Starting Over
I opened the door to the John Tucker High School band room hesitantly. It was July and while all the other sane kids were still at home, all the band kids had to come to school to load up on a bus for band camp. I knew how my old school did band camp but I was new here, and had to start over as a junior. I had the door propped open but couldn't find the nerve to step in. I saw all the kids laughing and talking to each other and looked on in despair, knowing that I was going to have to build new relationships from scratch.
"Do you need help with your duffel?" a male voice asked. I turned to look at my addressor and found the most gorgeous guy I had ever seen. He had spiky brown hair and his eyes were deep pools of blue. He was about 6', a foot taller than myself and had a fairly muscular build.
When I found my voice, I said, "Yes. Thanks. That would be great."
"I'm William by the way but everyone just calls me Will," he said as he lifted the duffel off my shoulder and onto his own. "What's your name? I haven't seen you before, and believe me, I would have noticed. Are you new?"
"Yeah, my name is Katie and I just moved here from Great Falls." I flicked my light blonde hair out of my eyes. "Thanks for helping me with that. You can just set it on a chair or something," I said as we got to the midst of the band hall.
"Well nice to meet you, Katie. Oh, I'm a percussionist by the way. Drum Captain to be exact. What do you play?"
"The flute and the piccolo for marching season. Just don't even mention the 'American Pie' joke. I've heard enough of that."
"Don't worry. I won't," Will laughed.
A man with a mullet came in the band room and said, "I need to see all the percussionists to help load equipment onto the truck." I assumed he was the band director, Mr. Berns.
"Well, I've got to go but do you want to sit with me on the bus ride? It's fun. There's usually a big group of us who sit in the back of the charter bus." He had a confident grin on the surface but I saw a flicker of self-doubt.
"Sure, that would be fun," I said.
"Great. I'll catch up with you to pick our seats," Will said as he ran off to join the other drummers
Sometimes I thought that percussionist were a cult. They were always apart from the band, doing their own thing and now, I had no one to talk to. My only friend had had to leave me.
I went up to the bulletin board, for lack of anything better to do, and checked out the room assignments for the dorms we were staying in at the college. I was with three other girls: Kayla Daniels- a piccolo player, Jen Morgan- a trumpet player, and Trista Snyder- a trombonist. They were all juniors. I looked farther down the list for Will and found that he was a senior.
I scanned the band room but he was still gone. I figured everyone had signed up for rooms but since I was new, I just got thrust in one. I saw three girls talking together, a piccolo, trombone, and a trumpet player, and thought that it wasn't coincidence. I walked up to them.
"Hi, I'm Katie. Are you all Kayla, Jen, and Trista?" I asked. They nodded. Kayla was a pretty brunette with a slim figure. Jen had darker brown hair and a slightly heavier figure even though she was still slim. Trista had long flowing red hair and blue eyes. I identified them by their cases.
"So you're Katie?" Trista asked. I nodded. "Well, we're going to have fun this year, so I hope you're ready. Oh, and just to clear something up from the get-go, every guy is fair game except for Johnny Kerns, Adam Varsant, and Will Conners."
Will Conners. That is the Drum Captain, I remembered from the room list. "Are those your boyfriends?" I asked, trying not to be obvious.
"Well, Jen and Adam and Kayla and Johnny are going out," Trista started.
"But Trista's had her eye on Will for a long time," Jen finished.
I made a mental note of this. I thought Will was cute and he was showing interest in me but did I really want to make an enemy of one of my future roommates? No, I want to make as many friends as possible.
"So who's the band president? Who are the drum majors?" I asked, wanting to be "in the know" about the JTHS band.
"Well, my boyfriend, Adam, is the band captain. He's the cute guy with the surfer-like brown hair over there- the one with the goatee," Jen said as she pointed out her boyfriend.
"And Johnny, Kayla's boyfriend, is the tall blonde guy over there. He's the senior drum major. Kayla was actually worried about him working so close with Emily and they had some problems for a little while, but they finally worked it out," Trista said with a grin.
"Who's Emily?" I asked. "Is she the junior drum major?"
"Yeah," Kayla replied. "She's the short blonde girl over there with the short choppy hair."
I laughed. "Well at least I know some of the leaders here…I just wish I knew who my section leader was."
"Well, that would be me," Kayla said sheepishly. "Jen's the section leader for the trumpets and Trista is for the trombones. All the guys in their sections were surprised that a girl got section leader."
