Chapter Two
The following morning, I’m determined to start fresh.
Who cares about Max and the repulsive attitude he apparently acquired in the last three years?
I’m at band camp to help color guard get a head start on our competition season, not to worry about boys who aren’t worth my time.
Nova was right about my unearned optimism.
Sire makes his usual morning announcements and then guard is released to the gymnasium.
“Hazel?” Sire calls as I’m about to leave with the rest of my group. “I think you’ll be needing this.”
I turn to find him holding something out to me with a smile on his face.
It’s a small silver key attached to a musical note key chain.
I take it, squeezing the cool metal in the palm of my hand.
This is the key to the guard’s outdoor shed where we store all our nice show flags for the season.
Usually only the band and guard directors have copies of the key, but Sire’s made an exception for me.
The realization makes me both excited and nervous. It means a lot to have his trust.
“Now you’re officially captain.” He squeezes my shoulder. “It’s going to be a good year. I have complete confidence in you.”
“Thank you,” I say and swallow down my nerves. Yesterday our new guard director, Faith, was here the entire time. Unfortunately, that’s not true today. But it’s all good. I can totally do this on my own.
I jog over to the gymnasium and survey the nine other guard members—eight girls and one guy—who are spread out around the gymnasium.
We need to keep a lot of distance between each other right now, so no one accidentally cracks another person in the head while throwing their flag in the air.
Madisyn, Addison, and Devin, in the very back, are our returning seniors.
They’re together so much—whispering and giggling and gossiping—that I still can’t keep their last names straight despite years together.
They even look similar—they’re all white with brown hair and perfectly shaped eyebrows.
Rosa Sanchez is our only returning junior and I’m glad to have her even if she spends as much time messing with her long black hair as she does practicing the routines.
She recruited her best friend, Yori Fujii, this year.
She has potential, but I’m pretty certain she only agreed to join because her new girlfriend plays trumpet.
Callie Armstrong, Keira Webb, and Deja Williams are our new sophomores.
Deja told me yesterday she hates competing, which isn’t a good sign knowing our band, but I like her anyway.
Callie and Keira, on the other hand, are the ones who make me the most nervous.
Callie seems perpetually disgruntled, and Keira doesn’t have great coordination, but beggars can’t be choosers.
And then there’s Li Xiang, our only freshman. She might be the most bubbly, excited, eager-to-please person I’ve ever met. I feel immediately protective each time I look at her.
I roll back my shoulders, and clear my throat. “Good morning!”
Callie puts a hand on her hip. “What’s going on? Where’s Faith?”
“Faith has a full-time job, so it’s going to be a little harder for her to make all our practices, but she’ll be here as much as she can,” I explain. “And she’ll come for all the football games and competitions, so don’t worry.”
I try to sound confident and chill about this fact, but this is one of the things I’m most scared about this season.
The fact that she can’t be here for all our practices is extremely unusual, but since she’s new at her job, she’s not able to miss much work.
Sire told me I’m responsible enough to run our practices solo, but I’m not convinced.
“What did you say?” Keira calls. “I can’t hear you. You need to talk louder.”
I clear my throat again and repeat myself. Why is this already so much worse than I was expecting it to be?
“Wait.” Callie glances at Keira and their other friend, Deja.
“So, you’re telling me we don’t have any teachers overseeing us?
No one micromanaging our every second?” She claps her hands in delight and her ever-present ponytail goes flying.
“Let’s go do something fun, then! I bet they won’t notice if we take a quick break to grab coffees. ”
The others look to each other, and I can read the surprise and uncertainty in their expressions. Irritation fizzles through me.
“We’re not going anywhere,” I say. “We might not have an adult watching our every move, but I think they’d notice if the entire color guard bailed during band camp. Plus, we have a full show to learn and some of the choreography is really tricky. We need to get serious.”
The girls sigh audibly as I pick up my flag and gesture for them to grab their practice flags from the pile. Everyone meanders there and back like they’re walking through molasses. I swallow down a groan of frustration. If this is our level of hustle, we’re not going to get through anything.
