A/N: Without further introduction (and I mean further) I present to you,
chapter five!!
After the most embarrassing performance the guard could have, they went home after their awards and went to enjoy a week off for their Spring Break. Lindsay and Michaele were actually anxious to go to guard during that week they had off, but it was probably better that they didn't have practice since everyone was so worn out and scared of guard now anyway.
We join our guard members the Monday after Spring Break, all in their jazz pants and practice shirts and ready for another practice. Lindsay and Michaele were out on the gym floor practicing their solo as Helanna was faced towards a wall practicing her tosses. Marie and Becca were stretching as Rachelle ran around the gym like the hyperactive freshman she was. Chris was back from his trip to California and was practicing rifle work in the corner. Katie sat with a pencil in hand and her yellow notepad in front of her, trying to reset her show for her three flags, three rifles, and one girl who was just kind of like a prop master in the whole show. Getting frustrated with the decreasing size of her guard and not being able to think of new sets, Katie called for the guard to get into their sets.
"All right, we're going to do this set by set and we're going to re-set everyone to fix holes, is that understood?" The guard nodded at Katie's request. Set by set they moved and re-set as they fixed their holes.
"How about we re-set the show encase someone else disappears?" Lindsay suggested.
"Do you think we're going to loose more people?" Katie asked with puzzlement.
"Duh, they only took two on Saturday." Marie responded. Katie threw her pencil at her.
"I have a sneaky suspicion someone is going to go by Wednesday." Michaele said.
"Who?" Marie asked.
Michaele tried not to smirk. "You."
"WHAT?! Why me?"
She shrugged at Marie's outburst. Chris began to laugh.
"Michaele and I have picked out a distinct pattern on how the people are disappearing." Lindsay spoke up.
"Right. First it was Jacque-" Michaele started.
"Who was very annoying."
"Then Levi-"
"Who was annoying."
"Then Caitlin-"
"Who was getting annoyed with everyone."
Michaele nodded. "Then Stephanie-"
"Who was getting annoying." Lindsay finished again.
"Okay, so why am I going next?" Marie asked.
Becca began to jump up and down with her hand raised in the air. "OH OH! PICK ME!"
"Yes Becca?" Lindsay asked.
"She's going to go next because she's annoying! I mean, she may be the captain, but boy is she sure about herself!"
That was enough to send Chris laughing so hard he was rolling on the floor. Marie huffed and looked over at Chris with an annoyed look. This made him laugh harder. Katie began to shutter with fear that she was going to loose another rifle.
"Okay, so if you're so sure I'm going to disappear, when are you two going to disappear?" Marie asked.
Lindsay and Michaele looked at each other, shrugged, and turned back towards Marie.
"I don't know since I'm not writing this story." Lindsay said. She looked over at Michaele, who shrugged in response.
A scowl stretched across Marie's face. "I am not going to be turned into a marker! I WILL NOT! YOU'LL SEE!" She stormed out of the gym and Katie ran after her. The rest of the guard was left in silence in the gym. Well, beside for Chris's loud laughter.
******
Wednesday
******
"Is Marie STILL mad at me?" Michaele asked Monique as Mr. DeBusk stopped the choir from singing five minutes before the class ended.
"Um, wouldn't you be mad if someone threatened to turn you into a marker?" Monique responded rhetorically.
"I did NOT threaten her! I could, but I won't because I'm nice!" Zack and Josh just happened to be walking by the girls at that moment and began laughing. Michaele turned around so fast, they yelped at the quickness and her look. "SHUT-UP!" They stiffened and walked back to the tenor section. She evilly laughed.
"Look, I'm not on guard so I don't know exactly what is going on. If you ask me, this marker thing is a little weird."
"You don't know half of it." She sighed. The bell rang and Michaele walked out of class to meet up with her friend Adriana so they could walk to their lockers before eating lunch.
"What's wrong?" Adriana asked as Michaele walked with her silently towards their eating areas. Usually Michaele was talking about guard, but she wasn't now.
"Would you think I was threatening you if I told you that you'd turn into a marker?" Michaele asked.
Adriana stopped and looked at her. She sighed.
