Chapter One

A/N: Hello readers! Welcome to my first marching band fic, I really hope you enjoy it, please let me know what you think!

High school: Definition A (According to Merriam-Webster): a school especially in the United States usually including grades 9–12 or 10–12. Definition B: A hellhole designed to overly complicate the lives of teenagers with senseless drama, no matter how many real problems may already be occurring in their lives.

The second definition isn't exactly a professional opinion, well not officially, anyway. It's my own, personal evaluation. My name is Tanya, Tanya Howard. As you may have guessed, my life hasn't exactly been simple. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

"Tanya!" A young voice squealed.

I groaned, slowly lifting my eyelids and looked at my alarm clock. 7:45. I was late. Muttering profanities to myself, I jumped out of bed and dressed myself quickly in gym shorts and a grey t-shirt. I stood in front of the mirror as I pulled my long brown hair into a ponytail. I ran out of my room to brush my teeth and almost collided with someone. Trenton.

Trenton is my older brother. I live with him, his wife, Benni, and their three year old daughter, Rachel (the source of my wakeup call this morning). He stood an impressive six feet, 3 inches tall and was in very good shape, a fact Benni never forgot to point out. I noticed his short hair was messy and he had yet to shave everything but his goatee.

"What's the hurry?" He asked as I sprinted into the bathroom.

"I'm late!"

Once I was done brushing my teeth I tore down the stairs and pulled on my tennis shoes by the door before bolting outside to my car and speeding off. I looked down at the clock. 7:50, not bad. I had ten minutes to make it to the high school. I could work with that.

What was I so late for? It was summer vacation; school didn't start for almost a month. Why would a teenage girl be going to her high school now of all times? It just so happens that a very important school event would be beginning today. Band camp.

Our band was one of the largest in class 3A and was very competitive. We competed in some elite competitions and did very well. We were the most successful competitive activity at our school, but try getting the jocks to admit that.

I play the trumpet and have been playing lead part since I was a sophomore. This year, my senior year, however, I had my sights set on the position of section leader and today would make or break that goal.

I arrived at the school at 7:59, one minute to spare. I grabbed my trumpet out of the backseat of my car and sprinted into the school through the side door that led directly into the band room. Right on time, good. Being late may have hurt my chances at section leader.

I took a seat with the other trumpets as our director, Mr. Callahan, began speaking. We had all been given our music at the end of the previous school year and were expected and trusted to practice over the summer.

Mr. Callahan gave the usual lecture about how they needed to welcome all of the freshmen into the band and help them. It wasn't that big of a deal. The previous year they incoming freshmen had come to visit and spent some time in the band room and met a lot of the band and they had come to know what was expected of them.

"Along with the freshmen, we also have a new student joining us this year as a senior," Mr. Callahan continued, "His name is Maxwell White. Maxwell, would you please stand up and introduce yourself?"

A boy on the end of my row stood up. He had dark, sandy blonde shaggy hair and was reasonably tall. I noted the trumpet case sitting at his feet. I prayed to myself that he was good, or at the very least committed.

"Hi," he said nervously, "I'm Max, I'm a trumpet player. I moved here from Springview, about five hours from here. Our band there was a lot smaller than yours and I'm really looking forward to being a part of a larger, more competitive band."

Callahan smiled, "It's great to have you Max, you'll be a great addition to our trumpet line, I'm sure of it."

He went on talking about his plans for us for the season, practice schedules, leadership roles, etc. For the most part it was the same speech he gave at the beginning of every season. He gave it mostly for the freshmen, but some upper classmen probably needed a refreshed, knowing them.

"Now that we've covered what we need to for now, get your instruments out," Callahan said at last, "Let's see how well you've prepared."

I pulled out my trumpet and music. I had it memorized for the most part and from what I know of my band, so did most of them. Once everyone was prepared, we silenced and looked back at Callahan, next to him, stood the drum majors.

"You all remember our drum majors, Cornell Riffen, Grant Davis, and Danny Blair," Callahan said, gesturing to each of them respectively.

