Hi! Oh, it's been such a long time, it seems, since I worked on the story last! I wish a Happy Halloween to all my readers (although I'm a day off!) and hope everyone got enough candy and dressed up as their favorite Knight! Hehe... I was actually considering dressing up as Laura or Mr. Hamon, but it never really worked out. I didn't dress up at all; I was so busy with other things that Halloween just sort of flew by.

Right now, I'm wrapping up classes for my fall quarter and it's so stressful. I'm losing weight and I'm all gaunt right now, but I know things will get better after classes end and I'm off for a day or two! I had so many ideas and thoughts on the story, though, so the next few chapters should be fun. I didn't have any questions from readers to add in this note, so make sure to keep those questions coming: it's fun to answer them!

Once again, I'm sorry I'm so late with the chapter and here you are! Onward!

Unanswered Questions

Laura followed Thomas down the auditorium stairs to the seats in the front row, forcing her legs to move. Her entire body and mind were in shock. Did Thomas really say that? Did he really say he remembered the girl in the bleachers? Did he think she looked like Laura? It wouldn't be surprising if he though that, considering she was her. Wait, was it she was the girl or the girl- Laura shook her head, frustrated and confusing herself. Thomas took a seat in a chair nearest to the aisle, leaving Laura standing alone.

"Come sit down," Thomas said quietly, glancing at the seat next to him, the seat on his other side. Laura panicked. Should she climb over the seats behind him? Should she ask him to move so she could get past him? What should she do. Laura felt her face turn red, but Thomas didn't seem to notice. Blushing, Laura moved past him, her knees bumping into his. She fell ungracefully into her seat and nervously brushed her hair over her shoulders, beginning to braid it for the sake of having something to do.

"Are you going to cut it?" Thomas asked after several minutes of Laura braiding and un-braiding her hair.

"Oh, my hair?" Laura said, jumping at the whispering quality of his voice, "I'm not sure. Mr. Deleyney hasn't said anything about it. Yet."

"It's not Mr. Deleyney I think you would have to worry about," the drum major responded, raising an eyebrow thoughtfully. "Mr. Hamon has the final say when it comes to field preparation and what's allowed. Your hair won't get in the way of your music. When you march, it will."

"What would be the worst if I kept it?"

"You would have to find some way to hide it under your hat and make sure there was no chance of anyone seeing it. Or you would have to cut it."

"I see," Laura said, remembering how much fun she had had as a drum major for her school, winding ribbons into it and adding jewels before parades. Since she was a drum major and her uniform was feminine, she could decorate her hair and wear make up. This was much different than her old position, before her band had died, before her director left. Now she was a Knight.

Knights didn't have long hair.

Knights were not girls.

"If anyone saw it, it would give you away," Thomas added. "It would give us away. Mr. Hamon was talking about it the other day."

Laura jumped. They were talking about her? She plucked stray hairs from her hair band and tied off the end of the final braid, determined not to look so nervous. Clearing her throat, she asked why they were talking about her.

"It's about the drill," the drum major said, setting back in his seat and bracing a knee against the seat in front of him. Laura smiled a little to herself; he looked so handsome like that. She found it hard to hear what he was saying the first time he said it as Thomas continued speaking.

"See, Peter- Do you mind if I call them by their first names?"

Laura shook her head no, not finding a single word as she looked at him.

"Peter and Tyler are worried about your place in the drill. We don't want you up front or in any vulnerable position in the drill, just in case something happened to expose you for what you really are. Since the theme is a rescue mission to save a princess from a dragon, there was talk of making you the princess. We don't think that's going to work out, though, because you're a valuable trumpet player and we need you as a performer musically more than theatrically. If they can rewrite a part for you before spring training as the damsel in distress, perfect. If they can't figure out a way to do this, a color guard member is going to be the princess."

Laura imagined one of the guard members in a dress and almost laughed, although it wasn't really funny. What Thomas was talking about were plans that could make or break the corps.

"The problem is that, if they make me the princess in the drill, the judges and officials might get suspicious that I was an actual girl, which wouldn't be allowed," Laura said carefully, Thomas nodding his head. "But, if I'm a regular member, then a guy would have to be the girl and that would be very, um... emasculating. Right?"

"Right."

Laura thoughtfully tugged at the end of her braid.

"Then I suppose the hair stays for now. Just until we have the drill figured out. What else is going on with the show? I looked at the drill sheets and the music, but I never really had anyone else's opinion on it."

"I think it's going to scare the other corps," Thomas said, a smile on his face but no laughter in his voice. "But, it could always be better. Remember that, Laura. Anything can always be better."

Laura and Thomas talked long into the evening about the show, until the rest of the corps came back from their games outside. Thomas excused himself for the night as Jon came for Laura, glaring at the drum major, Laura rolling her eyes at Jon. Mr. Deleyney took the stage quickly before everyone left, the flurry of coats and mittens and scarfs halting as the music director spoke.

"Our concert is two weeks from tomorrow, so be sure you're ready. Remember, we're going to do a gift exchange, too, since Christmas is coming up! Good game tonight, corps! See you tomorrow!"

