"Band, INTENSIFY!"
"Band, DECRESCENDO!"
It was pretty much the same thing day after day. The French horns went out of tune, the lower clarinets quit playing, and the baritones were laughing at some crap that had taken place in study hall earlier. Durham couldn't give everyone that evil cross-eyed glare at the same time, so he dropped his baton in frustration and cut the band off.
"Guys," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "How the heck do you expect to make honor band with this kind of crud you're putting in front of me? You can't even breathe together! My sixth graders play better than this! And they suck!" The third trumpets slumped down and pouted. "I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is! I don't know what you want me to do!" He sighed. The bell rang, and everyone jumped out of their seats and headed toward the door. Durham sighed again, walking to his office.
"Band SUCKS!" Krista exclaimed loudly as the four eighth grade girls walked toward the door. "I WANT OUT!"
"Then quit," Largo shrugged. "If you hate it that bad, then…"
"Then don't play," Laney said in her low, drawling country accent. "'Sides, my maw-muh says I dudn't gotta play anyhow 'cause 'a my azma." Laney tossed her thick blonde hair and turned her nose up.
"Laney, lots of people have asthma, and they can still play their instrument." Largo said.
"Well, Largo, some people didn't make first chair at region like you did!" Krista said, angrily.
"Well, I didn't get where I am by complaining about band being hard!" Largo shot back.
Krista was Largo's best friend, but when it came to talking about band, they never agreed. She saw Durham as a psycho, but he was Largo's savior. She went home every day and practiced, and Krista never even took her clarinet home.
Codie wedged in between Laney and Krista. "I think my sore's gettin' worse," she moaned. Largo rolled her eyes, but Laney and Krista leaned in to get a closer look at the infected mosquito bite on her forearm. "It hurts real bad."
"Well, Codie, you sat there pickin' at it all through band! Of course its getting worse!" Largo replied. Codie mimicked Largo rudely. She rolled her eyes again. "Scar yourself up for all I care," Largo murmured under her breath.
"Oh! Hang on!" Largo said quickly. The girls stopped, and Largo ran toward the directors' office. Codie rolled her eyes. "She's goin' to flirt with Durham again," she whispered.
"Shut up!" Largo yelled back. "I'm not like that!" Everyone thought Largo was attracted to Mr. Durham for some weird reason. All of the little sixth grade girls were in love with him not for his dynamic personality, but for his striking looks. His eyes pointed almost straight toward his elongated nose, and he talked with his bottom teeth in a way that was almost country-sounding, but wasn't. Durham himself was a very interesting character. The fact of the matter was that Largo merely enjoyed the presence of the band directors. Ever since Mr. Durham had turned her life around last winter, she had been eternally grateful to him. She had vowed to make All-State under his direction at some point during her high school years. For her loyalty to Mr. Durham, she was repeatedly shunned and rejected, but she kept her head above water, and she ignored all of the offensive comments directed toward her.
"Hi, Mr. Durham!" Largo called out as she walked into the office. Durham sat at his desk, his baton and his chin in his left hand. He looked up listlessly.
"Yes?" he asked. It was funny how in some ways, he still had the attitude toward things as a college student would.
"How come Monday was the first day I heard about challenging?" Largo asked.
Durham chewed on the end of his baton and looked around, then looked back at Largo. "I dunno. Why do you ask?"
Largo heard Laney, Codie, and Krista laughing at her from the entrance to the office. "Uh, kinda 'cause on Monday you talked about how all the eighth graders were bunched up down at the bottom of the section because we didn't want to challenge." He looked at Largo quizzically. She cocked her head. "I'd been waiting on you to okay challenging, but you never said anything, so I figured we weren't going to get to."
"Naw!" Mr. Durham shouted, slamming his baton down on his desk. His listless look spread into a big, goofy grin that showcased his bottom teeth. " Naw! I mean, sweetheart! If it's that big of a deal to you, shouldn't you have asked me about it way back when?"
"Yeahhhh…I guess…" She said, looking from side to side. She couldn't see what he thought was so dang funny. He continued to smile.
"Okay, okay," he said, at last settling down. He looked at Largo sideways. "Are you suggesting that you want to challenge someone?" He ran his hand through his brown hair.
