Keeping in Line

by Courtney Brandt

  As she approached the school, she caught the whispers that trailed in her wake.

  “Who is she?”

  “Is that a snare she’s carrying?”

  “Who let her carry their drum?”

  Bronwyn was amazed at how quickly everyone had forgotten her Battery designation. She turned a corner to find Tony and the rest of the sophomore drummers. She had almost passed the group when her arch nemesis snidely called out, “I still think they mixed up the results of our auditions, Flueger.”

  The redhead looked straight ahead. She and Stewie (late one night over the summer she had decided that her drum had a name, and that name was Stewie) kept walking, choosing not to acknowledge the insult.

  Angered by her lack of response, Tony called after her, “You might as well just put down the drum now before Henry or J.D. has to publicly embarrass you by removing you from the Line.”

  Bronwyn was about to respond when Drew unexpectedly came to her rescue. As a member of the Pit, Bronwyn had a bit of an unorthodox relationship with the drum major from the previous season. As much as her daydreams said otherwise, she would classify them as ‘friendly,’ but not ‘friends.’

  Drew replied on her behalf, “From what I hear, Bronwyn is kicking ass and taking names.”

  While blushing slightly, Bronwyn stuck out her tongue from behind Drew and followed him into the band room. She watched the blonde senior approach some of the Brass players and desperately wished she had said ‘thank you’, or something flirty, instead of doing or saying absolutely nothing. Still grumbling to herself, she left Stewie in the percussion room and sat down next to her best friends: Meredith (a sax player) and Megan (a flautist) and high-fived the rest of her band friends, Tyler (a Sousaphone) and Pete (a trumpet).

  Bronwyn asked, “What did I miss?”

  Meredith answered, “We’re discussing which bus we’re going to sign up for this season.”

  “I think I have to sign up for the drumline bus,” Bronwyn replied glumly, not wanting to admit how nervous she was to have to ride the percussion bus. The sophomore snare remembered the previous season when the Line was headed to one of the Indoor competitions. Lucy was sitting with Tom and Bronwyn was sitting by herself in the front of the bus. It seemed everyone else had easily found a seat mate, leaving the redhead (again) on her own.

  Would this season be any different?

  It was a silly question, but she wasn’t sure where she would fit in. She didn’t have a ‘Tom’ in her life like Lucy did, and she knew a lot the members of the Line would have their girlfriends on the bus anyway. Bronwyn looked across the room at Drew and wondered what bus he was going to be on.

  Megan said, “Bummer.”

  Bronwyn agreed, “I know. J.D. is running a really tight ship this year and I don’t want to risk anything, you know?”

  At the name J.D., both Meredith and Megan’s eyes glazed over. Bronwyn rolled her eyes, “You guys, I keep telling you – he’s not that cool.”

  Meredith smiled broadly and replied, “Tell me the part again how you practiced with the guys and they took their shirts off…”

  Sensing the topic of conversation was heading in a direction she didn’t want to elaborate on, Bronwyn stood up, intent on heading to warm ups. Rolling her eyes in frustration, she commented, “Ab City. I’m sure you’ll all get a glimpse at band camp. I swear, any excuse they have – those shirts come off. If you find carrier tans sexy, then you’re in luck. See you girls later!”

  Bronwyn walked over to the percussion room where she saw Beth and Valerie standing awkwardly. The redhead remembered a year ago almost exactly to the day, when she had shown up to her first band practice. Lucy had immediately and without question taken the freshman under her wing. Bronwyn had vowed to be a cool drumline girl and attempt to do what Lucy had done for her. She forced a happy tone and asked, “Hey gals – how was your summer?”

  They both mumbled generic answers.

  Taking a deep breath, Bronwyn smiled and brightly said, “Do you have any questions? We drumline girls have to stick together, after all.”

  At that moment Tony came in and interrupted their conversation, “Don’t listen to her. Bronwyn doesn’t know the first thing about drumline.” He then learned on one of the tall racks that held the bass drums and added flirtatiously, “If you have any questions, I’d be more than happy to show you around.”

  Valerie and Beth were obviously unsure of what to do, but at that moment J.D. joined everyone in the percussion room and announced, “Enough bullshitting. Everyone get their drums and get outside.”

  Bronwyn glared at Tony, flashed a smile at the young Pit members, grabbed a stand for her music and walked outside silently, thinking about her fellow sophomores. For whatever reason, her particular grade had produced a bumper crop of drummers who had all decided to keep playing after middle school. Tony was their ringleader and the pair had exchanged insults since their first introduction to one another. Bronwyn had quickly moved into the ‘prodigy’ category and Tony had not been able to get over the fact that a girl was better than he was. Worst of all, he was joined by Steve, his best friend and lackey, who was on the tenor line. Unfortunately, Bronwyn didn’t have anyone like that on her side in the Line. It was a lonely existence, missing out on something everyone else seemed to have. She wasn’t sure if it was because of her former shyness or maybe due to her talent as a drummer, but she had never found a close friendship in the section.

