**Wednesday, a week later**
"Alright, everybody in!" Called the Drill Guy, Nick (now I knew his name!). I stripped my flag and walked in to the circle where all the band was gathered. Another practice done, another practice over! Now it was time for Nick's famous end-of-practice speech, the one he gave at the end of every practice/rehearsal/performance (well we've only had one performance, but he still gave the speech then).
"That was a pretty good runthru." Nick said, nodding at all of us. "We're getting better at marching and adding music and the guard is even getting better at doing their drill and work. They learn new work every day." He nodded his approval at us, the colorguard. "It's good we're making this progress because we have our very first competition this Saturday, and we need to do our best there. I'm not expecting you to go all out because it is, after all, our first competition, and we'll have many more after that." All the band nodded in agreement. "But as I said, it doesn't matter this performance, or the next. What really matters is how we do on November 2nd, in Scranton, for championships. That's what really matters."
I nodded along with everyone else, but upon mentioning of championships seemed to strike a bell within my mind. ~November 2nd,~ I thought to myself. ~Why does that sound so familiar? I feel that I've heard it before, why is that?~ I shook my head. ~It's nothing. It's championships date, that's why it's familiar. I've seen it on the calendar when I was writing all the performance dates and such.~ That's what it probably was, anyway.
"Championships." I muttered to Alora and Nelly as we rolled up our flags. "I can't believe it, he's making it seem like it's tomorrow when it's not for another two months." Nelly nodded at me. "Probably trying to get us all nervous and worked up." She commented. ~Yeah, and freak me out even more! I still don't get half the work, I'm sure the judges won't like that, and I don't want the entire band to get mad at me if I lower their score.~ "Hey, Christine, catch!" Alora interrupted my thoughts by chucking my flagbag at me. "Ahh, hey!" I ducked, but not in time to keep the flagbag from smacking me in the face. I shook my head and put my flags in it, tieing the drawstring at the top.
~It's nothing, Christine.~ I told myself. ~Just a date, just championships date, that's all.~ But that funny little feeling in the back of my mind that there was something else I just couldn't shake. . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Later, at dinner~
Yuck, veal. I hate veal, it's so gross and stuff. I poked at it with my fork, my face looking disgusted. "So how was practice?" My mom asked. "Fine." I replied as the wind blew and sent my napkin flying across the table. It was the one day that we were actually eating outside instead of inside. "Eat it, don't just poke it." Mom said to me, glaring at me for poking at my veal. "Mhm." I said.
"So, about the trip to Florida." Mom said. Trip to Florida? Oh, yeah. Every year we take a trip down to Florida at the end of October to visit my grandma and grandpa. It was going to be my grandma's 80th birthday this year, so I knew it would be a very special visit. "The tickets arrived last Saturday so we're insured to go." Mom grinned at me. It would be only me and her, as usual, as it was every year. I smiled back at her. I would be getting out of school for a week. . . for an entire week! It was actually kind of exciting.
But then something nagged at me. . . something in the back of my head that had been nagging me since practice. Now that little nagging thing just went all out and hit me smack in the face. When exactly was championships, anyway? November 2nd. That was it. November 2nd. But wait a minute. . . weren't we leaving for Florida October 27th? And staying for a. . . week?
Nah. That wasn't possible. There was no way at all that was possible.
"Hey, mom?" I said. She turned, raising an eyebrow at me. "Yes?" "I know we're staying for a week but what week are we staying in Florida for?" I asked, voicing the question on my mind. Mom looked at me calmly and replied, "October 27th to November 4th."
~November 4th. . . ~
At that moment, the world seemed to speed up and slow down at the same time. My fork dropped out of my hand and clattered to the plate, spattering a fleck of gravy on my cheek. I wiped it away, unable to keep the shock off of my face.
~November 4th. . . if we come back November 4th, it means that November 2nd will have already passed, and I'd have. . . missed. . . championships. . . ~
There was no way. Absolutely no way!
