“Dinner will be ready in fifteen minutes. And don’t worry, I’ll talk to Melanie, and we’ll work this whole thing out,” Mom says.
I swivel back to her, eyes wide. “No, don’t say anything to his mom about this.”
“Why not? She’s so understanding, I’m sure she can help.”
“But I don’twanthelp. I don’t want you calling his mom and telling her Max was being mean to me like we’re still in third grade or something. I can handle myself and I can handle Max.”
Dad gives me a reproachful look. He hates when I say anything to Mom that isn’t the most respectful because, in his words,Your mom is a superhero. Nothing works around here without her.But sometimes Mom is too eager to swoop in and use her superhero abilities to save everything. The meddling might have worked when I was still Kelsey’s age, but I don’t need it anymore.
She puts up her hands in defense. “I’m just saying, communication is never a bad thing. If you don’t want me to help, then fine, but that means you need to be the one to reachout.”
I can’t think of a thing to say that won’t get me in trouble, so I march out to the backyard. It’s easy to tell me to reach out, but they didn’t see Max’s expression when I tried to make simple conversation with him. It was like I was an owlbear trying to eat his face off.
In a different world, I’d love to be friends with him again. I haven’t forgotten all the evenings we spent around thedining room table, playing Uno and Monopoly and eating way too many nachos, while our parents were downstairs. No one ever made me laugh the way I laughed with Max. But no one ever irritated me as much either. Unfortunately for me, he seems to have retained only one of those talents.
Chapter Four
“Can we have a break?” Rosa complains on Friday during morning practice. “We’ve been doing this forever, and I’m so sweaty my hair’s getting ruined.”
Rosadoeshave enviable shiny long hair, but I can attest that it won’t last long in color guard.
“Actually we just had a break twenty minutes ago,” I say.
Yori sighs and leans her head on Rosa’s shoulder. “But I’m tired.”
A few of the others nod, looking slumped and exhausted. I can’t blame them. People think color guard is easy, but it isn’t. We’re constantly in motion, and our timing and synchronization have to be perfect. But the thing is, it’s not going to get easier by not practicing. In fact, it’s likely to get a lot worse, because when the weather changes during the fall, we’re almost assured to have at least a few stormy or windy football games and competitions. This is nothingcompared to swinging around a massive, waterlogged flag flinging mud in your face.
“How about this?” I say and try for a cheery tone. “Let’s run through the field commands one time, then run through our first competition song once, andthenwe’ll get a break. Yeah?”
I think it’s a decent compromise, but no one is thrilled.
“Hiya!” a voice calls and we all spin to see Faith. She looks stunning as always, her long blond hair perfectly straight and parted in the middle, in a stylish dress and flats. In comparison, I’m wearing my band shirt from freshman year and my hair is more frizz than curl. She squeals at the sight of us. “Look at all of you! This brings back so many memories. I brought iced coffee and doughnuts!”
Everyone screams in delight and runs to huddle around her. She sets down a huge jug and brown paper bag and works her way through the group, giving hugs to each of the members.
“Faith!”
“Omigod, your timing is perfect!”
“You’re the best!”
I stand apart from the group, agitation growing in me even as I try to push it away. Of course everyone’s happy to see her—she’s bringing them free food and a break from practicing. But it would’ve been helpful to know she was coming today, and that she planned on bringing all this. I could have pitched in or at least planned our rehearsal accordingly. Now I look like even more of a jerk.
“I had a dream of bringing you all real iced coffees, butyour girl’s too broke for that!” She laughs and they join in, utterly charmed by her. Only Li looks back to check on me. I wave her on to get a doughnut. “I tried my hand at making iced coffee at home and grabbed some doughnuts. Hopefully, this’ll be enough.”
“It’s more than enough!” Keira says. “We haven’t gotten any fun things at camp. I heard the percussion section is having pizza delivered today for lunch, and the flutes are going out for ice cream after.”
I squeeze my eyes shut. Welp, that would explain why the group seems on edge today. Now that I think of it, Nova mentioned that the woodwinds have a sectional dinner planned for tonight. And the trumpets all dressed up like superheroes today. Ugh, I’m the worst color guard captainever.
“What’s on the schedule for this afternoon?” Faith asks.
“Drill down,” Devin says.
“Oh my god, it’s drill down day?” Faith’s eyes flash with excitement. “I used to love drill down.”
“What’s drill down?” Callie asks.
“A competition to see who knows the field commands the best,” Madisyn replies in a bored voice.
