Yay! My story is being reviewed! (Sort of.) Well, actually, one un-asked-
for review is doing as well or better than some other stories I have. Let's
see…no new things that violate some kind of copyright law…Look! The story
resembles one with a plot now! I'm a big girl now! There is some actual
character development…well, physically anyway. It's kind of funny, I think
I have a representative from each race in my five main characters…that
happened accidentally, I promise! Each time I draw Jake he keeps turning
out like Mike Shinoda…okay, yeah, let's just get on with the story. YEAH
GOV! Oh, yeah, contest! I need an Orville mascot that they can somehow
incorporate into their "uniforms". Write a review and post your entry to
win a guest appearance in the story! :P
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kara pedaled down the street, looking at the street signs confusedly. She had been living in the small town of Orville for nearly a month now, but she was sure she had never heard of "Brook Drive" or "Shady Street" before. School was starting tomorrow and she was trying to make the most of her last day of summer. The only problem was that she was lost in the bewildering suburbs.
To her luck, she saw an open garage halfway down the street to her left. She turned and tried to make out the figures in the darkened space before pulling to a complete stop. "Hello?" she called.
"Yo, visitors!" shouted one of the three guys. They emerged from the garage into the driveway, all looking, surprised, at her.
"Hey, are you new?" asked one of them. Kara nearly laughed at the sight: A tall guy, Asian features, about 5' 10", with dark blue spiky hair, ripped and faded jeans, and a torn black T-shirt, squinting in the bright light, and clutching a flute.
"Yeah. I come from Chicago," she answered, smoothing out her blonde ponytail and silently thanking God for wearing her cutest tank top and capri pants.
"Welcome to Orville," greeted the shortest of the three. He had naturally orange-red hair, which hung over his forehead shaggily, pale skin with lots of freckles, a black muscle shirt, and grey shorts of that weird polyester kind of material.
Kara realized he held drumsticks, and that the third guy had a guitar. She did a double take - Orville musicians!
"So, you guys are in a band, right?" she asked nervously.
The flutist shrugged. "Just for the summer, really. We were just working on a Led Zeppelin song."
Led Zeppelin – she knew them. A fellow bandie loved that band.
"Can I hear it?"
The guys looked at each other, a little surprised.
"Well, we've never had an audience," admitted the guitarist.
"Sure, why not," answered the short one. "Come on in."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frank jumped out of Joey's reach and passed the ball to Matt. Matt ran forward and faked a pass to Greg to avoid Keith, leaving the "end zone" between two apple trees wide open. "It's good!" shouted Frank exuberantly as Matt slammed the football down past the trees.
"Duh-duh-duh-da-da-dah!" tooted a deep brass sound.
"Thank you, Tory, our cheerleader extraordinare!" replied Greg.
"I'm not a cheerleader!" came a protest from the other side of the tangle of metal. "I'm a bandie."
"You're a band aid," replied Joey, "which is what I want to put over your mouth."
The upperclassmen sniggered.
"Hey, I didn't come here to be insulted. I came here to back up my very unloving football teams."
"You came here because you couldn't think up another song to practice!" answered Keith, laughing.
One of the players said, "You need to talk to my little brother. All he does is sit in his room all day, playing trumpet."
Tory peeked out over the baritone. "Who? Sebastian?"
He nodded.
"I didn't know he played trumpet! Can you drive me to your place?"
Some guys laughed, but no one protested.
"Hey, to get rid of you, I'd drive anywhere. C'mon, let's go."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"No way, man," protested Tom. "She's not sitting with us."
"Oh, come on, it's not like we have a reputation to ruin or something," replied Chris.
"Besides, she's the new girl. We'll just let her sit with us until she gets some other friends in Orville," added Jake.
Chris said, "Yeah. And really, if you think about it, we're technically in high school now. The lunch table configurations don't really matter much anymore."
"Fine." Tom shrugged and looked down at his schedule. "What do we have next, science?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kara had brought a lunch, therefore saving herself the trouble of fighting through the lunch line, but now she was looking around aimlessly for somewhere to sit in the sea of unknown faces. Her eyes fell on three familiar faces: Tom, Chris, and Jake. They waved her over to their corner table.
"Thanks, you guys are lifesavers," she greeted, sitting down next to Jake. The tables at Orville High (which was, after all, just a section of Orville Public School) were long and narrow, and folded up in the middle to make the cafeteria into a gym. The three guys and girl were at one end. At the other end of the table was a dusky-featured girl with her long black hair in two braids, talking excitedly with a friendly-looking black boy holding a paperback biography.
"That's Tory," said Jake, pointing to the girl, "and that's Sebastian."
