Chapter 3- Difficulties with the tuba

Robin walked to the field, the one between the majority of dorms. It was also the closest to the cafeteria.

Robin kept her eyes towards the grounds to avoid grabbing anyone's attention. She didn't wan tot explain why her face was beet red. As she neared the field she headed toward the band truck. It was actually a small U-Haul with their logo and the names of those who had made donations for the truck to be bought and painted.

Robin stepped up in it. The tuba was being kept in here with the percussion equipment because there was no room for her to put it in the dorm. She would have to soon wok something out with Mr. Arthur though cause she would need the extra practice and they were not aloud to practice outside if it wasn't during their practice or rehearsal time. It was band camp and they weren't aloud to play…go figure.

Robin put the tuba together, turned, then realized she had a problem. It was going to be difficult to get down with the tuba. The truck was a couple of feet off of the ground and Robin could not even hold the tuba straight up while in the truck. How was she going to get down.

She could wait for everyone else but she was probably a good fifteen minuets early so it might be a while before someone would come along. That was when Dean came along. There was no way she was going to ask him for help. She had decided to ignore him and that was she was going to do. But what other option did she have?

Sit around until someone else came she guessed but Dean was headed right for her. Well, not for her but where everyone would meet before taking the field.

Robin was just about to sit down which is really a chore with the tuba when army guy from earlier appeared out of nowhere.

Actually nowhere does not constitute the side of the truck but because Robin was not looking that way and he was suddenly in front of her when she looked up from kneeling, it sure seemed as if he had "poofed" there.

He just took one look at her, then grabbed the tuba. She didn't even have to ask. He then stood there and waited for her to take it.

Darn him, why couldn't someone else have come along? Someone other than Dean who was coming up quick from behind Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome. Robin jumped out of the truck and grabbed the tuba.

Her pride hurt a little because she couldn't do it on her own but decided to suck it jup and go and sit under the tree in the shade.

As she knelt and sort of squatted on the ground she saw the percussionist climb up into the truck to grab one of the snares, assemble it, then put it aside. He did this to for the other snare, four bases, and the set of tenors. He then grabbed the two snares and started heading for the door. He handed them down to Dean to set down. Robin quickly laid the tuba down on the grass then ran to help.

As she reached the door, Army Guy was handing down one of the bases to Dean. Robin grabbed the next in line then laid it next to the other base. They continued tis until the guy eventually handed the tenors to Dean.

Robin waited until the Army looking guy had jumped down to ask, "So what is your name?" The guy looked at her with his chilly green eyes and replied, "Brandon." He then walked over to the percussion equipment and pulled out a metal object that Robin remembered was used to tune the drums. She watched as he either tightened or loosened according to whether the drum was too high or low.

This reminded Robin of how she carried a tuner in her purse or pocket during band camp. If she was inside with the air conditioning she would go flat and outside in the heat she would be sharp.

Robin noticed Brandon's arms after a sec. They were huge! Weight lifting huge. He truly was built like a guy in ROTC, so why was he playing percussion? Not that she was complaining, he was made for eye candy but she ahd to wonder because most people by the time they make it to high school band are nerds, geeks, or dorks. Most of them could be found on a computer during the weekends not on the track as he seemed to be fond of.

Robin noticed he could probably feel her staring and decided to walk back to her drum. She sat down and lifted the tuba over her and began the B-flat scale. As she looked up at the end she could tell he was the one staring now.

She wanted to shout at him, "Yes, I'm actually going to play this beast, and I'm going to like it to." Instead she just looked away and started the F concert and decided that he could just screw himself because she was determined to make it through band camp. What she didn't see was Brandon's eyes lighten up and a smirk lift the corner of his mouth.