The Line (23 page)

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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: INDOOR

The Forrest Hills drumline stepped off the bus into a blustery November afternoon. The sky was clear, but there were some menacing clouds in the distance. The drummers had arrived early so they could support the individual and small groups that were entering the individual competitions. It was the right of any percussionist to try their hand and come up with their own routine and be judged accordingly. Forrest Hills’s percussionists were usually well represented. Like most individual competitions at indoor, the 1st place winners in each category would be asked to perform their piece after the Finals that evening while the judges tallied the final scores.

After Jerm, Tom, Nevada and the cymbal line had pulled their equipment off the truck and received good luck wishes and last minute tips, most of the other drummers went inside the gym to get a good seat. Lucy proudly remained behind. As each member in the individual competition could choose someone to be their “second,” the bass drummer was flattered when Tom asked her to assist him. After she helped him unload his quints and secure everything for his warm up, she gave her friend some space to clear his mind and concentrate on his solo. Looking around, she caught sight of some of the members of the South Washington drumline who were also backstage. She glimpsed a recognizable set of broad shoulders and felt her stomach turn over. Sam turned around and met Lucy’s eyes – she waved at him, but instead of returning her wave, the snare drummer turned around and ignored her.

Warming up with the cymbals, Nevada had witnessed the exchange and approached Lucy, making a typical exasperated guy sound. Forgetting her silent treatment, the junior asked, “And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

“Looks like your ‘boyfriend’ is ignoring you.”

With the exception of Tom, Molly, and Jerm, Lucy hadn’t particularly forthcoming with the rest of her section about the status of her relationship with the South drumline captain. Knowing Nevada would jump at the opportunity to exploit things, she answered, “Maybe he’s busy. He’s got a solo to prepare for.”

Then, and probably because Sam’s gaze was intently staring at the pair, Nevada leaned in and whispered into Lucy’s ear, “I wouldn’t ignore you.”

Lucy looked up and saw Sam’s eyes darken, and playfully pushed Nevada away. She didn’t want to restart a relationship with Sam because he was jealous – more than anything, she wanted to go back to August and start with the truth from the beginning. Walking back towards Tom, she focused on helping him. Lucy was unable to keep the smile off her face as she helped Tom set up his equipment on the gym floor. Always unconventional, the quirky tenor player was wearing jeans and his drumline shirt. Besides the usual whisk and mallets, Lucy was pretty sure she glimpsed some other ways of getting sound out of the tenors.

As they tried to keep smiles off their faces, the pair shook hands, and joined the rest of the Forrest Hills drummers in the bleachers. Tom started his routine and did not disappoint Lucy’s expectations. Between some very difficult playing and visuals he mixed up his routine much more than the average quint player. The junior used all kinds of mallets, a samba whistle, a vuvuzela and even the ping pong balls.

After the other tenors competed it was time for the snares. Jerm walked out confidently with his snare drum. From the moment his traditionally gripped drumstick hit the drum head to the moment he was finished, the gym was silent. When the Forrest Hills captain saluted the judges, letting them know he was finished, people were on their feet congratulating him.

As the applause died down and Jerm walked off, Sam walked out to the middle of the floor. Lucy was surprised to see the pair actually acknowledge each other. Like Jerm, Sam’s routine was technically very difficult and no less amazing. No matter the status of their relationship, Lucy was proud of Sam’s effort. With the individuals finished, there was nothing more to do than wait to warm up for Preliminaries. The competitors with the highest scores would be invited back to Finals in the evening. After everyone got something to eat, it was time to change into their uniforms and begin warm-ups. Once outfitted, the Forrest Hills drumline called upon their inner punk and looked like some sort of bizarro Green Day fan club.

Overall, there were twenty-five drumlines competing at the event. Not all of the groups were as big as Forrest Hills, so there were two separate category divisions and there were ten lines competing in Forrest Hills’s division – only four would make it to the Finals that evening. From those four lines, best section trophies and overall best drumline would be awarded.

While warming up, Lucy tried to downplay her nerves. Although she was usually confident, there was something completely different about indoor than regular marching competitions. With less people to focus on, there was a lot of room for individual scrutiny. The junior was also terrified about the mallet toss Lance had decided to add. Lucy had practiced the drop a million times, but still felt like she could accidently lose her mallet at any time. Henry kept everyone’s concentration high during warm-ups and in what seemed no time at all, it was time to walk in and perform the show.

Drums ready, they lined up on the court in the opening set and waited for the announcer to ask if the Line was ready to compete. Hearing the opening chords come from the mallet instruments, Lucy fixed herself on the performance and launched herself into the complicated drill. The audience picked up on the theme of the show as the Line went into the recognizable chorus. As one set blended into the next, Lucy gulped, desperately tried to catch her breath and it was time for the stick toss. The airborne mallet connected with her hand for the briefest second and then dropped to the gym floor – right in the middle of a move! With some difficulty, Lucy picked up the mallet as fast as she could and joined her section.

With her heart pounding wildly, she got back in step, but the drop played over and over in her head. She was sure it was entirely her fault that the Forrest Hills bass line wasn’t going to win the caption. Then, as Henry intended, the show came to a dramatic and abrupt stop. There was thunderous applause and everyone marched out – finding themselves in the offstage area outside behind the gym. Lucy prepared herself for Lance and Jerm’s tirade against her slippery fingers, but there was none. Looking around, she saw everyone was crowded around Mark. Somehow the sophomore had managed to puncture his bass drum head and had been drumming the last half of the show on a busted drum. No one was sure how this would play out with the judges.

