As the old saying goes, "What happens in the band room, stays in the band room." This is true for our two band members here, Lovino Vargas and Antonio Carriedo. These two attend a middle school in Madrid, Spain. They are both in the seventh grade, and the two have most of their classes together, save for one or two. Antonio has been in Spain for most of his life, though there are the few exceptions where he got to take trips with his family to America to see his aunts and uncles and cousins. Lovino on the other hand, had just moved there a few months prior from Italy. These two boys knew their lives would be changed forever the moment they stepped through the band room door. Lovino's head was lowered, one hand clinging to his books, the other nervously clutching the handle on his Flute case. He walked up to the teacher, a chubby woman with tanned skin and dark hair, who was shuffling through papers. He cleared his throat, catching the woman's attention. She looked up, a small smile on her face. *"Ah, debe ser la nueva estudiante. Lovino Vargas, ¿correcto?" It took Lovino a few moments to process what she had said, still having a bit of trouble understanding Spanish, even if Italian and Spanish were such similar languages. "U-um, S-sí," he answered, hoping some of the other kids knew English as he was quite fluent in it. Of course, he didn't know if anyone would even talk to him. The teacher grinned at him, nodding towards his seat, "It's nice to meet you, Lovino, I'm Ms. Sorrento. I look very forward to having you in my band and hearing you play," she winked, catching the confused look on Lovino's face when she had spoken in her native tongue. He sent her a grateful look, taking a seat in the middle of the first row. This is when he decided to take an actual look around the room, however he mostly focused on the other kids. That's when he saw him.
Him being a lanky boy who had just walked through the door. He had dark chocolate curls and lightly tanned skin, a smile that could blind. Lovino's eyes traveled up and down. The boy was wearing a Real Madrid jersey which seemed a bit out of place with his faded jeans and tennis shoes. Then, Lovino found what was probably his favorite thing about this boy. His eyes. His eyes were a brilliant emerald, like that of a green field on a warm, sun-shiny day. There was a splash of what looked almost golden in the mix, reminding Lovino of the sun. To Lovino, this boy's eyes were a field that he could lay in and stay forever, the bright sun above warming his skin. Until he opened his mouth.
Lovino flinched as the boy stuck out a hand, bright smile in tow, *"Hola, usted debe ser nuestra nueva flauta! Realmente me siento aliviado porque, si me permite decirlo, estamos en necesidad desesperada de un par de buenos jugadores. Los unos los que nosotros tenemos ahora no son tan. . . especializada." The boy looked down at Lovino, seeing the confused look plastered on his face. Antonio's smile faltered for a moment, and Lovino thought, with horror, that he offended the boy. Of course until that smile came back full force, and the boy sat down next to Lovino, hand still extended. "You know what, just forget everything I just said. My name is Antonio Carriedo, I'm one of the percussionists!" Lovino blinked a few times, understanding finally washing over his face. Lovino reached out, hesitantly taking Antonio's hand. "M-my name's L-Lovino. Lovino Vargas." Antonio nodded his head before standing up. "It's nice to meet you, Lovino. I hope we can become good friends!" He then turned and went to join the other two people at the back of the room. One was standing next to the bass drum, one behind the snare drum, Antonio surrounded by the four tympani drums.
The teacher went over to close the door before returning to her podium, clearing her throat, "Alright, class, we'll be having a chair test today, so turn to number 62 on page 10." Lovino did so before putting his flute together and flexing his fingers. He stared down at the flute in his hands before closing his eyes. Lovino hadn't wanted to play the flute. He had wanted to play something like the saxophone or maybe ever the tuba. Of course, he had wanted to be in band, unlike his brother, Feliciano, who wanted to be in chorus, and his mother had told him that if he wanted to be in band, he must play flute. In the end, Lovino didn't really mind that he had to play flute. In fact, he became very good. And he was just about to prove it.
Lovino's eyes scanned over the page, landing on what seemed to be the hardest one. He slowly raised his hand, clearing his throat as Ms. Sorrento called upon him, "Si, Lovino?" "U-um, instead of playing number 62, is it alright if I play number 67?" This was obviously a band that didn't play very challenging music, as the other six flutes stared at him like he had lost his mind. However, Ms. Sorrento had a large smile spread across her face, "Alright then, we'll have you go first!" Lovino gave a curt nod before getting into position, bringing the flute to his lips. He tapped his foot as he played, keeping his eyes on his music. It was in three-four time with slurs and a triplet at the end. By the time he was done, the other students were staring in awe, Ms. Sorrento's smile getting even bigger (if that was possible.) "Very good, Lovino, but, to make it fair, I think you should go ahead and play number 62 to make it fair." Everyone nodded, Lovino pouting as he began to play just as well as before, until he sneezed, causing an almost screech to come out of the flute.
He immediately stopped playing, face red with embarrassment, the whole band laughing at him. Except for Antonio, who winked at Lovino before bringing one of the tympani mallets up and closing his eyes as he brought it down, a loud booming sound emitting from the drum. All attention then went to Toni who smiled, even as Ms. Sorrento scolded him. Lovino sheepishly returned the smile. And this was how they met.