“So, like, what’s with the percussion section?” Keira asks just as we’re finally about to get started. “I could swear I’m getting a vibe from them.”
“Totally,” Deja agrees. “It was super weird.”
“It’s…” I want to say it’s nothing and move on with rehearsal like we need to, but that’s a blatant lie. There’s way more than nothing between the color guard and percussion sections.
“We hate them,” Rosa tells them matter-of-factly. “And they hate us just as much.”
“Nah, they hate us more,” Madisyn says.
Addison nods in agreement. “It’s their life’s mission to make sure they beat us every chance they get. They thrive off watching us fail.”
“Which means they’re always thriving,” Devin adds, and the three of them glance around in confirmation.
“Are you serious?” Li asks. She adjusts her bright pink glasses and glances around in horror at the others. Callie, Keira, and Deja look uneasy as well.
I take a deep breath and put down my flag.
“Okay, here’s the deal. Our band is competitive.
Really competitive. We have a long history of winning grand champion trophies and getting straight Superior ratings at state, and that’s partially because of our competitive culture.
Each of the sections wants to be the best, absolutely, but percussion and color guard…
it’s gotten personal the last few years. ”
Madisyn snorts. “That’s one way to say it. More like their section leader’s a prick.”
I bite my lip to keep from laughing, even though I want to. She’ll get no arguments from me there.
“Brody and I have a history,” I continue to the new members, since the others already know this all too well. “He doesn’t respect color guard, and he never got over the fact that I won Most Valuable Member over him freshman year. Our sections have been battling it out ever since.”
A flicker of anger burns in my chest at the reminder of all the snide comments that our groups have exchanged, the nasty chant they came up with for us sophomore year, how they sabotaged us during our band field day last spring when we were this close to first place.
There’s nothing I want more than to put them in their place.
Just once, I want color guard to be seen as the best, instead of the section that’s pulling down the band every year.
“And that’s why it’s more important than ever that we nail our routines this year.
” I glance to each member as I continue.
“We’re going to show them just how amazing this color guard can be.
We’ll take all the Superior ratings we earn and shove them down their throats so they never forget what losers they are. ”
Deja’s eyes widen and Li takes a small step back. Only the returning members give small nods of approval. I don’t need to convince them.
“Uh, no pressure, I guess?” Callie says sarcastically.
I pick up my flag and try to shake off my emotions. I need to be focused, but not scary. “Don’t worry about them. All you need to worry about is learning our drills and routines and everything else will take care of itself. Okay?”
Someone laughs (sarcastically) but I’m not sure who.
I’m hoping the other seniors—Madisyn, Addison, and Devin—will come to my aid, but they only watch the scene with detached expressions.
I get the impression they’re planning to skate through senior year with minimum effort.
The others look similarly unenthusiastic or incredulous.
Awesome. Another great day here at band camp.
I’m so grateful when we can take a break for lunch.
As I walk outside to a cluster of picnic tables where Nova and I always sit, located between the school and the practice field, I try to remind myself that everything is going to be okay.
The first days are rough no matter what, plus half of the guard is completely new.
But that’s not going to stop me. This is my senior year—my last year—and I will be the one to finally turn our color guard program around and get us the Superior ratings I know we’re capable of.
And if I win Most Valuable Member again my senior year? Well, that’ll just be an added bonus.
“Do you see that?” Nova asks as I sit. She points over at the football field next to the practice field. I have to stand and squint to see what’s going on, and I’m not the only one doing it.
“Is that Max running laps right now?”
“Yep. In ninety-degree heat.” She shakes her head.
I sit down and pull out my lunch. Somehow Mom had time to make my favorite—chicken salad with avocado chunks and crackers—despite her usual hectic schedule. If she was in my position, she’d already have the guard whipped into shape with enough time to sew everyone costumes and coordinating flags.
“Why is he doing that? Sire didn’t make him run laps as punishment or something, right?”
“No, Sire might punish him for running. He said he shouldn’t be exerting himself in the heat when we have to march all afternoon.” She shrugs like she couldn’t care less. “I heard Max lost a bet with Brody.”