Cornell was also a senior, but Grant and Danny were both juniors. This made Cornell the head drum major, the way he saw it anyway. I knew this better than anyone because he was my boyfriend. I had to admit, he had an ego, it couldn't be denied. He could be sweet when he wanted to be though. It was just a matter of him choosing to…

The whole bands eyes were on the three drum majors. Cornell stood front and center, while the other two stood on his flanks. He raised his hands and counted us off and we were all more than ready to officially begin marching band.

I was very impressed with how good we sounded, and I think it was safe to say that Callahan was as well. Danny and Grant both looked impressed with our sound as well, Cornell, however, held a sour look on his face, which I tried my best to ignore.

We spent the rest of the morning working the music, and by lunch I couldn't have been happier with how things were going so far. When we dismissed to go eat, I put my trumpet away and then went to meet Cornell by the door.

"That was great, wasn't it?" I enthused.

"Are you kidding me? All summer to prepare and you guys couldn't do better than that?" Cornell spat.

"Excuse me? I thought we did really well for the first time together as an ensemble after the whole summer and with the freshmen added in."

Cornell rolled his eyes, "Whatever, I think you could have done better, and you'll never get section leader unless you push for perfection, you should know that, Tanya."

I rolled my eyes, but decided not to push the topic. Instead, I went to go eat with some of my friends while Cornell went to eat in Callahan's office with Danny and Grant. I found my best friend, Lydia, sitting in the hallway outside the band room. I took a seat across from her and watched her eat, now aware that I had forgotten my own lunch in my rush to leave the house this morning.

"How's Cornell?" She asked, not looking up from her food.

"Grouchy," I rolled my eyes, "But whatever."

"Hey," said a voice from the band room door. Tanya turned to see the new guy, Max, standing at the door, "Would you mind if I ate with you guys?"

We looked at each other and smiled in agreement, before nodding. Max took a seat next to Tanya.

"Thanks," he said, "I'd like to start in a smaller group and you two seem nice."

I smiled at him, "I get what you mean."

Suddenly, we heard shrill laughter coming from the end of the hall. The color guard had just finished their morning practice and was coming back to the band room for lunch. I could hear the obnoxious voice of the guard captain drifting down the hall before they even turned the corner. Candy Randal was a bottle blonde almost as skinny as her rifle and, as Lydia liked to put it, a skank. Most of the color guard followed in her wake. That's not to say they were all bad, there were some that were quite tolerable, Carrie Gavin for instance.

Candy gave Max a flirtatious smile as they walked by into the band room. Lydia and Tanya rolled their eyes.

"That was…different," Max said.

"I take it the guard at your old school wasn't like that?" I asked.

"Well, there weren't very many of them, like I said our band was small, but the ones who were in it were usually pretty nice."

"If only, if only," Lydia muttered.

I couldn't agree more with Lydia. When Max saw I didn't have any food and I explained why, he shared part of his with me, something I was quite grateful for. Once lunch was over, it was time to go outside and begin learning drill. The freshmen had learned how to march last week and were now ready to begin drill with the rest of us.

Cornell watched us sternly from atop the podium. Danny and Grant weren't in their positions to conduct at the thirty five yard lines, but they were still watching us as well, while Mr. Callahan instructed us from atop the bleachers.

By the end of the day, we had most of opener on the field and we would be adding music tomorrow. I was unbelievably excited as we walked back to the band room to put our instruments away and find out who the section leaders would be. Excited, but also very nervous, I could only imagine what Cornell would say if I didn't get section leader. He was all about "pushing for perfection" as he put it.

It seemed to take an eternity for everyone to put their stuff away and sit down. I took a deep breath as Callahan began to speak.

"After watching you today and from my prior knowledge, I have assigned leadership positions. As you know, the drum major and guard captain positions are already set, but now it's time for section leaders. To be a section leader, you must be a veteran of this band, that means freshmen and new students are not eligible. Seniors and juniors take precedence, as long as they have proven themselves responsible."

I was growing impatient.

"Alright, here we go," Callahan finally said, and he began listing off the section leaders. First flutes, then clarinets, then Lydia was announced as the saxophone's section leader. It seemed to take ages for him to reach the trumpets. I held my breath. "Tanya Howard."

I let the air out. I could feel the smile creeping up my face. This was going to be a great year.

A/N: So, what'd you think! Please review, it's much appriciated!