  She sighed as she lined up and looked longingly across the Line, momentarily wishing she could march next to Andy, the quint Lieutenant and therefore well out of reach for Tony and his big mouth. Unfortunately, the way the Forrest Hills drumline set their arc, Bronwyn was at the end of the snares, directly next to the bass line. She really wasn’t looking forward to an entire season of Tony, on first bass, getting in her face. She didn’t want to tell J.D. about the situation because she didn’t want to him to think she couldn’t handle things or give her any preferential treatment. She could only hope Adam would somehow notice and maybe do something to shut Tony up.

  BWAP! J.D. snapped one of his sticks down on the rim of his snare drum and got everyone’s attention.

  Henry, in his fifth year of instructing the Forrest Hills drummers, looked at J.D. strangely, but addressed the collected Line, “Well everyone, I hope you had a relaxing summer. I want to let you know that I’m really looking forward to the coming season. I don’t have to tell you the last class left some big shoes to fill. So, I’m not going to say we’re rebuilding this year, but I offer it as a challenge to you. You all know how well last year’s Line did and I urge everyone to take that as a challenge to rise above. As you know, this year’s half-time show is going to be something a little bit different than usual.”

  Bronwyn knew what he was referring to. Usually, the Forrest Hills marching band did a combination of crowd pleasing tunes. This year, Mr. Izzo had decided to do something extra. Going for a more obscure and abstract angle, the theme of the show this year was Weather. Bronwyn looked forward to what Henry would come up with, but was a bit apprehensive about how the new sound would connect with the rest of the band.

  “Now, let’s get warmed up. Nice and easy, Eight on a Hand.”

  The drummers finished the warm up and before Bronwyn knew it, practice was over. She had been so intent on looking and acting the part that she hadn’t been distracted by Tony’s constant antics to try and mess her up. Overall, she was proud of herself.

  As they walked back to the school, J.D. came up next to her and commented, “You looked okay out there today, B.”

  “Th-thanks.” Bronwyn knew J.D. rarely gave out anything that sounded remotely like a compliment, but that was certainly one.

  Bronwyn put Stewie away in the percussion room and was on her way to call her Dad from the pay phone when Ben caught up with her, “Hey, Flueger, need a ride home?”

  Bronwyn smiled appreciatively. Being an underclassman, there was nothing more embarrassing than hav
ing to wait around for your parents…especially when almost everyone else in the section could come and go whenever they wanted. She answered, “That would be great. Mind if I just call the ‘rents and let them know?”

  “You don’t have a cell phone?”

  She looked down, “Not yet – they won’t let me have one until I can pay for it myself.”

  “Bummer – just use mine then.”

  “Thanks.”

  Bronwyn silently prayed that her sometimes overprotective, but well meaning parents, would go along with the plan. She turned away and said, “Hey Mom – I’m going to ride home with Ben tonight – he’s on tenors.”

  The first lesson Lucy had instructed her on was how to be more forceful. Rather than ask permission, Bronwyn stated her intentions.

  “Oh – okay, honey, be safe.”

  “Will do.”

  Bronwyn passed the phone back and they walked towards Ben’s bright red truck.

  “El Caliente,” Ben said as he unlocked the door. Bronwyn got into the appropriately named ride, and it suddenly dawned on her she had never been in a car alone…with a guy. Her tongue suddenly felt huge in her mouth and she wondered how she was ever going to pull together a normal sentence.

  * * *

  CHAPTER TWO: Boot Camp

  Bronwyn took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Even though her brain was currently empty, she knew somewhere in her head there were some definite safe and normal topics to discuss. Then she realized Ben was looking at her, waiting for an answer.

  Had he said something?

  The quint player asked, “You live at the corner of Shire Way and Calley, right?”

  “Yup.”

  Score one for me; I answered a question!

  With one question successfully out of the way, Bronwyn felt braver and more confident. She scanned her head for any memories or facts she knew about Ben, other than the fact that he was a junior and he played tenors.

  Bronwyn finally managed to say, “You guys sounded good today.”

  “Really?” His tone implied the opposite.

  Bronwyn cringed, because she honestly did not know the first thing about how the quints sounded. Her attempt at small talk didn’t go forward like she thought it would. She managed to reply neutrally, “Umm…yes.”

  “Thanks.”

  Many thoughts were going through Bronwyn’s head, the most important of which was, if I make a good impression, I will not have to wait for Mom and Dad to pick me up from practice every day. Bronwyn forced herself to sound what she hoped was carefree and easy, and asked simply, “So, how was your summer?”

  “It was pretty cool. I went to the beach and worked as a lifeguard for my neighborhood pool.”

  “Sounds like a good gig.”

  “It was pretty decent money – other than getting up ass early, it was alright. What did you get up to?”

  As much as she wanted to badmouth her Captain and his despotic style, Bronwyn knew there was enough gossip and backtalk within the section already, so she said diplomatically, “I practiced a lot.”

  “Oh yeah, that’s right, I forgot you’re not old enough to legally work yet.”

  “Well, it’s not like I’m completely without cash – I babysit sometimes. I’m hoping to start teaching after the season is over.” Bronwyn was surprised at her confession. Teaching percussion was something she had only thought about, and had never mentioned to anyone else.