"Forget I asked… it's too long of a story to tell the reasoning behind it. I'll see ya later." Michaele walked over to her table that she shared with Chris, Caitlin, Rachelle, and Kyrie and sat down.
Chris walked over to the table and sat down at his seat. "Is Marie still mad at you?"
"Is she still mad at you?"
They both nodded as Caitlin, Kyrie, and Rachelle joined the two at their table. Everyone talked about random things and laughed at random things as they ate their fatting lunch and went on their dreary ways to the rest of their classes of the day. Soon the final bell rang at 2:35pm and Michaele bolted out of her English class to her locker and met up with Lindsay after they both exchanged their books.
Lindsay and Michaele exchanged their hello's and went on their way to the band room, talking about their day and saying random things like they always do. Soon they went to change once again into their jazz pants and sleeveless shirts and walked back into the band room to get ready for the day of practice. As they sat in around in the band room waiting to move on into the gym, Marie came busting through the room covered head to toe in…
"Cookie sheets?" Lindsay squeaked.
"It will deflect the owl's flapping wind. And maybe it has that sonic thing, so this cookie sheets will deflect it!" Marie said with pride.
"Um, bats have the sonic thing." Michaele said.
"Oh…" She stopped and scratched her chin as the metal sheets banged together with her movement. "I knew that."
"Of course you did." She stifled a laugh and muttered something about her flag bag and walked the other direction, which left Lindsay with Marie.
Suddenly, Marie began to cry. "Do you really think I'm going to turn into a marker?!" She asked Lindsay.
Once again, Lindsay could only shrug. "We'll all be markers one day, but only God will be able to tell when."
"I thought Michaele was writing the story."
"Yeah, that too."
Silence enveloped the two girls for a few moments before Michaele came out of the flag room with her and Lindsay's flag bags and Katie emerged from Mrs. Britton's office. Band students of all sections began to come in and out and brought their noise as the guard waited for the rest of their members to have their practice. Soon everyone had arrived and off the guard went to the gym for their practice.
The clang of Marie echoed as the girls (and one boy) made their way to the gym with the usual stare of the students that still loitered the campus after the final bell had rang. But this time, more students were staring because of Marie and her cookie sheets. She finally noticed the stares and stopped.
"What?!" She screamed. "Ever seen a person who is trying to protect themselves from becoming a marker with cookie sheets?!" They all looked around. This caused Marie to huff and walk faster, and clang louder, towards the gym. Lindsay, Michaele, and Becca started to laugh as they walked behind her. Marie turned around and gave them a dirty look, which stopped them.
Katie finally came to open the door and the remaining members of the guard stepped inside for their practice. Fear hung in the air as everyone set down their stuff against the wall and folded up bleachers and took out their equipment. Lindsay, Michaele and Helanna all walked to one corner of the basketball court with their purple and gray silks to start spinning and warming up. Marie (with her cookie sheets), Becca and Chris all went to the other end to warm up on their rifles. Rachelle went and found a broom to wipe off the floor because she was afraid it was dirty. She had hygiene problems.
"Okay, I want everyone to stretch, but silently." Katie announced as Becca dropped a quad.
Michaele, Lindsay and Helanna all put their flags down as Chris, Marie (still with cookie sheets), and Becca set their rifles down. They all met towards the middle of the gym floor and began to stretch. Michaele and Lindsay were talking quietly, but a look from Katie stopped them. Marie stretched her arm back with a loud clank of her cookie sheets. Everyone looked at her and she sheepishly smiled. Rachelle joined the group, but not before running by Marie and clinking the cookie sheet on her leg with a glee laughter. Marie took a cookie sheet off and flung it at Rachelle and barely missed her head. Katie looked back with an evil "mom" look.
A sudden sharp knock erupted from the gym doors behind them. Everyone froze in there stretching position. Katie looked around towards her guard with terror. Just as she was going to go open the door, it flew open. Everyone screamed.
"WOAH! I just wanted to see who was in here." Coach Frankie said.
"Oh my god. You scared us. We thought you were the owl." Katie said with a huge sigh of relief.
"The owl? What? Is this some weird band thing?"
"You have no idea."
"Okay, well, I wanted to see if it was clear for a basketball player to come in and practice. I guess not. Have a nice practice." He went to close the door, but something came through it… unnoticed. Until Rachelle noticed a green spot on the floor.
