Keeping in Line (24 page)

“She was getting information for Christina?”

“Exactly. I didn’t realize what was going to happen until we walked on the court and I saw Christina in the stands. By then it was too late.”

Tony and Bronwyn sat in the empty women’s bathroom. Bronwyn sighed, “It will be on all the tapes and the video. J.D. is going to kill me.”

“There’s always next week.”

“But—” Bronwyn was still upset.

“Look, I’m breaking things off with Dana. I’m beginning to think she only dated me as some sort of weird way to get on the Line.”

Bronwyn was surprised to hear actual regret in Tony’s voice. Her section mate continued, “Let’s talk to J.D.”

“You’d help me out?”

“Sophomore snares have to stick together, don’t they?”

Bronwyn gave her former enemy a half-smile.

After Bronwyn found a safe place for Stewie, the pair found their Captain in the stands. Tony was about to speak, but Bronwyn shook her head and said, “J.D., I have to talk to you.”

“Right this second?”

Bronwyn nodded. J.D., seeing Tony behind her and Bronwyn’s tear stained face, said slowly, “Okay.”

They walked out into the cool night, and stopped near the equipment truck. Bronwyn took a deep breath and admitted, “I stepped out of bounds.”

“You did what?!”

Tony stepped in front of Bronwyn and said, “But it wasn’t her fault.”

“Let me get this straight, did someone make you step out of bounds?” J.D. sputtered.

Bronwyn was fully prepared to take the blame of the situation herself. She shook her head and answered sadly, “No.”

Tony shook his head and replied angrily, “Yes.”

Both heads turned to look at Tony. J.D. scowled and asked, “What do you mean?”

“Bronwyn was set up. Christina distracted her. She knew exactly when Bronwyn was near the back line and she made her move then.”

“I’m supposed to believe we won’t be going to Finals all because of some Guard chick?”

“She was sitting on my boyfriend’s lap, trying to suck his face off. I’m sorry that distracted me. I wasn’t expecting to see it.”

Suddenly, Drew came running around the corner, “Bronwyn!”

All three percussionists looked at the drum major. Drew didn’t seem to care that J.D. and Tony were there and began apologizing, “You have to believe me! She came out of nowhere, she was like a vampire!”

Bronwyn smiled shyly and said, “I know, I saw the whole thing.”

J.D. and Drew looked at each other. J.D. said, eyes narrowed, “I seem to recall you were going to have nothing to do with our Line, Drew.”

Drew said proudly, “I’m not here as a drum major, J.D. I’m here as someone’s boyfriend.”

J.D. took a moment before he finally responded, “Thanks for coming out and supporting the Line.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for anything.”

J.D. put his fingers on his temples as he looked back at the sophomores, “So, let me get this straight. Christina makes a move on your man, you get distracted, and take a step outside the line?”

Bronwyn nodded. Tony added, “But she knew when to make the move.”

“How does some chick know about our drill? They only saw the show two days ago…”

Bronwyn sprang to Tony’s rescue, “He was being used by Dana.”

J.D. looked skeptical and commented, “That’s a lot of conspiracy just to get our Line knocked out of Finals.”

Drew crossed his arms and said, “If you want someone to blame, I think you should blame me. I ditched Christina at Homecoming and instead of getting back at me, she chose to take out her aggression on Bronwyn instead. If I had just admitted my feelings for Bronwyn a month ago, then you would all be able to compete.”

Suddenly, the awkward quartet was joined by the rest of the Line. Lance looked miserable as he announced, “We didn’t make Finals.”

* * *

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Battery Operated

Bronwyn looked around at the disappointed faces and felt even worse – without making the final competition, there was no chance at captions or section trophies. The redhead was expecting her Captain to make a big scene and point fingers strongly in her direction and that she would end up walking back to Forrest Hills. Somehow, inexplicably, and out of character, J.D. remained perfectly calm. He addressed the group, “That really sucks, but we’ll have to wait and see what the tapes say on Monday.”

Drew and Bronwyn shared an incredulous look, and then Bronwyn looked over at J.D., mouthing the words, ‘thank you.’

Henry spoke up, “Let’s all head back inside. We’re going to want to watch the Lines that made Finals, so we can be ready for next week.”

Drew and Bronwyn walked together slowly and Bronwyn leaned on Drew’s shoulder. Wrapping a strong arm around her, he said, “I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I really should’ve said something a month ago. I feel like you wouldn’t be in this situation if I had just admitted that, I, um, that I liked you.”

“That’s okay. I’m just glad you didn’t go to Homecoming with Christina. I’m not sure if I would’ve been able to get over that.”

Suddenly, Bronwyn giggled. Drew looked down at her and asked, “What’s up?”

Bronwyn burst into uncontrollable laughter and trying to catch her breath, said, “She was really going to suck your face off.”

“Hey now! That’s not funny. You weren’t on the other side of that!”

Reluctantly breaking contact with her boyfriend she said, “Well, I have to catch up with the rest of the Line. I’ll see you on Monday?”

Drew gave her a lengthy kiss good night, ending it and murmuring in her hair, “It’s not your fault. You did a great job tonight.”

Bronwyn smiled and went in search of Henry, who she found inside at the concession stands. Dreading his response, she gathered what courage she had and calmly walked over to his side. Henry took a bite of his hot dog, chewed slowly, and said, “I saw.”

Bronwyn was devastated all over again and apologized, “I’m so sorry.”

Henry finished his food, swallowed, and replied, “Not so fast. I also saw what was going on in the stands.”

“It’s no excuse—”

“Bronwyn, please don’t feel that way. It’s okay for you to have a life outside of drumming. Seriously, I know being a percussionist is awesome, but you have to have balance in your life. I mean, you’re only in high school and when you graduate you want to look back and have more than just memories of the Line.”

