I was playing my flute with total abandon. That's what the mood for the piece was, and I was taking it to the extreme, barely bothering to read the music. I'd played the song so many times I no longer needed the music, so many times that the song had become as easy to play as "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," or "Hot Cross Buns."
I should've been playing my marching music instead of the praise songs I was entertaining myself with, and I knew it. Rookie Camp started at 9am tomorrow morning, and our band director, Roberts, had taken the time to remind us to practice and start memorizing our show over the summer. As a junior, I knew how necessary this was, and so I'd taken him up on it. I had the entire first movement memorized, along with over half of the second. It would only take me another couple of days to get the rest of the second, and probably another week and a half to get the third and fourth movements, since they were considerably easier than our first two.
I finished up the song a few seconds later and started to deconstruct my flute. It was pretty easy, just twisting off the head joint and foot joint and putting them in the correct places in their case after first shaking and cleaning out all the condensation. Once everything was in its place, I closed my case and put everything back where it belonged.
My phone, which was sitting on the arm of my chair, began to ring. I picked it up, and it showed Incoming Call: Chris, along with a photo of us at Hogwarts last year, a memento from the band's Orlando trip that he'd gone on because the university's exam week had been the week before. I answered before it had rung three times.
His voice came through, slightly muffled, and I guessed he was at some party or family dinner, or at least somewhere with several people in the same room. "Hey, Elle," he said. "How's my favorite marcher? All ready for Rookie Camp?"
I smiled. Hearing his voice was always something that made my day better. We typically talked once or twice a day, either in the morning before school/work/chores, or after dinner, during our usual homework/practice time. We were both musicians, and we both played trumpet, sax, and flute. He played more instruments than I did, though- baritone, trombone, clarinet, French horn, and tuba.
He had gotten a full scholarship to The University of South Carolina Honors College, which was about thirty minutes away if you didn't count traffic, and was currently studying music arrangement and composition as well as computer engineering. He'd decided to forgo a minor and just dive right into a double major, causing me to label him as insane. He just said he was ambitious.
"I'm so excited," I replied. "We've got three rookies this year! And who is your favorite marcher, by the way? I seem to have forgotten." I was a section leader this year, along with my friend Kylie, and we were looking forward to kicking the flute section into gear. Not that they needed it, of course, but a little push never hurt anyone.
His laugh, slightly more muffled than the rest of his words and not quite as deep as in real life, although most people wouldn't have been able to tell, came through the phone as he replied. "You know you're my favorite, Elle. I didn't really have to tell you, did I?" he asked.
It was my turn to laugh. "Of course not," I assured him. "I was just making sure nothing had changed."
"Good," he said. "Now, I hate to go, but Roberts wants me to look over the music for the show before tomorrow, and I haven't done it yet. So I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
I smiled again, remembering that he was on staff this year, even though he'd only completed his freshman year of college. "Sounds good," I confirmed. "See you tomorrow."
A/N: Some of the people, are based off of real people, but I promise that while they may bear resemblance to real people, they are original characters. Also, I'm open to criticism, but please keep it constructive. I don't leave nasty reviews, and I don't appreciate them, either.
Love & Harmony,
Jazmyn Isabel