"I'm going to go introduce myself." Kara slid down the table, ending up next to Tory. "Hey Tory, hey Sebastian, my name is Kara. What's up?"
"Hello!" answered Tory enthusiastically.
Sebastian smiled but asked, "How did you know our names?"
"Jake told me," replied Kara, motioning towards the other end of the table. The boys waved feebly. Apparently, everybody here knew each other but not necessarily liked each other.
Kara noticed Sebastian held a biography of Louis Armstrong. She wasn't sure she knew exactly who he was or if she knew any songs of his, but she did know he was a trumpet player.
"You like Louis Armstrong?" she asked Sebastian casually.
"He's my idol," he answered, grinning.
"And he plays trumpet nearly as well as him, too," added Tory.
"Oh, come on." Sebastian laughed.
"You play trumpet?" asked Kara, surprised.
"Yeah. And Tory plays tuba. We provide theme songs for the neighborhood summer football teams."
Kara gasped. "You're bandies?"
"Well, as near as you can get in Orville," answered Tory with a frown. "Unless…you weren't in a band back where you came from?"
"I sure was!" answered Kara exuberantly. "I was on Color Guard."
"Wow!" Sebastian was surprised. "That's really cool!"
Kara was struck by a sudden idea. "Hey, are there any more of you bandies in Orville?"
"Not really," admitted Tory.
"Well, what do you guys think of starting our own band at school?"
"We wouldn't have any where to play."
"Football games – you do have scholastic football games, don't you?"
"Er…yes." Sebastian shrugged. "The coach is a maniac. The only thing he likes about football games is football. We don't even have cheerleaders. Halftime is only as long as he can stand not trying to cream the other teams."
"Maybe if we get good he'll let us perform."
"Not likely."
"Well, it would be fun, right? Let me just check with my other bandies." Kara slid back to Jake, Chris, and Tom. "Hey guys, what do think of starting a marching band?"
"You're kidding," said Tom.
"Interesting," said Chris.
"Definitely!" said Jake, all at the same time.
"Aw, it would be fun!" added Kara.
"You can't march with guitar or drums," answered Tom.
"I have that padded metal thing for wearing the snare drum," protested Chris.
"And I can play flute," finished Jake.
"So you're interested?"
"Count me out," replied Tom. "Sorry."
Chris and Jake nodded. "We've got to do something past summer break," said Chris.
Tory and Sebastian looked at Kara questioningly, and she waved them over to the other end of the table.
"So we're forming a band: one trumpet, one tuba, one flute, one drum, and one guard." Kara looked around at the people.
"That's one crazy idea," said Tom, smiling.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kara pedaled down the street, looking at the street signs confusedly. She had been living in the small town of Orville for nearly a month now, but she was sure she had never heard of "Brook Drive" or "Shady Street" before. School was starting tomorrow and she was trying to make the most of her last day of summer. The only problem was that she was lost in the bewildering suburbs.
To her luck, she saw an open garage halfway down the street to her left. She turned and tried to make out the figures in the darkened space before pulling to a complete stop. "Hello?" she called.
"Yo, visitors!" shouted one of the three guys. They emerged from the garage into the driveway, all looking, surprised, at her.
"Hey, are you new?" asked one of them. Kara nearly laughed at the sight: A tall guy, Asian features, about 5' 10", with dark blue spiky hair, ripped and faded jeans, and a torn black T-shirt, squinting in the bright light, and clutching a flute.
"Yeah. I come from Chicago," she answered, smoothing out her blonde ponytail and silently thanking God for wearing her cutest tank top and capri pants.
"Welcome to Orville," greeted the shortest of the three. He had naturally orange-red hair, which hung over his forehead shaggily, pale skin with lots of freckles, a black muscle shirt, and grey shorts of that weird polyester kind of material.
Kara realized he held drumsticks, and that the third guy had a guitar. She did a double take - Orville musicians!
"So, you guys are in a band, right?" she asked nervously.
The flutist shrugged. "Just for the summer, really. We were just working on a Led Zeppelin song."
Led Zeppelin – she knew them. A fellow bandie loved that band.
"Can I hear it?"
The guys looked at each other, a little surprised.
"Well, we've never had an audience," admitted the guitarist.
"Sure, why not," answered the short one. "Come on in."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Frank jumped out of Joey's reach and passed the ball to Matt. Matt ran forward and faked a pass to Greg to avoid Keith, leaving the "end zone" between two apple trees wide open. "It's good!" shouted Frank exuberantly as Matt slammed the football down past the trees.
"Duh-duh-duh-da-da-dah!" tooted a deep brass sound.
