ARTIST: stephyhime (Art is available on the 365daysofusuk tumblr)
AUTHOR: Anonymous
21st of November, 2014 - Of Orch Dorks and Band Geeks
Alfred F. Jones was a proud band geek.
He loved his high school band class and his fellow band geeks. Being in band meant playing pop tunes and patriotic marches at half-time shows. It also meant cool stuff like occasional road trips with the football team (heck, yeah!) and days spent giggling with the other freshmen about being "tromboners." The absolute best part was summer band camp and some very enjoyable memories that he had sworn he would never mention in public ever again.
So Alfred didn't understand why he was expected to play with the orchestra dorks, the epitome of uncool, for the next month. The kids in orchestra were boring and dull. They liked classical music and dressed up for their concerts. Bach? More like blugh. Unfortunately, the orchestra conductor had decided that she wanted to play some selections from the Nutcracker Suite for the school's winter concert. Much to Alfred's displeasure, it turned out that a trombone was technically part of a full-sized orchestra, making him the newest, honorary, orchestra member. If he had known, he would have picked a different instrument back in grade school. (He still had a hankering to play the guitar and a gnawing feeling that Guitar Hero didn't really count.)
So it came to pass that Alfred found himself slouching his way to the back of the orchestra room, tuning up his trombone, and praying for a black-out. They would have to evacuate and he could spend the class period doing something more enjoyable than playing a few stupid notes in a stupid classical sonnet or concerto or whatever-the-hell they were called. Lost in his funk, it took Alfred a few minutes to realize that he actually recognized the song that one of the violinists was practicing in front of him. Suddenly, he felt his interest perk up.
"Whoa, is that from Lord of the Rings?" Alfred asked, turning his music stand to the side so he could lean closer. The string solo abruptly ended as the violinist glanced back. He was blond and skinny and looked a couple of years older than Alfred, probably making him a senior. He was kind of cute in a way that the young American teenager was still trying to understand. Alfred grinned and continued, "I wish we were playing that instead. I mean, geez, 'Waltz of the Flowers,' can we get any more gay?"
The violinist tucked the instrument underneath his arm and arched a very bushy eyebrow. "I like waltzing and flowers," he said dryly. "I also prefer men, but I'm not sure what that has to do with waltzing or flowers. So no, for what it's worth, I don't think I could 'get' any more gay."
Alfred shook his head and laughed. "I didn't mean it in—"
The other teen continued to talk. "In fact, if they handed out grades for gayness I would have an A plus. Or I suppose I should call it a Gay plus?"
"Dude, chill. I didn't mean it in a bad way," Alfred repeated, finally finishing his sentence. He wondered why the other teenager was so uptight. (He learned later that the older teen's name was Arthur, he was incredibly anal about grammar and punctuality, and he didn't play the violin, he played the viola. Alfred also received an hour-long lecture on why violas were superior to violins, which went in one ear and out the other.)
Arthur sighed. "I suppose this is the part where you tell me that you have a gay friend or perhaps bisexual tendencies yourself and were only making conversation because you think me attractive and assume that your inane twaddle is preferable to Tchaikovsky."
Alfred nearly dropped his trombone. "Shit! How'd you know?" He hurriedly glanced around the room to make sure that none of the other orchestra members had heard. "Don't tell anyone, I haven't even told my brother!"
An awkward silence stretched between the two of them as the other musicians continued to tune their instruments in the background. It occurred to Alfred, a little too late, that the older teen had merely been trying to get a rise out of him and accidentally hit a little too close to the mark. Despite the awkwardness, Arthur shot him a conspiratorial grin. "Don't worry. There's no shame in liking Tchaikovsky," he murmured, before turning back to his music as the conductor called class to attention.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Alfred flipped open his music and decided that maybe he could learn to like orchestra class after all.