Chapter Thirty-Five #2
And that’s nothing compared to what’s happening behind them.
Not only has the color guard seemingly choreographed their own routine to match the song…
but the majority of the percussion section is performing it alongside them.
My eyes bulge at the sight. With everything going on, I hadn’t cared enough to insist that the percussion follow through with the terms of our bet.
But here they are, using mismatching flags, as they sneak glances at the guard and try to keep up with a series of windmills and figure eights.
And the craziest thing is that they’re laughing while they do it.
They actually look happy to be making fools of themselves up there.
In a thousand years, I never thought I’d witness this.
I press my fingers to my mouth, trying to soak in the performance.
Was this the reason that none of the guard members had time to hang out?
I glance from Nova to Felix and Li, who can’t stop laughing as they perform drop spins next to each other.
Did the group cancel D&D last Sunday so they could work on this performance?
Max steps forward as they move into the last part of the song, which seems to trigger them to march into a new formation.
I take a few steps down the bleachers so I can see his face more clearly.
He doesn’t look cocky or proud like he often does when he’s playing.
Instead, his eyes are locked onto me with the most hopeful, heartbreaking expression I’ve ever seen.
My stomach lurches and I take another step closer to the field.
Everyone in the stands breaks into cheers and awws.
I blink and force myself to take in the entire group again, instead of just Max, and yelp in surprise.
They’ve left their straight lines behind to form a heart.
I barely have time to clap in appreciation before they transition again to form…
a triangle? That’s a weird choice. And then moments later, they march into another formation: the number twenty.
I blink in confusion and then laugh as understanding dawns on me.
The heart is obvious, but the twenty must refer to a Natural 20—the highest number you can roll on a d20.
And what goes with our D&D games? Nachos, of course, made with triangular-shaped tortilla chips.
I shake my head, completely dumbfounded.
The performance might very well be the cheesiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life…
except my vision is too blurred from happy tears to know for sure.
Everyone around me is laughing and clapping along.
They’re having a great time, even though I doubt they fully grasp what’s going on here.
But I understand.
There’s absolutely nothing secret about me and Max now. Every single person in the band knows. Max literally announced how he feels about me into a freaking megaphone. I can barely breathe from the realization.
The group hits their final note, and the whole crowd cheers for them.
There are exaggerated bows and high fives, while Max quickly lifts off the shoulder straps from his drums and runs toward me.
I race down the rest of the steps to the field.
We almost smack into each other because we’re moving so fast.
“Max. That was…” I shake my head in disbelief. “The song from the car ride? And all those formations? Are you kidding me?”
“Yeah?” I can feel some of the tension fall away from him. “I couldn’t decide if that was way too much or not enough.”
“It was the perfect amount of everything, and also completely outrageous and over the top.” I stare at him in awe. “How did you do this?”
“I told Nova about my idea first. She’s been pretty pissed at me, as I’m sure you know, but eventually she got on board when she heard what I was planning.
Felix and Li agreed immediately. They’re loyal party members until the end.
Then Li suggested I approach the rest of the color guard, which I wasn’t too sure about because, well, you know, but they were surprisingly open to it.
They grilled me too, for sure, but I guess they liked all my answers because they dropped everything and came up with that choreography on their own.
” He smiles softly. “And the others out there are friends. The percussion players thought it’d be a nice gesture to perform with the guard, even though it’s not exactly the performance we agreed on.
But they’re on better terms now. Obviously not all of percussion were willing to join, but… ”
“You can’t win them all.”
Vaguely, I’m aware that no one else has left the field or stands. They’re all staring at us and murmuring.
“That’s a lot of eyes on us,” I whisper.
He cringes. “I know, I was worried about this part. Do you want to go somewhere? Maybe we could talk and—”
“Max!” one of the guard members—I can’t tell who, but I’m thinking Addison—screams at the top of her lungs. “Tell her you love her!”
I freeze in horror. My eyes lock onto his.
“Omigod,” I say. “That’s so embarrassing, you don’t—”
“Hazel.” His hands tentatively lift to either side of my face.
I expect him to look twitchy from the huge crowd around us, but he’s unruffled.
His fingers are warm on my jaw, and I’m absolute putty in his hands.
“Of course I love you. I’ve been borderline obsessed with winning you over ever since we played that stupid Glare game in band and you wouldn’t look at me. ”
My legs feel so weak that he might be holding me up at this point. “But…you said that was your strategy for winning?”
“I didn’t have a strategy—I just couldn’t look away.” His thumb grazes the tender bit of skin right beneath my ear and shivers roll down my spine. “I needed you to look back at me. Just once. And then you did.”
“There’s no way that’s true. You’d never voluntarily lose a game against me.”
Max’s hands slide down my neck. “That was me winning.”
I swallow down the threat of tears.
“You’re my best friend. There’s no one else who gets me like you do,” he whispers.
“There’s no one I’d rather spend time with, or fight with, or lose a bet to.
I’ll go up to every person here and tell them the same thing if that’s what you want.
I’ve been a huge idiot and I’m so sorry for hurting you.
I know I don’t deserve your trust.” He leans his forehead against mine.
“But I’m so in love with you. I’ll do anything to get you back. ”
“Max,” I breathe. “I love you too. So much. I’ve been absolutely miserable without you.”
“You have?”
“Yes,” I whisper. “Nothing in my life is as good without you in it. But you need to do something for me.”
He pulls away from me, his forehead furrowed in concern. “Anything.”
“Will you please kiss me now?” I give him a pleading look. “I’m dying here.”
He laughs, the sound sharp and bright. “I’ve never been happier to do anything in my life.”
Then he dips me backward with a flourish. I can feel the smile on his lips when they press against my own. Shouts and hoots of delight reverberate around us.
For the first time ever, we’re both winning at the end of a band performance.