"That's really cool that you all are leaders. Should I feel privileged to have joined in with the elite?" I asked, half jokingly. They laughed and I felt that the ice was broken between us. These girls could become my best friends. They seem like the type I would have been friends with back home. Oh man, I did it again! I berated myself. I have to stop thinking of Great Falls as home. East side is my home now.
"So do you guys pick on the freshman too, like my old band did at band camp?" I asked.
"Of course. That's what they're here for," Jen said.
"Every year on the first night, all the upperclassmen take the freshman out of the dorms and initiate them by painting their faces and just having a little party. Don't worry though. Mr. Berns knows. He thinks it's good because it binds the band together. So, now, you have a heads up," Trista said.
"Thanks," I said.
"Alright bandies, listen up! And fresh meat, you better listen closely," Johnny, the senior drum major shouted. "No one move until I've finished giving directions. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir!" was the chorus that came from the veterans.
"I said is that clear?"
"Yes, sir!" everyone said this time, the freshmen picking up on how to do things.
"He's so hot when he's giving orders," Kayla whispered to me.
"Okay bandies," Johnny continued. "This year is going to be the best marching season that John Tucker High School has ever had. Our band has 207 people signed up this year. I know that that number will shrink a little after band camp, but for those of you who stick with it, I commend you. We won't need the ones who leave because they didn't have the right attitude to begin with. Also, our drum line has 20 people- 4 snares, 5 bass drums, 4 quads, and 7 cymbals. Under Will Conner's great and extensive leadership, I expect the drum line to shine. This should encourage the rest of the band to do their best and hopefully to strive for success. This season, at states', Marshall High School won't win the grand championship. We've been an all state honor band for 10 years running now and that's not going to change this year. I know some of you are new and frightened and nervous about what the older kids will think of you, but trust me, after band camp, we will all be one single unit. Upperclassmen, I expect you to befriend and guide the freshman. If you're transferring in from another school, at least you have some marching experience but JTHS does things our own way so you might have to learn a new style of marching especially if you marched traditional. We're a show band. We get the crowd and judges pumped up and are a critical organization to this school's spirit. Emily, do you have anything else to add?" Johnny asked as he turned to the junior drum major.
"I think you pretty much covered it. Just remember, you guys," she said as she faced the band, "this year is our year so make it a great one."
"That was short," I said to Jen, Kayla, and Trista.
"Well, usually the senior drum major is known as the strict one and the junior drum major as the fun one. But when the junior drum major gets to be the senior drum major, they've toughened up," Trista explained.
"Okay people, no more dawdling," Adam, the band captain and Jen's boyfriend shouted. "Mr. Berns told me to tell you all to get your things and your instruments and load them on the buses. There are four buses and all of you have already been divided onto one of them so as not to cause mass hysteria. The list has just been posted so make sure you check what bus you are on before you leave the band room. All the instruments go under the buses except for flutes and clarinets. Those can be carried onto the buses and stored in the overhead compartments. Geez, I sound like a stewardess," Adam joked. Everyone laughed. "Anyway, when you get in line to board the buses, it's chaperones first, then leadership, then seniors, juniors, etc."
My three new friends and I rushed to the bulletin board to beat everyone else.
"Oh crap!" Kayla exclaimed. "I'm on bus four with no one…and Johnny's on bus three. Katie you're on bus three. Keep an eye on Johnny for me will you? Emily's on that bus."
I was going to say, "I thought you guys were over that," but I thought better of it. Instead, I said, "Okay." I glanced at the list. "Oh man, Trista and Jen are on bus two."
"Yeah but Adam and Will are on bus four with you. You must have some kind of luck. You got all our guys on the same bus with you. Just don't mess with them," Trista joked. I tried to laugh but it came out sounding forced. Apparently, no one noticed because they didn't comment. "You should have fun on bus four…all the percussion are on that bus. Don't be surprised if certain games get started…like Truth or Dare."
This time, I laughed for real. "We used to play that on all our bus rides back in Great Falls. I'm used to it."
"That's good. We better get our stuff or we'll be left behind," Jen stated. We all scooped up our things and I noticed that Trista had the biggest luggage.
"What do you have in there? Bowling balls?" I asked.
"I like to travel in style. Besides, if the guy I like is going too, shouldn't I look my best?"
I shook my head and smirked. Trista gave me a playful shove. We all walked out to the buses. I headed to the third one in the line up while Kayla headed to the last one and Jen and Trista made a beeline for the second one. Suddenly, I felt someone grab me by the elbow.
"Hey, you better hurry up and put your stuff on. I'll save your seat by me though- one of the perks of being leadership," Will said.