  “Yeah?”

  “We’ll see, I don’t know yet.”

  “I bet you’d be a good teacher.”

  “Let’s hope so – oh, here we are – it’s the one with the steep driveway.” As he pulled to a stop, she got out of the car, and added politely, “Thanks, Ben.”

  “Anytime. Take it easy.”

  Bronwyn closed the car door and was unsure if ‘anytime’ meant he would be happy to be her escort for the coming season, or he was just being polite.

  To: karatechop@state.edu

  From: FHHSsnaregrl@FHHS.edu

  Re: A little help…

  Hey Luce –

  I just finished my first practice with the Battery. I think it’s going to be a good season.

  One problem, Tony’s still being a total asshole. Any suggestions?

  Have classes started for you yet? Have you moved in? Let me know!

  B

  To: FHHSsnaregrl@FHHS.edu

  From: karatechop@state.edu

  Re: Re: A little help…

  B,

  Yeah, I went ahead and moved in early (with everyone’s favorite pug, Pam, of course). Although I’m totally missing Wes, part of me couldn’t wait to get out and on my own. I know he’s doing well back in the U.K…and I should probably be missing him more, but I’ve been down this weird road of separation before, and it’s just easier to let things go, rather than dragging them out. We’ll see how it all ends up. All I can say right now is, thank goodness for Skype!

  To answer your question, it won’t help things if you tell Tony off publicly, because if you emasculate him in front of everyone, they will all be on his side (bros before hos, unfortunately). However, something tells me that Tony won’t respond to you talking to him one on one either. So it looks like, you gotta wait him out and hope that everyone figures out what a loser he’s being and calls him on it. While patience is difficult, at the end of the day, remember that you are playing snare and he is not. Either way, good luck! Vent when necessary.

  Have fun at band camp! Drink lots of water!

  Lucy

  Bronwyn finished reading Lucy’s e-mail and looked over her things as she carefully packed for the upcoming week. Last year’s band camp had been one of the most fun weeks of her entire life and she was hoping this year’s would be similar.

  BRRRRIINNGGG!

  “Shut that damn thing off!”

  “Mmph. Five more minutes…”

  “Sorry girls!” Bronwyn scrambled out of bed to stop the alarm clock. Much to Meredith and Megan’s dismay, Bronwyn had set the speaker to extra loud because there was no way she was going to miss her first early morning warm up. Last year, as a member of the Pit, she had to sit and watch the Battery line up. This year, she was first in the makeshift equipment room and proudly put on her snare drum and walked outside into the pre-dawn air. It was tradition in the Forrest Hills marching band that they all march to breakfast together to the beats of the drumline. After Henry had warmed everyone up and the rest of the band had lined up in their respective blocks, J.D. signaled for You Know What He Did, one of everyone’s favorite cadences. Because of the narrow sidewalk, the snares had to break up and march in pairs. Bronwyn fell into place at the back with Adam. They were in front of the quints, a fact Bronwyn was entirely grateful for – she knew if Tony was behind her he would probably do his best to try and trip her up.

  Finally, they arrived at the dining hall. Another tradition was for the band to stand at attention until the “section of the day” was dismissed by the band director, Mr. Izzo. That section got to go in before the seniors and get first dibs on the food. From there, the dismissal went in order of classes. Bronwyn and the snares stood at perfect attention waiting directly in front of Drew, Alex, and Samantha, the drum majors. Bronwyn found it odd that Drew had stopped near the Line. Last year, it seemed he had always been no further than five feet away from the Guard or Majorettes. As Bronwyn looked straight ahead, practicing her mean drumline face, Drew caught her eye, smiled, and winked at her. Bronwyn was so surprised by his actions that she dropped her sticks. The pieces of oak clattered loudly on the sidewalk, echoing loudly across the band standing at parade rest. J.D. looked back from the front of the Line, anger written across his face. This was not the image he wanted for his section.

  Bronwyn made no move to pick up her sticks and saw Drew trying to hold back a laugh and failing miserably. Interestingly, she was less concerned about what J.D.’s punishment would be and more worried about what Drew was currently thinking. This was one of her first interactions with
him in months and it wasn’t exactly how she wanted to be remembered.

  Mr. Izzo called the Sousas first, which didn’t surprise anyone, since he used to play the large instrument himself. Then the seniors were released. J.D. carefully placed his snare down and moved into Bronwyn’s space. He hissed at her, “You’ll stand at attention through breakfast. Don’t think I won’t know if you don’t.”

  Bronwyn blinked and was brought back to a moment during her freshman year. She had been riding home with Lucy, who had warned her that a situation like this might happen. While her mentor had no specifics to offer, the bass drummer advised that Bronwyn would be tested, and need to prove herself in some way.

  Hearing people whisper loudly as they walked by her, Bronwyn was brought back to the present. She locked her blue grey eyes on J.D.’s deep brown ones, but didn’t break the stare. As he and Ben walked toward the cafeteria, she overheard Ben ask, “Dude, don’t you think you’re being a little extreme?”