Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter! Thanks to all of you who reviewed the last chapter; I'm so sorry I didn't realize that FFN will not let you post more than one review of a chapter, so thank you to all of you who took the time to PM me, ect... to let me know what they thought! We're at 299 reviews right now, so we'll hit 300+ from this chapter on! I'm so excited!

I have to admit I'm getting a little burned out on this story. I know it's because the story is so long and I have so much information and so many scenes out there that are "cluttering" everything up. Going back and re-reading the story, I've made a list of things I'm going to take out, things I'm going to add in, things I'm going to expand on, ect... and, even though I'm probably going to have the same length in the "publishable" version, it's going to be better and more "corps-accurate." So, I'm talking with a friend about editing and I'm going to get some help keeping this story up to a high standard!

The link to the Facebook community didn't work on the last chapter, so please visit my profile for that link if you're interested! It would be great to have the readers who also have a Facebook participate in various discussions, ect...

(On a personal note, I had my second ever drumline competition last night, part of the reason why I'm so tired I can't even spell properly today! We took last, but that's okay! I talked with a few people about Hearts Of Glass and I'm going to get some current and former corps members to help me out on the way a season for a drum corps like The Knights is actually run. Thanks to everyone who wished us good luck!)

Here we go!


Going To Camp

Laura tried to get her suitcase up the bus steps, failing as the wheels slid back down the plastic grooves of the steps to hit the pavement with a sharp smack. Rolling her eyes, Laura tried again with the same result. Thank goodness no one was around to see her make such a fool of herself. She had brought her bags into the auditorium first, but Mr. Hamon had said to bring the suitcase out to the bus. After placing her duffel into an auditorium seat, she wheeled the large, heavy suitcase out to the parking lot. With no bus driver in sight, but the bus door open, Laura naturally assumed she was supposed to bring her suitcase on the bus.

"Hey, what're you doin'?" snapped an unfamiliar male voice. The driver of the bus walked up the aisle toward his seat, pink in the face. He was a heavy set man in a driver's uniform, wearing a cap with a bus pin on the front of it.

"I'm trying to-" Laura said, struggling one last time to get the suitcase up the stairs. The driver put a hand on her arm and roughly pushed her out of the bus, Laura tripping down the stairs backwards, trying to regain her balance. Her suitcase bounced and fell behind Laura, causing her to sit down on it as she reached the pavement.

"You'll damage the bus if you drag that thing on here! Put it in the undercarriage!"

"Sir, the doors to the undercarriage aren't open!"

The driver looked at Laura like he had never seen another human before and waddled down the bus steps, nearly stepping on Laura's feet. Laura jumped up and straightened her suitcase, placing it back on it's wheels, following the driver. Without saying a word, the driver opened a door to the cargo area under the bus and walked away. Apparently, it was already unlocked and all Laura would have had to do was twist the little knob at the top. The driver must think she was stupid.

"That was just great," Laura muttered, "I didn't know I would ruin the freaking bus! Why doesn't-"

"Who are you talking to?" asked someone from behind her, this person familiar. It was Jake, with his own suitcase, wearing a grin that stretched from ear to ear.

"Myself," Laura answered, "I tried to bring the suitcase on the bus."

"Oh, yeah, we can't do that," Jake said, storing his suitcase, a horrific plaid-like, zipper ridden thing, under the bus with ease. Without saying a word, he stashed Laura's suitcase along side his and dusted his hands. There were already a few suitcases under the bus, packed carefully in the corners to allow more room for other baggage.

"I didn't know."

"I guess it's just one of those things you figure out either when you see other people doing it or when the driver yells at you for ruining the bus steps."

"Oh," Laura said, nodding her head. "What are you so happy about, Jake?"

"I love camp!"

Jake seemed even more giddy now that his suitcase was packed away. He was twiching his fingers, all the excess energy pent up inside. Laura was amazed at how animated he seemed, even more than usual.

"Sorry again about the car in your yard," Laura said, trying to make conversation as they left the parking lot and entered the school, heading to the auditorium.

