She was, of course, just like any other freshman clarinet player entering her first semester with marching band. Her name was Lily leLontre, but she was known by many titles. The director, Mr. Locke, called her "Triple L" in reference to her initials. Other times he called her Lillian, though she insisted that was not her real name. In time, she was called the Clarinet Kid, or, to members of her section, just "the Kid".
Lily was a truly devoted player. She would practice an hour a day as a minimum. She could play every major scale and almost any minor scale asked of her. She could construct a diminished or dominant 7th chord. However, she did not consider herself to be "good" in any respect of the word. She had a long line of credentials: district band, honors band, 1st chair in her middle school band, but her only desire was to be a member of the Honors Wind Ensemble. The top band at North High School, the one she had just entered, was a remarkable group. And only the best were in it. She had been placed in the Symphonic Band, only slightly lower, but she was determined.
Lily idolized the Wind Ensemble clarinets. The first chair was Roberto. She, more than anyone else, wanted to be just like the senior. She had first heard him play at her middle school while she was a freshman, and at her high school audition, was told she had what it took to be at his level one day. She thought Mr. Locke was lying. Kristin wasn't in marching band, given that she was a cheerleader, but she was in no respects unintelligent. She was ranked 16th in her class, and was just as good at clarinet. Amanda was fierce. She didn't necessarily have the talent set of some the other clarinets, but made up for this lack with her attitude. She was not the president of the Band Staff (that was Roberto), but she acted as though she was in control. She was constantly fighting with Roberto. Neither liked the other. When Lily talked to her, she was torn between running away in fear or breaking down and crying. Keith was a slacker, but wasn't unintelligent or not talented. He spent a majority of his time coming up with puns and jokes, and could make anyone (with the exception of Mr. Locke, with whom he was often in trouble for talking) crack up. Kelsey didn't always work as hard as she could, but was a close friend of everyone in band. She was the band staff secretary, after all, and had to know everyone in order to take attendance. The youngest clarinet in the Wind Ensemble was Bailey. She was a close friend of Lily's from the year that she was in 7th grade and Bailey was in 8th. Bailey was hardly ever seen without Mary, another friend of Lily's from that year. Mary worked hard and was good enough to be in the Wind Ensemble, but for some reason was placed in the Symphonic Band with Lily. Not that she minded. Lily liked Mary a lot.
Her first day of band camp, Lily sat next to a few other freshman she knew, wanting to stay as far away from the seniors as possible. She had really wanted to sit by Bailey and her other friend Leigh, but both were talking to Roberto. She was already frustrated, because someone had put "Lillian" on her freshman nametag. She bet it was Amanda. She saw her yelling Keith for joking around too close to the drumline equipment. The band room was in total chaos. Lily had never felt so lost, but managed to pull out her music, slide her reed securely between the ligature and mouthpiece, and warm up on the fight song. She was secretly pleased that she could hit every note in the runs while most people just stop playing, or held long notes.
That afternoon, Lily had her first marching practice on the field. She, along with the other freshman, was herded onto the 30 yard line. The section leaders and other clarinets that chose to stay spread out along the group. Roberto stood right next to her. She mentally cursed him. She had avoided him all morning, given that she was scared of him. She knew he was good. But she sucked, she thought. He was going to hate her.
"So, your name's Lillian?" he asked politely, when introducing himself to the musicians on either side of him. She scowled, and cursed whoever had made that stupid tag.
"No, it's not," she growled, ripping the nametag from her shirt with more force than necessary, and stuffed it in her pocket, looking at the ground.
"Then what is your name?" he inquired, seeming confused.
"Not important," she said. If only she knew what she had started. He not only called her Lillian for the rest of the day, but for the whole marching season. Mr. Locke had decided that since Lily had what it took, she would spend as much time with him as possible. Lily marched next to Roberto through every drill. She especially disliked the ones where she had to march by him and Amanda. Each was convinced they marched right, and told her to follow them, not the other.
On the first day of school, Lily went to band 7th hour with Mary. Mary never mentioned Bailey in band. Lily wondered if she was jealous about Wind Ensemble, but never brought it up. She went to the same church as Bailey and saw her often, whereas she had hardly seen Mary in a year.
Auditions passed easily. Lily had spent the night before and her lunch period practice-cramming in the etude. When waiting outside the room, she stood with Bailey and Mary, who huddled with the Wind Ensemble clarinets (with the exception of Amanda, who never seemed to be around them).
"I have good clarinet hands," noted Kristin. Lily was not sure Kristin knew her name. Truthfully, with the exception of Kelsey, Mary, and Bailey, she wasn't sure anyone knew her name. Of course, Roberto called her Lillian.
"Yeah, you have long fingers to cover the keys," said Kelsey, holding out her own hand in comparison. A conversation developed in which the others compared hand size, and how a clarinetist's hand should look like. Lily took on look at her small hand, short, stubby fingers, and slid her hand into her pocket silently, content to simply listen.
Roberto had the guts to audition first. Every Wind Ensemble clarinet crowded around the door listening to him. "Wow," Bailey said.
"Yeah," agreed Kristin. "It's like he had practiced that sight reading section."
Finally, Lily entered the room. The older clarinets had taken turns ridiculing the freshman before her, and though she was Bailey and Megan's friend, they would make no exception. She watched them watching her through the window as the moderator introduced her as "Clarinet #8".
She took a nervous breath, and launched into her etude. She had only a month of practice with this piece, and was convinced it wasn't perfect enough. She hit every sixteenth note run, but beat herself up over not using more dynamics. The sight reading, the piece Roberto had easily played, screwed her up. She blew through it best she could, but knew she had lost points. She had convinced herself she was going to fail, and stopped playing halfway through her scales. She couldn't remember any of them.
