The Line

by Courtney Brandt

  Jerm raised up his hand like he was ending a cadence, and announced, “Come on, guys. We may have a ‘bitch’ on our line, but at least she can play.”

  He turned to leave. The rest of the Line followed.

  Lucy rolled her eyes, but smiled at the backwards compliment. As she walked away, she stole one more glance of Sam, wishing things had worked out differently with the handsome South Washington drumline captain.

  Riled up from their unspent testosterone, the upperclassmen watched the South show from the stands, ruthlessly picking apart every part of their performance. With halftime over, they made their way to the parking lot. All anyone could talk about was the “bitch” comment. Lucy knew it was only going to get worse when they told the underclassmen on Monday.

  Back at Forrest Hills, Lucy felt she had to get away from the Line. While she was impressed and flattered by everyone’s loyalty, she had a sinking suspicion they probably would have called her the same thing if the situation was reversed. Not pausing to see if Nevada was looking or waiting for her, Lucy jumped in her car and started driving. Before long, she found she had driven herself to where she and Sam had shared their first (and only) date. Parking her car, she moodily walked over to the swings.

  “I thought I might find you here.”

  Lucy recognized the voice and promptly fell out of the swing. She was totally embarrassed when Sam extended a strong hand to pick her up and was glad it was dark out so he couldn’t see how red her face was.

  Sam took a seat in an adjacent swing, and admitted, “I wanted you to know it wasn’t me tonight.”

  “I know. I knew it wasn’t your voice, but your guys were sticking up for you. They’re acting like any good Line should for their captain.”

  They swung in silence. After a few moments, Sam’s husky voice interrupted Lucy’s panicked thoughts, “You know what?”

  “What’s that?”

  “You’re a pretty gutsy girl.”

  Lucy smiled at the awkward compliment and asked, “How do you figure?”

  “Well, meeting my whole Line like that and then telling them who you really were. Then, coming tonight…you didn’t have to, but you did.”

  “I know you have no reason to believe me, but I had planned on telling you the truth as soon as I saw you last week.”

  “But you didn’t plan on everyone being there?”

  Lucy got up and started pacing, and answered, “No! I felt terrible every time I saw you or talked to you. I knew you thought I was someone else, but here’s the thing: I am really proud of my spot on the Line. I worked hard for it and have to work harder than everyone else to overcome the whole ‘girl’ stigma.”

  “You should be proud of yourself. You’re on a really good Line and you can’t just be given a spot on Forrest’s Battery.”

  “Thanks. Anyway, again, I want you to know I’m not the person who usually lies to people, but when I saw that you were probably never going to talk to me that day at the theater, I got a little desperate.”

  Sam laughed out loud.

  “What are you laughing at?” Lucy asked, offended.

  “I’m just laughing because girls have done some strange things to get my attention, but lying about being on drumline may be among the strangest.”

  Lucy smiled and commented, “I can just picture you at band camp. You must make those little Auxiliary girls giggle like crazy.”

  “I respectfully plead the fifth.”

  “Look, I know what my boys go through. Don’t get me wrong, they love it, but usually it’s not anything they want to pursue.”

  Sam stopped swinging and looked at Lucy. He asked, “My boys? Lucy, my dear, is there something else you are not telling me?”

  “My boys as in ‘my friends’? I know you’ve had girls on your drumline, so can’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about, but you don’t know the first thing about what’s it’s like to be a drumline girl. I look at all these girls trying to get my section’s attention and think; you don’t really know these guys like I do. You weren’t there on a freezing Saturday in November when we got 2nd place. You weren’t there every day in class to see them. You weren’t there to hold their hand when a girlfriend broke their heart. You weren’t there on the bus to give them a back massage. You don’t know the music or the inside jokes or the first thing about these guys.”

  “I guess you feel pretty strongly about that.”

  “You’re damn straight I do. These guys are like my brothers – sure, we have a very messed up relationship, but I would do just about anything for them.”

