The Lies We Tell

Chapter 11: Staged Danger

     "Run!" The girls laughed as they sprinted along the block, catching up with the rest of the group in front of the golf course from earlier without a second to spare. Each girl carried a bag filled with fudge for one girl and art supplies for the other. One meant to keep her treasures and the other to dispose of them as quickly as possible.
     They slowed as they reached the group, but did not have time to stop, because before they had caught up completely, the band kids, led by the alumni and now assistant teacher Mekhi Anderson started winding their way down the streets to an unknown destination.  Left here, then down the street a ways, then right and across the busy street at a sprint until they arrived at the theater where their afternoon entertainment would be held. It was then that Laurel saw her other best friend. "Kay!" She looked over at Finch, too polite to abandon her but too determined to stay.
Finch laughed. "Go on. We'll meet up later." Laurel hurried over to Kay's side where they compared gifts for Alexandra. After all, the best section leader ever deserved the best gifts ever. Kay had found a cute Myrtle Beach bag and some hard candies, which, along with Laurel's fudge, were posed carefully in the bag. Price tags were removed and tossed aside and the bag was carefully held so as not to give away the surprise. Alexandra had not arrived yet, but the two clarinets were ready. When she walked up, Laurel ran towards her, followed by Kay. She blushed and, avoiding all eye contact, managed to stutter out a short and barely comprehensible statement of thanks and explanation before Kay came to her rescue. "We wanted to thank you. For being such a great section leader. Here." Gifts, hugs, and beaming expressions were exchanged and the clarinet section walked into the theater, leaving Finch forgotten and alone.
The show was a sort of Cirque du Soleil spin off. There were magic tricks, one of which left the band instructor standing on stage with a toilet plunger on his head and his underwear in the hands of the host and stunts and tricks of all kinds. The best stunt was called the giant hamster wheel of death. It was exactly what it sounded like. A couple of guys ran around on a giant medal contraption, pretending to lose their footing every once in awhile to scare the audience into being impressed. Laurel wasn't, though it was a good show. When she mentioned bluntly to Kay that it was obviously faked, she was told to shut up and ignored. There was even an air of irritation. Looking back, Laurel supposed it might have been slightly annoying to be told so blatantly that the danger was fake and you were excited over nothing. Yes, looking back Laurel could see that that was the start of the falling out with her friend.