The field was filled with noise and concentration. Cornett's trumpets moved in perfect order while Reid and the Clarinets marched and played with excellent tone. The Flutelings glided backwards alongside the Saxes, the Tubas and Baritones were close to joining in. Gliss turned to his group, the ones falling behind. "Bones, attention!" Abruptly, each slide snapped up, except for one. Gliss made his way down the row to the struggling bone. "Bonette?" He stopped at the end of the row.
A sophomore Trombone, dark brown hair tied at her neck under her tipped cap and equally dark eyes fixated on her horn, didn't reply. Her slide was stuck with hours of practice and spit, and no matter how much she struggled; she could not get it free. "Oh, for the love of Sousa!" Gliss chuckled at her frustration and pulled from his pocket a small capsule of water. Dumping it down the brass tube, the slide released and clattered on the ground. Bonette, whose beautifully unique name was pronounced Bonnet, gasped and bent down after it. Gliss began to laugh, the others not moving but glancing down the line.
"Bonette, it's OK," he said, helping her to piece it all together. "Really!" She looked up, dark eyes relaxing at the comfort of her comic section leader.
"Geez, I'm sorry, Gliss," she muttered. He laughed, adjusting his hat. "It's my first day with…this…this…"
"I like it," Gliss complimented, running a hand over the new horn's bright white. "Sort of looks like mine." Bonette smiled and returned to attention. Being the only female Trombone marching didn't seem as tough.
Eufo sighed, clapping his hands louder to try and keep things together. Sou watched as well, eyes fixed on the phasing of her section. "It's getting there," she muttered.
"No, it's not," Eufo snapped. "Look at it…they're all over the place." Treff moaned and stepped out of line.
"It's OK, Eufo, it's only the first day."
"First day of what? Until what?" Eufo threw his hands in the air, getting the attention of Sal, who aimlessly wandered about, checking on people.
"Are things OK?" Sal inquired, stopping between Eufo and Treff. They both nodded and continued to watch the drill.
"What's next," Sou sadly asked. Sal shrugged.
"Keep going…we still need to work."
Tap marked time with his heels deeply carving the ground. His eyes were fixed on the landscape ahead, hands snapping down and up in such perfect precision that often made others' heads spin. The other snares began to smile at their playing. Tap suddenly stopped, throwing his stick down. They also halted and looked to him, confused. "It sucks."
"It's great!" Junior snare Cade exclaimed. Quad, the clean-cut tenor looked down the slight arc that they practiced in.
"I think it sounded fine," Quad offered.
"No, we're all over the place. Basses, you're all over the place. You, Crash, you're not paying attention to the rest of us. Q, can you try and accent just a bit more?" Quad smiled and nodded.
"Sure thing, Tap. I'll try." Cade drummed a random string before listening for the exercise to start again.
"Let's do this, guys, we're the Drum Line, we're supposed to do this right." They all were sad to see Tap disappointed. Tap raised his stick to start the cadence again, but Mallet suddenly appeared running from the front of the field.
"Tap! Q! Wait up!" Mallet caught his breath, leaning on Tap's drum. "Q, we need your help. The vibe player can't get this one run and it's slowing down the whole song and…" Q lifted a stick and paused before taking off his set of four. He was glad to help anyone stuck in his expertise: the vibes. Tap watched him go and started the song. Q jogged along side Mallet, listening to the problem.
Clare watched Q stride by; she was sure she had seen him before. Always with a smile, she thought, smiling herself. "Clare, back in line!" Reid playfully scolded. She directed her attention back to the drill and pushed the thought of Quad out of her mind.