Chapter One
"Come on, Christine, you have to!" Alora poked me in the shoulder again. It was May, and I was just ending my 7th grade year. In Ponra Middle school, they had made a new rule that said 8th graders could join the Ponra High School marching band.
One of my teachers, my social studies teacher by the name of Mrs. Loren, was also the instructor of our little middle school colorguard. Since I admired Mrs. Loren greatly, I had joined the little middle school colorguard. So had two of my good friends, Alora and Nelly. I had to admit, I loved the little colorguard a lot. But as soon as the marching band rule came out, Mrs. Loren pounced on the three of us to try and convince us to join the high school colorguard, for marching band.
Alora had agreed immediately. Alora loved colorguard and it showed, and when she heard that we could be a part of a bigger, competitive colorguard, she jumped on the chance extremely quick.
Nelly, likewise, had wanted to join. She didn't say why except that it 'sounded interesting.' And being that Nelly always liked to try new things, here was her chance.
So now, as we stood outside during lunch period, Alora and Nelly were trying to convince me to join as well.
"I don't have to." I replied, crossing my arms. "Who says I have to?" "I do." Alora said. "I'm joining. Nelly's joining. So why can't you?" "Okay, Becky's not, and Maya's not, and they're both our age. Maya's going to be in high school, why can't she?" I protested. "Because we don't know Becky." Alora replied. "And we know you."
I sighed. They would not give this up! They had been doing it for days, and it was wearing down my defense. I didn't really want to do this-it was high school, for heaven's sake, did any of them understand that? I was the shy little girl that hides in the back and barely says anything. I wasn't ready to go face to face with high school people!
But Alora had already countered that argument. Alora was a hide in the back person too, and she was joining. My arguments were getting less-they were getting me closer and closer to saying 'yes.' "Christine, pleeeease?" Nelly gave me a little pout and pretended to look really said. This was known as the 'sad puppy' look. It was guaranteed to help wear away any parent when they said 'no' to something, and now they were trying it on me. "Give me one good reason." I said. "'Cause me and Nelly are joining. And it'll be fun, you know? I mean we'll have an advantage over the other soon-to-be 8th graders, won't we? We'll know high school people!" Alora grinned at me. "Well, I." "You'll join." "I will not!"
Mrs. Loren chose this moment to walk by. "Oh, hello, Christine, Alora, Nelly." She said to us. Alora grinned and waved. "So, Christine, have you decided yet? Whether or not you're joining?" Now ~thi~s was wearing down my defenses. This was Mrs. Loren! I admired her; she was like an idol to me, being that I didn't have any older siblings. "Umm." I said.
"She is." Alora interrupted. "Yeah." Nelly agreed. "She just told us yes." I scowled at both of them. "Well? Are you?" Mrs. Loren looked at me, expecting an answer to come from me myself.
Glaring once again at Nelly and Alora, I said, "I most certainly am.ow!" Alora stepped on my foot, causing me to cut off my sentence. I was meaning to say 'I most certainly am not!' but Alora knew that, and, well, cut me off. "Oh, that's wonderful!" Mrs. Loren exclaimed. "I'm so glad you've decided to after all. The first meeting is next Wednesday, I'm sure you know that. I'll look forward to seeing you there!" And she walked off.
I turned to glare at Alora, who merely smiled sweetly under the intensity of my glare. "Alora, you cut me off!" I said. Alora continued to smile sweetly and innocently. "I know." She replied, grinning. "I knew you were going to say no, so I had to get you to say yes." I threw up my hands in annoyance. "This is a high school colorguard you were getting me to join!" I said in aggravation-aggravation that fell upon deaf ears. "I know." Alora said again. "But now you're stuck, now you're coming to the meeting next week. My work here is done, see you later!" Alora gave me another irritating grin and flounced off to say hi to her other friends. I turned to Nelly, who was grinning at me, too. "Oh, you too?" I said. "Well, now all three of us are going to be in it! How cool is that!" "You agree with Alora?" "Yes!" I should have known. The bell rang at that moment, cutting short any reply I could have said to Nelly.