"No problem. As long as your dad comes and gets it by the time we get back from tour, it'll be fine!"

Laura laughed along with him, but stopped as soon as she saw Thomas. Thomas was standing by the auditorium doors, plain black duffel bag at his feet, his ice eyes focused on a spot on the wall beside him. Laura was almost satisfied to note that he had a hint of shadow under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept well. His hair was as blond as ever, but had a slightly ruffled texture to it, and his clothes hung off his thin frame.

"How're you doing, man?" Jake asked, walking up and clapping Thomas on the back. "You look a little tough!"

"I'm fine, thank you," Thomas said, his voice snapping like a whip. "How are you?"

"Great!" Jake said, bouncing on his feet. "I'm pumped to go! I just loaded our suitcases and now I just want to get this meeting over with to get on the bus!"

Laura could feel Jake's energy seep into her a little bit, making her forget about the suitcase incident. She was getting excited, but couldn't forget last night, the depressed feeling she had in the pit of her stomach as she told Thomas not to be such a gentleman to her anymore. Thinking back on it, what sort of request was that? The first month or two with The Knights had been awful because he was treating her like one of the guys while she wanted his attention. Did she really want to go back to that?

"My suitcase is under the bus as well," Thomas said, looking supremely bored. "People will start arriving soon and we'll get the meeting started."

"Is this the same meeting I missed last night?" Laura asked hopefully.

"Naw, this is just bus rules and stuff," Jake said, "It's funny because, really, there are no rules."

"Oh," Laura said. She didn't feel much like talking anymore. Jake tried to engage Thomas in a conversation as Laura went and sat in the theater, waiting for Jon to arrive. It was really going to happen. She was starting her tour with The Knights, going to training camp.


After the short meeting, which mostly consisted of Mr. Hamon stressing the fact that if you break a part on the bus, you buy it, the Knights were dismissed onto their busses. Trying to keep from getting trampled from excited boys, Laura grabbed her duffel and tried to get on the bus. Embarrassingly enough, her duffel got caught on the edge of almost every seat, causing a great thumping noise. As she struggled to get to where Jon was sitting, a few boys who had already taken a seat pushed Laura's bag away from them as it hit their seats. Losing her balance, Laura practically fell into Jon as she ran the last few feet toward her seat, collapsing in a heap and a sigh.

"Problems?" Jon asked good heartedly as he helped Laura up.

"Stupid bag," she muttered, trying to stuff it under her chair.

"You can put that in the storage rack above our seats, you know?" Jon asked, "I could do it for you if you don't want to get up."

"That would involve you climbing over me and blocking the path of everyone wanting to get to their seats," Laura snapped.

"Okay," Jon shrugged, never losing his smile. "I just wanted to help."

Laura apologized for losing her temper and Jon accepted it, grining even wider. Together, they settled in their seats and Laura, sitting in the aisle seat, kept getting smacked with other duffels. Soon, Mr. Deleyney walked onto the bus and, talking through the bus speaker system, made his announcements.

"I hope you've all found your seats," he said, holding a clipboard and a large stack of papers in his arms. "Like I said in the auditorium, younger members sit up front while older members sit in the back. If there are no problems with where you're sitting, this will be your seat for the rest of the summer."

Laura had sat where Jon was, near the front of the bus, so she hoped she wasn't in the wrong spot. She listened carefully, however, as Mr. Deleyney went on.

"We'll meet the promotions stand and cook truck at camp. The three other busses will follow this one and Mr. Klee will drive the van and storage trailer. You are to always get on this bus and stay on this bus until we tell you to get off. We are keeping our transportation system at the highest level of security, so if you see anything suspicious or have any concerns, please let myself, another director, or your drum majors know."

Laura, looking over the seats in front of her, was surprised to see Thomas and Jake, sitting in the frontmost seats. Weren't older members supposed to sit in the back? She knew Thomas was going to be on her bus, but didn't expect she was going to be staring at the back of his head the entire summer.

"This is Bus #1," Mr. Deleyney said, "This bus has no maid, meaning you must pick up after yourself, keep it clean, and don't destroy anything. This is your home for the summer."

