I ran harder than I usually did the next morning. Maybe it was because I didn't want to think, or I wanted to feel something beside the dread of seeing Jacob and Courtney, or the jealousy between Megan and I. So my feet pounded against the pavement far ahead of Ms. Boyden, and the mist of the morning, that was always present in the mountains, clung to my hoodie and dampened my face.

I was sweaty and damp when I got back to the dorm, and the shower felt good. Megan was up by the time I came out, watering her vase of flowers before she took over the bathroom, taking an extra half hour to primp herself up for her new beau. I knew her parents knew, that she'd squealed last night on the phone to them, trying to whisper while I fell asleep. She was the type that told her parents everything, and her family was really close.

Another reason to envy her. My parents loved, me, I knew that much, but we didn't really spend a lot of 'family time' together. Megan, her brother, and her parents always did something, even if it wasn't that much- they went to the West Side Market a lot, or to a state fair. Every Sunday they had a big meal, with her parents cooking and Megan and Shaun making dessert before their grandparents came over.

My family, we were a little different. I was an only child first of all, and my parents both worked full time. My dad was a doctor, my mother was a lawyer, which added up to us not seeing each other a lot because of work schedules. I knew how to cook because sometimes I made myself dinner and ate by myself with my dog Midas. On weekends they usually went up to our cabin on Lake Erie, taking me and Midas too on long weekends. If it wasn't a long weekend, I was left home alone, and I only saw my grandparents over summer and winter break when we flew to China.

Either way, whenever I went to Megan's house, I was always welcome as if part of the family. It still surprised me that they ate dinner together every night, no exceptions, and hung out together so much. I vowed that whenever I had a family, we'd be like Megan's.

I shook my head to clear all the thoughts of family out. My family was here, the band was my family, and surprisingly we were closer than my actual one. Still, I jogged down the stairs to join the other leadership waiting for the sections to arouse from sleep and pull themselves into our meeting area before breakfast.

It took some time, but eventually everyone was there and we went to the breakfast hall. I couldn't have been more grateful that there was a coffee machine near every food line, and I had 2 cups before going to stretches.

Faithfully, we did arm circles again, and our other stretches, and then we marched down to the field. It was amazing how excited some of the freshman were. Only the second day and they were thrilled to run out and set new drill. I smiled at them and went to my podium.

More drill was set, with a light cloud covering on and off that everyone was immensely grateful for. The Batterie instructor had lectured the tenors on blinding us, even though Matt and I had never really voiced a complaint. Marching was better than yesterday; everybody had probably worked on it during sectionals. I watched Matt on anything I wasn't sure about, and we didn't do too badly.

Lunch came eventually, and after we'd released everyone from attention torture, the meal was great. The whole band was starving, as we always were around lunch, and I saw at least half the band get up for seconds and even thirds before getting multiple desserts. No one bothered counting calories or bothering about weight over band camp. My freshman year I had seconds at literally every meal and dessert at lunch and dinner, and when I got home and my parents took my for a physical, I'd lost weight. They'd been beyond concerned, and hadn't really understood about how food works at band camp. Now, though, they knew about the fluctuation of weight and had gotten used to it.

Sectionals, where we conducted until our arms were sore, went well. We spent the majority of our time on 'CS', which helped me a lot, and Matt remained, as he always was, indifferent. At the very end we worked on two stands tunes, 'Louie Louie' and 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough'. It was fun, and we were all laughing by the end of sectionals when we went back to our dorms.

Megan wasn't there, which didn't surprise me. She was probably off with Travis, being all lovey-dovey. I lay down on the bed, tired, and plugged my iPod in to listen to some music. I flipped through all the recordings I had of Jacob and me, the funny videos of Megan, Kayla, and Emily me dancing, until I got to my section for actual music. I had a separate folder for marching music, which sometimes got larger than my other music when I uploaded show tunes.

After a few minutes of lying down, I went and met up with Jacob to practice again. It felt nice to have my fingers on the ebony and ivory keys, to be making music instead of conducting it. I loved being drum major, but it felt nice to play something now.

After playing through the song a few times, Jacob cleared his throat and said he didn't want to sing too much so his voice would still be good for tomorrow. I nodded and let the last note ring out before sliding my hands off the keys.

