Chương 14: Laying Low

Hannah watched the freshman follow her section leader back to join the other flutes. On one hand, she understood what Alyssa was doing. It was important for everyone to take breaks when they could. On the other hand, she kind of respected the younger girl's drive.

"She wasn't that good on Friday, was she?" Hannah looked over. Marcus's arms were crossed in front of his broad chest as he considered the freshman. The senior drum major wore a thoughtful expression as he watched her go.

"I don't think so," Hannah replied.

"I think we would have noticed, right?" Marcus chuckled.

"I'd hope so. Even if we didn't, Bryan would have. I've caught him paying her a lot of attention, though he hasn't had a single bit of criticism today." Hannah frowned. He had a point. Usually, if Bryan was paying attention to a freshman, it was to nip a bad habit in the bud. But she'd also thought she'd noticed him eyeing the girl's technique more than once. It was hard to tell beneath the sunglasses, though.

"What's her name again?" Marcus's question interrupted her musings.

"Olivia," Hannah answered without hesitation. Given that she was helping out in the freshman class, she'd honestly have no excuse for not knowing one of their names.

"Hmmm." Marcus tapped his bicep with one finger.

"Well, I'll never complain about picking up someone like that. Maybe she'll get good enough to deflate Paul's ego a bit." His tone was light, but Hannah knew there was a hint of truth to his statement. The trumpet could be a bit insufferable sometimes. Though his pride wasn't without reason. He was one of their best, both in music and marching. She just wished he wasn't so acutely aware of it.

"She's a great flute, too," Hannah offered.

"Maybe she was hiding in everyone else's sound before, but it's easy to pick out among the freshmen. She plays like a junior at the very least." The elder drum major shook his head with wonder.

"Some people get all the talent… I'm almost jealous." Hannah tilted her head.

"She could just be a workaholic. Maybe she spent the whole weekend practicing in front of a mirror?"

"Doubt it. I don't care who you are, two days isn't enough to make those kind of improvements." Marcus sighed.

"Well, we'll see if she keeps it up. Who knows? Maybe it'll be different once we're working on actual drill and music."

"Marcuuuuus!" The senior drum major turned. The center snare of the drumline grinned in their direction, his hands cupped around his mouth as he shouted. Marcus grinned and mimicked his stance.

"Stephennnnn!" Marcus gave Hannah a brief nod before heading toward his friend. She just smiled and began meandering between groups of her fellow band members, checking in with as many people as she could. Yet every once in a while, she found her attention drifting toward the quiet flute girl again. Somehow, she didn't see her falling behind anytime soon.

The rest of the week passed in a relatively mundane blur. Classes dragged by, homework was churned out almost as quickly as it was received, and her quiet demeanor allowed her to fly under the radar. Band continued to be a personal highlight of each day. At least there she felt like she could let loose a bit and enjoy the long-lost hobby of playing music. That, and improve her marching more. But things remained otherwise unremarkable.

Rather than disappointed in the lack of developments though, Olivia chose to see this as a victory. It had to be a good thing. The fewer interesting deviations from her previous life, the better. After another long and arduous day of sitting, drawing, and trying not to zone out too obviously, lunch finally arrived. The long-awaited break during which the kids could socialize without fear of reprisal from lecturing teachers.

She wandered out of Geography as the campus flooded once more with students that began to pool beneath overhangs, around tables, or atop the low walls that ringed various planters around campus. Older students laid claim to their usual haunts while newer ones began to settle into the new territories they'd been scouting out all week. Two more periods. Then I'll be free. Anticipation bubbled inside her at the thought. She'd practically forgotten the childlike excitement that most kids assigned to the weekend.

Sure, Back when she'd been working they'd been a great reprieve, but it had been a long time since she worked a standard job. She'd also seen it in George's face more than once, but elementary schoolers didn't experience the same kind of jaded attitude that older kids so often suffered from. And Cash had just started kindergarten—if anything, he was more excited to see his friends during the weekdays. Now, though? The idea of having two whole days to herself was absolutely princely.

Even getting double homework to match didn't bother her. Nor did the fact that Saturday would feature a significantly longer band practice than usual. Honestly, that's not even a negative. I'm kind of looking forward to it. Maybe we'll even start working on the actual show. Olivia hummed a tune to herself as she meandered through Ridgeview High's winding pathways. A warm breeze rustled her hair, carrying the scent of oak and one of the little flowery hedges that dotted the landscape.

