Sorry it took me so long to get this last chapter posted... I have had a lot of other stories that wanted attention! Here we are! Enjoy and review, please! Thanks!

Chapter Six: First Night Practice

It was chilly outside in the fall air, the night sky bringing icy stars into view. The moon was not out yet, the sky velvet black as Arianna stepped onto the marching field. The stadium lights were on, blindingly white over the green of the grass. There was just enough breeze to blow wisps of hair into her face and stick to Arianna's lips.

The colorguard was already there, but Arianna was the first band member on the field. The colorguard flags were rippling, cutting through the brittle air, flashing in front of Arianna. Besides the colorguard and herself, she saw no one.

She went and sat up in the bleachers, pulling on her gloves. The gloves she had were thin and long, coming almost to her elbows, perfect for piccolo-work on the field. She sat there on the cold metal bench, rubbing her hands together, piccolo on her lap, as she realized someone was watching her.

She saw him standing in the shadow of the school, leaning up against the brick wall. His thin body seemed to almost sway in the breeze and he shut his eyes against the chill air. Arianna could feel her throat close in awe as he looked over toward her again and smiled, leaning his head against the wall. Arianna turned away and focused on the field where the colorguard was working on their routine. Elissa winked at Arianna and Arianna laughed as Elissa caught a triple and looked around in amazement to see if anyone else saw that. Arianna clapped and Elissa bowed, getting in trouble with the coach. Arianna winced; she turned to look at the director, but he was gone. It was as if he had never been there.

The band was one hour into the practice and Mr. Berringer was about to tear his hair out. Arianna was dumbstruck at the difficulties the students were giving him. Everything from smart comments to insubordination and nothing was getting done. Jenate was back in full force and Arianna felt relief when they moved onto another set where Arianna was able to march away from Jenate and stay there for a while.

Again, the majorette stood at the front of the field, doing nothing but watch the chaos unfold. Arianna bit her lip and kept her opinions to herself as the majorette walked away and had a seat on a sideline bench.

The colorguard was not doing any better than the band. The flags were being dropped, a rifle came apart, and the coach was screaming at the top of her lungs.

Jenate started to yell across the field at Arianna, causing everyone to look at her and watch what the piccolo play would do. Arianna double checked her set graphs. She was exactly where she was supposed to be. Jenate kept screaming at her to move and Arianna finally snapped.

"No!" she yelled across the field, startling Jenate. "No, I am where I am supposed to be. If you have a problem with where I am, take it up with Mr. Berringer!"

Elissa and Allie, hearing this, started to clap, earning dirty looks from their coach. Jenate, tossing her short hair, stomped up to the director, making fierce movements and apparently yelling in his face. Mr. Berringer, taking a took at Arianna and glancing at his master graph, told Jenate to get back in her spot: her actual spot, for Jenate had been almost five yards off from where she was supposed to be. Jenate threw Arianna a venomous look as the band members muttered among themselves. They were all sick of Jenate's yelling and now Arianna was in the spotlight: she knew how to read set graphs.

Eventually, instead of Arianna going to help others, they went to her and soon Arianna was not able to go more than a few steps without people brandishing set graphs at her.

The moon had crept up over the end of the field, barely a silver sliver in the sky. Arianna put the piccolo back in it's case and put the case in her jacket pocket. Practice was over and everyone was exhausted. The colorguard had left early and Arianna was the last to leave. There was something beautiful about the field with no one on it, the lights on. It was like a clean canvas waiting for the portrait. Arianna could see the faint shadow of Mr. Berringer walking across the field to the light box. Within a few moments, all the stadium lights were turned off, leaving the moon and the stars to do the best they could in lighting the field.

Mr. Berringer walked alone in the dark back to the school.

Please let me know what you think! Thanks for reading and I'll post the next chapter as soon as possible!