Mirror, Mirror

Chapter Six

Chapter 6

“Okay, so what’s the problem?” I asked Ivy.

We all sat in my bedroom. Danny and I were on the bed; Ivy was on the floor.

“Well, Drake wants me to join Marching Band.”

I burst out laughing, prompting her to frown.

“It’s not funny!” She protested.

“Um, yeah…it is. You don’t play an instrument,” Danny pointed out.

“Why do you feel like you have to?” I peered at her curiously.

“I like him a lot,” she glanced down. “I just want to make him happy. He’s the Drum Major.”

Aww, how cute. No, really. Our school’s colors were black and red: the marching band uniforms could be pretty sexy on the right people.

“Any ideas?” She looked at us hopefully.

“On how to learn how to play an instrument, along with this year’s march, in a weekend? No. Besides, the season already started. You’ll have to wait until next year.” I replied.

“It barely started! We’ve only been in school for like, a week,” she whined.

“You do realize they practice before school starts, right? The Auxiliary practices all summer.” Danny intervened.

“The Auxiliary?” Ivy looked hopeful again.

“The group of, typically, girls with flags, rifles, and letters that march in front, and sometimes behind, the band.” Danny explained patiently.

“That sounds easy!” Ivy piped up.

“It’s not,” I replied simply.

“How would you know?” Ivy challenged.

“I was in it freshman year. It’s insanely hard, believe me,” I huffed.

“How so?” I got Danny’s attention now.

“One, flag work is very hard to learn, master, and remember. Two, you have to march and do a bit of footwork, too. Three, you have to keep in time with the band and the rest of the Guard. Four, you’re always hitting yourself. Five,-” I was interrupted by Ivy.

“Okay, okay. I get it. But I still want to do it,” Ivy was being very stubborn. “Cheerleading was easy,” she added.

“Well Auxiliary is more than clapping your hands and spelling things,” I retorted. “Tell him you’ll do it next year, and then you can practice with the rest of the team over the summer. If you try and fail this year, don’t blame me,” I suggested.

“Do it with me! You know the stuff, you can help me!” She pleaded.

“Ugh, fine,” I replied. “But only because you and Danny are helping me with my curse.” I frowned. “Can we do something else now? I’m bored,” I glanced at Danny.

He always had fun ideas.

“I suggest we start brainstorming ideas for the dance. Let’s look online for some ideas,” he suggested.

“I picture Ivy in a green dress with black lace,” I commented.

“Oooh, I like that,” she replied. “Where do you suggest we get our dresses, masks, and Danny’s suit?”

“I think we should start out at the mall,” I suggested.

“Let’s do it tomorrow,” Danny said.

“Yeah, good idea. Ivy, you should email Larissa, the coach, about Guard,” I settled into my bed. “Her email address should be in my contacts,” I added.

Ivy sat at my computer and opened the Yahoo! Homepage.

“What’s your password, again?” She asked me.

“Bringing sexy back. No spaces or capitalizations,” I replied simply.

“Damn right!” Danny whipped out his iPod and put the song on, dancing wildly.

“Oh my god. Why am I friends with you, again?” I rolled my eyes at him sarcastically.

“Because you loveeee meee,” he dragged it out, acting like a little girl.

Ivy ignored us, “Ro, you got an email.”

“From who?” I stared at my ceiling, figuring it was spam.

She paused a second before reading out loud, “Derrek Ryans.”

“Who’s that?” I wondered.

“He’s in my chemistry class. He’s pretty hot,” Danny said.

“Why would he email me? More importantly, why does he have my email address?” I questioned.

“Um,” Ivy began awkwardly. “We kind of signed you up for something,” she admitted sheepishly.

“Care to tell me about it?” I snapped.

“Don’t be angry!” Danny pleaded. “I mean, we just got you a date to the dance with Derrek Ryans!”

“He’s a total stranger!” I protested.

“Exactly!” Ivy exclaimed. “It’s perfect!”

“Can you at least read me the email? His name alone makes him sound like a cocky jerk,” I frowned.

“Nope, I already deleted it,” Ivy replied.

“Why?!” I asked in exasperation.

“I don’t want you to even get an idea of what he’s like. You’ll jump to conclusions,” she smirked.

“No I won’t!”

“Yes, you will,” Danny supplied. “Trust me.”

“Ugh, fine. But-” I started.

“No buts. You’re just gonna have to deal with this,” Danny stuck his tongue out at me.

“So what exactly did you sign me up for?” I asked, impatiently.

“A matchmaking service thing. It was a fundraiser. Danny and I did it, too,” Ivy responded.

“What if we got creepers!” I shrieked.

“No, they don’t sign up for it, because they don’t go to the dance. It’s just for single people, and one of the two get to help pick their partner,” Ivy replied.

“It’s how she scored Drake,” Danny winked.

“So does Danny get a hot gay guy?” I smirked.

He nodded eagerly, “they had a small list for gays. I was so excited, you don’t even know.”

“I bet I do,” I smiled, picturing his happy dance.

“Now let’s get looking,” Ivy grinned mischievously.