Rather than floral, they had a strange and almost musky aroma that was oddly familiar, yet difficult to place. Let's see… maybe we'll try the south side of campus today. See if there's any nice spots over there. Olivia was still keeping to herself for lunch, at least for another few weeks. That felt like about the right amount of time before trying to settle at the edge of the band kids' group. But that just left ample opportunity to explore her old alma mater.

Her exploration took her to a collection of portables set along the edge of campus. A few clusters of students ate beneath scattered trees or in the shade cast by the buildings themselves. But the general lack of comfortable places to sit rendered this part of the grounds far more quiet and barren than most she'd come across. Olivia looked up at the chain link fence separating the classrooms from the street beyond. It wasn't particularly high. She wondered how often kids jumped it.

Probably not that much during school hours. I don't remember hearing about that being a problem or anything. Then again, I could see it being useful around the end of the day. If someone pulled over here, they might be able to avoid the traffic on the other side of campus. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

"Olivia? Is that you?" The unfamiliar voice startled her. Turning to look, Olivia came face to face with a muscular redheaded girl. The newcomer's pale blue eyes went round as she broke into a broad grin.

"It is!" The redhead swept forward to embrace her in a rib-cracking hug.

"Wow! It's so good to see you!" Olivia wheezed involuntarily under the pressure of the embrace. The girl suddenly released her and stepped back sheepishly, her face taking on a similar color to her hair.

"Sorry. I got a bit excited. I just haven't seen you in a minute, you know? How've you been?" Olivia simply stared at the girl before her. Not because she didn't recognize her, though. It was because she didn't expect to see her here at all. Nevertheless, she pulled herself together and returned the smile, albeit a bit more shyly.

"Hey, Melissa. I've been pretty good. What about you?"

"Great! Classes haven't got me down, yet, at least." The girl gave an energetic thumbs up.

"What are you up to?"

"Uh… nothing much. Just wandering around a bit," she admitted. Melissa puffed out her chest.

"Well, wander no more! You should come sit with us. We've got so much to catch up on!" Olivia hesitated. It was a kind offer, and tempting as well. But there was a reason Melissa had caught her off guard. The last time they'd spoken had been in middle school. After moving up to Ridgeview High, Olivia had drifted apart from the girl and her friends quickly. Not because she disliked them or anything. It was more of a consequence of her own inaction.

After an entire summer apart, dropping back in as though she simply belonged there felt… odd. Not to mention that she'd just never quite fit in with their friend group—a recurring theme throughout so much of her youth. Regardless of the reasons, the fact remained that Olivia hadn't spent any time with these kids during high school. Which meant that doing so now would be yet another deviation from the norm. She looked at Melissa's hopeful expression. But… she seems so legitimately excited.

I'd feel bad turning her down.

"... Sure," she relented. One day of catching up couldn't hurt. Probably. Melissa brightened.

"Great! Come on, the others are over by the tree." The redhead practically dragged Olivia toward the small group of freshmen lounging in the shade. There were four girls and two boys in total, faces that Olivia worked to connect with names from distant memories.

"Look who I found!" Melissa presented her companion proudly.

"Ta-dah!"

"Yo!" A mousey boy raised a hand in greeting.

"Long time no see." Olivia smiled. You're telling me. To them, it had only been a few months. But to her? A literal lifetime had passed since their last interaction. A curly-haired girl with glasses crossed her arms and eyed Melissa skeptically.

"Uh-huh. Are you sure you 'found' her? Or did you actually just kidnap her instead?"

"Rude!" Melissa gave the girl an affronted look.

"I didn't kidnap anyone! Right, Livi?"

"Olivia, blink twice if you need help," a third girl said seriously.

"We'll distract her while you make a break for it."

"Again, rude! What did I ever do to deserve this?" The group continued to banter back and forth, Melissa defending herself from an assortment of jabs as Olivia looked on with a smile. She'd honestly forgotten about these people. Not completely, of course. No one could forget middle school in its entirety, as much as they might want to. But time had worn away the details of their personalities and how they interacted with one another—and herself, apparently.

"... I still can't believe we don't share a single class," Melissa moaned.

"Seriously. There's only so many options. You'd think we'd get something that overlapped." Olivia just shrugged.