In the excitement of trying to secure a new drumhead for Mark, Lucy found herself relieved for the temporary reprieve of her mallet drop. With only minutes to spare, the Line quickly put their equipment away and rushed inside so they wouldn’t miss the results of the Preliminaries. Forrest Hills, as the returning champion, had been the last drumline to compete. Only the captains and the individual competitors from earlier in the day went down to the gym floor to wait for the results. With everyone settling in for what was sure to be a close race for first, Lucy took a minute to carefully appraise both Sam and Nevada. Although they had all been in the same place at the same time, it was the first chance she had to really observe them. There were so many things about them that were the same…both percussionists, both seniors, but the choice was obvious.

Molly commented on her friend’s intense stare, “Still coming up with the same decision?”

“I really wish I did like Nevada. He’s everything I thought I wanted, but when it comes down to it, the answer is Sam.”

Molly nudged Lucy with her Chuck Taylored foot and said, “He’ll come around.”

The announcer interrupted their conversation, “Thanks for your patience. We are now pleased to announce the winners of the individual competition from this morning.”

Nevada and the cymbal line were awarded the top small ensemble trophy. The announcer then moved to the tenor category, “And in first place…from Forrest Hills, Tom Finnegan!”

While the Forrest Hills drummers exploded with ecstatic applause, a grinning Tom walked up to accept his trophy. Finally, the announcer reached the snare drum category, “The snare individual competition was extremely close this year and by a very small margin…Sam Powell, please come accept your first place trophy.”

Now it was the South Washington drummers turn to go crazy. Although Lucy’s heart went out to Jerm who looked completely depressed despite having won a respectable second place, she clapped loudly for Sam, proud of his individual win.

The announcer finished by declaring the preliminary scores. Going to the Finals from Division I would be Forrest Hills, South Washington, Cedar Grove, and Warner high schools. South had edged out Forrest Hills for the overall highest score, so they would be the last to perform.

Although Forrest Hills was currently in second place, the group walked outside in good moods and immediately noticed the light mist around them. During the announcements, the sky had darkened considerably. It wasn’t raining too hard, but looked like the bruised sky could to open up any minute. And then, as soon as everyone had put on their drums, it started pouring. Each of competing drumlines had to find a place out of the rain to try and do their best to warm up. By the end of the preparations, Lucy could barely feel her fingers around her bass mallets.

While Henry spoke with Jerm, Lance motioned Lucy over, “Hey Luce?”

“Yes?” Even though he knew what her section leader was going to say, it didn’t make things any easier. She hated knowing that she had disappointed the basses.

“Listen, about the toss…”

“I know, I’m sure I wrecked it for everyone.”

“You did no such thing.”

“Really?”

“Yup. ”

“Are we going to keep it in Finals?”

“Yes, but this time we’re all going to carry extra mallets,” said Lance, and held out a mallet towards the second bass drummer. There was something in his voice that made her stop and ask, “Lance? You didn’t drop a mallet, did you?”

“We’ll find out when we listen to the tapes on Monday.”

With a new drumhead on Mark’s drum and extra mallets in everyone’s pockets, the bass line was ready for Finals. After the other two lines performed, a slightly frozen Forrest Hills marched back into the gym. The announcer had introduced them and they were about to begin the show when there was an incredible crash of thunder outside and the lights in the gym went totally and completely out.

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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: LIGHTS OUT!

“Who’s touching me?”

Lucy recognized the voice as none other than the quick-witted Tom. Over the torrential rain pounding on the roof, a nervous laughter broke out on the gym floor. The Line still stood in formation on the court and waited for the lights to come back on. They didn’t. The gymnasium had no windows so it was pitch black on the court. There was no point of trying move out of the gym, because everyone could hear the storm raging outside. Lucy heard the crowd talking nervously when there was another huge crash of thunder. Suddenly, there was an ear splitting whistle anywhere, which she quickly recognized as Henry. The gym went silent.

Her instructor’s voice called out, “Alright everyone. The important thing is to stay calm. There’s been an issue from the Emergency Broadcast System for a tornado warning in this area. We all need to stay inside.”

The announcer added, “Everyone please remain seated. The competition organizers have gone looking for flashlights.”

There was silence, another crash of thunder and then Lucy heard Jerm say, “Hey guys, I don’t want anyone running into equipment, so take off your drums, and stay seated with your section.”

Without her vision, all of Lucy’s other senses were heightened as she took off her drum. She could feel the presence of the bass line around her.

“Luce – how are you doing over there? You’re being uncharacteristically quiet.”

Lucy recognized Tom’s voice to her left. He hadn’t moved from the quints opening set. She replied, “Umm…nothing. What should I be doing exactly?”

“Come over here. I want to protect you if the ceiling caves in or something.”

“Just a minute.”

Lucy, who was not the most balanced person in the room, decided it would be best if she went over to the quints on her hands and feet. As the bass drummer tried to feel her way through the blindness to where the tenors were, she realized she was in the process of crawling over someone and she had just put her hand in a most inappropriate spot. Lucy’s hand jumped back as if she had touched a flame.

“You sure you don’t want to get back together, Luce?” Nevada drawled.

Lucy found herself turning red and was glad the lights weren’t on. She stammered, “No…I… I have to go see the quints.”

“Come by any time, we can talk about the first thing that pops up.”

Without any further issue, Lucy finally made it over to the quints when she saw flashlights entering the room. The announcer’s voice spoke again, “Alright folks, looks like it may be awhile until power gets back on in this area. Until the danger passes, we’re going to keep everyone in the gym. Also, if you will remain seated, we are going to bring in those percussionists who were backstage.”