Outside of the room, Bailey and Mary congratulated her (they were the only ones who would acknowledge her). "You're shaking," said Mary.
"I am?" she asked nervously, and drifted into the band room. She tried not to cry. How could she have done so horribly? And the scales! She had done them all at least five times that afternoon. Roberto was jumping for joy inside the instrument room. He had scored a 98 of 100, his personal best. Lily walked past and out the door of the school, not bothering to stay for her results.
The next morning, the numbers were posted in the front of Mr. Locke's office. Lily had made sure to leave early when going to school to see how she did. Mary was walking out of the band room when she showed up.
"I beat you. I got 80," she said, happy, yet not acting too stuck-up. Lily knew Mary beat her. She had aced her scales.
"How did I do?" she asked. Mary shrugged and left with a non-band friend, so Lily walked up to the office. She started at the bottom of the list, and traced names with her finger, working her way up the list. She was extremely close to the top, she was surprised to see. The list read:
6. . . .78 . . .Triple L
She was the top-scoring freshman, and sixth scoring overall. Other than Mary, the top scorers were all in Wind Ensemble: Roberto, Bailey, Kristin, and Keith, who tied with Mary. Kelsey was right below Lily, and Amanda was a few spots below. Lily almost passed out. She ran out the band room as fast as she could, and promptly ran into Mr. Locke.
"Congratulations, Ms. leLontre," he said. She was already upset. Lily had a tendency to get very worked up over certain things. She would argue with Mr. Locke over anything. By the end of the year, she was quite sure he was sick of her.
"Mr. Locke, you screwed up the scores. I couldn't have scored anywhere near that high. Maybe you mixed me up with someone. I don't know, but I can't sit 2nd chair. I'm not good enough," she said, extremely flustered.
"No, there was no mistake in the scores," assured Mr. Locke. "That was accurate. You definitely deserved your score. I remember your audition very well. I could see you shaking behind the curtain." Lily blushed. "This afternoon, you will sit 2nd chair, 1st assistant, behind Mary."
"Um, thank you, Mr. Locke," Lily managed before bolting to math. "See you this afternoon.
At the Homecoming pep rally, Lily heard some interesting gossip. It was a stormy day (it had rained for every football game, so this was nothing new), and she was crammed into the gym with Bailey, Mary, and Leigh, a concert band sophomore that she liked a lot.
"So, Lily, are you excited about Wind Ensemble?" asked Bailey. Lily abruptly turned her head in question. What was she talking about? Their concert in December? That was two months away.
"What are you talking about?" she asked. Bailey must be confused, she decided. However, Leigh and Mary seemed to understand her. Was there some kind of event she didn't know about?
"Next semester. Didn't Mr. Locke tell you?" asked Bailey. Lily shook her head anxiously, wanting to know what everyone else clearly did. "He doesn't really tell me anything except to go home and practice. What is it?" Bailey and Mary exchanged looks.
"You're going up to Wind Ensemble next semester. You and Mary. Mr. Locke's changing your schedule," Bailey explained. Lily shook her head.
"That can't be. You must be confused. I'm nowhere near being good enough. Mary is, and I'm not surprised she's moving up. But me? I'm just a freshman, and not a good one at that. I'm not saying you're lying, but you're wrong. I'm not going to Wind Ensemble for at least two years."
Mr. Locke had a surprise for Lily, on a Monday in mid-November. One day, before band, he called Mary and Lily to talk to him. Lily immediately put her hands over her head.
"Whatever it was, I didn't do it!" she proclaimed. Mr. Locke laughed.
"No, you most definitely did, Triple L. You and Mary are being moved to Wind Ensemble next semester. I'm a clarinet or two short, and you both have what it takes. I'm changing your schedules for next semester with guidance right now. Congratulations."
He walked away to conduct the band, and Mary gave Lily a look that very clearly said "we told you so."
"Mr. Locke?" asked Lily hesitantly walking into his office one afternoon in December. "I need to talk to you about this Wind Ensemble thing. I'm not good enough I can't do it."
"Ms. leLontre, you are most definitely good enough to be in the Wind Ensemble. Do you think the music we play in Symphonic Band is easy?" he asked. Lily bit her lip, and reluctantly nodded. Indeed, it had not taken much practice to learn the songs by memory and play them flawlessly.
"You are very good, Lily. And besides, you should be focused on getting better. The best way for that to happen is to be with people who are as good as, or better than you. You will feel pressured into playing at their level. Trust me, I've been doing this for years," he said. Lily wasn't convinced. "Surely you notice Roberto? He's a senior, and has the experience to teach you." Back on Roberto again. Lily took a surreptitious look into the band room to see if he was there, which he often was, except for today. "You need to learn from those who are older than you. You just took your second audition, and scored an 85." Lily nodded. She hadn't screwed up her scales this time. "He only has one year left. Use it wisely."
"But, Mr. Locke, they're still all better than me, no matter what the audition results are. They're going to hate me." Mr. Locke laughed.
"No, Triple L, they are most definitely not going to hate you. And trust me- you are better than most. Just go with it. Your schedule has been changed. And you're moving up with Mary. Trust me. Everything next semester will be wonderful. You'll love Wind Ensemble."
AN: This is my first fic, and will alternate between mini-songfics and narratives. Please review, but no flames please! Yes, I am a band geek, and I do play clarinet. However, Lily is not really based off of me, and with don't share many experiences. Many things in here are based off true band events however. I'll try to update every couple of days. This Chapter was Lily's whole first semester, and the fic will cover her freshman year. That means the rest of the story will happen in second semester. Excited to see what the wonderful Wind Ensemble is like? Sorry to be so long-winded. Next time I'll be shorter!