"So, Mal, are you ready for this?" asked Ally as she came up to Mallory on the first day of try outs, "We finally get to help decide the standard for our guard!" Ally was normally what others would consider excited. Her enthusiasm usually balanced out her friend's worries. The two, in short, were yin and yang- and they just happened to be great at rifle, sabre, flag and dance.

"Of course- this year will be so much better than the others." Replied Mallory. The teenaged girl was a bit concerned, however. What if they picked people who couldn't spin right, or weren't up to the right level yet, or weren't dedicated, or thought it was all a joke, or simply sucked, or…

Ally glanced at her friend, who was now in what if mode. Since the first day she'd know Mal, Ally had recognized that the other girl had small panic attacks every day. She was now pale and her forehead was puckering. Ally swung around in front of her friend.

"Mal! Mallory Worth! Earth to Mallory!" she said as she shook her friend's shoulders. The other girl finally seemed to snap out of her daze.

"I was doing it again, wasn't I?" She asked soon after coming to her senses.

"Yeah. A bit." Ally replied, "Come on, we're gonna be late."

The duo appeared just as their directors were about to get agitated.

"There you are. Finally." The weapons director, Trey, said as the walked up into the stands.

"Calm Trey. You know Ally loves to be slow." Mal said as she sat down. Her remark earned her a stuck out tongue from Ally.

"Either way, it is generally a bad thing to have your captains late for tryouts, of all things." Said the all around instructor, Mrs. Washburn, which earned nods from the dance instructor, Ms. Roberts, and the flag instructor, Tony.

"Speaking of being late, weren't they supposed to start a minute after we got here?" Mal asked, "Because it is now five minutes after, and this is not a good way to teach them the whole early is on time thing."

"Well, go on and get the first group then."

An hour and a half later, Mal was typing up the finished roster to put on the humongous band bulletin board. It had been a tough choice, as most of the people were good.

Thank God. I couldn't imagine if they… well, if they sucked.

But that is all better now.

Yes! Now we can actually get some work done.

She put the last name on the list and hit the print button. Ally had long since gone, seeing as she wanted to get away from the mass crowding of the board. She left Mal to deal with that.

Mal entered the main section of the small band room. It was crowded with freshmen and sophomores, with a few juniors and seniors mixed in. They all looked up and stopped talking when they saw here, the captain, enter the area. It was a weird feeling.

She quickly walked over to the board and grabbed a pushpin. The suspense in the room was thick, everyone preparing to jump up and be the first at the board. Not wanting to delay the euphoria and disappointment and further (though she did have a flare for dramatics) Mal shoved the pin through the top of the slip of paper and backed away. Instantly, the board was crowded with her future guard members and those that were rejected.

She surveyed the scene for a bit, and then decided enough was enough.

"Ok, listen up guys!" she called, once again causing an abrupt halt in conversation.

"I would first like to say that you all were great, probably the best group we've seen in a decade. For those of you that didn't make it, I'm sorry. You were really close, I can promise you that. Make sure to try again in winter and fall next year. For those of you that did, congratulations. First practice is in two weeks. Go to the band website and check the calendar to get the times, and don't forget to register on the guard site. See you guys later!"

Mal left after grabbing her bag and wishing the directors a farewell. She was walking out to her car, surveying the quiet of the high school at summer. The summer before her junior year. The year she and her best friend would be captain. The year that was going to be incredible. She was so occupied by her thoughts, she didn't see him coming. That is, until she was running into the brick wall that appeared to be his torso.

Thanks to chelsea-chee for my first review. I hope you like it.

3 Athena