Hello! Sorry I haven't updated in a while! I just started a few new stories and I decided that I would bring my notebook along just in case I wanted to write at a family gathering we were having. Needless to say, I wrote for a long time and came up with a few chapters in this story to post! I am happy to bring you chappie three! (I have had this title for the other FTLOM chapters where this has happened. It's a bit of a ritual for my story, just like the podium light is always the last to go off...)

Chapter Three: Turning Out The Lights

The next two weeks were chaotic. Between new classes, new teachers, and extracurricular activities, Arianna and Elissa had hardly any time to think about the upcoming field show.

Mr. Vogl had never been in marching band. When he had gone to school, the school had no marching band. Now, as a teacher at a school that had a band that could work on a field, Mr. Vogl didn't know what to do. The color guard coach, who had been hated by all the girls, had been fired and a new coach was needed. Who would he find? Who was qualified? Who could put together a routine in a matter of two weeks? Two weeks was all the time they had left until homecoming. Not much time at all. The assistant majorette the year before was not in band any longer and the head majorette had graduated, unable to come back to the band.

What was he going to do?

"That was a good pep band, don't you think, Mr. Vogl?"

"It was okay," he answered, biting his lip.

Arianna bit her own lip to check back a sigh. He had been like this all night and Arianna wondered what the problem was. They had a week and a half to work on the homecoming show and the whole band had been concerned when they never received their set graphs. The director had shrugged the questions off, but the tension was growing.

The two reached the band room, Mr. Vogl disappearing into his office to escape the crowd of pep band students, the mob loud and clumsy. The sound of instrument cases being dropped made Arianna cringe. She wished Elissa had been there that night, but she had work and wouldn't get off until homecoming night. Ari hung back by the corner between the wall and the trophy case, the memory of Mr. Berringer standing here after practice too much to bear. She shook her head and refused to think about him. She wouldn't let herself be haunted that night by memorized and was thankful as the last group left the band room, eager to get back to the gym to watch the rest of the volleyball game.

Arianna put her piccolo away, the case cold under her fingers as she caressed it lovingly. It would always be her favorite instrument. Concert performances on flute were wonderful, but nothing beat the sound of a piccolo ringing over the trumpets. She clasped the case shut and placed it on the shelf, putting it right next to her flute where no one would touch it. Everyone knew the piccolo was Arianna's until she graduated or gave it up from now on. It was the little bit of respect she had earned from the younger members of the band. The pep band folder went in the proper slot in the shelf against the wall and Arianna looked around for her jacket, which rested under her chair.

"I've gotta get home, Arianna. Let's go."

Arianna took a deep breath. Mr. Vogl saw this and stopped her as she started to walk out the door.

"Tell me a bit about yourself, Arianna."

Did she want to? Arianna wondered how much she should say and how to say it without sounding like a fool in front of the new director. This was the first time the two had actually spoken without others in the room.

"Well, I've always wanted to be the majorette. Always, ever since I was a little kid, I would watch this band go by in parades and see the majorettes; I've always wanted to have the whistle."

Mr. Vogl smiled. Here was a good candidate for the open positions. Arianna blushed slightly as she saw him smile and continued.

"I love Esprit, Amazing Grace, and Stars and Stripes Forever, and I love to march. Marching band is my favorite thing and I'm always in the top positions... in the band proper, anyway."

Arianna was startled by the amount of bitterness she heard in her own voice and knew Mr. Vogl had taken notice of it.

"You know, I belong to a military band and we play those songs you listed off. I'm working to get them here for a special assembly this fall. That way, you could hear them live and talk to the musicians."

Arianna grinned. That sounded like fun. Mr. Vogl grinned back and took a look at the disorganized band room.

"Hey," he said, "Do you want to help me clean up?"

Arianna nodded as she took a big breath. She remembered this very well. Every year, this had happened. This time, it wasn't after the field show performance, but it was the start of the ritual nonetheless. Smiling to herself, Arianna picked up bits of pep band music that had been torn and paper scraps no one had bothered to throw away, tossing them in the paper bin.

She looked up and saw Mr. Marah, straightening the percussion equipment. She saw Mr. Berringer, placing the lost majorette frame on the music case in the front of the room. Then she saw Mr. Vogl as himself, patting one of the drums in the drum set lovingly. There was no Mr. Berringer, there was no Mr. Marah. It was Mr. Vogl now. Arianna sighed gently as Mr. Vogl walked back to the door and his hand reached for the light switches.

Flick. Out went the percussion lights.

Flick. Out went the brass lights.

One by one, the lights went out, and Arianna jumped forward and grabbed Mr. Vogl's hand before he turned off the podium light.

"Look at that," she said quietly, glancing up at the director for a response, letting go of his hand. "Isn't that beautiful? It's one of my favorite sights in the whole world. That single light over the podium."

They stood there for a moment until Arianna said, in hardly a whisper, "I hope I get majorette this year." Mr. Vogl's eyes softened as he flicked the last switch, the entire room dark.

The two walked from the band room together in silence, Mr. Vogl keeping Arianna company, Arianna keeping Mr. Vogl company, until they reached the exit and said goodnight. Arianna wanted to tell Mr. Vogl everything there was about her and Elissa and the band, but, much like she loved the silence before a parade, the silence between them said enough.

Please tell me what you think! Send me a review and I'll send you plot bunny food! (Virtual food, that is). I like to use the words "sigh" and "breath" because they are the only two words that really describe how Arianna feels physically about Mr. Vogl. A smile from both of them isn't really a 'show us your bright teeth' smile, but a twist of the mouth muscles upward, resembling a smile, really. It's hard to explain. Anyway, this next chapter is sad, so, if you like sad, read, read, read! Thanks! (Remember to review!) (P.s. I don't own any rights to the songs mentioned and Esprit is a shortened name of the real song...)