"Okay, who's missing?" Jenna called out over the confusion. Inspiration and Rhythm Tribe were gathering in the parking lot of Inspiration Center to head for the Invitational competition they were both competing in that day. "Rhythm Tribe, over here! I only counted 24! We're missing two!"
    A car pulled up and discharged two girls carrying garment bags, duffel bags, and practice equipment. "We're not late, are we?" the taller one, Mandy, called out.
    "Not yet," Jenna told them. "Yo! Rhythm Tribe! Over here, by the truck!" she hollered. The girls gathered in a knot by Jenna's truck. "Last-minute checks before we head out. Everyone got a ride?"
    The girls chorused "yes."
    "Good. Uniforms? Practice poles, ribbons, rifles, and sabers? Shoes? Gloves? Any and all hair ties? Meal money? Stockings?" The girls nodded or yessed to each question. "Double-check. This is the last chance. Once we get there, we can't go back for forgotten equipment. I've got the performance equipment and the props in the truck; you can load your uniforms in the back if you don't think there'll be room in the carpools.
    "We're competing against three other guards in our division as well as the best of show against all sixteen of the other guards, Inspiration included. The invitational has five divisions today, Independent A, Scholastic A, Independent Open, Scholastic Open, and Senior. Independent A is the second division after Scholastic A, and we're second in the division lineup, making us the sixth to perform. We'll have about half an hour to practice, then you're on your own until go-time." Jenna let the girls load their garment bags into the truck as she talked with the five parent-volunteer drivers, making sure they knew how to get to the school where the Invitational was being held.
    Jenna and the four girls she was driving loaded themselves into the cab. "Ready to head out?" she asked them.
    "More than," Amy replied. Mandy, Angie, Colleen and Samantha agreed. Jenna started up the truck and they headed out.
    On the way to the Invitational, the girls joked around about school and an upcoming dance. Jenna listened to their joking, laughing along when she understood what was going on. The ride was half an hour, and when they got to the high school hosting the competition, they were all eager to get out and start warming up.
    "Everybody take something and let's get it inside," Jenna instructed, passing out armloads of equipment to the girls. "We've got half an hour to practice."
    The school was full of teenagers roaming about, carrying equipment and props. Jenna found the coordinator, Ms. Birch, and reported in. Ms. Birch gave Jenna a map and a schedule. "The girls can practice in the auditorium," Ms. Birch told Jenna.
    "Thank you." Jenna directed the guard toward the auditorium where they set up their practice arcs. "Let's warm up with basic drill," Jenna started. "Drop spins first, sixteen counts holding on evens, spin every count for sixteen, then spin on 'ands' for sixteen. Ready? Five, six, five six seven eight. Down, hold, up, hold, five six seven eight. Thumbs down, thumbs up, thumbs down, thumbs up." Jenna walked, clapping out the tempo and calling out the counts.
    After five repeats of that drill, she switched them to double-time spins. "Again, hold on evens, spin every count, spin on 'ands'. Remember hand and arm position. Keep hands at your waist. Count one, thumbs down, pole perpendicular, silk to ground. Count two, pinky to pinky, pole parallel, silk to your left. Count three, thumbs down, pole perpendicular, silk up. Count four, pinky to pinky, pole perpendicular, silk to your right. Ready? Five, six, five six seven eight." She again clapped out the tempo, stopping when the guard wasn't together, correcting the ones who were fast or slow. Once she was satisfied with the drill, she moved on.
    "Basic toss technique now. The ceiling isn't high enough in here, so we aren't going to release. Four counts of double-time, then push like you're going to toss, but just hold the arm position." She demonstrated with her flag, dropping the pole into the hip-and-shoulder slam position on count four, then rotating her right arm to above her head, hand in the middle of the silk, arm straight, pole perfectly vertical on count five. "This is where you'd release," she said. "Ready? Five, six, five six seven eight." She worked them the longest on this drill, emphasizing the straight lines of the release position.
