Free Connection (Le Garde) by Emily Ann Ward Page A

shrug. “Yeah, our instruments sound good together,” I said and nearly winced at how stupid that sounded.
    “ No, it’s the two of you, not your instruments!” Mrs. Bender replied. She gasped and looked around at us with wide eyes. “What do you think happened with the electricity?”
    “ That was so scary!” Allie said and shuddered. “Especially when they started going on and off like that, like in scary movies!”
    My clarinet case nearly slipped from my sweaty palm. I tried to wipe my hands on my black slacks. It did nothing.
    “ It was interesting,” Mr. Bender said, staring at Aaron.
    “ Didn’t the conductor say it was the fuse box?” Ginger asked.
    “ No, it’s the weirdest thing, they said the fuse box was fine,” Mrs. Bender said. “Well, I’m sure they’ll figure it out.” She smiled at me. “Aaron’s grades are really going up because of you, Anna! Thank you so much.”
    I smiled. “It’s no problem.”
    “ I keep hoping you’re not doing the work for him,” Mr. Bender said, his arms crossed.
    I shook my head, letting out an uneasy laugh. “No, it’s all him.” I motioned to Aaron. He was the one writing it down, at least.
    “ Well, you guys should come over for dinner sometime!” Mrs. Bender said, beaming at Mom. “It’s been a while since we’ve had you over, Nadia!”
    It’d been never, actually. My mom always thought of excuses to get out of dinner with the Benders, but my sisters had been over. “Thank you,” Mom replied, inclining her head. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
    “ We should get going,” Mr. Bender said.
    Mrs. Bender touched his arm. “Right. Well, good job, Anna! Have a great Spring Break! It was great seeing you, girls!”
    “ See you,” Aaron said to me, and I nodded to him.
    The Benders disappeared into the crowd. I thought I might feel better with Aaron gone, but I started to feel shaky. I turned to my mom and gave her a weak smile. “Ready to go?”
    “ Are you all right?” She reached forward and touched my face. “You’re hot. Like you have a fever.”
    “ I don’t know,” I said, gazing in the direction Aaron had gone. “I’m tired, I guess. Let’s go home.”
    She gave me a concerned look, and we moved through the crowd of people to the parking lot.  The cool air felt good on my skin. I wiped sweat off my brow as we went to my mom’s old station wagon. She’d had this thing since Allie was born. When I first met Aaron, it was actually kind of new.
    “ Are you sure you’re all right?” Mom asked as she started the engine.
    “ Yeah,” I said. “Maybe it’s an after effect of stage fright.”
    “ You didn’t look nervous at all,” Ginger said.
    I shot her a grateful smile. “Thanks, but I was.   .   .although it wore off by the second song.” My smile widened a little bit as I thought of Mr. Boyd’s murderous look when we turned around after the unplanned song.
    We drove past the Benders in the parking lot. There was sudden proximity and then a vacuum where Aaron used to be. I groaned, rubbing my temples. I hated when that happened.
    Mom gasped and started speaking in French. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    I looked up at her. “Tell you what?”
    Her mouth fell open like she was surprised at my response, and she shook her head. She looked ahead, exhaling, and didn’t say anything else.
    When we got home, I went straight to my bedroom. I took a long shower and curled up in my bed. Why had I held my hand up for a high five? Oh, right, because I’d felt so elated at our successful songs. I didn’t mess up once, and the connection with Aaron had me soaring like I was a bird: his knowledge of the song, his joy, his amusement.
    I pulled the covers over my head. Why hadn’t our touch ever done this before? We’d been best friends for seven years, and nothing like this had ever happened. I traced the design on my comforter and I heard my phone buzz on my nightstand. It was a text from Aaron: We could be heroes.
    I