  “Does that include your ‘boyfriend’ from earlier tonight?”

  “Oh, um…that’s Nevada.”

  Sam raised his eyebrows and commented, “That seems to be a little bit more than brotherly love.”

  Lucy twisted her hands and said, “Well, about the same time I started seeing you, Nevada and I started a little something.”

  “Another thing you were planning on telling me?”

  “Yes, actually.” Deciding this might be the last conversation she might ever have with the handsome senior, she said, “Look, I haven’t dated a lot before. I’m new to all of this. Besides, you and I were never exclusive, just like Nevada and I aren’t.”

  “I think that might come as somewhat of a shock to him.”

  Lucy sighed, Sam was right, but she didn’t like talking about Nevada with Sam, so she asked, “Why did you really come here tonight?”

  Sam took a minute to answer, “Honestly? You’re not like any girl I’ve ever met, Lucy Karate. You have a crazy dog, beautiful eyes, and I probably should have guessed that you are a drummer. I love kissing you and you’re fun to be around.”

  Lucy wasn’t sure how to respond.

  “I don’t know why, but even after everything I still want to see you again.”

  “Well, that makes two of us,” Lucy said shyly.

  Sam smiled and said, “Get over here.”

  Lucy got up and sat down on Sam’s lap and asked, “So, what do we do now?”

  “We see each other very, very carefully. Neither of our Lines can know what’s going on. But, you have to promise that you will tell Nevada you are dating someone else.”

  “I promise. A kiss for good luck?”

  Sam chuckled and pulled her chin towards his, “Sure thing – we’re going to need a lot of it.”

  With plenty of luck a few minutes later, Lucy got in her car, resolving to never lie again. She had a not so fun conversation with Nevada ahead of her.

  * * *

  CHAPTER EIGHT: AWAY GAME!

  Rather than immediately tell Nevada the truth, Lucy did her best to avoid him the following week. She didn’t like doing it, but there hadn’t been a good time yet to tell him what was really going on.

  That’s a lie and you know it.

  Fine, but what should I say?

  You had no trouble telling Sam.

  So, I just go up and say, ‘Oh, by the way, thought you should know, I’m dating Sam, you may recognize him from such places as the Captain of our rival drumline.’

  In not so many words…

  Since “the incident” the previous Friday, everyone on the Forrest Hills drumline was pretty convinced it was Sam who had called her a bitch and there was nothing Lucy could say to convince them otherwise.

  Aside from all the drama, Lucy was absolutely bursting to tell someone what was going on. She couldn’t tell Gina and Mandy because she wasn’t sure they wouldn’t understand. Plus, Mandy and Jerm were pretty much together any spare time they had, so there was a good chance Jerm would find out if she did tell the girls. Lucy debated telling Tom and Molly, but was afraid of the fallout it might produce.

  Just think, the longer you wait to tell everyone, the worse it will be.

  I have to tell someone.

  Lucy decided the next chance she got she would lay it all out for Cartwright213.

  The football game that week was outside of the normal county confere
nce. Lucy was a big fan of away games and bus rides as it was some of her favorite quality time spent with the Line. Since her freshman year, her seatmate was usually Tom, but with the whole Nevada thing going on, Lucy wasn’t surprised to see that the redhead had saved her a seat near the back of the bus. She thought she had been always dreaming of this day…how nice it would be to have someone special to sit with, but part of her wondered who Sam was sitting next to on his bus.

  Bus #5 was the drumline bus, pure and simple. Having the Line, or at least a good part of the Battery on one bus worked out better for when they went to competitions and parades. Some of the Auxiliary girls always tried to get on, but unless they had been dating a drumline guy for over a year, they rarely got the privilege. With the Jerm romance, Mandy, along with Gina, were also passengers and Lucy was grateful. Sometimes the bass drummer felt like she missed out on what the rest of her band friends were doing, but then she would look around the percussion bus and not want to be anywhere else.