    "We need the tosses to be together," she told the guard, letting them rest and shake out their arms. "We lost points at the last competition because we weren't. I was watching in practice Wednesday, and you've really improved since the last competition. The moves are more together, much more together. You're really getting the 'single flag' quality the judges look for." Jenna checked her watch. "Okay, we've been working on drill long enough. Go get changed and regroup here. I've got to go practice with Inspiration for a while, then I'll catch up with you again."
    The girls scattered, gathering up their garment bags and duffel bags and heading out to the locker rooms to change. Jenna picked up her bags and joined Inspiration for their warm up.
    As the warm-up ended, Kami, a fifth-year rifle and captain of the rifleline, caught up with Jenna. "Hey, I've got the curling irons and whatnot. When you're in uniform, find me, and I'll do your hair for you."
    "Thanks," Jenna replied gratefully. With her long hair, she had the hardest time getting it into the forties-style hairdo the women in the guard had chosen for this show. Kami was a licensed beautician who didn't mind freelancing with Inspiration.
    In the locker room, Jenna opened her garment bag and pulled out the uniform. Since Inspiration's show this year was swing music, they chose simple forties-style costumes. Jenna's was a white leotard with a few ruffs on the front and a blue knee-length Lycra skirt. For the first time, she'd had to wear character shoes, flexible-soled dance shoes with inch and a half heels. They weren't bad to twirl in, and once she got used to the balance, weren't bad to dance in, either. She quickly changed into her uniform then went to search out Kami.
    Once her hair was done, Jenna went looking for her guard. They were outside the gym, some sitting around, some practicing parts of the drill, others working on the dance moves. Angie, Kari, and Katie were dressing the poles and untangling the ribbons they used for the middle part of their show.
    "Everyone ready to go?" Jenna asked, joining the group.
    "Not quite," Amy said. "Liz's zipper broke."
    "Dang. Liz, come here." Jenna dug in her bag and pulled out a few safety pins. The zipper wasn't too broken; only the top inch or two wouldn't zip. Jenna pinned up the back.
    Rhythm Tribe's costumes this year fit their show theme of James Bond music. The dresses were sleeveless, with a knee length cascade skirt, sequined v-waist, a square neckline, and an attached sequin choker. The girls wore elbow-length fingerless gloves and character shoes. The flags wore black, the rifles wore white, and the sabers wore red. The flag silk pattern was a red, black, and white block-and-swirl pattern in a curved teardrop shape. The rifles had taped their equipment with silver and red holographic tape and the sabers left their equipment stark, unrelieved white.
    They heard the applause for the guard before them. "C'mon, you guys are on next. Hustle!" Jenna exclaimed, nearly pushing the girls inside the gym.
    The parent volunteers had spread out the black vinyl floor mats and set up the three backdrop props: a large 007 in the center and two round cutouts with the Bond silhouette in the center. The guard took their places on the floor and took the opening pose. Jenna stepped in to the sidelines to watch. From here on out, it was up to the girls.
    "Rhythm Tribe, are you ready?" the announcer asked. Angie, Mandy, and Amy, the three captains, each threw a two-revolution toss to show readiness, then resumed the opening pose.
    The first strains of the James Bond theme filled the gym. Jenna watched critically, ruthlessly, as if she was a judge. Lisa was lagging behind the rest of the sabers. Brandi was a count or two faster than the rest of the rifles. The flags were together, for once. At the end of the theme, Jenna caught her breath as all twenty-six girls had the first totally unison moments of the show.
    The music paused and the girls switched equipment to the dance ribbons. A section from Live and Let Die was the second segment. Angie and Rachel had done a great deal of the dance choreography for this section with Jenna choreographing the equipment work. The ribbons kept the red/black/white theme, striped with lengthwise stripes. Jenna knew this was the most difficult part of the show, since the ribbons were something new she'd added to their repertoires this year. To her relief, no one made any noticeable mistakes.