"Christine!" My mom said scoldingly to me, looking down in disapproval at the fork now laying in veal gravy sauce. ~No,~ I thought. ~Absolutely not. It won't happen it CAN'T happen!~ "Christine, what's wrong?" Mom finally asked, noting that something was obviously wrong. "November 4th we can't return November 4th we really can't!" I exclaimed finally. She raised her eyebrow at me again. "And why not?" "Because. . . because. . ." I stammered. ~JUST SAY IT!~ I mentally yelled at myself.
"Because marching band championships are November 2nd and you said we are going to be in Florida then and that means I will miss the championships!" I all but shouted. "I can't miss them, I really can't! It's my first year and I have to stand by them and I can't miss them! I can't! Cancel the tickets or something, I. . ."
"CHRISTINE!" Mom cut me off from my panicked yelling. "Calm down. Calm down! What do you mean, championships are Nov. 2nd?" "They are, they are!" I said. "Since when?" Mom demanded. "Since. . . we got the schedule!" I stammered. "But we can't go, I can't miss it!" I insisted, trying to quell the panic that was now welling up inside of me. Missing championships, that was like, the worst possible thing! I couldn't miss it! "Hmm." Mom was looking a cross between annoyed and ponderous. She was evidently annoyed that I just brought the subject up ~now~ and ponderous of, hopefully, a way to change the tickets to a later date.
"I really didn't know they were this date." She said. "I know, I know. . ." I said, still with a panicky voice. "Still, calm down! I will try to do what I can and maybe set the tickets for a later date." Mom said. I relaxed- but not very much.
After dinner, mom retreated to the computer and I saw her clicking around on the airplane ticket website. After about an hour of this, mom turned to me and said, "Christine, there's nothing I can do. All the later flights are booked, and the ones earlier wouldn't help much either." My heart sank. I just sat there, unable to find words to express the whirlwind of conflicting emotions I felt. "Okay," I said finally, and weakly. "But. . . but. . . then that means tomorrow you will have to tell Mrs. Loren that I won't be there. I'm not going to." I said to her, finishing. Mom nodded at me, understanding. "Yes, tomorrow when I come to get you from practice I will tell Mrs. Loren." Well that was good, at least I wouldn't have to tell her that.
But that didn't mean anything at all-I would still be missing the championships.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Practice, the next day~
I looked outside. It was raining drearily, the ground soaking up the wetness and the trees dripping water. Practice, on this wet day, was obviously inside. I suppose I was a bit relieved; at least when my mom came I wouldn't have to call her outside.
Taking my flags, I followed the rest of the guard into the cafeteria to practice, keeping silent as I set up my flags. Luckily that wasn't unusual for me, I usually didn't say much at practice. Today I was at a loss for words and couldn't say anything even if I wanted to. We set up in a block, doing drop spins and learning some new work for our show. I did all of these things with a blank expression on my face, smiling only of Mrs. Loren looked at me.
Finally, practice was over. We all rolled up our flags, and I looked outside to see if my mom was coming yet. "Hey, what's wrong?" Asked Alora, noticing my clearly unattached mood. "Nothing." I lied. She raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." I said with a sigh, spotting my mom as she ducked inside the school to get out of the rain. "There's my mom, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow." I said quickly. "Okay." Alora replied, shaking her head at how strange I was being.
"Hello." My mom said when I went to her, still holding my flags. "You tell her." I said darkly. "I don't want to." Mom nodded, and went up to talk to Mrs. Loren, me following behind her. "Yes?" Mrs. Loren said. "Ah, I'm not sure Christine has told you yet, but I have something important to tell you." Mom said. Mrs. Loren looked at me. "Yes, she mentioned something important before practice. What is it?" Mom looked at me. I nodded very very slowly. "Well, I know that championships are November 2nd," my mom began. Mrs. Loren nodded. "Well, my mother-Christine's grandmother-is having her 75th birthday on October 29th. So awhile back, we planned a trip that would be for a week and we would fly down to Florida and celebrate her birthday. We've been doing this for quite some years now." Mrs. Loren nodded again, indicating for my mom to continue. I hugged my flags close to me, wanting to hide behind their cool metal poles and their extravagant silks forever. "This trip was planned for October 27th for the day we are to leave. The return date will be. . . November 4th." She said, finally saying what she needed to say. "We will be in Florida for the time of the marching band championships, and Christine will miss them." My mom said. I closed my eyes. Those words still cut through me horribly. "Is that true?" Mrs. Loren asked, looking at me. "Yes." I said. My voice sounded squeaky and high.