"Hey, what's that?"
"OWL POOP!" Lindsay laughed as she put her foot behind her head.
Katie froze and Marie screamed. "It's going to come for me!! It's in here!"
The whole guard stood to their feet and looked around. Katie went over to her purse and took out a paper pigeon she still had left over. She began to wave it about as if it were her protector. Marie saw her actions and ran over, clanging.
"Give me the pigeon! I'm going to be turned into a marker!!!" Katie started to run with the paper pigeon. Marie followed her, clanging loudly.
"OH MY GOD!" Chris screamed at the top of his lungs as the large white owl swooped down from behind the basketball hoop, charging straight for…
"HELP!" Becca screamed as the owl changed its course from Marie to Becca. She began to run away as it swooped down towards her.
"HERE!" Marie ripped off one of her cookie sheets and threw it towards Becca. As if it was slow mo, it flew through the air and just as Becca went to catch it, the owl caught it between it's beak and chucked it across the room, hitting Michaele and knocking her out.
"OH MY GOD! You hit Michaele! No one hits my bigger-me!!!" Helanna screamed. She picked up the cookie sheet that lay next to the fallen Michaele and began to chase after the owl. Lindsay laughed until she was on the floor rolling around. The owl squawked in mock horror and began to make a large flight of a circle around Becca.
"Get it away, get it away!!" Becca screamed as she shielded her head. Helanna came full speed ahead as the owl began to hover around Becca. Just as she went to hit the owl, it moved and she smacked Becca on the head.
Before she had time to realize what had happened, Becca's eyes had rolled back into their sockets and she fell flat on the floor. Helanna gasped as she held onto the cookie sheet. Chris and Marie began to laugh. Lindsay began to laugh harder. Katie and Rachelle became scared.
"But I didn't-" she swung around to face Katie and Rachelle, but they jumped back with a yelp, scared of her and her cookie sheet.
Too bad the distraction didn't last long, the owl came back with a deafening squeal. The conscious ones all screamed as he came swooping out of it's circle straight for…
"WATCH OUT!" Chris screamed.
With a cling of the cookie sheets, Marie ducked her head, but the owl was to swift for her. He began to discharge the green goo onto her cookie sheets. Lindsay began to laugh so hard she was pounding on the floor, gasping for air.
Marie began to laugh as the owl stopped his fire and swooped back up to the rafters with a dissatisfied squawk. Just as she moved her arms to point at the bird in victory, he came down at a barreling speed and knocked straight into Marie. She began to scream.
"OH MY GOD! I've been hit!" She began to scratch at her head and began to remove and throw the cookie sheets she fastened to herself. Everyone watched with giggles, silent, and unconsciousness as Marie began to do…
"I'll teach you, teach, teach you. I'll teach the electric slidddeee…" Marie sang as she scratched, removed and began to 'boggie-oggie- oggie' to the left, then the right, then the back, and rocked forward and back.
The owl circled above her with silence as he watched his prey start to spin and sing faster and faster and faster until she rocked back and forth so fast, she looked like a rocking chair on speed. Then, a gust of wind broke through all the doors, swirling around Marie with a loud crackle. The rest of the guard (minus Michaele and Becca who were on the floor, out cold) began to scream and shielded their heads as the wind came tumbling around Marie. It swirled and swirled until it got smaller and smaller, then POOF! It exploded and silence and all chaos ceased to exist.
"Which flavor?" Lindsay asked as Chris walked over to where Marie once stood.
"Dungeon Dirt." He responded.
"Oh god…" Katie said.
The owl screeched and flew out the open door and into the open sky. The promise of his return hung in the air as Chris picked up the Harry Potter themed marker from the gym floor ground.
**
All right, summer is here and winter guard is over… does that make any sense? Didn't think so! I will try my hardest to finish this story over the coming month. There might be about three, four, maybe five more chapters. Depending on how creative I feel. Hope everyone is having a fun summer! Oh yeah, marching band is starting up again!!!!!!!
Oh, and see that little button down there? Yeah, the one about reviews? Press it and give me a review! You know, something positive so I know that you want me to write and you appreciate my craziness. Thanks! (if you do this, your band will win State… maybe…just review!)