"This is a conspiracy." I muttered as I trudged inside to my 8th period class.
~*~*~*~*~*~
As much as I resented it, a week later I had to go to the meeting. It was after school from 3-5 at the high school, within walking distance from middle school. After the bell rang and the day ended, I walked up to the high school from here. I arrived a little after three, and Alora and Nelly were already there because they got a ride from Mrs. Oliande, the mother for Danielle Oliande. Danielle, I heard, was one of the 'pit crew' for the marching band. I had no idea, at the time, what a 'pit crew' was.
So when I finally got there, the rest of the.colorguard.was already there. They all had a high school-y look to them-so much older than us little middle school people. Alora's face turned into one of relief when she saw me. While Alora did like this, she tended to be very shy in front of people just as I am, and prefers having either me or Nelly there when she is. Nelly was already there, but Alora was relieved just the same. She made a motion for me to 'come over here quickly.'
I got out of my mom's car, giving her instructions to 'pick me up at 5' and then darted onto the lawn.
The lawn was rather small, with a tree on either side of it. It was in front of the band room where the band practices, and seemed to be at the back of this high school. I walked over and stood next to Alora, looking in a rather frightened way at the older high school people. ~Now ~I was afraid. But Mrs. Loren was there, so it seemed okay.
"Alright," Mrs. Loren announced. "Now that we're all here, I want you all to sit in a circle and introduce yourselves, because I see a lot of new faces here." She scanned us all as we all went to sit in the circle. "First of all, my name is Mrs. Loren, and I'll be your instructor this year. Many of you already know me from the middle school." She glanced at us when she said that. "Now, starting with Talie, the captain."
Talie was an asian girl. She began by saying, "Hey everyone! What a great year this is going to be. As Mrs. Loren said, I see lots of new people, including three 8th graders that are going to be with us. I'm Talie, I'm going to be your captain. This is my first year as captain, though it is my second year in the colorguard. I'm going to be a sophomore. I know it's going to be a great year, so welcome everyone!" Talie seemed nice enough. It went on next to Cara, the co-captain. Cara was a really energetic and happy girl with brown hair "My name's Cara and it's great to be back! I'm going to be a junior next year. I've been doing colorguard in marching band since 8th grade and I am really looking forward to continue!" She seemed really happy about this.
We all went around in a circle, meeting Alisa, Carrie, Don (the only guy in the whole guard), Shelley, Chrisabel, and Katrina (Kat). Finally, they came to Alora, who suddenly seemed to shrink. "Hi, my name's Alora." She began. "I'm an 8th grader, and I'm kind of shy, but Mrs. Loren said this was fun so I decided to join and see what it's like." She said quickly, before looking at me and indicating it was my turn. "Hi my name's Christine and I'm joining because Alora and Nelly and Mrs. Loren convinced me too and I want so see what it's like." I blurted out quickly. "And I'm going to be an 8th grader too."
Ah, good, that was over with. Now their attention was off me and onto Nelly, who seemed a lot more confident than either me or Alora.
"Hey! My name's Nelly, and I'm going to be an 8th grader too. I was in colorguard with Mrs. Loren and it was really fun. I've never been in marching band but heard it was really fun!" She grinned. Several of the others grinned back.
Soon the meeting was over. Alora came to me and said, "Well, look's like you're stuck." She grinned. "I guess if you come to this meeting, you'll have to stay in." I sighed. Mrs. Loren was watching me. "Well, I guess so." I replied, resigned. "Looks like I have to. But we'll all be in it together, right?" I said. Nelly nodded; so did Alora.
"Yeah." Alora said. "I've never been in a high school marching band, but I suppose we'll all survive together, right?"
"Looks so." I replied. "Yeah." Nelly finished. "We will."
