Free The Line by Courtney Brandt

everything that’s coming up, I don’t want to risk getting sick. Is that okay?”
    Nevada flashed a quick smile and said, “Sure thing, Luce, we’ll get you home.”
    As they pulled up to the Karate residence, Lucy quickly kissed Nevada’s cheek and said, “Thanks for understanding.”
    “You still owe me a date, Lucy Karate.”
    Although she assumed his tone of voice would make other girls jump back in the car, Lucy was more focused on going inside to check and see if Sam responded. She smiled at the cymbal player and answered, “I know.”
    As she carefully closed the car door and Nevada watched her walk inside, he mused out loud, “So, she wants to play hard to get?”
    As soon as she saw Nevada drive away, Lucy sprinted upstairs to her computer and looked to see if she had any new e-mails. When she saw there were none, tears of frustration began forming and finding their way down her face.
     
    “…in conclusion, I think it would be best if the upperclassmen check them out this Friday. After considering all our options, basically, I just don’t want them to forget we’re around,” said Jerm, addressing the upperclassmen gathered at the lunch table on Monday.
    Lucy breathed a huge sigh of relief. After the dramatics of Friday night and a disappointing Saturday, she wasn’t going to be able to follow through with her infiltration plan anyway. Relief quickly turned into anxiety when Lucy realized she was going to see Sam. This Friday.
     
    * * *
     
     

CHAPTER SEVEN: LET THE GAMES BEGIN
     

    The week wound down to Friday and Lucy still hadn’t received a response of any kind from Sam – not an e-mail or instant message, phone call or text message. In her room, the Forrest Hills junior grudgingly prepared for the big showdown between the drumlines. She didn’t know exactly what was appropriate to wear to see one’s opposing drumline that also included a guy you had lied to, but still kind of wanted to date. After penning a series of somewhat depressing journal entries, Lucy realized she was having a harder time than she thought getting over a relationship that had really just started. She also struggled over whether or not to come clean with her own Line, including Nevada, about the whole thing. As her first attempt with the truth hadn’t gone so well, Lucy decided against it. Anyway, tonight she planned to hang back and work on being invisible, keeping as low a profile as possible.
    Maybe the South drummers have already forgotten I completely betrayed their Captain…
    And Chuck Norris might lose a fight. Face it, it’s not going to happen.
    After calling Molly to check her wardrobe selection, Lucy opted for black shorts, a green tank top, her drumline jacket, and a visor. It wasn’t dressed up, but no one would mistake her for a guy by the length of her shorts. The brunette smiled at her reflection – she had a great pair of legs and was proud to use them when the situation called for it.
    At Jerm’s scheduled timing, Lucy drove over to the school. With everyone wearing their drumline jackets, the group looked like some sort of weird gang. Finally, the last person pulled up and Jerm gave the okay to head over to the South Washington stadium. Although Nevada had urged her to ride to the rival school in his car, Lucy chose to ride with Molly in Tom’s minivan. Even though they had arrived early, like Forrest Hills, South Washington’s football team was very competitive and usually filled the stands to a capacity crowd.
    As they made their way through the packed bleachers, Lucy noted it was a warm evening early in the fall, the perfect night for a football game, or a halftime show. Jerm had decided the Line was going to make their move when the South Washington percussionists warmed up at the end of the second quarter. Until then, everyone waited on the opposing side benches. South’s stands were full, and wearing a rival Forrest Hills jacket in the middle of them wasn’t exactly the smartest