Under Ontario Skies

6. I don't wanna play with him.

"We'll see about that, Presley," Jessica hisses before Mrs. Davis clears her throat loudly to get everyone's attention.

"Alright, kids, now listen up." She pauses and looks around the room to make sure she's got everyone's attention.

"As y'all know of the Winter Musical our province organizes for all schools in Ontario each year, I thought of getting straight to the point. Our band leader, Alison, and I have been thinking about allocating each person a partner since y'all have been performing in groups of four for the past three or four years." At that, the chattering restarts.

"Now, now, there's no need to worry. I will explain how this is going to work. Y'all will be divided into pairs based on the matching tones of your instruments. Every pair needs to come up with a song cover or a creative piece of music. Out of y'all, two pairs will be chosen to perform at the winter musical. As you already know, y'all will be judged by me, our school's principal and Mrs. Greta Alderbridge, the head of all schools in Ontario—"

Mrs. Davis' voice is cut off as a panting Deon and a red-faced Tyler jogs into the band room. "Ashdown? Martinez? Where have you two been?" Mrs. Davis yells. She seldom gets mad, but when she does, she's furious.

"Um...we were...uh...we did." Tyler stutters.

"May I have a word with you two in private?" Mrs. Davis says through gritted teeth. They both nod and follow Mrs. Davis to the corner of the room. I search for Maddy in the Clarinet section and give her a questioning look. She shrugs, looking as confused as I am. After a few minutes, they return, and Tyler and Deon take their seats in the guitar section while Mrs. Davis goes back to talking about the Winter Musical.

"I filled Deon and Tyler in on the details. I'll let Alison read out the names of the pairs now," she says before Alison walks to the middle of the room and starts reading out names off a piece of paper.

"Joanne Knowles and myself, Liana Rhymes and Taylor Anderson, Jordan Parker and Clara James, Lacey Pearlington and Stephanie Crimson." The list goes on forever. I'm halfway listening, and my face screws in sympathy when I hear, "Ryan Gibbons and Jessica Wilson." Even though Ryan did cheat on me and dumped me, I feel sorry for him, because no one deserves to be played on by Jessica. I've known her for a few years now, and I know all her games because I have been keeping a close eye on her for the past couple of years. When it comes to dating guys, her motto is sort of like 'Use & dump.' She's been this way since we were fifteen.

The list continues...

"Madison Miller and Tyler Ashdown, Rebecca Williams and Courtney Biggs, Presley Jones and Ariel Kavanagh, and finally, Deon Martinez and Aiden Kavanagh." I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding. Ariel's a really nice person, and she plays the guitar while her twin brother, Aiden plays the Saxophone. We would do great at auditions, I'm sure of it.

I'm also relieved and a tad bit disappointed at the same time that I didn't get paired off with Deon. But, you know what? Let's make the best of it. No Deon, no distractions. The twins, Ariel and Aiden get up from their chairs and stride over to Mrs. Davis while everyone starts talking again.

"Kids! Listen up," Mrs. Davis yells. "So, there's been a slight change. Apparently, Ariel and Aiden will be outta town during the musical. Therefore, Presley will be pairing up with Deon." At once, my ears perk up, and I sit upright in my chair as a soft murmur starts circulating around the room.

"Gotcha," Jessica whispers from behind.

I ignore her and scan the crowd for Maddy. I see her smiling at me from ear to ear. I scowl at her when she sees me.

Deon's smirking at me from the guitar section, showing off his oh-so-sexy dimples.

Ughh! That damn smirk of his is gonna get me in deep trouble.