A/N-Thanks to dutchesscourtney, Ocean's Nocturnal of the COCA, hazeleyedhottie, hottie12345k and projectfreq91 for reviewing!

I've put off writing this chapter (and my other stories) since I've had to do a lot of stuff for the end of the school year.

Rigby and Jude belong to Courtney and mucho thanks to her for letting me borrow them!


Chapter Three-Blood, Sweat…and Blood.

Maggie's POV


Maybe this wasn't such a good idea. After all, I was a senior and captain of the line…I couldn't screw up. This was my last chance to do everything right and I couldn't lose the chance.

Saturday was a busy day for me. After coming home from working at Shelia's, a water ice place in town, I called Rigby and we headed out to grab some dinner and do a bit of catching up. She knew of our switch and wanted to talk anyway. We went to different school but met last summer at a music camp. We were the only female drummers in our group, so of course we bonded. Rigby and her twin brother, Jude, lived in the next town over-they went to Parktown whose band…how to word this delicately…wasn't good. My sister and Jude were two peas in a pod and it wasn't for them both being Casanova in their own special ways they probably would have gotten together a while ago.

My pal Rigby had caused quite a stir there after becoming drum major, a major upset over the girl who was drum major. She broke up with her boyfriend of forever and was turning into a completely different person. She was even more dedicated to her band then I'd ever seen.

Between my Line and her band, we hadn't been able to see each other much over the summer. I hopped into my car and drove over to Parktown and parked in Rigby's driveway. Not one for subtlety, I laid on my horn for a minute before Rigby came running out of the house, laughing. Jude came out a second later, looking sleepy and angry and wielding a full bottle of shaken soda.

Rigby leaped into my car and yelled "Drive!" as her brother opened the bottle and began spraying it all over the lawn. I peeled out of the driveway and down the road, tears of laughter rolling down my cheeks.

Rigby was panting from her run. "Don't do that!" She gasped when she had some of her breath back. "He had track practice all day…he's so irritable!"

I couldn't stop laughing until we pulled into Panara Bread for some munchies. Still chuckling as I locked the car, I was glad to finally be out with a friend. Between working as a water ice monkey, practicing with the Line and attempting to pull off a switch with my twin, I had been neglecting my friends. Most of my friends were in the band, so I saw them most weeks. Rigby and my other friends from other schools…not so much. The band occasionally saw Parktown at a show and I tried to find Rigby but they often left before awards.

I had the pleasure of meeting Rigby at a music camp the summer before my sophomore year. We bonded pretty quickly and helped each other out with drumming and whatnot. We kept in touch over the years through Facebook and other aspects of the internet.

"So have you talked to Evey-poo at all?" She cringed as I asked.

"I've tried not to. It's been really weird between us." Rigby said, choosing her words carefully as she glanced at the menu above our heads. "I'm thinking about some soup, what about you?"

"Sounds good, but no changing the subject." Rigby sighed.

"It's just really strange...we went out one night and he nearly kissed me. I like him, but not like that anymore. I want this year to be different. I thought maybe being drum major would change things." I patted my friend on the shoulder.

"Dude, it sounds like you need ice cream, not soup." I said, ordering a sandwich and giving Rigby a comforting smile.

We hit up Coldstone Creamery on the way home for some well needed emotional relief. It was Rigby's turn now to question me.

"So what possessed you to give up years of drumming to join the colorguard?"

"I don't know actually. And I didn't give up drumline, I could never do that. This is just temporary."

"There had to be a reason Mags." Rigby bit off the head of a gummi bear.

"Madeline challenged me…" I started, taking a bite of ice cream.

"And drumline girls don't back down. How good are you?"

"I'm starting to get the hang of it but it's pretty weird, I'm not gonna lie. I miss my tenors. They're like my babies." Rigby nodded sympathetically.

"I still don't know why you did this. If Jude and I switched places, I'd probably die from heat stroke at the first practice." Unlike Madeline and myself, Rigby and Jude were in different activities. He ran on the cross country team and was pretty good. He was pretty defined, as most runners were so I could see why my sister drooled over him all the time (I'm not supposed to know that).

"It's like I'm finally getting to know my sister. After all, guard's her life. It's like what drumline is to me. I understand where she's coming from a bit better."