"Thank you, Tory, our cheerleader extraordinare!" replied Greg.
"I'm not a cheerleader!" came a protest from the other side of the tangle of metal. "I'm a bandie."
"You're a band aid," replied Joey, "which is what I want to put over your mouth."
The upperclassmen sniggered.
"Hey, I didn't come here to be insulted. I came here to back up my very unloving football teams."
"You came here because you couldn't think up another song to practice!" answered Keith, laughing.
One of the players said, "You need to talk to my little brother. All he does is sit in his room all day, playing trumpet."
Tory peeked out over the baritone. "Who? Sebastian?"
He nodded.
"I didn't know he played trumpet! Can you drive me to your place?"
Some guys laughed, but no one protested.
"Hey, to get rid of you, I'd drive anywhere. C'mon, let's go."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"No way, man," protested Tom. "She's not sitting with us."
"Oh, come on, it's not like we have a reputation to ruin or something," replied Chris.
"Besides, she's the new girl. We'll just let her sit with us until she gets some other friends in Orville," added Jake.
Chris said, "Yeah. And really, if you think about it, we're technically in high school now. The lunch table configurations don't really matter much anymore."
"Fine." Tom shrugged and looked down at his schedule. "What do we have next, science?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kara had brought a lunch, therefore saving herself the trouble of fighting through the lunch line, but now she was looking around aimlessly for somewhere to sit in the sea of unknown faces. Her eyes fell on three familiar faces: Tom, Chris, and Jake. They waved her over to their corner table.
"Thanks, you guys are lifesavers," she greeted, sitting down next to Jake. The tables at Orville High (which was, after all, just a section of Orville Public School) were long and narrow, and folded up in the middle to make the cafeteria into a gym. The three guys and girl were at one end. At the other end of the table was a dusky-featured girl with her long black hair in two braids, talking excitedly with a friendly-looking black boy holding a paperback biography.
"That's Tory," said Jake, pointing to the girl, "and that's Sebastian."
"I'm going to go introduce myself." Kara slid down the table, ending up next to Tory. "Hey Tory, hey Sebastian, my name is Kara. What's up?"
"Hello!" answered Tory enthusiastically.
Sebastian smiled but asked, "How did you know our names?"
"Jake told me," replied Kara, motioning towards the other end of the table. The boys waved feebly. Apparently, everybody here knew each other but not necessarily liked each other.
Kara noticed Sebastian held a biography of Louis Armstrong. She wasn't sure she knew exactly who he was or if she knew any songs of his, but she did know he was a trumpet player.
"You like Louis Armstrong?" she asked Sebastian casually.
"He's my idol," he answered, grinning.
"And he plays trumpet nearly as well as him, too," added Tory.
"Oh, come on." Sebastian laughed.
"You play trumpet?" asked Kara, surprised.
"Yeah. And Tory plays tuba. We provide theme songs for the neighborhood summer football teams."
Kara gasped. "You're bandies?"
"Well, as near as you can get in Orville," answered Tory with a frown. "Unless…you weren't in a band back where you came from?"
"I sure was!" answered Kara exuberantly. "I was on Color Guard."
"Wow!" Sebastian was surprised. "That's really cool!"
Kara was struck by a sudden idea. "Hey, are there any more of you bandies in Orville?"
"Not really," admitted Tory.
"Well, what do you guys think of starting our own band at school?"
"We wouldn't have any where to play."
"Football games – you do have scholastic football games, don't you?"
"Er…yes." Sebastian shrugged. "The coach is a maniac. The only thing he likes about football games is football. We don't even have cheerleaders. Halftime is only as long as he can stand not trying to cream the other teams."
"Maybe if we get good he'll let us perform."
"Not likely."
"Well, it would be fun, right? Let me just check with my other bandies." Kara slid back to Jake, Chris, and Tom. "Hey guys, what do think of starting a marching band?"
"You're kidding," said Tom.
"Interesting," said Chris.
"Definitely!" said Jake, all at the same time.
"Aw, it would be fun!" added Kara.
"You can't march with guitar or drums," answered Tom.
"I have that padded metal thing for wearing the snare drum," protested Chris.
"And I can play flute," finished Jake.
"So you're interested?"
"Count me out," replied Tom. "Sorry."
Chris and Jake nodded. "We've got to do something past summer break," said Chris.
Tory and Sebastian looked at Kara questioningly, and she waved them over to the other end of the table.
"So we're forming a band: one trumpet, one tuba, one flute, one drum, and one guard." Kara looked around at the people.
"That's one crazy idea," said Tom, smiling.