The Line (11 page)

bassgirl17:
Okay, Mr. Secretive. So, pretend you were dating someone. You knew she was dating someone else, but she wouldn’t let you know exactly who it was, and that was because she was dating your worst enemy.

Cartwright was silent for a minute.

bassgirl17:
Hello? Answer please.

Cartwright213:
Okay, I get what you’re saying. You’re between the proverbial rock and a hard place. Do you really like them each that much? Why not just pick one and get it over with?

Cartwright’s question was a valid one and something Lucy knew she needed to answer. The problem was the response she kept going back to, was definitely the more difficult decision.

bassgirl17:
I know, you don’t need to remind me.

Cartwright213:
I think if you really thought about it, you would be able to pick one over the other.

bassgirl17:
Maybe…

Cartwright213:
Women…

bassgirl17:
C’mon Cartwright, let me live a little. Who knows when this will happen again? This is me we’re talking about.

Cartwright213:
If word gets out of what you have done, it might be awhile before any guy wants to go near you again.

bassgirl17:
Thanks for the vote of confidence.

Cartwright213:
I know it’s not what you want to hear, but it’s the truth. Think about how this is all going to end.

Lucy played with her hair nervously before responding.

bassgirl17:
At the end of the season, nobody’s the wiser? I join an exclusive club for girls who’ve dated two hot guys and lived to tell the story.

Cartwright213:
Do you think this is some sort of lame after school special?

bassgirl17:
No.

Cartwright213:
Then tell the truth! If neither of them wants to stay with you, then that’s what you deserve. If one of them wants to be with you after all the cards are on the table, then you’ve found yourself a winner…

Lucy signed off and closed her computer and got into bed, feeling only marginally better someone else knew what was really going on, but unhappy with her anonymous friend’s recommendations.

What does he know anyway? It’s not like he’s had to watch his best friends constantly date people for the past two years.

He does know about your past. Whether you want to believe it or not, he is looking out for your future. Do you think Gina and Mandy would tell you any differently?

Lucy’s schedule fell into a steady rhythm. Over the next couple of weeks, at school and practices, she enjoyed the romantic attentions of Nevada and hanging with the Line. On the weekends and rare weekday nights, she got to hang out with Sam. Her time with Sam seemed intensified, but she guessed that was most likely due to the fact their time together was limited. On one such evening in early October, Lucy sat encircled in Sam’s arms, watching a movie – “watching” being a relative term. They hadn’t seen each other all week and had to make up for the lack of time. Lucy broke a kiss with Sam and said, “You know it’s not going to be pretty if we see each other at the competition this weekend.”

“No, it’s not.”

“I’ll be there with Nevada. Everyone in the band knows we’re dating.”

“I guess there’s no way I’m going to be able to make that claim.”

Rather than dwell on the depressing subject, Lucy asked flirtatiously, “Want to make tomorrow even more interesting?”

“Whatever could you be talking about, Ms. Karate?”

“The competition, of course.”

“A wager then, on whose Line is going to capture the High Percussion caption?”

“Yes.” Lucy tapped a finger on her lips and announced, “If I win, then I get to go to your Homecoming.”

The bass drummer carefully watched Sam’s reaction to her proposition, wondering if she should be committed for her complete lapse in mental judgment, but he appeared to actually be considering it. He replied smoothly, “What if I told you I was already planning on asking you anyway?”

Lucy looked at him, shock clearly written on her face.

This can only end badly…

Stop being such a pessimist! Two Homecomings with two different guys?! What’s not to like?

They will eventually find out!

“Well? Will you go with me?” Sam whispered in her ear.

“I’d love to,” Lucy replied, quashing any guilty thoughts.

The next day, Henry passed out the eagerly anticipated music for the upcoming indoor drumline competitions. The theme of this year’s show included selections from Green Day’s
21st Century Breakdown
album. While the rest of the band was concentrating and working on the halftime show for competition, the drumline had double duty – practicing their old music and drill and learning the new music and drill for November.

In the following class period, Lucy pulled out her calendar and took a deep breath. The upcoming Saturday was the first band competition. She knew Sam and his Line would be there and it would be the first time the drumlines had seen each other since the “bitch” incident. The weekend after was another competition, where they would also both be attending. The weekend after that was Forrest Hills’s Homecoming and the weekend after that was South’s Homecoming. Then came the first of two indoor drumline competitions… Lucy could only hope she would come out of this semester alive.

After school, Jerm called for everyone’s attention, “Alright guys – as excited as I am about the indoor music and our take on Billie Joe and company, we’re going to have to put that out of our minds for a little while. Tomorrow is the first big test for our field show and y’all know S.W. is going to be there. I need all of you ready to drum your asses off and during the day, should you run into one of the South drummers, show some class – we’re Forrest Hills, after all, we’ll show them on field.”

Nevada looked at Lucy and whispered softly, “I’ll protect you.”

Jerm concluded, “So, I’ll see everyone here tomorrow morning! Don’t even think about being late.”

Although Lucy was nervous, she was confident in the show and the bass line’s ability to add to the show. Walking into the school the next morning, the bass drummer realized there was nothing like the first band competition of the year. Freshman wandered around in a daze, wondering if they would be the ones to mess up, fall out of step, play a wrong note and lose it for the entire band. Seniors walked around secretly worried as well – these competitions were their legacies.

