Under The Lights

Out There

For maybe the first time in her life, Kaylee looks awkward.

I guess I can see how the pre-home game hype in the band room could be a little intimidating to an outsider, but I don't regret asking Evan and Kaylee to meet me here after school.

"Where's Evan?" I ask her.

She rolls her eyes. "Late, as always. What's that?" She's pointing at the instrument Ian, a sophomore, is heaving out of a case.

"A marching baritone," I reply. Ian sets it on its bell and disappears, returning a moment later with a euphonium. It looks like he's attempting unsuccessfully to tune them.

Evan bursts through the door, grandly sidesteps the low brass tuning exposition that's happening in the middle of the floor, and stops in front of us. "Sorry. I had to stop by the locker room and-"

Kaylee silences him with a wave of her hand. "Let's make this fast. I'm helping a few juniors with makeup, and that's going to take a while."

"I just wanted to remind all of us," I begin timidly, "that it doesn't matter how many people show up to watch. It doesn't matter if no one shows up. We're not trying to impress anyone. We're doing it because we love it. Right?"

"Right!" Evan says enthusiastically.

Kaylee scowls thoughtfully, but I continue. "So Evan is gonna play a killer game. And Kaylee and I are gonna put on a killer halftime show."

"Erica?" My slightly cheesy pep talk is interrupted by Jona, standing behind me with his regional football bracket.

"What's up?"

He holds out the paper. "It's just- have you seen this?"

Evan peers at it over Jona's forearm. "Is that the bracket?"

"Yeah. Assuming we lose another game somewhere down the line, we have to win this game to stay eligible for playoffs."

"So we can lose one more game," Kaylee summarizes.

"Yeah," Evan says. "And if we lose today, we have to win literally every game for the rest of the season."

Jona glances at me, looking a little bit uncomfortable. "Yeah. Well, I just wanted you to know."

He walks away, and Evan jerks a thumb in his direction. "Who's he?"

"That's my friend Jona. He likes to keep track of... our record and stuff. I don't really know much about it."

Evan's eyes wander after him. "That's cool."

"Well," Kaylee says, brushing out a wrinkle in her uniform, "if that's all, I'm gonna go get set up. Good luck tonight, guys."

•••

Seeing myself reflected in the mirror in my drum major uniform is an instant hit of confidence. Any excuse to linger here in the uniform room is a good one.

The room is dim, lit only by a sliver of light slipping through the six inches of space between the ajar door and the wall. My eyes flicker from the lines of empty uniform hangers along the walls to the swaying door to my neatly french-braided brown hair to their own reflections, two green pinpoints shining nervously in the mirror.