"Okay, I'll be right there. Just let me load my duffel." I happened to glance over my shoulder and saw Trista looking at Will and me with narrowed eyes. Then, as if the look had never been there at all, it disappeared. She smiled, waved good bye to me and boarded the bus with Jen. I was the last one to get on bus three. I stopped at the front of the bus and searched for Will. His spiky brown hair shouldn't be too hard to spot.
"Hey, Katie. Back here," I heard some one shout. I looked toward the back of the bus and sure enough, spotted Will. He had gotten the three seater in the back. The three seat bench faced a two seater so that the people in the two seater were riding backwards. Johnny was on the other end of the three seater so I assumed the spot in the middle had been reserved for me. I walked to the back, put my flute up top in the carry on bin, and sat between Will and Johnny.
"Hi, I'm Johnny if you don't already know. I'm not as mean as I sound when I'm in command. Really I'm not," Johnny said.
"Sure, Johnny. Don't believe him Katie. He's the devil," the girl I knew to be Emily said from the two seater. Everyone around us laughed. I surveyed the group and was surprised to find that I knew almost everyone. There was Will, Johnny, Emily, and Adam. There was a pretty girl with long black hair sitting next to Emily and a guy and girl sitting together in the seat in front of the bathroom.
"Hi, I'm Trixie," said the girl with black hair. "I think you know everyone except Paul and Sam over there cuddling," she said, indicating the guy and girl sitting in front of the bathroom. "They're drummers."
"Hello? Is this on?" a voice on the loudspeaker asked. Then it squealed and we all shrieked in response. "Alright, kiddos. We're on our way to State College. It'll be about a four hour trip so settle in. Just be quiet long enough so I can call roll and then you can have your chaos. I'm Mrs. Varsant by the way, Adam's mom, if you didn't know." She started calling the role and when she said, "Katalyn Thompson," I said, "Here." When she was done, we pulled out of the school parking lot.
"Who wants to play Truth of Dare?" Paul said. Our whole group said, "Yes," and the two guys in the seats in front of Emily and Trixie, Matt, James, and Scott Delvins turned around to play, too. I recognized them to both be bass drums because I had seen them practicing on them.
Paul started. "Emily, truth or dare?"
"I'll start easy. Truth."
Paul didn't miss a beat and said, "Okay, have you ever kissed anyone on this bus?"
Emily looked sheepish and snuck a glance at Johnny. I saw. What's really going on there? "Yes," she said simply. "Trixie, truth or dare?" Trixie picked dare. "I dare you to kiss Johnny for ten seconds on the lips." That's weird. Maybe she's trying to divert attention away from the fact that she likes Johnny. Trixie shrugged. She sat on Johnny's lap and held him in a lip lock for the full ten seconds.
"Katie," Trixie said. "Truth or dare?"
"Dare," I said, trying to be brave.
"I dare you to sit on Will's lap and whisper sweet nothings in his ear for two minutes."
"Sure," I said. "Is that all you got?" I sat on Will's lap and he put his arms around my waist. My arms encircled his neck and I whispered, "This is stupid. I'm on a bus playing Truth or Dare and I have to whisper in your ear for two minutes so I can finish my dare. At least I'm not bored though and I don't have to do something gross like lick the back of someone's neck. I've done that before and it was nasty." It went on like this until two minutes was up. I climbed off Will's lap and back into my seat. He had a goofy grin on his face. Then he turned to Scott.
"Scott, truth or dare?"
"I dare you to lick the back of Matt's neck." Will turned to me and winked.
"Aw man, that's nasty, but I'll do it. Look down, Matt." Matt did so and Scott licked his neck.
We kept playing until we got bored. Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail, a must have movie for band trips, was playing, so we all turned to watch the t.v.'s. I fell asleep and the last thing I remembered was when the king was fighting the Black Knight and said, "What are you going to do-bleed on me?"
When I woke up, I first noticed that I was leaning over, leaning a little to the left. Then, I realized that I had fallen asleep against Will. I noticed a slight pressure on my shoulder and saw that he had his arm around me. This is bad, I thought but at the same time, I was giddy with pleasure. He started to wake up. It was probably because I was moving so much. He turned to look at me.
"How was your nap?" he asked. I said that it was good.
"How was yours?"
"Good, too. I put my arm around you because you were shivering," he explained.
Before I could say anything, Emily said, "You guys looked so cute all snuggled up together. It was like a Kodak moment."
Will and I both blushed. He turned to me and whispered in my ear, "I'd like to put my arm around you more times. I really want to get to know you and trust me, it's not because I want to be your friend."