A Song for the Season

Taken by Surprise

As the curtain opens, Tenney sees a packed gymnasium, folding chairs filled with junior high schoolers and parents lining the sides. The crowd cheers, and Zane and Dad stand together just off the stage, whooping and whistling along.

Tenney counts them in, and they dive into a bright, twangy cover of “Joy to the World.” Her guitar and Logan’s drums lock into the same tempo immediately, as though their fight never happened, and relief floods through her. When Tenney introduces one of her own songs, Logan tells the crowd how talented she is, and the crowd roars. As their harmonies weave together, kids start singing along, and the swell of voices brings back the memory of watching Belle’s concert and wondering whether her own music could ever connect with a crowd the same way. Watching everyone mouth her lyrics back, she finally has her answer.

Song after song, they keep the pace brisk, and by the encore the whole gymnasium is on its feet. Logan takes a turn out front with his own guitar while Tenney tells the crowd he’s just as skilled at guitar as he is at drums. Somehow, it becomes one of their best shows yet.

Afterward, they spend an hour posing for photos, signing EPs, and fielding questions about a full album. As they head for the parking lot, Zane jogs up, grinning. They’ve sold out of all 150 copies of their EP. Logan’s jaw drops. Tenney can hardly believe it either, though she also notices how much darker the sky has gotten and how the wind now bites at her cheeks.

Tenney and Logan still haven’t talked through what happened between them, but there’s no time to dwell on it. They load into the van and head down a country road as a winter storm rolls in faster than expected. Within twenty minutes the sleet has thickened into snow, thunder rumbles in the distance, and the road turns slushy and slow. Then the van starts wheezing every time it climbs a hill, as though it’s protesting having to move at all.

“Sounds like the engine,” Dad guesses. Zane agrees grimly, and moments later the wheeze turns into a grinding noise so loud the whole van shudders. Zane steers onto the shoulder and cuts the engine, and the headlights die with it, leaving them in total darkness.

Zane asks Dad to check the GPS, but Dad’s phone has no service, and neither does Zane’s. Dad flips on the interior light and turns to ask if Tenney’s phone is working. She checks it, no bars show above her photo with Waylon. Logan’s phone is no better off. Outside, snow blows so hard that Tenney can barely make out the trees a few feet from the van.

They’re stranded in the middle of a snowstorm with no way to call for help, and Tenney can’t shake the fear that they might end up trapped there all night.