A Fine Line (24 page)

Can you blame him?

As the bass drummer turned around, prepping herself to give a verbal lashing to whomever it was that thought band girls were easy, she heard an unfamiliar voice.

“Hey.”

Lucy tried to control the surprise on her face when she recognized the 6-foot plus of broad shouldered burly linebacker, Sean Fitzpatrick. Willing herself not to be intimidated, she asked rudely, “Can I help you?”

As Gina and Mandy loitered nearby, Lucy decided she could handle the situation on her own, “I can take it from here, girls.”

With that tone of voice, Lucy’s best friends had every confidence that the brunette was entirely capable of handling herself – even with a person who could easily bench press her with one hand.

“See you at Waffle House,” Gina called over her shoulder.

The awkward couple watched the girls walk away.

“What did you do to Wes?” Sean asked.

Lucy blatantly rolled her eyes and answered, “If that’s what you came to talk about, then there’s really nothing to say. It’s more like what he did to me.”

“Are you so sure about that?”

Lucy practically growled, “C’mon Sean, I’m sure you were there. He had to have been bragging about what ‘happened’ that infamous weekend that no one in this school can seem to shut up about!”

Sean scratched his head and looked away.

Lucy put her arms on the football player’s massive shoulders and swung Sean back around so he was looking at her, “He was bragging, right, Sean?”

“Umm…”

“What do you mean, ummm?”

Sean let out a frustrated sigh, “Seriously, he didn’t give us any specific details.”

“WHAT?! I want the whole story, now.”

Sean put his hands up and replied, “Fine. Basically, we asked what he was doing with you…and I think he said something like ‘if you spend a night with a girl it means something.’”

Lucy blinked in disbelief, “That’s exactly what he said? Then how in the hell did Gina and Mandy get involved in the rumor?”

Sean looked away again, unable to meet Lucy’s intense green eyed gaze, “Well, we obviously took that statement to mean you two had, ahem, whatever, then he tried to defend himself and said something like, ‘well, her two friends were there, too.’”

Lucy crossed her arms and tapped her foot impatiently, “I suppose next you’re going to tell me he tried to stop you guys from believing the wrong thing.”

“Actually…”

Lucy sighed and sat down heavily on the curb. Sean sat down awkwardly next to her.

Sean asked, “So…can you make it better?”

It was such a simple question, and one Lucy didn’t really know how to answer.

Sean cracked his knuckles and admitted, “See, here’s the thing. I don’t know if you can relate at all, but you’re a senior too, so here goes. This is our last shot – if we win State, it’s going to really mean a lot to everyone at the whole school…to me. We have to have Wes at the top of his game in order to have a shot. I don’t know if you can understand this whole thing, but I’ve been playing football since I was like six, and winning state would be the biggest thing ever. I don’t want to look back at my senior year and have any regrets.”

Lucy couldn’t believe she and the Defensive Captain for the Forrest Hills Football team were actually talking, let alone having this weirdly personal conversation, but there it was and she did understand where he was coming from. She asked, “Sean, somehow, I get what you’re saying. What do you want me to do?”

“Talk to him.”

Lucy chewed her lip, “I don’t know. It might be too soon after the whole Homecoming debacle. I doubt he’ll even want to talk to me.”

“Look, I’ve watched the kid. He’s moping. Football players do not mope. Plus, Semi’s are this weekend and if we can beat Zion then we can get to State.”

“I still don’t get how me talking to Wes is going to make his football game better.”

Sean raked a hand through his hair, “I don’t know either, but what I do know is that up until that practice Wes was doing awesome and now he’s totally off.”

Lucy said bitterly, “Why don’t you ask Tiffany to help?”

“Don’t be dense. She’s not going to help. It’s you he wants.”

Conversations I never thought I would have? Discussing how my relationship with a football player could help us win State football.

To Sean, she said, “I’ll think about it.”

Lucy shrugged off the questioning looks Gina and Mandy gave her when she got to Waffle House that night. This was something she needed to figure out for herself.