  She slid in next to Nevada, arranging her bag. Everyone was in their “casual uniform.” This meant khaki shorts, this year’s band t-shirt, and for most of the bus, flip flops, Chuck Taylors, Vans, or some sort of soccer shoe. The black shoes and socks would come out later when everyone changed into their uniforms.

  Roll was called. The bus got moving. Everyone got out their sticks and practice pads. If any lieutenant felt their section needed extra practice, they could do so on the bus. Mostly it was underclassmen running through cadences, exercises, and rudiments. Lucy chatted over the seat with Molly while Nevada drummed with some of the other guys. After an uneventful game, an improved halftime show, everyone was in a great mood as they piled back on the bus. In the middle of the commotion, Lucy stared out the window and wondered what Sam was doing that very moment. From her backpack, she heard her phone beep. While everyone was getting out of their uniforms, Lucy slyly checked her text message. It was from Sam!

  >> Miss u. Swings 2nite?

  Lucy typed back quickly.

  >> Late return. Call u 2morrow?

  >> :(

  >> Sorry. Miss u 2.

  Lucy shut her phone and put the device back in her backpack, feeling an odd mix of guilt and disappointment. Her feelings deepened when Nevada slid down in the seat next to Lucy. Arranging his arms around her, he said quietly, “I feel like I haven’t seen you all week.”

  “I know.”

  Lucy took a deep breath and trying to keep her voice upbeat and said, “So Nevada, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “Umm, I guess we’ve never really talked specifically about our relationship.”

  “No. Why, should we? I’m happy, aren’t you?”

  Nevada’s question made her wonder. She was happy with him, wasn’t she? Was she happier with Sam than she was with Nevada? Rather than answered the question, she answered, “The thing is, I really like dating you, but you should know I’m…well, I’m, um, sort of seeing someone else.”

  Nevada didn’t respond and Lucy felt his entire body tense up. She gulped, this was going so much worse than she could have imagined. She was glad to have said the words, but it didn’t make them sound any better. She continued, “You don’t know him. It just kind of happened suddenly. Like we did, actually. Anyway, he goes to South.”

  Nevada remained silent and Lucy let out a frustrated sigh – his silent treatment was not helping the situation. The brunette gave her final offer, “Anyway, I want to see you. I like being with you, but if you don’t want to date me because I’m dating someone else, I completely understand.”

  Nevada looked off in the distance away from Lucy. The bass drummer sighed again loudly and said, “So, you think about this and maybe we’ll talk this weekend?”

  The cymbal section leader mumbled something to the affirmative. Lucy knew he needed some space, so with one more apologetic look back at Nevada; she got up and headed to the middle of the bus. Luckily, Tom wasn’t sitting with anyone and he immediately let her in the seat.

  “Trouble with a certain cymbal player?”

  Lucy nodded and replied, “However, honestly, I don’t want to talk about it. How are things with Eight Cadet these days?”

  If there was something Tom enjoyed discussing, it was his band. Grateful for the distraction, Tom and Lucy chatted the entire ride back to the school. By the end of the trip, Lucy made plans to go and see Eight Cadet the following Saturday at a local all ages club. It was one of the unwritten rules of having friends in a band; you went to see them whenever and wherever they had a show.

  The bus pulled up to Forrest Hills around midnight. On autopilot, Lucy got off the bus, walked to the truck, unloaded and carried her bass drum back to the percussion room. Nevada hadn’t so much as tried to catch her eye for the rest of the bus ride home, so she assumed it was a lost cause and walked out to her car alone. Digging through her garment bag and backpack, Lucy let out a frustrated sigh as she looked for her keys for what seemed like ten minutes.

  Damnit! Where the hell are they?

  Lucy was surprised when she sensed tears of frustration pricking her eyes.

  They’re just keys!

  “You always keep them in your beret.”

  Lucy didn’t have to turn around to know who was talking to her. Taking the advice of the young man behind her, she slowly dug out her beret and looked inside, instantly seeing the flash of her key ring. Lucy started to say something, but Nevada brought his finger up to her lips, “Let me talk.”