Lucy walked up to Fred, who was pacing up and down the hall. As one of the drum majors, and his first year in the role, Fred was one of the most visible and important members of the band. Lucy gave him a big hug and said, “You’re going to do awesome.”

“Thanks, Luce – wish I felt the same way.”

“You know you are, and there’s nothing more to it. Just listen back to the Battery – we won’t let you get off beat.”

Giving Fred one last look of reassurance, Lucy walked into the chaotic band room, being careful to step over uniforms, bags, cases, candy, sodas, and secret pal gifts. Multiple iPods were hooked up to speakers and a range of songs were competing to be the loudest. Mr. Izzo called for everyone’s attention and gave his usual speech about teamwork and hard work and then it was time to board the buses.

The bus ride to the competition was a continuation of the chaos. Everyone was hyped up for the day. This event was no football game. Today was a big competition with bands from all over the state and region. Once the band had safely arrived and registered, everyone was free to do what they wanted to until warm ups in the evening. People quickly broke off into smaller groups to walk around. As usual, Lucy teamed up with her fellow drummers. Rather than be relaxed and enjoy the day and all it had to offer, Lucy was hyperaware she could run into Sam at any moment. Although she usually enjoyed holding Nevada’s hand, she didn’t want Sam to…

Sam to what? Get the wrong idea? I think it’s Nevada you should be worrying about.

At that exact moment, Sam and some members of the South drumline turned the corner. Lucy took a deep breath, not sure what was going to happen and was confused when nothing happened. The South Washington percussionists stared angrily Nevada and Lucy, but didn’t say anything. Nevada glared daggers and squeezed Lucy’s hand. Lucy looked at the ground and anywhere but at Sam. After the group had passed, Lucy looked at Nevada and said, “I have to go to the bathroom, I’ll be right back.”

Lucy ducked into the women’s restroom and retrieved her phone, quickly texting Sam.

>> Didn’t say it would be easy.

Within a minute, she got a response.

>> Wish I was the one holding your hand.

She typed back.

>> May the best line win. ;)

>> See u tomorrow nite.

Lucy smiled in relief. The pair had agreed to meet the following afternoon so they could go over what had happened the day before – win or lose.

* * *

CHAPTER TEN: BEST PERCUSSION ENSEMBLE

After the non-face off with the South Line, the afternoon went by quickly and soon it was time to warm up. Lucy quickly got into her uniform and nervously got out her drum.

Henry had them line up in the traditional half circle, while an interested audience gathered to watch. They had a great warm up while Henry tuned their drums. After everyone was good and loose, Henry called for the traditional pre-competition cadence “The Moon Rules #1.” The audience, who had been watching, started tapping their feet and moving to the groovy cadence.

Before she realized it, Lucy was gathering with the rest of the Marching Flyers to go down to the field and perform. They lined up to walk out on the field and the junior felt a surge of pride as she glimpsed the glittery Gina and Mandy with perfect smiles on their faces. Up until now, Lucy always warmed up separately with the Pit and had always been on the field already, waiting for the band. The bass drummer tried to control the out of control butterflies in her stomach as the band – 250 strong – marched out on the field. From the grandstands, a cheer went up and goosebumps shot down her arms. Forrest Hills's band always did an outstanding job and everyone was looking forward to their show.

With their breaths showing on the cool October air, Fred and Elena, the senior FHHS drum major, called the band to attention. The band members responded with a resounding and overwhelming “HUT!” while the members of the drumline hit their drums in unison. The cymbals crashed and choked their cymbals at the same time. Overall, it created a huge sound and the collected crowd cheered appreciatively. Fred and Elena gave their salute and Elena marched quickly to the drum major stand. She climbed it, brought her hands up, and the show began.

Lucy couldn’t think about anything else once the performance started. She didn’t think about Sam or Nevada or who was going to win, she just thought about her drum and the Line and soon enough it was the drum break. Marching through the solo, Lucy knew the judges had to be impressed. Many drumlines just parked themselves and played through their drum solo, but not the percussionists who wanted the coveted High Percussion trophy – their drum instructors wrote out drill to march while they were playing some very complicated licks and Forrest Hills was no exception. It seemed like Lucy blinked and the solo was over – a roar of approval went up through the stands. The percussion judge had to move quickly to keep up with them.

The rest of the show was a breeze after the drum solo. On this warm October evening, as Fred brought his hands down to the ringing triumph of the closer, Lucy realized there was no place else she would rather be. The marching band walked off, not with a cadence, but with a simple drumbeat and collected on the track off the field. Since they were the second to last band to perform and there was no room in the stands, they would just wait patiently until the awards were given out. The Line carefully put their instruments down and waited while the South Washington band marched on the field.

The South band got a similar reaction as Forrest Hills for their “Hut!” After the drum majors signified they were ready to take the field for competition, their show began – introducing the crowd to an interesting arrangement of Lady Gaga’s hit songs. While the music might be fun to listen to, everyone in the Forrest Hills band critically watched South’s performance, knowing the scores were going to be very close. Both of the large bands had a high level of difficulty, so it would be interesting to see what the judges came up with. As their show finished, Lucy watched with pride as Sam kept the beat for the band as they marched off the field and lined up next to the Forrest Hills band.