    Last segment now. Jenna was certain they'd do fine. Switch from ribbons back to rifles and sabers. Half the flagline was using the normal five-and-a-half foot poles; the other half of the line was using the larger ten-foot bungee poles with black, red and white block flags. The segment was For Your Eyes Only, and the larger flags gave the slower song an ethereal quality, swirling in the background, giving the rifles and sabers center stage.
    Final counts, end of the Bond theme. The girls with bungee poles retrieved their regular poles. Final pose, perfect! Jenna was screaming with the rest of the audience. As Rhythm Tribe left the floor, she was congratulating them.
    "You guys did awesome!" she exclaimed. "Totally, totally awesome! You've got the rest of the time to yourselves. Feel free to sit in the stands and watch the others, the concession stands are over there, but try to stay inside the school." The girls took off, but Angie stuck around.
    "I messed up in the first song," she told Jenna. "I was late coming into the double-time sequence."
    "I saw. It's too late to go back and fix it now." Jenna smiled at Angie. "Don't worry about it. I barely noticed, so I don't think the judges will." She put her arm around Angie's shoulders. "Come on, let's see what they've got at concessions."
    About half an hour later, it was Jenna's turn to take the floor with Inspiration. She stood next to Rob, the flagline captain and her dance partner for the middle segment. "Ready?" he whispered before they took the floor.
    "As I'll ever be," she replied. She could feel the familiar feeling rising in her stomach. It wasn't quite nerves, but anticipation. She loved taking the floor, facing the audience, and twirling her heart out.
    The announcer called out, "Now taking the floor, Inspiration." The guard moved out, taking their opening pose for In The Mood. Jenna had her flag, a striped, wild-looking thing, ready for the opening move. "Inspiration, are you ready?" the announcer asked. Rob and Kami, the two captains, did their acknowledging move.
    The music started, and Jenna stopped thinking. She let the music carry her through the routine, the spins, tosses, maneuvers, steps all blending into the performance. They finished In The Mood and segued into Sing Sing Sing, sliding the flags to the side where they were gathered by the volunteers. Jenna took Rob's hand, moving into the jitterbug. She was always nervous for this part. The steps flowed through her mind to her feet. Midway through the song, they stopped dancing together. The women pulled the hand flags out of their necklines and did their "solo" routine while the men stood on the sidelines and clapped in time, cat-calling to encourage them. For the end of the song, the women tossed down the hand flags and resumed the jitterbug with the men.
    Final segment, Moonlight Serenade. Jenna had one of the seven-foot poles for this, so got a chance to glance up into the audience. Just as she did, she saw a cluster of red, white, and black clad girls who screamed out, "Go, Jenna!" She tried hard not to laugh and focused back on the routine.
    Over. Final pose. Jenna finally let the pride show on her face with a huge smile. The audience erupted into applause and Jenna felt the incredible performance high filling her body. She thought to herself, This is why I'm still twirling.
    Inspiration was the last guard to perform. Fifteen minutes later, Jenna was back on the floor, this time as coach. They were announcing the results of the Independent-A competition.
    "In third place, Dark Horizons," the head judge announced. The captains of Dark Horizons stepped up to receive their trophy. "In second place, Alliance of Miami." Those captains stepped up.
    Angie, Mandy and Amy were clutching each other's hands. There were only two guards left. Rhythm Tribe was either last or first.
    "And the first-place winner in the Independent-A class winterguards is..." the judge paused, "Rhythm Tribe!"
    Angie, Mandy and Amy shrieked briefly, then composed themselves. Coolly, they walked up to get their trophy while the rest of the guard jumped up and down, hugging each other. On the sidelines, Jenna was smiling broadly and clapping louder than anyone in the audience.
    Then, it was Jenna's turn to be part of the guard. There were only two senior-class guards competing that day. "In second place, Realities," the announcer proclaimed. "Our first-place winner in the Senior Guard class, Inspiration!" Rob and Kami collected the trophy while all of Rhythm Tribe screamed "Way to go, Inspiration!"