"I see." She said. "Well, I don't really know what to do about this. If you are going to actually miss the final championships, there will be a hole in the drill." "I know." I said, my voice still squeaking as I held in the tears threatening to spill over. A few months ago I'd love to have been stuck missing championships, and now? Now I actually wanted to stay.
Mrs. Loren sighed, laying a hand on my shoulder. "Christine, no one's worked harder than you have been doing these few weeks." She said. "I mean, you came in here not knowing what to expect and wanting to quit and you stayed. That takes a lot of courage." I managed a small smile. "Knowing Mr. Piquano, he would be wanting to take you off the marching band all together."
What?! I looked up at Mrs. Loren, looking horrified. Take me off the marching band? No, no they could never do that! No. . .
"I know you want to stay for championships, don't you?" She asked. "Yes." I whispered, my voice trembling. "And I want you to stay in marching band. You've put in a lot of effort and I don't want that all to be wasted because of some arrangement that was made before the season started." I nodded again. "I will talk to Mr. Piquano, I will do all I can to convince him to keep you in for now. We will come up with an agreement. I'll speak for you, Christine, I promise." Said Mrs. Loren. "Thank you." I whispered.
"Yes, thank you." My mom said finally, indicating for me to come along. I gave a slight smile at Mrs. Loren. I couldn't express my emotions at this time, fear, sadness, and gratitude that she would help convince the director to let me stay. I went to the band room and put my flags away, then followed my mom out to the car.
Yes, gratitude. She would help me, she said. She would help me stay in marching band even if I would be missing the finals. That was definitely good.
But now. . . what would become of me now?
"Alright, everybody in!" Called the Drill Guy, Nick (now I knew his name!). I stripped my flag and walked in to the circle where all the band was gathered. Another practice done, another practice over! Now it was time for Nick's famous end-of-practice speech, the one he gave at the end of every practice/rehearsal/performance (well we've only had one performance, but he still gave the speech then).
"That was a pretty good runthru." Nick said, nodding at all of us. "We're getting better at marching and adding music and the guard is even getting better at doing their drill and work. They learn new work every day." He nodded his approval at us, the colorguard. "It's good we're making this progress because we have our very first competition this Saturday, and we need to do our best there. I'm not expecting you to go all out because it is, after all, our first competition, and we'll have many more after that." All the band nodded in agreement. "But as I said, it doesn't matter this performance, or the next. What really matters is how we do on November 2nd, in Scranton, for championships. That's what really matters."
I nodded along with everyone else, but upon mentioning of championships seemed to strike a bell within my mind. ~November 2nd,~ I thought to myself. ~Why does that sound so familiar? I feel that I've heard it before, why is that?~ I shook my head. ~It's nothing. It's championships date, that's why it's familiar. I've seen it on the calendar when I was writing all the performance dates and such.~ That's what it probably was, anyway.
"Championships." I muttered to Alora and Nelly as we rolled up our flags. "I can't believe it, he's making it seem like it's tomorrow when it's not for another two months." Nelly nodded at me. "Probably trying to get us all nervous and worked up." She commented. ~Yeah, and freak me out even more! I still don't get half the work, I'm sure the judges won't like that, and I don't want the entire band to get mad at me if I lower their score.~ "Hey, Christine, catch!" Alora interrupted my thoughts by chucking my flagbag at me. "Ahh, hey!" I ducked, but not in time to keep the flagbag from smacking me in the face. I shook my head and put my flags in it, tieing the drawstring at the top.
~It's nothing, Christine.~ I told myself. ~Just a date, just championships date, that's all.~ But that funny little feeling in the back of my mind that there was something else I just couldn't shake. . .