After the most embarrassing performance the guard could have, they went home after their awards and went to enjoy a week off for their Spring Break. Lindsay and Michaele were actually anxious to go to guard during that week they had off, but it was probably better that they didn't have practice since everyone was so worn out and scared of guard now anyway.
We join our guard members the Monday after Spring Break, all in their jazz pants and practice shirts and ready for another practice. Lindsay and Michaele were out on the gym floor practicing their solo as Helanna was faced towards a wall practicing her tosses. Marie and Becca were stretching as Rachelle ran around the gym like the hyperactive freshman she was. Chris was back from his trip to California and was practicing rifle work in the corner. Katie sat with a pencil in hand and her yellow notepad in front of her, trying to reset her show for her three flags, three rifles, and one girl who was just kind of like a prop master in the whole show. Getting frustrated with the decreasing size of her guard and not being able to think of new sets, Katie called for the guard to get into their sets.
"All right, we're going to do this set by set and we're going to re-set everyone to fix holes, is that understood?" The guard nodded at Katie's request. Set by set they moved and re-set as they fixed their holes.
"How about we re-set the show encase someone else disappears?" Lindsay suggested.
"Do you think we're going to loose more people?" Katie asked with puzzlement.
"Duh, they only took two on Saturday." Marie responded. Katie threw her pencil at her.
"I have a sneaky suspicion someone is going to go by Wednesday." Michaele said.
"Who?" Marie asked.
Michaele tried not to smirk. "You."
"WHAT?! Why me?"
She shrugged at Marie's outburst. Chris began to laugh.
"Michaele and I have picked out a distinct pattern on how the people are disappearing." Lindsay spoke up.
"Right. First it was Jacque-" Michaele started.
"Who was very annoying."
"Then Levi-"
"Who was annoying."
"Then Caitlin-"
"Who was getting annoyed with everyone."
Michaele nodded. "Then Stephanie-"
"Who was getting annoying." Lindsay finished again.
"Okay, so why am I going next?" Marie asked.
Becca began to jump up and down with her hand raised in the air. "OH OH! PICK ME!"
"Yes Becca?" Lindsay asked.
"She's going to go next because she's annoying! I mean, she may be the captain, but boy is she sure about herself!"
That was enough to send Chris laughing so hard he was rolling on the floor. Marie huffed and looked over at Chris with an annoyed look. This made him laugh harder. Katie began to shutter with fear that she was going to loose another rifle.
"Okay, so if you're so sure I'm going to disappear, when are you two going to disappear?" Marie asked.
Lindsay and Michaele looked at each other, shrugged, and turned back towards Marie.
"I don't know since I'm not writing this story." Lindsay said. She looked over at Michaele, who shrugged in response.
A scowl stretched across Marie's face. "I am not going to be turned into a marker! I WILL NOT! YOU'LL SEE!" She stormed out of the gym and Katie ran after her. The rest of the guard was left in silence in the gym. Well, beside for Chris's loud laughter.
******
Wednesday
******
"Is Marie STILL mad at me?" Michaele asked Monique as Mr. DeBusk stopped the choir from singing five minutes before the class ended.
"Um, wouldn't you be mad if someone threatened to turn you into a marker?" Monique responded rhetorically.
"I did NOT threaten her! I could, but I won't because I'm nice!" Zack and Josh just happened to be walking by the girls at that moment and began laughing. Michaele turned around so fast, they yelped at the quickness and her look. "SHUT-UP!" They stiffened and walked back to the tenor section. She evilly laughed.
"Look, I'm not on guard so I don't know exactly what is going on. If you ask me, this marker thing is a little weird."
"You don't know half of it." She sighed. The bell rang and Michaele walked out of class to meet up with her friend Adriana so they could walk to their lockers before eating lunch.
"What's wrong?" Adriana asked as Michaele walked with her silently towards their eating areas. Usually Michaele was talking about guard, but she wasn't now.
"Would you think I was threatening you if I told you that you'd turn into a marker?" Michaele asked.
Adriana stopped and looked at her. She sighed.
"Forget I asked… it's too long of a story to tell the reasoning behind it. I'll see ya later." Michaele walked over to her table that she shared with Chris, Caitlin, Rachelle, and Kyrie and sat down.