"How have you been Nicole? Now that you're drum major, do you like it better?" I smiled and crossed my legs, balancing precariously on the narrow piano bench.

"I've been good. Being drum major is so much fun, you have no idea. How's your baritone section going, since you're section leader and everything?" He grinned and thought about how response for a second.

"The baritone's have always been tight, and we still are. The Saturday before school starts, they're all coming over to have a barbecue. Since there's one girl in the section, I can't have them over all night. She's a freshman and everything, it'd freak her out and her parents would never let her." I nodded and laughed a little.

"Well I hope you all have fun. The clarinets were friendly to each other, but we had anywhere from 20 to 30 people, so it's not like we could be that close. You've got a section of 7, you're defiantly closer. Aren't you all in a bromance or something?" He laughed and shoved my shoulder lightly. It wasn't meant to do any damage, but since I was balanced so carefully I fell off and crashed to the floor. My left elbow took most of my weight, and it crashed at an odd angle against the floor, making me wince and gasp sharply. Jacob was next to me instantly, muttering apologies and pulling me to my feet, one arm around my waist, the other around my shoulder.

"Jacob I'm fine, really. You don't need to worry; I knew you were only teasing." Still, he demanded that I give myself a good once over to make sure I was alright. My elbow hurt and would probably be bruised in the morning, but besides that I was fine. It wasn't going to affect me that much, just make me even sorer. After conducting for almost two day's straight, I could feel it in my muscles, and Matt had told me that by the end of the week, putting my arms up was going to be torture. Still, a little bit more soreness wasn't going to kill me.

I went back up to my dorm and found Megan, texting her brother excitedly. He had moved into his college campus already, and I knew that him being away wouldn't affect their relationship too much. I smiled as she filled me in on her sectional time, when they saw two dragonflies that kept buzzing in front of the window, very clearly mating. And how Shaun had run into a high in the sky guy when he was moving in, who offered him a joint. I laughed and shook my head. Shaun was too smart to get involved in any of that, everybody knew that much, so we could all laugh at his first run-in with a stoner.

I took a quick shower before going back down for evening practice. Matt was there in his Ohio State cap again, and I nodded to Madison, who was standing against the wall reading her Kindle. She smiled in return before focusing once more. Mr. Sacket was sitting on a bench with his book. I never thought that a band director would like James Patterson, but this man devoured every one of his books. He said his wife never had a problem shopping for him, because she always knew what to buy him.

A student one year had been in the same bookstore as James Patterson as he was doing a book signing. 'I, Michael Bennett' had just come out, so the student bought it for him, waiting in line for two hours, and got the author to sign it for him to his band director, Mr. Alan Sacket. They'd saved it for him until Christmas break, and then had wrapped it and given it to him with the explicit orders not to open it until the day after Christmas. (We all knew that if he opened it Christmas Day, he wouldn't spend time with his family, he'd get too engrossed.) The day after Christmas, the student received a very happy phone call from him, and it wasn't surprising when they found him rereading in January, having finished it over the break.

Now, he was reading another James Patterson novel, 'Zoo', and I said his name twice before he realized someone was talking to him. We chatted for a few minutes before he began to get impatient and I let him get back to his book. Matt laughed behind his teeth and came over to me, grinning.

"Yeah, I learned last year to not even attempt to talk to him when he's reading. The man's a band director; we all know he's a nerd. But few know he's a horror novel nerd, not just a music one. But, since we come here for two weeks, some people figure it out. Others don't pay enough attention. Either way, when you live with someone for two weeks, you get to know them. Sometimes too well." I laughed at his joke and we ushered the band outside.

It was slightly cooler, which was a blessing, although the bugs landed on us nonstop and I sprayed myself down during every break. We set more drill before heading up to dinner, and reapplied bugs spray once we were down on the field again. Again, we marched until 8, then went back up for a free evening. Tomorrow, the talent show would begin at 8:30, and Jacob and I would have to get there at 8:15 since we were one of the acts. Tonight, though, I took a shower and went straight to bed. Megan hadn't even gotten back yet, since we had free time until 10. It didn't matter to me though, I was tired, and who knows when we would get back from the talent show tomorrow. I was going to sleep while I could, and enjoy it while it lasted.