The chap­ter opens with Lily reflect­ing on the gen­dered nature of objects and con­cepts in the world, from hur­ri­canes to musi­cal instru­ments. She observes how soci­etal norms uncon­scious­ly shape choic­es, even in third grade when chil­dren pick their instru­ments. At the Coös Coun­ty Hon­ors Orches­tra rehearsal, she notes the stark gen­der divi­sions: brass and per­cus­sion dom­i­nat­ed by boys, flutes and harps by girls, and strings split by pitch depth. Lily finds irony in how these pat­terns emerge from child­hood deci­sions, yet she admires out­liers like a girl play­ing drums or a boy on pic­co­lo, who defy expec­ta­tions.

The rehearsal begins with the oboist, Maya, pro­vid­ing the tun­ing note, fol­lowed by the orchestra’s chaot­ic attempt at John Williams’ “Star Wars” theme. The con­duc­tor, Mr. Pawlaws­ki, endures the dis­so­nance with vis­i­ble frus­tra­tion, sig­nal­ing a chal­leng­ing semes­ter ahead. Lily’s wry humor sur­faces as she com­pares the noise to a dystopi­an Star Wars scene, high­light­ing the group’s ini­tial lack of cohe­sion. The scene under­scores the ten­sion between artis­tic ambi­tion and real­i­ty, while Lily’s inter­nal com­men­tary adds a lay­er of wit and self-aware­ness.

Lily then shifts to a per­son­al reflec­tion, recall­ing how she chose the cel­lo in third grade—a deci­sion influ­enced by gen­dered expec­ta­tions. She con­trasts her father’s insis­tence on her pre­sent­ing as a boy with strangers per­ceiv­ing her fem­i­nin­i­ty, leav­ing her puz­zled about what tru­ly sig­nals gen­der to oth­ers. This intro­spec­tion reveals her ear­ly aware­ness of soci­etal con­straints and the con­fu­sion they caused, even as she grav­i­tat­ed toward the cel­lo, an instru­ment strad­dling the line between “mas­cu­line” and “fem­i­nine” asso­ci­a­tions.

The chap­ter clos­es with Lily’s mus­ings on iden­ti­ty and per­for­mance, both musi­cal and per­son­al. The orchestra’s strug­gles mir­ror her own nav­i­ga­tion of gen­der norms, while the out­liers in the ensemble—like the girl percussionist—offer hope for break­ing free from expec­ta­tions. Her nar­ra­tive blends humor, obser­va­tion, and vul­ner­a­bil­i­ty, paint­ing a vivid pic­ture of ado­les­cence where sound, gen­der, and self-dis­cov­ery inter­twine. The recur­ring theme of “run­ning the gen­der maze” ties the chap­ter togeth­er, empha­siz­ing the invis­i­ble yet per­va­sive forces shap­ing indi­vid­ual choic­es.