  The senior looked at Lucy with those beautiful hazel eyes of his and she was quiet, “I’m sorry for the way I acted earlier. I’m usually the one who, well, never mind. Anyway, I don’t really want to share you with anyone, but I’m not giving up without a fight.”

  “So, we can give this a try?”

  Nevada nodded, and answered, “Yes, but just know I’m the one taking you to Homecoming.”

  Lucy said shyly, “I’d like that.”

  With that, Nevada reached across and cupped Lucy’s chin with his hand, bringing her in for a sweet kiss. Lucy didn’t realize how long they had been kissing until they heard the catcalls and whistles of the Line walking past them in the parking lot. She blushed and said, “I’d better go.”

  * * *

  CHAPTER NINE: COMPETITION

  Lucy drove away from the school wondering what was wrong with her. The easy answer was staring her in the face - dump Sam, date Nevada. And yet, she didn’t want to let go of either one. Both of them offered something she had never had before. With Nevada, it was the reward of a long running crush. With Sam…there was an amazing and indefinable quality about him. Tapping her fingers in rhythm on the steering wheel, she wondered if it was time to bring in Mandy and Gina? Lucy decided telling them was still too risky. If she told Gina, then Mandy would probably find out and most likely Jerm would hear about Sam and Lucy and then…Lucy shuddered. It wouldn’t be pretty. Lucy already had nightmares about the Line finding out. She could picture Nevada’s angry face and she didn’t want to be the cause of it.

  Why didn’t I just tell him tonight?

  Because then you wouldn’t have such a cute date to Homecoming.

  That can’t be the only reason.

  Would you feel better if you told Tom or Molly?

  Hello? That would be a total mistake. Maybe before the whole ‘bitch’ thing, but now? It’s too late. I’m going to have to wait until the end of the season, if ever…

  Lucy decided an unbiased opinion was the one she needed. She signed online, desperately hoping her old buddy would be around. Sighting his name, Lucy began typing frantically.

  bassgirl17: AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!

  Cartwright213: What seems to be the trouble, ma’am?

  bassgirl17: I’m in a bad situation.

  Cartwright213: Do tell, young grasshopper.

  bassgirl17: Remember those two guys I was telling you about?

  Cartwright213: Yes. Please tell me you’ve
managed to inform them about each other.

  bassgirl17: Well, that’s half true…

  Cartwright213: You’ve only told one? I guess that’s a good start.

  bassgirl17: See, that’s the thing, I can’t really tell the other one.

  Cartwright213: And why is that exactly?

  bassgirl17: So you know how Clark Kent is really Superman?

  Cartwright213: You’re dating a superhero?!

  bassgirl17: No. So, Guy #1 knows I’m dating Guy #2, and Guy #2 knows I’m dating someone else, but if Guy #2 knows the real identity of Guy #1, then I’m totally screwed!

  Cartwright213: Come on, it can’t be that bad.

  bassgirl17: Yes, it actually can. Think of the person you hate more than anyone.

  Cartwright213: Okay, got it.

  bassgirl117: What? No name?

  Cartwright213: I don’t want to say. Maybe you know him.

  Lucy leaned back from her computer and thought a moment. Two years ago, she had entertained the romantic idea that she might actually know Cartwright in real life. When they had first started chatting, they had both agreed to keep things as “impersonal” as possible, so they only knew they lived in the same county, were both in high school, and vague physical descriptions, but nothing further. As the months went past, Lucy felt comfortable revealing some of the names, but her anonymous friend had never reciprocated. Desperate for his advice, she decided to let him keep his space.

  bassgirl17: Okay, Mr. Secretive. So, pretend you were dating someone. You knew she was dating someone else, but she wouldn’t let you know exactly who it was, and that was because she was dating your worst enemy.

  Cartwright was silent for a minute.

  bassgirl17: Hello? Answer please.