…
I don’t want to look back at my senior year and have regrets…

Sean’s words played over and over in Lucy’s head.

But what do I owe Wes?

A good season. Another chance. There’s still a semester and some change left in your senior year. How do you want to remember it?

Maybe…

A week later, the outcome of the semifinal game didn’t look good for the Forrest Hills Flyers. The buzzer was sounding for halftime and the team was down by nine points. Lucy and the rest of the marching band were already on the far side of the field, ready to go on. Wes looked across as he and the rest of the team headed into the locker room, wishing that he could stay and see the performance.

It’s probably the last time they’ll ever run it…

Don’t let this be the last time we run the show.

Lucy wasn’t ready to put her bass drum away just yet. She wasn’t ready to say goodbye to the cadences and stands music, to the show and dancing with Tom…

You can do something about it.

The third quarter came and Forrest Hills added an additional seven points. Still down by two and nearing the end of the fourth quarter, the starting kicker had pulled his hamstring and now, as the team gained a few yards per down, it was up to Wes to make things right. Lucy looked at the clock, at her friends, and at the field. Without hesitating, she zipped up her drumline jacket, straightened her swing dress underneath it, squared her shoulders and made her way through the band. The semifinals were held in the local stadium, so she could only hope that she had enough time left on the clock and gumption to get past security.

Wes was warming up with the practice net, wondering how he was going to face his school after the inevitable loss on Monday…

“Hey there.”

Wes turned around, wondering what that voice was doing on the field and not up in the stands.

“Lucy.”

He began to speak, “I…”

She shook her head and said, “Sean told me what went on in the locker room that day.”

The fact that there was a major sporting event going on in the background didn’t seem to distract Wes at all. He responded, “I really did try and stop them. You have to know that.”

“I believe you.”

A grin broke across the features of the handsome football player.

Lucy continued, “I also think an apology is in order.”

“Smallest cup?” he quipped in mock anger, but was still smiling.

Lucy twirled a finger around her ponytail and said shyly, “I don’t think I woke up next to anything small that morning.”

“Cheeky.”

One of the assistant coaches shouted, “Mallinson – you’re up!”

“One moment.”

Lucy couldn’t help as an identical smile broke across her own face, “Go ahead, Wes. They’re waiting for you.”

But instead of heading towards the field and the winning points, he closed the distance between them, and right there on the sidelines, the uniformed football player swept up the drumline girl into a fantastic embrace. One of the nearby cameramen didn’t need his program director to tell him that this was a great shot; he zoomed in on the passionate couple, who were completely oblivious to the rest of the world.

Up in the control booth, the program director, took the shot and broadcast it over the Jumbotron, letting the entire stadium in on their moment.

From the band section, Mandy and Gina shared a smile with Tom, in honor of their love-crazy friend. Bronwyn and Molly looked across at each other in the percussion section and burst into laughter.

Wes finally broke the kiss, which had left them both breathless.

The assistant coach rolled his eyes, “Alright, lover-boy, get in there and get us three.”

Lucy stepped back, watching Wes jog out and join his teammates on the field. She caught and returned a salute from Sean. And from the sidelines, Lucy Karate watched with pride as her boyfriend, with four seconds to spare, kicked the winning field goal that sent the entire Forrest Hills team to State Finals.

* * *

Epilogue

Lucy twirled the enormous ring around her neck and asked, “Are you sure you want me to wear this?”

Wes finished closing the clasp to the necklace and put his arm around his girlfriend’s neck and replied, “Well, considering how if it hadn’t been for you, then I wouldn’t have it in the first place, I’d definitely say you’ve earned the right to wear the State Championship ring.”

With that, the high school’s most infamous couple made their way through the halls, oblivious to anything but each other.

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Thanks for reading – I hope you’ll want to check up on further adventures of the Forrest Hills drumline. Read more in Keeping in Line and The Line Up, also available in print or online.

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