"Yeah. It does suck." It was one of the main reasons why they'd drifted apart. While Olivia had known all of these people, Melissa was by far the most aggressive about dragging her into their group. She was the anchor, the one person who she'd felt even slightly comfortable talking to. The lack of any classes in common meant way fewer opportunities to interact. And given that Olivia had never been particularly good at initiating social encounters in the first place, that distance quickly proved insurmountable.

Especially as band occupied more and more of her attention. Melissa blew out a frustrated breath.

"Maybe we at least have the same teachers? Then we can complain about them together. Who do you have for English?"

"... Roche." Olivia tried to hide an involuntary grimace. At the blank expressions of the others, she shook her head.

"She's awful. Be glad you don't have her."

"My brother warned me about her." The mousey boy chimed in again—Eric, she recalled.

"He warned me about Chandler, too, but I drew the short straw on that one." Olivia perked up.

"You have Chandler for Geography?"

"Yup." He groaned.

"Can you believe how much homework she's throwing at us? I mean, come on! It's the first week!"

"I know," she couldn't help but echo the boy's exasperation.

"I'm half expecting her to assign a full-on presentation by the end of the month."

"Don't even joke about that. My brother said she's known for this kind of stuff. When he had her, she made the whole class draw out topographical maps of the entire campus by hand." Eric shuddered.

"And she graded on accuracy." Olivia's eyebrows rose. She looked across the lumpy landscape that surrounded them.

"That… sounds miserable."

"It was. Someone ended up finding an atlas in the library to trace. That guy made a pretty penny by hoarding it all week." Olivia chuckled at the thought. Some kids were just born entrepreneurs, it seemed. It never ceased to surprise her how creative they could get about stuff like that. Then again, why wouldn't they just trace it off of an online map or something? Maybe those weren't detailed enough at the time? Actually, is Oogle Maps even a thing right now? It has to be.

The thought made her realize just how screwed she'd be if she needed to navigate anywhere new. She didn't have a phone capable of running a navigation app, if those even existed yet. It made her feel like she'd been hurled back into the stone ages. They continued chatting as Olivia began eating her own lunch—a sandwich generously stuffed with as much meat and cheese as she could possibly manage, as well as some carrots. As it turned out, Melissa's friends really were nice people. Even nicer than she remembered.

They worked to make her feel included, drawing her into conversations without it feeling forced. Well, except for Melissa herself. The girl had as much subtlety as a bull when it came to social cues. But that straightforwardness was how she'd ended up dragging Olivia into her circle in the first place. How in the world did I feel out of place with these people? They're the most welcoming bunch I've ever met. I mean, seriously. She looked around at the group. Had they always been like this?

It was impossible to know. Maybe that was indeed the case, and Olivia had just been too blind to see it—she could definitely see a world where her low self confidence had rendered her incapable of registering these repeated olive branches and gestures of goodwill. Or maybe they were just being extra considerate given how long it had been since they'd seen each other. It was hard to tell. The lunch bell rang, signalling the end to their little gathering.

Melissa insisted on walking with her until they had to part ways for their respective classes. Before leaving, the redhead gave her another crushing hug.

"It's good to see you, Livi. Really. Don't be a stranger, ok? And…" She beamed.

"I'm glad you're starting to come out of your shell a bit. It's awesome." Olivia froze. Her smile turned fixed.

"Yeah. Sure." With that, she waved goodbye and hurried away. Internally, she couldn't help but berate herself. Of everyone on campus, these kids had arguably seen her the most of anyone. Melissa in particular. Of course she would be able to notice inconsistencies in her behavior. Especially if she got comfortable and let her persona slip. That was a mistake. Sighing, Olivia shook her head. It had been fun. But she'd already gone into this knowing that it was a one-time thing.

Despite Melissa's words, she would have to leave them behind, if only for the sake of keeping the timeline consistent. It was too risky otherwise. Though… it might not be that big of a deal, right? Maybe every once in a while… She shook her head. Thinking like that was dangerous. Little sidesteps and concessions like that would blow her off course down completely uncharted paths before long. As much as she wanted to repay the group's kindness, it simply wasn't in the cards. Not with so much at stake.

Shifting her backpack, she began the long walk toward the gym for PE. She'd have to make an effort to avoid this part of campus in the future. Despite knowing it was necessary, the thought made her steps feel twice as heavy as before.