Of Light Rain and Freezing Wind
Ch 3
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[A/N]: I MISS MARCHING SEASON!!!!!!!!
==============
The band left the stadium in tears. Some were crying about the many times they had fallen, but most had been laughing so hard that they could hardly speak. The owner of the crushed tuba was getting more attention than ever before. Most people in the band had hardly acknowledged his existence, for he was a freshman. Now, he was famous.
"That's so awesome!"
"Let me take a picture!"
"It's the taco bell!"
Bass drum four had dropped his 'chicky stick' at some point during the show, and thus was mildly upset, but the rest of the battery was far too amused at the situation to let one fallen stick sour their great mood. The colour guard girls were all absolutely covered with mud. A flag girl ran up to Nina, a huge grin on her face.
"Nina!" Nina turned to head to see Kelly, spinning around once to show off her once purple dress (the outfits worn at the end of the show were a spectrum of red through purple) that was now brown, with specks of grass and plume feathers everywhere. She had a smear of mud across her left cheek and all down her arms. Even her purple flag was like this. Kelly just laughed.
"I fell down!" she giggled again and skipped away. The same thing happened with a sophomore on rifle and a freshman in a dress that used to be tangerine orange, but now..you know the drill. The band loaded the truck to the best of their ability, but poor tuba Ryan had a very hard time getting his "taco bell" back into the original sousaphone case. Mud coated everyone's shoes, and although 90% of the colour guard fell down, only a handful of actual band members had fallen, and none in the battery, thank goodness. The truck, now full of instruments and disgusting mud-covered guard equipment and props, was closed up for now. It began to rain harder now, and The Woodlands band had to scramble through mud that was gross enough in the first place, but was now becoming a floodway as well.
"TO THE BUSES!" cried Mr. J's voice, over everyone else's. "GET TO THE BUSES!"
Nina was searching the area for the pit. They hadn't been around while she had loaded the truck, for they had found their way there before everyone and were already back on the buses, drying off, and re-saran-wrapping their mallets in case they had to play in finals in a couple hours (which was highly doubtful, in their opinion), and had changed out of their badn uniforms back into jeans and a band shirt. The quiet they had been enjoying (or rather, taking refuge in), was destroyed as the rest of the battery and other randomly selected people joined them on the "drumline bus", Bus 5, claimed at the beginning of the season. The uproar of laughter disturbed the members of the pit. Nina found her way to the middle back of the bus, her and Nathan's seat, and immediately began changing, shoes first, which had been rinsed off (somewhat) in a puddle outside.
She laughed and shook Nathan's shoulder lightly, "Was that a party or what?! Oh my gawd, I've never had that much fun in my entire LIFE! I mean, the guard was going everywhere and.." she noticed that Nat was not smiling, "..Nat? You okay?"
Nat looked up at her with a look of despair in his eyes. "I..couldn't play anything. My hands.." he looked down at them. They were bright pink. He reached up and touched Nina's cheek.
"Holy crap!" she jerked back away from his hand. "It's like ice.."
Nathan lifted his head to look towards the front of the bus. "Poor Cara though...I felt so bad for her. She was crying almost the entire time. Well...I was too. We all were."
"Oh, Nathan, I'm so sorry," Nina said, sitting down in one of the purple charter bus's seats. Her hyperactive streak had been immediately sobered. "I didn't mean to make you feel worse with my running mouth there...I actually had fun. I had no idea you guys were having such a hard time."
He turned to face her, shocked. "Did you HEAR the Piano Concerto?!"
"..barely..there was too much wind. What happened?"
"We couldn't use technique at all. I gave up with technique about halfway through the opener.." and he began to tell the story of the pit's horrid experience: Cara's solo, Nathan's ballad notes, the extended crashes..everything. Right near the end of his tale, Mr. J walked onto the bus. All talking ceased.
He was silent for a few moments to gather suspension. "The field is too muddy to march finals. They're announcing placements NOW. Get off the bus and go straight to the stadium."
Nina rolled her eyes. 'Now that we just got back ON the bus.' "Nat, don't you have an umbrella?"
