare:
If I could just get Geoff and J.D. to get along, I think we might have a chance. If those two could get over themselves, maybe the band would start working together and then we won’t have a colossal fail on our hands at the competitions.

bassgirl17:
OK, how can you arrange for that?

redheadedsnare:
I can’t. They won’t talk to each other. Because of Pete, basically they won’t do anything together.

bassgirl17:
What if they didn’t know they were doing something together?

redheadedsnare:
How do you mean?

bassgirl17:
Come up with some activity that has them agree or work together. Just make sure they don’t know.

redheadedsnare:
Yeah, but seriously, what can one person actually do?

bassgirl17:
Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t one person basically responsible for all of this?

redheadedsnare:
Maybe.

bassgirl17:
Well, maybe you can be the one to fix it.