"Come on, Christine, you have to!" Alora poked me in the shoulder again. It was May, and I was just ending my 7th grade year. In Ponra Middle school, they had made a new rule that said 8th graders could join the Ponra High School marching band.
One of my teachers, my social studies teacher by the name of Mrs. Loren, was also the instructor of our little middle school colorguard. Since I admired Mrs. Loren greatly, I had joined the little middle school colorguard. So had two of my good friends, Alora and Nelly. I had to admit, I loved the little colorguard a lot. But as soon as the marching band rule came out, Mrs. Loren pounced on the three of us to try and convince us to join the high school colorguard, for marching band.
Alora had agreed immediately. Alora loved colorguard and it showed, and when she heard that we could be a part of a bigger, competitive colorguard, she jumped on the chance extremely quick.
Nelly, likewise, had wanted to join. She didn't say why except that it 'sounded interesting.' And being that Nelly always liked to try new things, here was her chance.
So now, as we stood outside during lunch period, Alora and Nelly were trying to convince me to join as well.
"I don't have to." I replied, crossing my arms. "Who says I have to?" "I do." Alora said. "I'm joining. Nelly's joining. So why can't you?" "Okay, Becky's not, and Maya's not, and they're both our age. Maya's going to be in high school, why can't she?" I protested. "Because we don't know Becky." Alora replied. "And we know you."
I sighed. They would not give this up! They had been doing it for days, and it was wearing down my defense. I didn't really want to do this-it was high school, for heaven's sake, did any of them understand that? I was the shy little girl that hides in the back and barely says anything. I wasn't ready to go face to face with high school people!
But Alora had already countered that argument. Alora was a hide in the back person too, and she was joining. My arguments were getting less-they were getting me closer and closer to saying 'yes.' "Christine, pleeeease?" Nelly gave me a little pout and pretended to look really said. This was known as the 'sad puppy' look. It was guaranteed to help wear away any parent when they said 'no' to something, and now they were trying it on me. "Give me one good reason." I said. "'Cause me and Nelly are joining. And it'll be fun, you know? I mean we'll have an advantage over the other soon-to-be 8th graders, won't we? We'll know high school people!" Alora grinned at me. "Well, I." "You'll join." "I will not!"
Mrs. Loren chose this moment to walk by. "Oh, hello, Christine, Alora, Nelly." She said to us. Alora grinned and waved. "So, Christine, have you decided yet? Whether or not you're joining?" Now ~thi~s was wearing down my defenses. This was Mrs. Loren! I admired her; she was like an idol to me, being that I didn't have any older siblings. "Umm." I said.
"She is." Alora interrupted. "Yeah." Nelly agreed. "She just told us yes." I scowled at both of them. "Well? Are you?" Mrs. Loren looked at me, expecting an answer to come from me myself.
Glaring once again at Nelly and Alora, I said, "I most certainly am.ow!" Alora stepped on my foot, causing me to cut off my sentence. I was meaning to say 'I most certainly am not!' but Alora knew that, and, well, cut me off. "Oh, that's wonderful!" Mrs. Loren exclaimed. "I'm so glad you've decided to after all. The first meeting is next Wednesday, I'm sure you know that. I'll look forward to seeing you there!" And she walked off.
I turned to glare at Alora, who merely smiled sweetly under the intensity of my glare. "Alora, you cut me off!" I said. Alora continued to smile sweetly and innocently. "I know." She replied, grinning. "I knew you were going to say no, so I had to get you to say yes." I threw up my hands in annoyance. "This is a high school colorguard you were getting me to join!" I said in aggravation-aggravation that fell upon deaf ears. "I know." Alora said again. "But now you're stuck, now you're coming to the meeting next week. My work here is done, see you later!" Alora gave me another irritating grin and flounced off to say hi to her other friends. I turned to Nelly, who was grinning at me, too. "Oh, you too?" I said. "Well, now all three of us are going to be in it! How cool is that!" "You agree with Alora?" "Yes!" I should have known. The bell rang at that moment, cutting short any reply I could have said to Nelly.