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Later, at dinner~
Yuck, veal. I hate veal, it's so gross and stuff. I poked at it with my fork, my face looking disgusted. "So how was practice?" My mom asked. "Fine." I replied as the wind blew and sent my napkin flying across the table. It was the one day that we were actually eating outside instead of inside. "Eat it, don't just poke it." Mom said to me, glaring at me for poking at my veal. "Mhm." I said.
"So, about the trip to Florida." Mom said. Trip to Florida? Oh, yeah. Every year we take a trip down to Florida at the end of October to visit my grandma and grandpa. It was going to be my grandma's 80th birthday this year, so I knew it would be a very special visit. "The tickets arrived last Saturday so we're insured to go." Mom grinned at me. It would be only me and her, as usual, as it was every year. I smiled back at her. I would be getting out of school for a week. . . for an entire week! It was actually kind of exciting.
But then something nagged at me. . . something in the back of my head that had been nagging me since practice. Now that little nagging thing just went all out and hit me smack in the face. When exactly was championships, anyway? November 2nd. That was it. November 2nd. But wait a minute. . . weren't we leaving for Florida October 27th? And staying for a. . . week?
Nah. That wasn't possible. There was no way at all that was possible.
"Hey, mom?" I said. She turned, raising an eyebrow at me. "Yes?" "I know we're staying for a week but what week are we staying in Florida for?" I asked, voicing the question on my mind. Mom looked at me calmly and replied, "October 27th to November 4th."
~November 4th. . . ~
At that moment, the world seemed to speed up and slow down at the same time. My fork dropped out of my hand and clattered to the plate, spattering a fleck of gravy on my cheek. I wiped it away, unable to keep the shock off of my face.
~November 4th. . . if we come back November 4th, it means that November 2nd will have already passed, and I'd have. . . missed. . . championships. . . ~
There was no way. Absolutely no way!
"Christine!" My mom said scoldingly to me, looking down in disapproval at the fork now laying in veal gravy sauce. ~No,~ I thought. ~Absolutely not. It won't happen it CAN'T happen!~ "Christine, what's wrong?" Mom finally asked, noting that something was obviously wrong. "November 4th we can't return November 4th we really can't!" I exclaimed finally. She raised her eyebrow at me again. "And why not?" "Because. . . because. . ." I stammered. ~JUST SAY IT!~ I mentally yelled at myself.
"Because marching band championships are November 2nd and you said we are going to be in Florida then and that means I will miss the championships!" I all but shouted. "I can't miss them, I really can't! It's my first year and I have to stand by them and I can't miss them! I can't! Cancel the tickets or something, I. . ."
"CHRISTINE!" Mom cut me off from my panicked yelling. "Calm down. Calm down! What do you mean, championships are Nov. 2nd?" "They are, they are!" I said. "Since when?" Mom demanded. "Since. . . we got the schedule!" I stammered. "But we can't go, I can't miss it!" I insisted, trying to quell the panic that was now welling up inside of me. Missing championships, that was like, the worst possible thing! I couldn't miss it! "Hmm." Mom was looking a cross between annoyed and ponderous. She was evidently annoyed that I just brought the subject up ~now~ and ponderous of, hopefully, a way to change the tickets to a later date.
"I really didn't know they were this date." She said. "I know, I know. . ." I said, still with a panicky voice. "Still, calm down! I will try to do what I can and maybe set the tickets for a later date." Mom said. I relaxed- but not very much.
After dinner, mom retreated to the computer and I saw her clicking around on the airplane ticket website. After about an hour of this, mom turned to me and said, "Christine, there's nothing I can do. All the later flights are booked, and the ones earlier wouldn't help much either." My heart sank. I just sat there, unable to find words to express the whirlwind of conflicting emotions I felt. "Okay," I said finally, and weakly. "But. . . but. . . then that means tomorrow you will have to tell Mrs. Loren that I won't be there. I'm not going to." I said to her, finishing. Mom nodded at me, understanding. "Yes, tomorrow when I come to get you from practice I will tell Mrs. Loren." Well that was good, at least I wouldn't have to tell her that.