Nathan reached under his seat and grabbed one [A/N: Technically, I don't remember who had the umbrella, but there was one, and so we're gonna pretend it was Nathan's..]. They whole marching band filed off charter buses 1-6, happy that the rain had ceased a bit. It was still sprinking, but not nearly as hard as it had been on the way to the us and for the few minutes waiting on it. Nathan's mood had been lifted for the moment, as he was not easily depressed by such things. They caught sight of Cara. She smiled and tried to fit her way under the umbrella along with Nat and Nina. Needless to say, it was rather cramped, but at the moment, it didn't really matter.
It was a maze getting up to the top of the stadium to hear placements. The bands were not in block formations on the field as usual. Only the drum majors stood on the field, facing the audience with pride, hoping with all their heart that they place in top 5. The Woodlands High School had pretty much given up hope of that, but they would be happy enough just to defeat Reagan. As the three drummers weaved through the people around them, also trying to get into the stadium, they couldn't distantly hear, "And in 7th place.."
"They're almost done! Oh no, that means they've probably already announced us," Nina said, her determination to get to the stadium wiltered. "What a waste."
Cara looked up. They were almost there. "There are still some Woodlands people up there. We may as well join the crowd."
"Yeah," Nathan said, sighing. He knew they had already been announced. They were almost announcing top 5, and with the pit's performance, he would have been surprised if they had even made one of the ten spots they were announcing.
"In sixth place, The Haltom High School Marching Band from Haltom City, Texas!" boomed the voice of the UIL announcer over the loudspeakers as Nina, Nathan, and Cara reached the top of the stadium. They didn't even bother to find seats; they just tried to see the scoreboard that listed the high school band being announced and its directors.
Nina turned to a random person from another band beside her. "Did they already announce The Woodlands High School?" she asked.
The trumpet player, still holding his trumpet, looked up as if trying to remember something. "Uh..er..I don't remember them saying it, but then, I wasn't really listening for it."
"And in fifth place.." the UIL announcer began, leaving a short silence for suspence. Nina sighed, hoping they would just get it over with so they could go home.
"..The Woodlands High School Marching Band from The Woodlands, Texas!"
Nina's, Cara's, and Nathan's jaws all dropped along with the rest of the band's. Moments later, once the shock had passed, the family known as the marching band exploded with cheers and excitement in unison, a final fanfare and conclusion of the pit's horrible suffering, the battery's dirty runs, the band's unstraight lines, the prop's muddy wheels, and the guard's drops and falls.
The first time they had ever been to State, they made fifth place.
==============
[A/N]: Aw man. I miss marching season. I think I'm gonna cry. *goes off in a corner to mourn the end of marching season*
Review, it will make me happy..
==============
Ch 3
==============
[A/N]: I MISS MARCHING SEASON!!!!!!!!
==============
The band left the stadium in tears. Some were crying about the many times they had fallen, but most had been laughing so hard that they could hardly speak. The owner of the crushed tuba was getting more attention than ever before. Most people in the band had hardly acknowledged his existence, for he was a freshman. Now, he was famous.
"That's so awesome!"
"Let me take a picture!"
"It's the taco bell!"
Bass drum four had dropped his 'chicky stick' at some point during the show, and thus was mildly upset, but the rest of the battery was far too amused at the situation to let one fallen stick sour their great mood. The colour guard girls were all absolutely covered with mud. A flag girl ran up to Nina, a huge grin on her face.
"Nina!" Nina turned to head to see Kelly, spinning around once to show off her once purple dress (the outfits worn at the end of the show were a spectrum of red through purple) that was now brown, with specks of grass and plume feathers everywhere. She had a smear of mud across her left cheek and all down her arms. Even her purple flag was like this. Kelly just laughed.
"I fell down!" she giggled again and skipped away. The same thing happened with a sophomore on rifle and a freshman in a dress that used to be tangerine orange, but now..you know the drill. The band loaded the truck to the best of their ability, but poor tuba Ryan had a very hard time getting his "taco bell" back into the original sousaphone case. Mud coated everyone's shoes, and although 90% of the colour guard fell down, only a handful of actual band members had fallen, and none in the battery, thank goodness. The truck, now full of instruments and disgusting mud-covered guard equipment and props, was closed up for now. It began to rain harder now, and The Woodlands band had to scramble through mud that was gross enough in the first place, but was now becoming a floodway as well.
"TO THE BUSES!" cried Mr. J's voice, over everyone else's. "GET TO THE BUSES!"