A few roudy boys in the back started to cheer and clap, giving high fives and stomping their feet. The excitement caught on and even Laura felt her spirits lift as Jon started to bounce around, acting silly. Mr. Deleyney smiled and took a seat across the aisle from the drum majors, pulling out his cell phone. After a few quick moments of conversation with someone, he snapped it shut again and the busses pulled out of the parking lot.

They were on their way.


After an hour or two, the chaos died down and, as the day went on, people either fell asleep, listened to their personal music players, or pulled out handheld video games. Not many people held conversations; in fact, the only people Laura heard speaking were Mr. Deleyney on his phone and Jake and Thomas in a quiet argument. Listening closer, Laura could make out snippets of conversation, involving conducting styles and who could cue in what group at what time. Nothing that concerned or even interested Laura. Jon had fallen asleep, like he had warned her he would.

"The sound of the bus engine puts me to sleep better than a long day of hard work," Jon joked. "You're not going to be able to wake me up easily once I've drifted off!"

Laura hoped he was joking, considering there were a few boys who had always disliked Laura sitting less than a few feet away from her. If they decided to give her any trouble, she was going to want Jon to at least be awake for her. But, at the moment no one was even paying attention to Laura and Jon was dozing, chin on his chest. Jon had the window seat, too, there wasn't much to see with Jon's head blocking most of the view. Sighing, Laura pulled out a book and started to read, ignoring the sound of Mr. Deleyney's voice as he talked on his phone.

The bus stopped in the late afternoon at a travel station, Laura waking Jon so he could come and buy food if he wanted to. Many members of the corps, especially those who had spent more than one season with The Knights, had packed their own food, but there was a fast food restaurant inside the gas station, a temptation many couldn't resist. Laura felt sorry for the few workers there were at the station and, as Jon ordered food for both Laura and himself, Laura bought bags of snacks and bottles of water and soda. She decided she was going to like being bus partners with Jon because they had already set up a great food system. They would exchange cash, depending on what they were going to get and then, while Laura would buy bus food, Jon would buy meal food. "Meal food" was going to be whatever they had to order and eat off the bus, the bus drivers adamant on keeping ketchup and other condiments off the bus. A few Knights grumbled about this, but were assured by older members that the bus drivers would eventually give up and the corps could bring whatever they wanted on the bus as long as they didn't make an absolute mess out of it.

Back on the bus, Laura and Jon shared Laura's music player, a fellow trumpet player and friend of Jon's lending them an earphone splitter. Eventaully, as the sky grew dark and the lights on the bus were dimmed, Laura felt herself grow sleepy. Jon was already asleep, his head bobbing up and down.

"How far is camp?" Laura asked the trumpet player behind her seat, the same boy who had lent Jon the splitter. He was a nice guy, almost as nice as Jon, and Laura was happy he was sitting behind her.

"A few more hours," the boy said, "I remember we drove through the night last year and got there at some unreasonable hour. Getting no sleep and then marching the next day is the worst ever."

"Are we going to stop sometime during the night?"

"Nope. When you wake up, we'll be at camp," the boy said, sounding as sleepy as Laura felt. "My name's Christopher, by the way. You can call me Chris."

"Thanks, Chris. I'm Laura."

"Believe me, I know who you are," Chris joked. "Who is this corps doesn't? It's funny that, even though we're in the same section, we've never talked before now."

"It really is," Laura said, starting to drift off. "Goodnight."

Pulling her blanket out of the duffel bag under her feet, Laura wrapped it around herself, draping some of the warm purple flannel over Jon, too. As Mr. Deleyney finally flipped his phone shut and stuck it in his pocket and as Jake and Thomas still discussed conducting, Laura fell into a quiet sleep, daring to smile just a little bit.


Laura was rudely awoken by the bright lights of the bus flipping on and Mr. Hamon's voice coming over the speakers.

"Wake up, Knights! You're at camp now! Get your bags, suitcases, and instruments out from under the bus. Bring everything on the bus with you, including your garbage. Get up!"

