Under The Lights

Sixteen

Dedicated to the beautiful bass clarinetist who lended my main character her name. Erica, you are a gift to this band and this world 🎷

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I walk into my last class extremely excited to do my job, as promised to Evan and Kaylee.

And I don't have to wait long for an opportunity. When I sit down at my table in English, I glance around at my seat mates. Jacob, Sarah, and Kelly are three people you would not expect to find at the football games.

Jacob and Sarah are deep in a discussion about a book, so I turn to Kelly first. "Hey," I say.

She raises an eyebrow. "Hi."

Kelly has always sort of scared me. She wears a lot of chains and dark clothing, and she never really talks to anyone in class. I figure the best way is just to jump right in. "You gonna come to the first home game next week?"

"Are you talking about football?" She sounds surprised.

"Um, yeah. But it's not just about-"

"I don't like football." She turns away.

"It's not just football! The marching band plays at halftime, and-"

Sarah looks up from her conversation with Jacob, suddenly interested. "Marching band? My boyfriend is in the marching band. He plays the trombone."

I'm immeasurably relieved. "Aaron, right?"

"Yeah! You know him?"

"Yep. Hey, are you gonna come to the game next week? It's our first halftime show."

She frowns a little. "I don't know. Aaron says the football team isn't very good."

"They're better this year," I promise. "And our show is gonna be really good."

"Hey, maybe I will go," she says thoughtfully. "What about you, Jacob?"

"I dunno," he says. His face reddens a little. "I wouldn't really have anyone to sit with. Most of my friends are in the band."

"You can sit with me!" she says brightly.

Kelly watches all of this with a scowl on her face. "You're gonna go just to see the band play?"

"Not just that," I add quickly. "It's gonna be a lot of fun in the student section."

Kelly snorts. "There's barely a student section; I hear no one goes."

"Right, but this year will be different. There will be a student section, trust me."

Kelly shakes her head. "There is no way I'm going to that."

You win some, you lose some, I think, watching Sarah and Jacob talking excitedly about their friends in band.

After class, I join Cara coming out of the class across from mine, and we head towards the band room.

"You'll never believe what I've been doing today," I say.

Suddenly, I see Evan walking the opposite direction. When he sees me, he stops in the middle of the hall. "Hey! Erica!"

His friends look surprised; so does Cara. I smile. "Hey."

"I talked to Coach Watkins- it's a go! He says we'll move some things around in the back and you can use that part."

"Thanks, Evan."

"No problem!"

Cara is staring at me, her blue eyes wide and stunned. "What the heck was that about?"