A/N-Thanks to JacokNortovc, Jollibee, projectfreq91, Hottie12345k, guardgirl414, Jestry and Oscarisamazing for reviewing!
Reminder to vote in the poll about a possible sequel-I want to know what you guys think about it.
Sorry about the long wait-school's back in and it's been a tad nuts.
Lyrics don't belong to me still.
Chapter Thirty Seven-…Or A Sign?
And we could ride all night
To the place of a blinking light
Wishing traffic was faster
Traffic was faster
Keeping safe distance
But courting disaster
We could dance all night
To the sounds of a starting fight
Hoping change would come around
Change would come around
Amazing division
How sweet the sound
Blame Me! Blame Me!-Anberlin
A week in spring that didn't have a jazz show or a drumline competition meant only one thing-Spring Break. The shortened school week lead to a frenzy of projects and tests that had to be done.
My spring break proved to be as uneventful as my winter break. I slept in late every day and practiced. I hung out with the girls and Grandpop and spent the night at Rachel's one day. I spent the long weekend recharging my body because I knew how crazy things got from now until the end of school.
I was incredibly excited for Friday's jazz show for one big reason-home show! The home show in any music program was always one of the best and most fun shows we could have. We would always close the night and everyone would love us because they had to-after all, we were the host!
Friday dawned and I hopped out of bed excited for the night ahead. I got dressed up since tonight was a special show that called for special dress. I didn't see any issue in my black top and spinny dark grey skirt until I caught Christian eying me from across the room in wind ensemble. Hayden also noticed and threw a crappy marimba mallet at him, hitting him in the side of the head. I smiled at my friend in thanks and he saluted back.
After school, Missy and I grabbed dinner at the nearby Pizza Hut before going to get ready for the show. Although we were last to go on, we still had to be back at the school before any of the other bands arrived. There was only so much that our lovely band parents could do and Coolidge didn't trust them with the drum kit.
I knew Rachel was somewhere in the audience. She promised to come to the home show and in return Missy and I promised we would go to one of the musical showings. My brother was home from college on spring break so he might have joined my parents and grandfather out in the crowd. I knew my sister would never be caught dead at one of my events and it was a little too late for my little brother to be out. James might be out there too, for all I know.
Things were odd around us. It seemed as if we had called a silent truce and were slowly rebuilding a friendship. I personally would really like to be his friend again. I was really tired of the flip flopping of being friends or enemies.
Some sophomores had brought in Rock Band and an Xbox and were trying to connect it to the TV in the band room when I walked in. I had helped Coolidge and some other members in setting up the stage and posting signs telling other bands where their rooms were. There was almost three hours left until we were to go on, but this being a jazz show, it would probably be closer to three and a half hours. While the sophomores continued failing at setting up the Xbox I pulled out a deck of cards from my case, grabbed a few friends and started dealing.
"Okay gang, the name of the game is Egyptian Ratscrew…"
A half an hour later, the sophomores still couldn't get the game system to work and nearly the entire jazz band had joined in on the game of Ratscrew. The younger boys joined in when Hayden wandered over to take a look at the TV.
Five minutes later, we had Rock Band.
The night went on in this fashion until Coolidge came out of his office and told us to grab our instruments and get ready to get tuned. After a good tune, we headed upstairs to the library since the band room was too close to the auditorium to play in. I felt good about the warm up and I felt good about the show. It was the home show fever that all of us had and none of us could stop. All of our songs were performed better then they had ever been in practice. It was an exciting rush that infected everyone, including the crowd of people. They cheered and yelled after every song and solo. I could hear Rachel over the entire audience after my solo.
After the show I packed away Walt and headed out to find my parents and friends in the mass of people assembled outside of the auditorium. Rachel immediately attacked me in a hug and started jabbering away a mile a minute, telling me about how awesome we sounded and asking whether I had heard her cheering. I talked to her for a bit before pointing her in Missy's direction; she flew over to her like a bat out of hell. I looked around for my parents but had my vision cut off by a pair of slightly calloused hands. I spun around to see James standing there smiling down at me.
"Hey Sydney! Nice show. You pretty much beasted that solo."
"I know," I said, flipping my hair back cockily before laughing. "Thanks."
"I'm thinking about trying out next year." He said.
"Really? That's cool. Auditions are in two weeks you know. You better start working on the stuff." I shifted my trumpet from one hand to the other. Holding my case and my huge jazz band folder was not very comfortable.
"Here I got that. Your parents around here somewhere?" He questioned as he took my trumpet from me despite my protests.
"Yeah somewhere. You really don't have to do that you know. I can carry my own stuff." I stood on my tip toes to try and find my mother and father.
"That's what friends are for." He said offhandedly. "I think I see your grandfather. Yep-see he's waving at you."
We made our way through the crowd and I looked over at him, one question burning in my mind.
"Can we really be friends after all that's happened?" I asked. "I mean, it wouldn't be the first time we've tried to…"
"We've been through a lot together Syd. Getting in that crash really shook things up for me. I don't want to take things for granted anymore." He said. I opened my mouth to respond but closed it after the look on his face said he didn't want to talk about it anymore.