“Still…”

“Believe me. Plus, we still have another week.”

“But I—”

“Just say ‘I’m sorry Henry, and it will never happen again.’”

“I’m sorry Henry and it will never happen again,” Bronwyn announced solemnly.

The tapes on Monday revealed exactly what Bronwyn was terrified they would.

“…watch it snare…watch it!” These words were followed by an audible sigh on the tape, and the judge continued, “Sorry, Forrest Hills drumline, but it looks like one of your percussionists stepped out of bounds. Per the rules of the competition, I’m going to have to deduct points.”

The judge immediately went onto his next comment, but everyone in the Line looked at the snares. Bronwyn was slowly standing up, ready to take full responsibility for her actions, when J.D. looked sharply at her and she sat down. He paused the tape and addressed the percussionists, “Look, after we listen to the tapes, we’re going to watch the video, and you’re going to see who it was. Now, I know I wouldn’t have said this earlier in the season, but it could’ve been any one of us and we’re not going to win as a Line by putting all the blame on one person.”

The drummers remained silent.

“We have one chance left, and I’d like to focus on that, rather than getting angry or punishing who it was. I know this person feels terrible about what happened, but it wasn’t her fault.” J.D. cringed at his pronoun slip.

With everyone’s eyes instantly on her, Bronwyn stood up calmly and said, “Thanks J.D., I appreciate, well, I never thought I’d say this, but thanks for understanding.”

J.D. looked at the ground before he looked up and said, “Look, I’m not too proud of how I handled myself early this season, Bronwyn. I thought if I was harder on you than anyone else, that, well I’m not sure. Anyway, the fact that you came to me and admitted your mistake says a lot about you. You could’ve tried to hide the fact or denied that it ever happened, but you didn’t.”

“It wouldn’t prove anything,” she admitted, and looked at the rest of the Line, “Seriously, this season is nothing like I thought it was going to be. I thought…well, it doesn’t matter what I thought, but here we are and I can’t undo my misstep. I can’t give the seniors back their chance to win the competition, I can’t let you all go to Finals. Believe me, if I could, I would. What I can do is promise that it won’t happen again. I hope you can accept my apology.”

The room was quiet again and Bronwyn wasn’t sure what was going to happen next. She had visions of getting thrown out of the room, or a lifetime of physical punishments. Therefore, she was happily surprised when Tony said, “Like J.D. said, it could’ve happened to any of us, now, are we going to listen to the next tape, or what?”

No one argued, and in that moment, Bronwyn realized just how far she had come. J.D. nodded and moved to put the next judges’ tape in the deck. As the group listened intently, Bronwyn couldn’t believe everyone had so easily accepted her colossal mistake. She sat back in her chair and looked at the drummers. Ben caught her eye and smiled warmly. Feeling content, the snare drummer turned her attention back to the tapes, determined to make this weekend’s show the best ever.

“Bronwyn?”

“Yes?”

“I want you to do something for me.”

The redhead looked up at her boyfriend, and asked, “What?”

“Remember how you still owe me a favor?”

Over the past few months, she wondered if he had remembered the promise she had made to him at band camp, and nodded in response.

“As much as I want to take care of things with Christina on your behalf, I think this is something you need to do. You can’t just let her or Dana get away with things. You need to confront her.”

“Yeah, but remember last year? I don’t want to do anything that puts the Line, or me, in danger of not competing this weekend.”

They walked silently together down to the practice field, each trying to think of a way around Mr. Izzo. A welcome distraction came as Bronwyn looked up at the band director podium and glimpsed a familiar brown ponytail. She said to Drew, “Don’t worry, I got this.”

“Okay, well, just know that I’ll be around if you need me.”

“Thanks!” The snare drummer zipped up her track jacket and caught Lucy’s attention, waving her sticks wildly. In response, Lucy smiled and came over to meet her friend. They hugged awkwardly over Bronwyn’s snare and Lucy said, “Sorry. I heard about Saturday. I was going to try and surprise you...”

“Here’s the thing – you know what they did, and I can’t let it slide. I want to tell them off in front of everyone, but I can’t do that if Mr. Izzo is watching. Can you help distract him and give me a few minutes alone with those girls?”

“Say no more,” Lucy’s eyes narrowed, “Consider it done.”

Bronwyn ran through the halftime show, but in spirit only. She was too busy trying to go over what she wanted to say to her two favorite Guard girls. The redhead kept an eye on Lucy, waiting for the right moment to make her move. The time finally came and Bronwyn cracked her knuckles and slowly put her drum down. She walked over to where the Guard had stopped on the last set, and said loudly, “Christina. Dana. I want to talk to you. Now.”

Between all the rumors and highs and lows of the season, the members of the marching band were well aware of the friction between the Guard and The Girl on the Battery. Those who were within earshot, hovered closely, waiting to see what the outcome would be. Christina crossed her arms and turned around, her back towards Bronwyn. She looked at Dana and said in a bored tone, “Did you hear anything?”

Dana shook her head and followed her Captain’s lead, “No.”

“You crossed the line,” Bronwyn challenged.

Christina’s eyes narrowed and she spun around, exploding, “Are you sure it wasn’t you who crossed the line? You knew Drew was taking me to Homecoming!”

“I didn’t ask him to come and see me instead! He did that on his own!”

“Like I’m supposed to believe you? This coming from the girl who, well, I think given your reputation we all know why Drew likes you. I’m sure he’ll get bored with that eventually and come back to me.”

Bronwyn felt tears of anger and embarrassment pricking the back of her eyes and willed them away. She turned her attention to her classmate and said, “That’s another thing I’ve been meaning to address, Dana.”

Dana crossed her arms as Bronwyn continued, “I really don’t appreciate the crap you’ve been spreading about me.”

“Whatever.”