"Kiki! Over here, come sit by me," Sidney called. I wasn't sure if I was allowed to sit by her. I sat down and started crying. I told her I didn't know anything and she shushed me. She told me to look past the fire, to the left. All I saw was a pool noodle floating toy. Oh, and who else would be holding the pool noodle but Cameron. So that was it. It was all just a stupid initiation. Cameron had been warm and cozy around the fire the entire time, and I had been in that stupid gym killing myself over his having been lost. I wanted to get up and pop him one right upside the head. I was so ready to quit when I got home. So ready. I was freezing and it took forever for the last two freshmen to be brought out. Oh, poor Mike, he was the last one in there.
"Alright, welcome to the Chaparral Firebird Marching Band," the senior who had led me out said. "My name is Ben, as most of you know. I'm the band council president." I noticed the three drum majors were out with us now. "What you freshman just went through is induction. We have all been there. Well, not quite there, but something similar. It took a lot of courage for some of you to do that. I'm sure you're all aching. The tradition of this night has been around as long as this camp, as long as this band has been around. Next year you'll get to do it to the freshman." The senior paused now and lit a thick tall candle. It had already been used before, and had a hole burned in the middle. "What we do tonight is very special to a lot of us. If you chose not to take this seriously, please don't ruin it for the rest of us. Welcome to the candle lighting ceremony. You'll all have a chance to hold the candle, and say whatever you like, and talk for as long as you would like. I'd just like to say that you freshmen are awesome, and keep up the spirit. The years you spend in high school will fly by. Before you know it, it'll all be over, and you'll be moving on to college.
"In my four years here, if I've ever needed anything, anything at all, someone in band has always been there for me. If I needed a ride, or help on home work, or even just someone to go hang out with, the band has always been the place to go. There are good times, and there are serious times, but I hope you can all look at the band as a family. Someplace you can go to have fun, work, or escape your real family. It sure was fun messing with some of you freshmen, and I hope you're not to sore at us." His speech went on much longer, and I remember calming down quite a bit during it.
Sidney and I rested up against each other for warmth. I remember feeling really close to her that night. We had just been through an interesting event together. I'm not sure how else to describe it. As the candle got passed, seniors began to cry, and talk about their freshman induction. Stories about playing at football games, and going to marching band competitions were abundant, it all sounded so fun. It must have been nearly midnight already, and the candle wasn't even halfway around the fire. When Jo got the candle she hardly said anything, but she was crying. When Sidney finally got the candle she said she was cold, and passed it on to me. I didn't know exactly what to say, or what to do. I still don't remember what all I said, except telling them that it sucked what they did to us. I also made a point of saying how intriguing I found it all, all the work, and the people. But when I started to say that I had never been able to connect with people the way I had this week I started to well up with tears, and passed the candle before I started crying.
The candle continued on its way until it found its way to Eddie. Eddie gave his speech and then got up and walked towards the fire. Eddie asked everyone but the seniors to take off their name tags. He told us to hold them to our hearts, and think about everything we had experienced here at camp. Eddie told us that when we were ready we were to throw our name tags into the fire. I held on to mine for a while, before I let it go unwillingly into the fire. I watched it darken and crumble over in the heat. The names of my classmates disappeared along with mine. The seniors were allowed to keep theirs, and take it home with them.
Stevens announced that there would be now calisthenics later this morning and breakfast would be moved back an hour. We all cheered at this announcement, and headed back to the bunks. As I turned to walk back to the cabin, I looked back for Jo. I saw Jo and Nicole crying and hugging each other. Jo whispered into Nicole's ear, but I could read what she was saying from her lips.
"I'm going to miss you, Nicole." The two stood, not moving, and obviously crying for a while, and I headed back to the bunk with Sidney along side me. I can't remember if we talked at all. I'm sure we did, but for some reason all I remember is silence, and not knowing what to think. I remember how cold I was, and exactly what I was wearing. I remember how it smelled of pine, and the crunching noise that could be heard all around me. I remember wishing that I could go find Mike, and sit and talk with him, but in the pitch black I knew I would never find him. I remember feeling a few drops of rain, and looking up to see the moon shinning through some of the rain clouds. The picture would have normally given me the creeps, but tonight it was beautiful.
Just then I saw a shooting star. I made a wish. I never told anyone about the wish. No one ever knew I saw the star. It was there, and I could never forget exactly what I said to myself. I closed my eyes as I made my wish. "Star light, star bright, first star I see