My grandfather was singing my praises to a group of his friends when I approached him.
"My Sydney-yes, the lead trumpet-she wants to major in music education just like me! Who else to teach the future than the best of today! She practices so much; she reminds me of her grandmother…"
"Hi Grandpop." I said meekly. James stifled a laugh beside me. I kicked him lightly in the shin.
"There's my shinning star!" He half yelled, throwing his arm around me. "Tell everyone where you're applying for." He said to me.
"Um, Berklee, Julliard, Carnage Mellon, UArts…"
"Really? All those are very exclusive schools." An elderly lady said. "Have you considered back ups?" I instantly didn't like her.
"Well, I really would love to go to Berklee, so I guess Julliard would count as my second choice…" I said, making my grandfather laugh. The woman wrinkled her nose. I looked at her closely. She reminded me of someone…where had I seen that look before?
"Grandmother, we should go. I want to be rested for guard tomorrow." Abby came into view. Of course…
"What are you doing here?" She snapped at me.
"Well, I am in jazz band and it would make sense for me to be here tonight because this is their home show." I stated bluntly. Abby threw me a dirty look before turning on her heel and disappearing.
Her grandmother said goodbye to everyone before looking at me and saying, "Good luck on your college search. You're going to need it." I stared after her, incredulous. The group soon broke up and went their separate ways. I was surprised to see James was still standing behind me with Walt.
"You have a problem with Martha's granddaughter?" Grandpop asked as we went to find my parents.
"Abby? She hates me, always has ever since seventh grade." Out of the corner of my eye, I saw James wince.
"That's ironic…" My grandfather mused.
"What?"
"Remember when I told you about the majorette I dated before your grandmother realized she was head over heels for me? Well, Martha was that majorette and she never took too kindly to me leaving her for Elizabeth. They didn't like each other very much." My grandfather's loud laughter attracted my parents' attention and we finally headed home.
With shows for jazz band and drumline every week now, my only day to do anything was Sunday. I met up with Missy, Hayden, Sean and James the Sunday after the home show to see the high school musical. Opening night had been yesterday and while I wouldn't have minded going then, Perry probably-defiantly-would have had a problem with me leaving the show. This year the drama department was presenting Rodger's and Hammerstein's State Fair. The show was a good fit for the small town of Sycamore-it was very hometown Americana. It felt nice to finally be able to sit back and watch a show rather than run around back stage like a chicken with my head cut off. During intermission, I found myself with James while Sean went to get a snack and Missy and Hayden mysteriously "disappeared". We talked about drumline and classes and other things.
"Can I ask you something?" He suddenly said.
"You just did. Want to ask another one?" James rolled his eyes as I smirked.
"Yeah."
"Shoot."
"You wanna go with me to Prom? Strictly as friends of course" James asked, adding the last bit on quickly.
"Sure, why not?" I replied. "That sounds like fun." We headed back into the auditorium and met back up with sugar-loaded Sean and a slightly disheveled looking Missy and Hayden. We teased the couple until the curtain went up and all was silent.
Life was going well. The jazz band was piling up awards and the drumline was chugging along. Perry wanted the entire show done for our home show in the first week in April. Nights that weren't spent at some kind of practice were spent doing AP review and college applications. My auditions were scheduled for this summer and I knew that I only had one shot to make it count.
I realized that I hadn't hung out with my favorite freshman in a while so I invited her out to breakfast with the battery girls on the morning of the home show. Adrianna was happy with her spot in the pit and excited for the day's show. This was one of the biggest shows of the season-second only to Finals at Wildwood. Today we'd honor our seniors and have a rocking show in front of a home crowd.
I took a deep breath as I lifted off my tenors. I had ducked behind one of the large cardboard props to pull off my dark blue 'Police' uniform and reveal a bright red halter dress. We had just ended 'Regatta de Blanc' and I was waiting to reemerge with my drums as 'Roxanne'. We threw it into the show last week and the judges and crowd loved it. Perry wanted me in the role because it would make sense in the drill and musically. Ang had a field day with me and even suggested marching in stilettos but I put my (bare) foot down on that one. I pulled my hair out of its ponytail and carefully slid my drums back on the harness. Thankfully the dress had a spinny skirt so I could march and was of a light material that made it bearable under the uniform. Noah was beginning the roll off and I knew the entire line was looking back waiting for me to reappear. I stepped out to cheers from crowd and wolf whistles from the boys in other lines. I restrained myself from rolling my eyes and put on my baby eating face and went to show the boys how it's done. At the end of the song, I ducked back to pull my uniform back on. I had nailed my feature and had the boys cheering for something other than my figure (I think…).
The week following the show was auditions for next year's jazz band. I was confident going in and came out pleased with how I did. I wished the other trumpets luck as I gathered my stuff and left. James waved to me as I passed him and I returned it with a smile and a wave of my own.
Suddenly, I really couldn't wait for prom.
A/N-Yay! I finally finished this! Next up is Prom!!