The Line (5 page)

“Yeah, I’m fine. Have you seen Nevada anywhere?”

“I thought I saw him in the percussion room.”

“Thanks!”

Feeling embarrassed she hadn’t returned his call yet, Lucy walked in the exact opposite direction of percussion room. She looked over at the Auxiliaries section of the band room to find either Gina or Mandy. Part of her was absolutely bursting to tell them about Sam, but another part wanted to keep the budding romance to herself a little longer. She wasn’t sure how they would react. Of course, they would be happy for her, but Lucy didn’t want them telling anyone else until she knew exactly what was going on. Fortunately, Mandy was bursting with some news of her own. The girls found a somewhat private corner in the crowded room.

“Jerm asked me out!”

Gina and Lucy shared a genuine smile. It was no secret Mandy was a major flirt. She had left a string of broken-hearted guys behind her since they started high school and honestly, this trend had been going on since kindergarten. It was rare to see her get so excited about a guy. Usually boys fell all over themselves in front of the beautiful blond – so she was usually not impressed by the most of the guys she had dated so far. However, this time seemed different, as Mandy was actually excited about the date.

“What are you guys going to do?” asked Gina.

“He mentioned something about going to get ice cream on the first day of school. What do you think I should wear? Do you think I should wear my flowy brown skirt or my light blue sundress with the flowers?”

As Mandy chatted about her wardrobe options, Lucy’s head spun.

Did all guys everywhere get together and decide the ice cream was the new dinner and a movie? How are we going to avoid them?

Jerm and Sam were HUGE rivals – not only in drumline, but in concert band endeavors as well. There was no way they could miss each other at Scoop It Up. Lucy was going to have to think of a good excuse to give Sam.

“Hey girls – I have to get my drum out. Catch you after practice?”

Her friends nodded and kept discussing the virtues of cute skirt vs. cute sundress for Mandy’s date with Jerm. Lucy went to the percussion room and pulled out her drum. Fortunately, Nevada had already taken the cymbals outside so she could continue avoiding him. She found her carrier, bass drum stand, and music and went out in front of the school to circle up for the Battery warm up. As she walked down the hall, she watched her fellow drummers. They were such a crazy, loyal group.

But where are my loyalties? Can I just throw away the past week at band camp so easily? Isn’t this just the excuse the guys are looking for to point out how girls shouldn’t be on the Battery?

Who are these guys to say who you can or cannot date? What if Sam is the love of your life? What happened to that resolution?

But is dating Sam taking a risk or potential Line suicide? You might just be building this all up.

Lucy sighed. She had a lot on her mind as Jerm started the warm up.

What about Nevada?

What about him? He’s known you for two years and hasn’t really given any 100% definite signals he does have feelings for you.

I know…I just wish…

On the other side of the warm up arc, Nevada had been watching Lucy all of practice, which was not an easy thing to do considering he had a large pair of 20 inch cymbals in his face. It was difficult reading her expression behind those dark Oakley sunglasses. She seemed distracted somehow and not at all her usual self. Nevada smiled to himself remembering the previous week. The cute brunette hadn’t even been on his radar until just a few weeks ago and he was wondering how he could’ve missed such a cool chick for the past two years. The redhead had had his share of girlfriends, but they all lacked Lucy’s spark. The second bass drummer was all the things he wanted in a girlfriend – cute, fun, smart and easy to get along with. Plus, she already knew most of his friends. He called her last night because he had missed talking to her like they did at band camp. Since she hadn’t returned his call, he was just going to have to step things up and make his move after practice.

At the end of the long and sweaty sectional, Lucy was still no closer to deciding what to do about Sam. She made her way through the crowded percussion room and put her drum away and silently headed out to her car. Even Mark had noticed how quiet she had been. He had tried repeatedly to push her buttons and get her into a fight, but nothing seemed to get through to his section mate.

Finishing with the cymbals a few minutes late, Nevada looked around the percussion room and didn’t see Lucy anywhere. Tom, who had been picking up the tension between his two friends since the ride up to band camp, winked at Nevada, and commented, “She went out to her car just a few minutes ago.”

Nevada took a deep breath and rushed out to the parking lot.

Because the Line had practiced an extra half hour, the parking lot was pretty much deserted. Lucy heard someone across the parking lot.

“Wait up, Helena!”

Lucy paused and looked up with a smile, only one person in the marching band called her by that name. It was an inside joke that had started the previous week. Lucy had joked with Nevada the only reason he spent time with her was because she was an expert masseuse. He had christened her Helena, as it was the most Swedish name he could come up with.

“Only for you, Sven Petersen,” she returned the joke and turned around, coming almost face to face with Nevada and those intense hazel eyes of his, unable to stop her heart rate from increasing. The chemistry and tension that had been between them at band camp suddenly flared up again.

Nevada cleared his throat, and said, “Hey, Lucy…”

“Oh, hi, Nevada. Sorry I didn’t call you back last night. I was completely wiped out from band camp,” Lucy replied lamely.

“Yeah.”

“So, why did you call? Your other masseuse wasn’t available?”

“No, she went on strike, actually.” Nevada cleared his throat and continued, “The reason I called was, uh, um, to see if maybe you wanted to get some um, coffee some time soon. You know, a payback for all your services.”

