Chapter 1: Welcome to Band Camp

"Amoeba, Bodacious, Cuirass, Defenestration, Echelon, Flabbergast, Gallbladder, Hemostat, Indubitably, Jitter bug, Koala, Latrine, Macadamia… SWITICH TO THE LEFT FOOT!… Noctiflorous, Obelus, Poppycock, Quahog, Ransack, Scuttlebutt, Teletubbies, Uvula, Vortex, Wigwam, Xantippe, Yacht, Zanthoxylum!" We shouted as one. We finished stretching out our feet with the alphabet, and now we would do the push ups.

"Alright!" Rae shouted out. She put one hand on her hip and she adjusted her aviator sunglasses with the other. "Drop down and give me fifteen!" she said. This was met with groans, "What's?" and general moans of disagreements. Rae was ready…as usual.

"You want to make it thirty?" she asked. This was met with "No's" and more moans of disagreements.

"Then get on the ground and give me fifteen," She said, over the outdoor PA system. Us, We, the band, all two hundred of us, laid on the ground. Rae Hartford, Matt White, and Sara Conan, our drum majors, got onto the ground with us and Rae shouted, "One!" we responded,

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Four!"

"Five!"

"Six!"

"Seven!"

"Eight!"

"Nine!"

"Ten!"

"Eleven!"

"Twelve!"

"Thirteen!"

"Fourteen!"

"Fifteen!" We all said. Finally, we were done stretching.

"Alright," Rae said, as we all got up. "You guys have about ten minutes of a break before the fun starts. But I've got to explain a few things before then. For those of you new to Marching Band. My name is Rae, I'm your head drum major. Your other drum majors are Matt," Rae said, gesturing to her right to the black haired senior. "And Sara," She said, gesturing to the small, short, red head to her left. "If you have any questions, you can come to any one of us, and on that note, come to us before you go to-"

"Dweebs! You suck!" We all turned around to see half of the football team staring at us, smiling and laughing at us.

"Ha, ha, ha," Rae laughed slowly, smiling like she was pissed. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the football team. The blundering wonders who tear up the football field so when we march on it, we can't see the lines, slip and fall, and get really dirty because its so muddy."

"And you know what Rae? It's fuckin' hilarious when you do!" One particular football player shouted to her.

"At least we don't need butt pads to cushion the blow, Eric." Rae said back. We laughed at this, and with no witty comeback, the football team turned around disgusted. "They will be leaving in an hour, so then we'll have the whole field to ourselves, not just this half. The people you see running around on the track is the boys track team. They are much nicer and even cheer us on," Rae said, and as if right on cue, a pack of shirtless guys waved at us, causing several of the girls around me to silently drool.

"Okay, before that… rude interruption, I was about to explain the fourteen rules. These fourteen rules you will learn in this marching band. If you don't learn all of them, it will result in you either getting sick and/or hating marching band. Rule Number One: Bring sun screen. It is amazing how many people don't realize that it is hot and sunny in the middle of August. Bring sunscreen, and you will not burn. Number Two: Bring bug spray. After dinner, its cool enough for the bugs to come out. Number Three: Bring water and bring a lot of water. You cannot run back inside the school every time we have a water break, and you will get thirsty. Number Four: I cannot stress this one enough; eat breakfast. Every year, someone doesn't do it and every year someone throws up or worse, faints. Number Five: Bring Dinner. Number Six: Be wary of the weather. Know if we may have a storm and dress accordingly. Seven: Wear shorts. Do not wear jeans. You will find they are uncomfortable and they do not stretch very well and stretching, lunging, and other flexible stuff will be apart of the drill. Eight: Wear tennis shoes. Nine: Be early. If you are on time, you are late. If you are early, you are on time. Number ten: You will get hit by a guard member. It is inevitable. Eleven: When we do basics and drill, count out loud. Not only does this help you keep time, it helps your neighbors keep time. Twelve: People are going to shout at you during practice. We have the football team on the east end of the field. Idiots who honk their horns at us from the road, and Mr. Nickels. Mr. Nickels lives behind the visitor stands over there, and every few weeks or so, he will sit on his roof with a megaphone and he will shout profanity, and wish death on us because we make so much racket. But don't worry because he gets the cops called on him very time so he doesn't do it for too long. Number Thirteen: If you're on the field, unless your counting, be quiet. And lastly, Number Fourteen: The most important rule, the one you must follow to the letter; Listen to Dr. S. On this field he is the king of the universe. What he says goes. If he tells you to lunge, lunge. If he tells you to play louder, play louder. If he tells you to stop what your doing and go wash his car, stop what your doing and wash his car… You now have an eight minute break." Rae finished, after looking at her watch. I looked around at the confused freshmen who did not know that Rae had just dismissed them, and tried not to laugh. They looked horribly confused, and some looked down right fearful; Just what Rae wanted.