Mr. Deleyney winked at Laura as she put on her scarf, Laura smiling back. Mr. Hamon simply looked at her and nodded his head, taking her by surprise. Normally, he pretended she didn't exist past a certain hour of the night. Turning around to grab her jacket from the chair she placed it in, Laura was startled to see Jon there, holding it for her to put on.

"You don't have to help me put on my jacket, Jon," Laura said as he slipped it over her shoulders.

"I wanted to."

Laura laughed and took his offered arm to exit the auditorium.

"Those two seem to be the best of friends," Mr. Deleyney said with a chuckle in his voice. "Jon is a true Knight!"

"Yeah, so he puts her jacket on her and opens her doors and escorts her to her car," Mr. Hamon muttered, unimpressed. "I've been doing things like that for women since I was a member of The Knights. It doesn't impress me because everyone should be doing that."

"You nodded at Laura tonight," the music director said flippantly, trying to appear innocent. "Normally you ignore her after-"

"What does it matter to you?"

"Don't get so defensive, it was just a question!"

"I don't want to answer questions right now!"

The two directors stood together in silence until Mr. Deleyney spoke again.

"You still don't know what to do about the drill, do you?"

"No," sighed Mr. Hamon, kicking at imaginary dirt on the floor before roughly putting on his jacket. "I don't know what to do. Right now, I just have the part of the princess empty, nothing but a character there. We don't have a person for it. The drill is perfect in itself and there is no way I'm changing a single set; I just need to figure out who is in what role!"

"Can I ask why you wrote the part of the princess?" Mr. Deleyney asked tentatively. "Why not something else? Why not just have the corps battle the dragon instead of adding a rescue mission onto it?"

"Because I wrote the part for someone."

"Can I ask who?"

"Would it hurt if you asked?"

Peter shook his head after he snapped at the music director.

"Just don't bother me about it. I need to figure out what I'm going to about this."

"I respect that," Tyler said, watching Peter walk up the auditorium steps behind the last group of boys, the marching director's arrogant stride reminding him of Thomas and how the drum major always took the podium. There was a contemplative grimace on Peter's face and Tyler called after him.

"You made that part for Laura, didn't you?" Mr. Deleyney called after his friend, hoping for an answer.

"That's why I'm having such a difficult time deciding who to give it to," Peter answered to Tyler's amazement. "Do I give it to the inspiration or the best fit for the part? What if there isn't a difference?"

"What's the matter, Laura?" Jon asked as they sat in her car, the parking lot lights glowing their usual utility orange, the steam rising from the exhaust pipe as the car ran. The heater was on full blast but it was still freezing inside the vehicle, causing Laura to shiver. Usually, on her ride home she would turn on her stereo and jam to the music, but Laura felt unusually and suddenly depressed.

"Nothing," she said, her voice too sharp, her tone too short. Jon and Laura bit their lip at the same time, Laura holding back a smile as she saw him do the same as her. "I'm just really tired, that's all. And I have a lot on my mind."

"Was Thomas-"

"How did the games go?" Laura asked, cutting Jon off. "Did you win?"

She hoped her smile would distract him from asking about Thomas. She didn't want to talk about the drum major, the silent, shadowy conductor with the piercing eyes. Jon launched into a detailed account of his team's victory over Andrew's team, causing Andrew to launch a snowball into the air at random in anger, the rouge snowball hitting the color guard instructor. After the color guard joined them, the three teams played one large game of tag that ended only when everyone dropped out. Jon proudly announced he had been one of the last ones out, Jake being one of the first. Mr. Hamon had won by entering the game near the middle and saving all his energy until the end, taking out the entire drumline before winning.

Laura listened to him talk, the sound of his voice soothing. He was a good friend, and she was lucky to have him around. She smiled as he patted her hand and told her goodnight before he left and walked across the parking lot to his own car. Jon honked and waved as usual and Laura waved back.

Only after he left did Laura sink into her own thoughts, her questions that had gone unanswered. She had wanted to ask Thomas how he remembered the girl and why he didn't say anything before, especially that day she had talked with him for the first time. Did he even remember talking to her about it? It had been her first day as a Knight, and he had not known she was a girl then. Thomas was clever and quick, but did he know it was her? Did he just not want to tell her?

Her mind spinning with unanswered questions and her frustrating growing, she pulled out of the parking lot and drove home in a daze, hardly realizing how she had arrived in her bedroom until she got there. By the time she usually got home from practice, her family was asleep, the house dark. Laura dressed for bed and slid under the cold sheets, shivering. Before she fell asleep, realizing how tired she really was only as her eyes began to close, Laura could see two things in her mind's eye:

Jon holding her jacket for her, a smile on his face.

Thomas saluting her in his uniform, waiting for her approval.

And she couldn't choose which vision she wanted to continue in her dreams.

There we are! A chapter! Hooray! I hope to hear from everyone and thanks so much for reading!!! The next chapter will not have such a delay on it and there will be many questions answered soon. I hope this chapter makes sense; I feel really out of it at the moment, if you know what I mean, just all woozy and tired, so if anything sounds weird, let me know! Keep the questions coming, too! Thank you, dear readers, and goodnight!