Lucy blinked her eyes in utter and total disbelief. First of all, there was the shock of being asked on two dates, two days in a row! Secondly, she had waited so long to hear those words from Nevada’s mouth, she was momentarily at a loss for words.

Say yes!!!

Of course I’m going to say yes, but shouldn’t I at least mention I’m also going out with Sam?

Isn’t it a little early to make that call?

What do you mean?

Since you technically haven’t been out with Sam, there’s nothing Nevada actually needs to know about.

Eventually, though, I’ll have to tell him.

That’s your call. I mean, if you tell him, do you think he’ll still want to go out with you?

No. Maybe. I doubt it.

For now, isn’t it enough they go to different schools? And isn’t it ‘riskier’ to date them both at the same time?

Without giving things much further thought, Lucy blurted out, “That sounds great.”

A grin broke across Nevada’s handsome features and he said, “I was hoping you’d say that.”

The bass drummer wanted to stand for the rest of the evening with her long time crush, but the moment was completely broken by the rest of the Line coming out to the parking lot. Nevada tucked his hands in his pockets and walked away saying, “See you in class on Monday. We’ll talk about our coffee sometime next week.”

Lucy, now in a Nevada-induced haze, got into her car and thought she heard music. She did hear music – it was coming from her cell phone. Looking at the screen, Lucy was not surprised to see who had sent her the text message.

>
> Can’t wait til Monday. Ice cream Saturday?

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR: BEGINNINGS

At home, Lucy tried to delay her response to Sam by writing in her journal where she penned a very Nevada-centric entry. She sat down to try and do some studying, however, her green eyes seemed to have a mind of their own and kept darting over to the cell phone laying on her bed. She wanted to respond to Sam’s invitation, but wasn’t exactly sure how to best express herself. Two hours ago, she would have known her exact answer, but then again, that was before Nevada had officially shown interest. Giving up on studying, Lucy went to check her email and maybe do a little chatting with some of her friends, secretly hoping
Cartwright213
would be online. They had “met” online Lucy’s freshman year and she could still talk to him (at least she hoped it was a him) about all the people in her life with complete honesty. Lucy frowned as she saw he wasn’t online. She was about to turn off her computer when an instant message popped up on her screen. It was from
snarejockey1
. She quickly thought through all the drummers she knew, but none of them matched the name.

snarejockey1:
Pretty please, with Swedish fish on top?

Lucy smiled at the screen. Sam was charmingly persistent and this little message also solved her dilemma of accidentally running into Jerm and Mandy on Monday.

What exactly are you waiting for?

Isn’t this technically cheating on Nevada?

You haven’t even gone out with Nevada and already you’re giving up on Sam? Whoever said you had to be exclusive?

Well… I’m not sure I ever saw myself as someone who could handle dating two guys at the same time.

C’mon, he asked so nicely. With Swedish fish on top. Also, because the actuality of Sam and Nevada ever running into each other isn’t very good at least until November.

Chewing on her bottom lip, Lucy typed.

bassgirl17:
Sorry I didn’t text u back. Was at band practice.

Not a total lie…she had been at band practice…

snarejockey1:
Me too. The one where I wear the drum, not sit behind it.

bassgirl17:
Good to know. It must have been one hot practice. It’s like a million degrees out today

!

Lucy herself was still gross from her practice earlier today. She was glad Sam couldn’t see through the computer,

snarejockey1:
Yeah. I wouldn’t want to be around me right now. How was your practice

bassgirl17:
We’re just getting together. So…it’s a little rough.

snarejockey1:
Just give it some time. Anyway, how about tomorrow night

bassgirl17:
Sounds great.

snarejockey1:
That’s what I was hoping you’d say. I’ll see you around 7?

bassgirl17:
:) Looking forward to it.

snarejockey1:
Sweet dreams.

Lucy signed off and got out her journal again, trying to reconcile her feelings. Having wanted a boyfriend for most of her teenage years and determined to take bigger risks, it was difficult to turn down two offers, even if it meant she wasn’t being completely honest. Lucy swore she would tell them both, eventually…

Between everything that was going on, practice and boys and the start of school, Lucy had some trouble falling asleep that night. She woke up late the next morning with the previous day fresh on her mind. Over a breakfast of banana pancakes, Lucy pondered the burning question of what exactly one wears to eat ice cream with a very cute boy one has just met.

Maybe I should have actually paid attention to what Gina and Mandy were talking about yesterday…

You could always call and ask their opinion.

And say what, ‘Oh by the way, I’m going out with the captain of South’s Line?’ I don’t think so.

To make the day go faster, Lucy pulled out her studies for AP US History. After what seemed like five minutes, Lucy glanced at the clock and was surprised to see she had studied for two hours. Walking into the kitchen, Lucy casually mentioned to her Mom she would be going out “with a friend” that night. She thought she was off the hook until her mother asked, “Who are you going with? You and Tom haven’t been out in awhile.”

“No, I’m actually going with uh, Sam.” Lucy made a move to leave the room, not wanting to answer the inevitable question.

“And who is Sam?”

Unable to stop herself, Lucy said tentatively, “He’s a drummer, Mom, and he goes to S.W.”

Her mom knew of the huge rivalry between the two schools. The two institutions competed at everything: sports, academics, debate, basically, at any time you could have one team vs. another team, South Washington and Forrest Hills were there trying to get the bragging rights.