"This is a conspiracy." I muttered as I trudged inside to my 8th period class.
~*~*~*~*~*~
As much as I resented it, a week later I had to go to the meeting. It was after school from 3-5 at the high school, within walking distance from middle school. After the bell rang and the day ended, I walked up to the high school from here. I arrived a little after three, and Alora and Nelly were already there because they got a ride from Mrs. Oliande, the mother for Danielle Oliande. Danielle, I heard, was one of the 'pit crew' for the marching band. I had no idea, at the time, what a 'pit crew' was.
So when I finally got there, the rest of the.colorguard.was already there. They all had a high school-y look to them-so much older than us little middle school people. Alora's face turned into one of relief when she saw me. While Alora did like this, she tended to be very shy in front of people just as I am, and prefers having either me or Nelly there when she is. Nelly was already there, but Alora was relieved just the same. She made a motion for me to 'come over here quickly.'
I got out of my mom's car, giving her instructions to 'pick me up at 5' and then darted onto the lawn.
The lawn was rather small, with a tree on either side of it. It was in front of the band room where the band practices, and seemed to be at the back of this high school. I walked over and stood next to Alora, looking in a rather frightened way at the older high school people. ~Now ~I was afraid. But Mrs. Loren was there, so it seemed okay.
"Alright," Mrs. Loren announced. "Now that we're all here, I want you all to sit in a circle and introduce yourselves, because I see a lot of new faces here." She scanned us all as we all went to sit in the circle. "First of all, my name is Mrs. Loren, and I'll be your instructor this year. Many of you already know me from the middle school." She glanced at us when she said that. "Now, starting with Talie, the captain."
Talie was an asian girl. She began by saying, "Hey everyone! What a great year this is going to be. As Mrs. Loren said, I see lots of new people, including three 8th graders that are going to be with us. I'm Talie, I'm going to be your captain. This is my first year as captain, though it is my second year in the colorguard. I'm going to be a sophomore. I know it's going to be a great year, so welcome everyone!" Talie seemed nice enough. It went on next to Cara, the co-captain. Cara was a really energetic and happy girl with brown hair "My name's Cara and it's great to be back! I'm going to be a junior next year. I've been doing colorguard in marching band since 8th grade and I am really looking forward to continue!" She seemed really happy about this.
We all went around in a circle, meeting Alisa, Carrie, Don (the only guy in the whole guard), Shelley, Chrisabel, and Katrina (Kat). Finally, they came to Alora, who suddenly seemed to shrink. "Hi, my name's Alora." She began. "I'm an 8th grader, and I'm kind of shy, but Mrs. Loren said this was fun so I decided to join and see what it's like." She said quickly, before looking at me and indicating it was my turn. "Hi my name's Christine and I'm joining because Alora and Nelly and Mrs. Loren convinced me too and I want so see what it's like." I blurted out quickly. "And I'm going to be an 8th grader too."
Ah, good, that was over with. Now their attention was off me and onto Nelly, who seemed a lot more confident than either me or Alora.
"Hey! My name's Nelly, and I'm going to be an 8th grader too. I was in colorguard with Mrs. Loren and it was really fun. I've never been in marching band but heard it was really fun!" She grinned. Several of the others grinned back.
Soon the meeting was over. Alora came to me and said, "Well, look's like you're stuck." She grinned. "I guess if you come to this meeting, you'll have to stay in." I sighed. Mrs. Loren was watching me. "Well, I guess so." I replied, resigned. "Looks like I have to. But we'll all be in it together, right?" I said. Nelly nodded; so did Alora.
"Yeah." Alora said. "I've never been in a high school marching band, but I suppose we'll all survive together, right?"
"Looks so." I replied. "Yeah." Nelly finished. "We will."