But that didn't mean anything at all-I would still be missing the championships.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Practice, the next day~
I looked outside. It was raining drearily, the ground soaking up the wetness and the trees dripping water. Practice, on this wet day, was obviously inside. I suppose I was a bit relieved; at least when my mom came I wouldn't have to call her outside.
Taking my flags, I followed the rest of the guard into the cafeteria to practice, keeping silent as I set up my flags. Luckily that wasn't unusual for me, I usually didn't say much at practice. Today I was at a loss for words and couldn't say anything even if I wanted to. We set up in a block, doing drop spins and learning some new work for our show. I did all of these things with a blank expression on my face, smiling only of Mrs. Loren looked at me.
Finally, practice was over. We all rolled up our flags, and I looked outside to see if my mom was coming yet. "Hey, what's wrong?" Asked Alora, noticing my clearly unattached mood. "Nothing." I lied. She raised an eyebrow at me. "I'm sure you'll find out soon enough." I said with a sigh, spotting my mom as she ducked inside the school to get out of the rain. "There's my mom, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow." I said quickly. "Okay." Alora replied, shaking her head at how strange I was being.
"Hello." My mom said when I went to her, still holding my flags. "You tell her." I said darkly. "I don't want to." Mom nodded, and went up to talk to Mrs. Loren, me following behind her. "Yes?" Mrs. Loren said. "Ah, I'm not sure Christine has told you yet, but I have something important to tell you." Mom said. Mrs. Loren looked at me. "Yes, she mentioned something important before practice. What is it?" Mom looked at me. I nodded very very slowly. "Well, I know that championships are November 2nd," my mom began. Mrs. Loren nodded. "Well, my mother-Christine's grandmother-is having her 75th birthday on October 29th. So awhile back, we planned a trip that would be for a week and we would fly down to Florida and celebrate her birthday. We've been doing this for quite some years now." Mrs. Loren nodded again, indicating for my mom to continue. I hugged my flags close to me, wanting to hide behind their cool metal poles and their extravagant silks forever. "This trip was planned for October 27th for the day we are to leave. The return date will be. . . November 4th." She said, finally saying what she needed to say. "We will be in Florida for the time of the marching band championships, and Christine will miss them." My mom said. I closed my eyes. Those words still cut through me horribly. "Is that true?" Mrs. Loren asked, looking at me. "Yes." I said. My voice sounded squeaky and high.
"I see." She said. "Well, I don't really know what to do about this. If you are going to actually miss the final championships, there will be a hole in the drill." "I know." I said, my voice still squeaking as I held in the tears threatening to spill over. A few months ago I'd love to have been stuck missing championships, and now? Now I actually wanted to stay.
Mrs. Loren sighed, laying a hand on my shoulder. "Christine, no one's worked harder than you have been doing these few weeks." She said. "I mean, you came in here not knowing what to expect and wanting to quit and you stayed. That takes a lot of courage." I managed a small smile. "Knowing Mr. Piquano, he would be wanting to take you off the marching band all together."
What?! I looked up at Mrs. Loren, looking horrified. Take me off the marching band? No, no they could never do that! No. . .
"I know you want to stay for championships, don't you?" She asked. "Yes." I whispered, my voice trembling. "And I want you to stay in marching band. You've put in a lot of effort and I don't want that all to be wasted because of some arrangement that was made before the season started." I nodded again. "I will talk to Mr. Piquano, I will do all I can to convince him to keep you in for now. We will come up with an agreement. I'll speak for you, Christine, I promise." Said Mrs. Loren. "Thank you." I whispered.
"Yes, thank you." My mom said finally, indicating for me to come along. I gave a slight smile at Mrs. Loren. I couldn't express my emotions at this time, fear, sadness, and gratitude that she would help convince the director to let me stay. I went to the band room and put my flags away, then followed my mom out to the car.
Yes, gratitude. She would help me, she said. She would help me stay in marching band even if I would be missing the finals. That was definitely good.
But now. . . what would become of me now?