A.N.: Hey, all. Sorry I haven't updated in months (though I'm not the only one). I've pretty busy. With what? The topic of this new story: marching band! This story is pretty severely AU, but I'm still trying to keep true to the essence of the characters, even if the details are different. Anyways, enjoy!

Lisa Heffenbacher woke up, exhausted. Her brain told her to be happy, but she couldn't remember why. Then, she realized it: It was her birthday! She was now fourteen! She got up out of bed, putting her headphones on. Instantly, she was overwhelmed by Barbra Streisand's belting of "Don't Rain on My Parade."

There was a knock on her door and her mother, a tall redhead woman with a kind smile, and her father, a shorter man whose military training showed in his physique, walked in.

"Happy birthday, sweetheart!" her mother said, pulling her into a hug.

"Thanks, Mom!" she said cheerfully.

"I know this move has been hard on you," she said, playing with her daughter's blonde hair. Lisa nodded.

The Heffenbacher family had moved from Philadelphia to Cleveland just after Christmas. It was now March, and Lisa was still adjusting to the new environment. And more importantly, no soft pretzels.

"Well, we know you have to get ready," her father said, "But we want you to read your card before you do. There's a surprise in there that we think might brighten your day up a bit."

"Yay! Okay, let's go!" She skipped out of the room, hit the doorway, stumbled, tried again, and made it successfully into the dining room.

There were three boxes: a small, rectangular one that looked like a chocolate bar (which it probably was); a box about the size of a hardback book (possibly the John Green novel she wanted); and a large package the size of a dozen donuts box. There was a pink envelope with the name Lisa written on it in fancy penmanship. She eagerly picked it up and opened it.

The card showed a puppy with a cupcake in between its paws and read "Happy Birthday!" on the front. The inside read: Dear Lisa, You're fourteen already, our little girl isn't so little anymore! We hope you have a wonderful birthday and enjoy our little treat. Love, Mommy and Dadoo. The card also contained three tickets.

"St. John the Dwarf Academy presents Guys and Dolls? I thought they sold out!"

St. John the Dwarf Academy was a college-prep school about twenty minutes away from the Heffenbacher's house. It was the place Lisa would be going next year, and she had desperately wanted a taste of their arts department. The spring musical just so happened to be Guys and Dolls, Lisa's favorite musical and second favorite movie.

"We got tickets the first day sales opened," her mother said proudly, "So, we'll be able to see what their drama club is like."

"I'm so excited!" Lisa squealed, "I wonder what I should wear."

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It was five-thirty, and they were there ridiculously early. The performance started at six. Not even the most obsessive mothers had claimed their seats yet, but the Heffenbachers were. They had seats in row E, which gave a great view of the stage as well as the pit. In fact, Lisa was about ten feet away from the short brunette girl on drums, who always smiled when she saw the younger girl's awestruck expression. Lisa watched the boy who looked about sixteen or seventeen instructing the rest of the pit, telling them things like "blend" and "tune your flute, it's sounds gross."

He's a bit pretentious, she thought, the Percy Weasley of this school, I bet.

Finally, the director took the stage. She thanked everyone for coming to support the arts, thanked the donors who'd gotten them this awesome new theater, asked everyone to turn off their phones, thanked a bunch of people for their help, and wished everyone an enjoyable experience.

Finally, Lisa thought, let the fun begin.

The first few scenes were... okay. The people in the chorus looked like they were having fun, the sets were nice, and most of the leads were actually okay so far. Only Nathan Detroit seemed lacking. It was far from the worst thing she'd witnessed, but hardly the best. Then, an actor entered from stage left. His poise, his smile, his eyes; she felt herself drawn to him. He probably liked to wear bow ties. Most likely a fan of Gene Kelly. Lisa hurriedly looked down at her program. His name was Hector Ruiz.

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She watched the rest of the play avidly, rarely looking away from Hector Ruiz. His job as Sky Masterson was utter perfection. His voice made her heart melt into an ooey, gooey pile of music. At one point in "Luck be a Lady," he looked directly at her, and smiled an even bigger smile than normal.

She was in love. In love with a boy she had never met. How old could he be? A sophomore, probably. They just don't give out leading roles to freshmen, after all.

As they were walking out of the building, she noticed some of the actors were hanging out in the hallways. She saw him chatting to the pretty girl who'd played Sarah.

Figures, she thought, They're probably a couple in real life too.

She was about to walk out the door when she felt a tap on the shoulder.

"Hey," she turned around. It was him. His voice sounded higher than before. Maybe he was losing his voice from so much use.

"Is this your phone? I thought I saw you drop it." She looked down and saw her five dollar flip phone in his soft hands.

"Yeah," she said, blushing, "Thanks. That would've sucked to leave her, cuz I probably won't be here again until the summer."

"Oh, are you coming here next year?" he asked. She nodded.

"Cool. Well, I can't wait to see you in some plays!" he said before turning back to his friend.

"So, Meghan, I told Francine that..."

She left the building to find her parents waiting about fifty feet away from the door.

"What happened?" her mother asked, "You were right behind us, and then-"

"I dropped my phone," Lisa interrupted, "And the guy who played Sky picked it up, and we talked for a minute."

"He did a good job," her father stated. He wasn't into theater at all, but had learned enough from his daughter to know a good actor from a bad one.

"There's a Dairy Queen about five minutes away. Do you want ice cream?" her mother asked.

"Definitely!" she said with a laugh.

The drive over was spent talking about the play. They all agreed that the choreography (or dance stuff, to Mr. Heffenbacher) was phenomenal and that it was unfortunate that the girl who played Sarah got hurt when she fell into a table. As she ate her cone, Lisa desperately tried to cling to every last memory of his performance. She never wanted to forget those magical two hours she spent under his spell.

A.N.: Haha, Lisa has no idea how much of her life she'll be under his spell. Well, that's the prologue. I hope that's enough of a tease to keep you guys interested. As always, reviews are like pistachios: it's always better to have more!