"Heck, yes! Juanita sits next to me, and she can't play in tune worth anything!" Largo slapped her forehead and started pacing around the room. "Also, sometimes I wonder if she thinks she plays the piccolo! She takes everything up, like, three octaves. And, it's out of tune! And the worst part is that she—"
"Largo," Mr. Durham said, quietly.
"She tells me I'm playing the wrong notes!" I keep a tuner on my stand all the time, and after tuning myself to death, it's still outta tune!" Largo kept getting angrier the more she commented on Juanita's musicianship. "I mean, she's awful! She plays so freakin' loud! It makes my eardrums BLEED!"
"Largo?" He rubbed his face, indicating that he was getting irritated.
"I've got to challenge her and get her out of my ear! I want to make it through the year with two good ears! And also—"
"Largo!"
"Yeah?"
"You're babbling again."
"Ulp. Sorry," Largo replied. She tended to start babbling when she had a lot to say.
"Regardless, I'll set up a time for you and Juanita to play for me in the next few days. Is tomorrow good? After my dad comes to listen to the band?"
"Okay! Thank you, Mr. Durham!" Largo replied, happily. He grunted a reply and turned back toward the computer screen.
"Ooh, Largo…" Krista said. "You're so in love with Durham."
"No, I'm not!" Largo replied.
"Maybe HE'S in love with HER," Codie said, looking down at the floor. "Maybe he wants to kidnap her and run off." Largo groaned. Codie always got on her nerves, especially when she had her head in the gutter, like now. "Maybe she—"
"Shut UP, Codie," Largo finally said.
"Shut UP, Codie," Codie mimicked.
"OKAY!" Krista yelled, breaking us up. "Let's all say something random."
"I'm hown-gry," Laney said.
"Big Mama, you're always hungry!" Krista said. "Drew's takin' me to a concert next week. That's my random thing. And Kris says he has cancer."
"Largo's in love with Durham," Codie said again.
Largo shot her a dirty look, which she imitated. "Ya think there's something in that wall over there?" She pointed toward the far wall.
"You're stupid," Codie said, pushing her behind them. "There ain't nuttin' in that wall."
"How do you know?" Largo asked. "Oh, yeah, you live in it." Codie growled.
Krista grabbed her by the arm and pulled her toward the back wall. Once there, she gave it a few knocks. "See?" she said. "Nothing there." Largo stood quietly for a second, her head cocked. She straightened up soon enough. The four girls left the band hall quietly.
The next day was exactly the same: Largo was teased for respecting Durham, Codie mocked everything Largo said, Krista had a new story to tell, and Kris talked with a speech impediment. Then Laney ventured to the bathroom and threw a fit because she kept thinking that Largo and Krista were following her into the bathroom. Ever since Krista had sneaked into the stall next to her and heard her making weird noises in there, Laney had always been strange about it. Mr. Durham stood in the hallway giggling over something with the middle school principal. Largo smiled and waved at him, and Codie rolled her eyes.
Things never changed at Ridgey Hills. It was always exactly the same, just as it was in a storybook town. It was almost sickening how plain it could be at some times. The middle school was dark, creepy, and miserable, and all fourteen of the eighth grade students in the high school band had to put up with it. It was a rite of passage to high school. However, they left every day at precisely two-thirty for the high school band hall, and thus began another adventure. Though Largo was the only student that didn't take it for granted, the others had at least a little compassion; Middle school band was even worse than the middle school itself. The band hall had broken windows, bloodstained bathrooms, and worst of all, the teacher that the students had put up with had been some kind of pessimistic oddball, and he constantly stayed locked up in his office while the students wreaked havoc over the already chaotic setting. He was long gone now, but his students were scarred by his teachings.
Mr. Durham had altogether taken the underclassmen in and taught them what they could be, and obviously the other students didn't respect that as much as they should. In other words, Durham was perfect. He could do no wrong, and no wrong could be done unto him. Despite this, perfect people cannot always be perfect; some days could be utterly different. They could be so different, that not even Durham would know how to fix it. Nevertheless, Largo believed that Durham was a superhuman, that he could do anything. Even though she was a lowly eighth grader, she strived to be one of his best students. She wanted to make him happy.