"What was that all about?" I said, walking up to her, smiling. She smiled back when she saw me. "All that nonsense about washing his car and whatnot." Rae took off the headset and put it next to the mega-box her voice had resonated from.

"Tony!" She said, and she hugged me. I hugged back. Although I was a Junior, I hung out with Rae a lot. Playing saxophone in the same band and sitting next to each other helped I suppose.

"I missed you!" We said together, then we both laughed.

"How was your vacation to Ireland?" she asked me.

"It was awesome! Irish girls are hot!" I said, smiling deviously. Rae narrowed her eyes, but she knew I was just joking.

"Great speech this year, sweetheart," Matt said from behind Rae. Rae's face was happy for one second, then a the happiness was hidden with a smirk. She turned around to face a grinning Matt.

"What did I say about calling me sweetheart, Matthew?" she said. Matt took a step closer to her.

"What did I tell you about calling me Matthew, sweetheart?" Matt said back. Rae put her hands on her hips and took a step forward closing the gap between them.

"Are you trying to get yourself slapped on the first day of camp?" she asked.

"Well, if it's going to happen sometime, we might as well get it over with." Rae laughed again like she was pissed and said,

"No, no, no. Not this time Matt. You've become too good for a slap," She said, patting his cheek.

"Hey, Rae?" Sara said, walking over to us.

"Then what form of punishment do you have in store for me?" Matt said trying to keep a straight face.

"WHAT?" Sara said, shocked. Rae and Matt looked over at her and neither of them could contain their laughter any longer. The horribly disgusted face Sara was making was priceless. "EGHHHHHHH!" she said, looking thoroughly disgusted, sticking out her tongue, turning around several times, and shaking her hands like there was something on them. "I need brain bleach!" She cried out. At this time, Rae, Matt, and I had fallen to the ground, laughing so hard our lungs hurt.

"Oh, Sara, I love you!" I said, a minute later when I had my breath back.

"You two are horrible!" Sara said to Rae and Matt, which didn't help them, and it resulted in another fit of laughter.

"It's not funny! Stop laughing!" Sara said, in her most serious and annoyed voice.

"I'm sorry, Sara," Rae said, composed herself and got up.

"We're sorry. The next time Matt makes a sexual joke, we'll make sure your out of earshot."

"Thank you," Sara said. "Now, Dr. S. is stuck in traffic, and no one else will be here until the football team clears, so he wants us to do basics until he gets here."

"When will he be here?" Matt asked, still sitting on the ground.

"In about half an hour."

"Okay. Get everyone back in lines," Rae said to Sara. Sara nodded her head and picked up the microphone headset and ordered all of us to get back in lines for basics. Rae turned to Matt and held out a hand to help him up. Matt took her hand and got up, but then he didn't let go, and he pulled her close to him, then he tripped her.

"Ugh! Matthew White! You will die a very painful death!" Rae said glaring up at him from her disgruntled position on the ground.

"If it's by your hands, then frankly, sweetheart, I don't give a damn," He said with a wicked smile on his face.

"She's going to kill you, you know," I said quietly to Matt.

"Oh, I know," Matt said, grinning, then he walked away from Rae and I and joined Sara.