Laura felt Jon stir and pulled her blanket off him, trying to keep it wrapped around her shoulders as she zipped her duffel bag and tried to fix her blurry vision. Jon grabbed his duffel from above their seats, climbing over Laura, almost kicking her. She was too tired to care, however, and after deciding that carrying a blanket was too much if she also had to carry everything else of hers, stuffed her blanket into the duffel.

The spring air was crisp and cleared most of the cobwebs from Laura's head as she made her way to the bus carriage, standing in line to get her suitcase. As she dragged it off the rack and let it smack on the ground, the bus driver shook his head and snorted. Laura was too tired to think up a response for this rude gesture and, after grabbing her trumpet, followed the crowd to the dorms they were going to sleep in. A university was hosting The Knight's camp and, even though it was dark outside, Laura could see a bit of a football field, framed by stadium lights, as she walked down a sidewalk with a group of trumpet players.

Mr. Hamon posted a list of names and dorm numbers on the wall of the residency building, standing back and letting the crowd gather. Laura, growing tired now that the initial excitement of arriving at camp was wearing off, felt her trumpet case grow heavy in her hands and her duffel was much too heavy for her weary shoulder. Stumbling through the crowd as people left to find their rooms, Laura skimmed through the lists, looking for her name. She found it, groaning as she realized there was probably a flight of steps involved in getting to her room.

After many minutes of searching, asking two people where the room was, and tackling a handful of steps, Laura arrived at her room for camp. Christopher, the boy that sat behind Laura on the bus, was already there, tossing his suitcase up to his bed. There were two sets of bunk beds, each against a wall. A window looking out onto the university fieldhouse was between the beds, right across from the doorway, which Laura was now standing in, staring stupidly as Christopher climbed the small ladder to his bed.

"Hey, Laura!" he said, sounding very much awake. "I guess we're in here together! Have you heard who else is boarding with us?"

"No," Laura said, her voice small. She was growing more and more tired by the minute, eventually to the point of falling asleep on her feet. "Where am I going to sleep?"

"Pick any bed!" Christopher said, opening his suitcase and putting clothes on the shelves build into the bunk. "Since you're here second, you can call the other top bunk!"

"Sorry, but that would be mine!" said a voice behind Laura. She felt wind brush her arm as something ran by her at top speed into the room and heard a creak of springs as the person jumped onto the top bunk.

"Jon, you've got to be a Knight!" Christopher exclaimed, laughing as Jon gave the mattress a few bounces. Laura smiled and shook her head.

"I don't want it," Laura said, deciding to pick the bed under Jon's. "He can have the top bunk. I'll just fall out."

"Are you sure, Laura?" Jon asked, sounding concerned. "I'm sor-"

"Don't be sorry!" Laura said, trying to sound cheerful but failing. "I'm sick of chivalry."

"Why's that?" Christopher asked, curious. "You're a Knight, after all. You're supposed to be chivalrous."

"Thomas sort of killed the beauty of chivalry for me," Laura muttered, storing her suitcase and trumpet under her bed, not bothering to unpack.

"Thomas as in our drum major?" Chris whistled. "I always thought he was the best at chivalry!"

"He is," Laura answered, pulling her blanket back out of her duffel bag and curling up on her new bed. "That's why I don't like it."

"Aw," Chris said, "Now I think I know why you got a special Christmas present from him! He's been too chivalrous."

"Ding ding ding," Laura said sarcastically. "I'm gonna go to sleep guys, okay? I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"No problem," Chris said, "Goodnight!"

"We'll keep it down for you," Jon said, "We're going to stay up and see who our other room mate is. Are you sure you don't want to stay up, too? What about changing into pajamas? We have a bathroom!"

But Laura had already fallen asleep.


I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! Thanks very much for reading (once more, if the author's notes are getting too long, let me know... I tend to babble... gah) and if you left me a review, I would be even happier! Thanks and Happy Reading, everyone! (Next chapter, we meet a lot of new characters, so I'm working on them right now! You'll like 'em, I think!) Bye!