"Glad to see it's only taken seventeen years Mags."

"Well Rig not all twins are as attached as you two are."

"I'm sorry my brother and I talk to each other." She said sarcastically, sticking her spoon into my bowl and stealing a huge bite.

"Oh go join a circus you freak." I said swiping her last red gummi bear.


On Sunday afternoon I worked on rifle. Outside, of course, when no one was around. I could spin it at least, but I couldn't toss to save my life. I was frustrated and sweaty. How could it look so easy when Madeline did it?!

She had experience and you thought it would be a walk in a park. You thought when you were doing this that color guard was easy and only for people who are pretty and preppy. People you don't understand.

Yeah yeah you don't have to say it like that.

Actually it's the only way to get it through your big fat drummer skull.

Well…okay…so maybe this is hard, I thought. I tossed up the rifle and for a second, I thought I had done it right.

I did it! I did it! I did-

"OW!" I yelled, dropping the rifle. The rifle had slid through my sweaty palms and hit me square on the nose. My hands flew to my face, which was now streaming blood. Swearing like a sailor, I ran into the house and darted into the bathroom. Madeline was there getting ready to go hang out with Jude.

"Maggie what happened?! Why are you covered in blood?!" My twin cried, dropping her eyeliner in the sink. I grabbed a towel from the rack and soaked it in water.

"Rifle accident." I said, pressing the towel to my face.

"Alright come on, lean your head back. You'll clot faster and get less blood on the floor." My sister pulled me over tilted my head back.

"Okay, let me see it." I gingerly removed the towel from my face. She glanced over it.

"It's not broken." She said simply.

"And how do you know?" I cried.

"Because it's stopped bleeding. And I've seen girls smack themselves before, you were spinning my lightest rifle and you probably didn't toss it high enough to break your nose. It'll bruise and it'll be sore for a while, but it's not broken." Madeline looked like a pro, getting the Tylenol out of the cabinet while making sure that I was putting pressure on my nose.

"Ice it, take two and call me in the morning." She said, slapping two small pills into my hand.

"Anything else Doc?" I asked sarcastically.

"Yeah you're bill's going to be through the roof; a house call right before I have to go out. Your insurance isn't gonna cover this." She looked at me for a second before laughing to herself.

"Now that you're not dying, move, I can't get to my hair brush. I don't my hair to look like a bale of hay when Jude gets here." My sister gave me a playful shove out of the bathroom and closed the door behind me, but first she smiled at me.

"You're a mess, but at least you're a persistent mess."

"You know, I should just go back to drumming. I'll take my sore wrists any day and never complain about them again." I said, touching my swollen nose. I winced. That was going to be a lovely shade of yellow-purple tomorrow morning.

"But what would be the fun in that?" My sister said. "You can only hit yourself in the face so many times before you realize that you should stop doing whatever's making you hit yourself."

"Do you tell this to the freshmen? It's a wonder they make it to indoor."

"No but I probably should." And for the first time in a long time, we both laughed. It felt weird…but it was a good weird. It felt like Madeline were sisters again, not just two people who happened to look alike and lived in the same house.

Since when did I turn into a Hallmark card?! I needed to get back to my drums, pronto. I went to my room and carefully put on my tenors and began practicing. I sighed. I was truly happy when I wore these things. Forget the bruises on my thighs, the high I got from my drums was totally worth it.

Much as drumming relaxed me, I couldn't push the thought of my first practice with the guard out of my head. It was tomorrow and I was really nervous for it. Being in a male dominated section, I'd heard my fair share of comments regarding various members of the color guard, my sister included. Madeline's first practice with the drumline was on Tuesday and I was having second thoughts about sending her in too early. It was going to weird enough to have to be around the girls of the guard for more time than I probably had ever spent with them. But Madeline? I had no idea how the Line was going to deal with her.

I pushed these thoughts aside and began to focus on the show music. I had to focus. I had to do this.


A/N-So I'm not sure about the ending, it was either there or it never ends. Well next chapter is Madeline-about her time with Jude, Maggie's practice with the guard and her first practice with the drumline. And what's this about a boyfriend for someone? You'll have to wait and see. ;-)