Page 57 of Harmony

I see the squad standing in the dark under a tree before the headlights dim.

“Over there.” I point as I open the door.

I wait for Katie to get out and slowly we make our way to the group together.

“Right on time, ladies. I’m impressed,” Tiffany says.

“Is there a reason why we’re standing in the shadows in the school parking lot?” I ask.

“Tonight we’re going into the school and redecorating,” Tiffany says.

“What do you mean?” Katie asks.

“Usually we make our school pride banners during practice but lately we’ve been a little busy. So what better time to do it than now?”

“Yeah, but how are we going to get into the school?” Stephanie asks.

“You leave that up to me. Now let’s go,” Tiffany says as she pushes one of the girls aside. One by one, the girls fall into line behind her as Tiffany makes her way toward the gym doors.

“I don’t know about this,” Katie whispers to me.

“It will be fine,” I say, offering her a reassuring smile.

As we approach the door, I see Tiffany bend down, reaching behind a shrub. She stands and sticks a key in the door, unlocking it.

“I’ll put this back when we’re done,” she says, smiling over her shoulder.

We all hustle inside, letting the door close quietly behind us. The floodlights are on, casting a soft glow across the gym.

“Okay, we can’t turn on any more lights but we can play some music quietly. I hid the rolls of paper and supplies behind the bleachers. You guys grab that stuff and set it up in the middle of the floor and I’ll find us something to listen to,” Tiffany says.

We do as she says and head toward the bleachers. The stack of supplies doesn’t take long for us to pull out and get set up.

“Do we have a theme?” I ask as I roll out a sheet of paper.

“Ravens of course. But since it’s basketball season, we should probably make some for both teams. Girls and boys,” Tiffany says as she reaches for her phone. She hits a few buttons before looking back at me. “I just sent you the roster for both teams. You and Stephanie do those and we will figure out the rest.”

I nod as I pull my vibrating phone out of my pocket. Sure enough, there is a text with a Google Doc link. Clicking it, I find the name and number of every player.

“Where should we start?” Stephanie asks softly.

“Let’s paint some basketballs. Then we can put the students’ numbers in them. Maybe we could tape them to their lockers?”

“Sounds good. I’ll grab the paint.” Stephanie stands up and walks away as I dig through my bag. I find a mechanical pencil in the bottom and start tracing out basketballs so we don’t have to freehand with paint.

I have the first one outlined by the time she gets back. “That looks really good.”

“Thanks.” I shoot her a quick smile before moving onto the next one.

Stephanie sits down across from me and works on painting the already finished balls. The other girls talk among themselves as we all work but Stephanie keeps quiet.

“Tell me about yourself,” I say, sitting up, giving my back a break.

“Not much to tell,” she says as she continues to paint. “I’m a Cancer. I like the beach and just like everyone else, I can’t wait to get out of here.”

“Yeah, I get that,” I say, trying to hide my smile.

“Oh shit this is my jam! Turn it up, Tiff!” Katie says while getting up.

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