Chris walked over to the table and sat down at his seat. "Is Marie still mad at you?"
"Is she still mad at you?"
They both nodded as Caitlin, Kyrie, and Rachelle joined the two at their table. Everyone talked about random things and laughed at random things as they ate their fatting lunch and went on their dreary ways to the rest of their classes of the day. Soon the final bell rang at 2:35pm and Michaele bolted out of her English class to her locker and met up with Lindsay after they both exchanged their books.
Lindsay and Michaele exchanged their hello's and went on their way to the band room, talking about their day and saying random things like they always do. Soon they went to change once again into their jazz pants and sleeveless shirts and walked back into the band room to get ready for the day of practice. As they sat in around in the band room waiting to move on into the gym, Marie came busting through the room covered head to toe in…
"Cookie sheets?" Lindsay squeaked.
"It will deflect the owl's flapping wind. And maybe it has that sonic thing, so this cookie sheets will deflect it!" Marie said with pride.
"Um, bats have the sonic thing." Michaele said.
"Oh…" She stopped and scratched her chin as the metal sheets banged together with her movement. "I knew that."
"Of course you did." She stifled a laugh and muttered something about her flag bag and walked the other direction, which left Lindsay with Marie.
Suddenly, Marie began to cry. "Do you really think I'm going to turn into a marker?!" She asked Lindsay.
Once again, Lindsay could only shrug. "We'll all be markers one day, but only God will be able to tell when."
"I thought Michaele was writing the story."
"Yeah, that too."
Silence enveloped the two girls for a few moments before Michaele came out of the flag room with her and Lindsay's flag bags and Katie emerged from Mrs. Britton's office. Band students of all sections began to come in and out and brought their noise as the guard waited for the rest of their members to have their practice. Soon everyone had arrived and off the guard went to the gym for their practice.
The clang of Marie echoed as the girls (and one boy) made their way to the gym with the usual stare of the students that still loitered the campus after the final bell had rang. But this time, more students were staring because of Marie and her cookie sheets. She finally noticed the stares and stopped.
"What?!" She screamed. "Ever seen a person who is trying to protect themselves from becoming a marker with cookie sheets?!" They all looked around. This caused Marie to huff and walk faster, and clang louder, towards the gym. Lindsay, Michaele, and Becca started to laugh as they walked behind her. Marie turned around and gave them a dirty look, which stopped them.
Katie finally came to open the door and the remaining members of the guard stepped inside for their practice. Fear hung in the air as everyone set down their stuff against the wall and folded up bleachers and took out their equipment. Lindsay, Michaele and Helanna all walked to one corner of the basketball court with their purple and gray silks to start spinning and warming up. Marie (with her cookie sheets), Becca and Chris all went to the other end to warm up on their rifles. Rachelle went and found a broom to wipe off the floor because she was afraid it was dirty. She had hygiene problems.
"Okay, I want everyone to stretch, but silently." Katie announced as Becca dropped a quad.
Michaele, Lindsay and Helanna all put their flags down as Chris, Marie (still with cookie sheets), and Becca set their rifles down. They all met towards the middle of the gym floor and began to stretch. Michaele and Lindsay were talking quietly, but a look from Katie stopped them. Marie stretched her arm back with a loud clank of her cookie sheets. Everyone looked at her and she sheepishly smiled. Rachelle joined the group, but not before running by Marie and clinking the cookie sheet on her leg with a glee laughter. Marie took a cookie sheet off and flung it at Rachelle and barely missed her head. Katie looked back with an evil "mom" look.
A sudden sharp knock erupted from the gym doors behind them. Everyone froze in there stretching position. Katie looked around towards her guard with terror. Just as she was going to go open the door, it flew open. Everyone screamed.
"WOAH! I just wanted to see who was in here." Coach Frankie said.
"Oh my god. You scared us. We thought you were the owl." Katie said with a huge sigh of relief.
"The owl? What? Is this some weird band thing?"
"You have no idea."
"Okay, well, I wanted to see if it was clear for a basketball player to come in and practice. I guess not. Have a nice practice." He went to close the door, but something came through it… unnoticed. Until Rachelle noticed a green spot on the floor.
