“Not everything revolves around making sure your life continues just the way you want it.”
“That’s not what I’m saying at all.” His words hit me harder than I could have anticipated. “It’s just, you’re new here and I wanted to warn you as a friend. Brody can be awful.” I swallow. “And he hates me.”
I hope that detail will matter to him. Instead, Max regards me with an indifferent expression.
“I’m not going to turn my back on my section, Hazel. Like you said, I’m the new kid,again,which means I have to adapt. This is me adapting. Now do me a favor and stay out of it.”
He walks away and I stand there, dumbfounded.
What. Was.That??
I feel like an idiot. What happened to the funny, nerdy boy I used to know? I thought he might be happy to see me, that he’d even miss me like I’ve missed him all these years. But clearly my assumptions about Max were actually delusions. He’s not the person I remember at all.
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, butSire’s made an exception for me. The realization makes me both excited and nervous. It means a lot to have his trust.
“Now you’reofficiallycaptain.” 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 theones 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 throughanything.
“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 avibefrom them.”
“Totally,” Deja agrees. “It was super weird.”