"Hey, what's that?"
"OWL POOP!" Lindsay laughed as she put her foot behind her head.
Katie froze and Marie screamed. "It's going to come for me!! It's in here!"
The whole guard stood to their feet and looked around. Katie went over to her purse and took out a paper pigeon she still had left over. She began to wave it about as if it were her protector. Marie saw her actions and ran over, clanging.
"Give me the pigeon! I'm going to be turned into a marker!!!" Katie started to run with the paper pigeon. Marie followed her, clanging loudly.
"OH MY GOD!" Chris screamed at the top of his lungs as the large white owl swooped down from behind the basketball hoop, charging straight for…
"HELP!" Becca screamed as the owl changed its course from Marie to Becca. She began to run away as it swooped down towards her.
"HERE!" Marie ripped off one of her cookie sheets and threw it towards Becca. As if it was slow mo, it flew through the air and just as Becca went to catch it, the owl caught it between it's beak and chucked it across the room, hitting Michaele and knocking her out.
"OH MY GOD! You hit Michaele! No one hits my bigger-me!!!" Helanna screamed. She picked up the cookie sheet that lay next to the fallen Michaele and began to chase after the owl. Lindsay laughed until she was on the floor rolling around. The owl squawked in mock horror and began to make a large flight of a circle around Becca.
"Get it away, get it away!!" Becca screamed as she shielded her head. Helanna came full speed ahead as the owl began to hover around Becca. Just as she went to hit the owl, it moved and she smacked Becca on the head.
Before she had time to realize what had happened, Becca's eyes had rolled back into their sockets and she fell flat on the floor. Helanna gasped as she held onto the cookie sheet. Chris and Marie began to laugh. Lindsay began to laugh harder. Katie and Rachelle became scared.
"But I didn't-" she swung around to face Katie and Rachelle, but they jumped back with a yelp, scared of her and her cookie sheet.
Too bad the distraction didn't last long, the owl came back with a deafening squeal. The conscious ones all screamed as he came swooping out of it's circle straight for…
"WATCH OUT!" Chris screamed.
With a cling of the cookie sheets, Marie ducked her head, but the owl was to swift for her. He began to discharge the green goo onto her cookie sheets. Lindsay began to laugh so hard she was pounding on the floor, gasping for air.
Marie began to laugh as the owl stopped his fire and swooped back up to the rafters with a dissatisfied squawk. Just as she moved her arms to point at the bird in victory, he came down at a barreling speed and knocked straight into Marie. She began to scream.
"OH MY GOD! I've been hit!" She began to scratch at her head and began to remove and throw the cookie sheets she fastened to herself. Everyone watched with giggles, silent, and unconsciousness as Marie began to do…
"I'll teach you, teach, teach you. I'll teach the electric slidddeee…" Marie sang as she scratched, removed and began to 'boggie-oggie- oggie' to the left, then the right, then the back, and rocked forward and back.
The owl circled above her with silence as he watched his prey start to spin and sing faster and faster and faster until she rocked back and forth so fast, she looked like a rocking chair on speed. Then, a gust of wind broke through all the doors, swirling around Marie with a loud crackle. The rest of the guard (minus Michaele and Becca who were on the floor, out cold) began to scream and shielded their heads as the wind came tumbling around Marie. It swirled and swirled until it got smaller and smaller, then POOF! It exploded and silence and all chaos ceased to exist.
"Which flavor?" Lindsay asked as Chris walked over to where Marie once stood.
"Dungeon Dirt." He responded.
"Oh god…" Katie said.
The owl screeched and flew out the open door and into the open sky. The promise of his return hung in the air as Chris picked up the Harry Potter themed marker from the gym floor ground.
**
All right, summer is here and winter guard is over… does that make any sense? Didn't think so! I will try my hardest to finish this story over the coming month. There might be about three, four, maybe five more chapters. Depending on how creative I feel. Hope everyone is having a fun summer! Oh yeah, marching band is starting up again!!!!!!!
Oh, and see that little button down there? Yeah, the one about reviews? Press it and give me a review! You know, something positive so I know that you want me to write and you appreciate my craziness. Thanks! (if you do this, your band will win State… maybe…just review!)