Nina was searching the area for the pit. They hadn't been around while she had loaded the truck, for they had found their way there before everyone and were already back on the buses, drying off, and re-saran-wrapping their mallets in case they had to play in finals in a couple hours (which was highly doubtful, in their opinion), and had changed out of their badn uniforms back into jeans and a band shirt. The quiet they had been enjoying (or rather, taking refuge in), was destroyed as the rest of the battery and other randomly selected people joined them on the "drumline bus", Bus 5, claimed at the beginning of the season. The uproar of laughter disturbed the members of the pit. Nina found her way to the middle back of the bus, her and Nathan's seat, and immediately began changing, shoes first, which had been rinsed off (somewhat) in a puddle outside.
She laughed and shook Nathan's shoulder lightly, "Was that a party or what?! Oh my gawd, I've never had that much fun in my entire LIFE! I mean, the guard was going everywhere and.." she noticed that Nat was not smiling, "..Nat? You okay?"
Nat looked up at her with a look of despair in his eyes. "I..couldn't play anything. My hands.." he looked down at them. They were bright pink. He reached up and touched Nina's cheek.
"Holy crap!" she jerked back away from his hand. "It's like ice.."
Nathan lifted his head to look towards the front of the bus. "Poor Cara though...I felt so bad for her. She was crying almost the entire time. Well...I was too. We all were."
"Oh, Nathan, I'm so sorry," Nina said, sitting down in one of the purple charter bus's seats. Her hyperactive streak had been immediately sobered. "I didn't mean to make you feel worse with my running mouth there...I actually had fun. I had no idea you guys were having such a hard time."
He turned to face her, shocked. "Did you HEAR the Piano Concerto?!"
"..barely..there was too much wind. What happened?"
"We couldn't use technique at all. I gave up with technique about halfway through the opener.." and he began to tell the story of the pit's horrid experience: Cara's solo, Nathan's ballad notes, the extended crashes..everything. Right near the end of his tale, Mr. J walked onto the bus. All talking ceased.
He was silent for a few moments to gather suspension. "The field is too muddy to march finals. They're announcing placements NOW. Get off the bus and go straight to the stadium."
Nina rolled her eyes. 'Now that we just got back ON the bus.' "Nat, don't you have an umbrella?"
Nathan reached under his seat and grabbed one [A/N: Technically, I don't remember who had the umbrella, but there was one, and so we're gonna pretend it was Nathan's..]. They whole marching band filed off charter buses 1-6, happy that the rain had ceased a bit. It was still sprinking, but not nearly as hard as it had been on the way to the us and for the few minutes waiting on it. Nathan's mood had been lifted for the moment, as he was not easily depressed by such things. They caught sight of Cara. She smiled and tried to fit her way under the umbrella along with Nat and Nina. Needless to say, it was rather cramped, but at the moment, it didn't really matter.
It was a maze getting up to the top of the stadium to hear placements. The bands were not in block formations on the field as usual. Only the drum majors stood on the field, facing the audience with pride, hoping with all their heart that they place in top 5. The Woodlands High School had pretty much given up hope of that, but they would be happy enough just to defeat Reagan. As the three drummers weaved through the people around them, also trying to get into the stadium, they couldn't distantly hear, "And in 7th place.."
"They're almost done! Oh no, that means they've probably already announced us," Nina said, her determination to get to the stadium wiltered. "What a waste."
Cara looked up. They were almost there. "There are still some Woodlands people up there. We may as well join the crowd."
"Yeah," Nathan said, sighing. He knew they had already been announced. They were almost announcing top 5, and with the pit's performance, he would have been surprised if they had even made one of the ten spots they were announcing.
"In sixth place, The Haltom High School Marching Band from Haltom City, Texas!" boomed the voice of the UIL announcer over the loudspeakers as Nina, Nathan, and Cara reached the top of the stadium. They didn't even bother to find seats; they just tried to see the scoreboard that listed the high school band being announced and its directors.
Nina turned to a random person from another band beside her. "Did they already announce The Woodlands High School?" she asked.
The trumpet player, still holding his trumpet, looked up as if trying to remember something. "Uh..er..I don't remember them saying it, but then, I wasn't really listening for it."
"And in fifth place.." the UIL announcer began, leaving a short silence for suspence. Nina sighed, hoping they would just get it over with so they could go home.
"..The Woodlands High School Marching Band from The Woodlands, Texas!"
Nina's, Cara's, and Nathan's jaws all dropped along with the rest of the band's. Moments later, once the shock had passed, the family known as the marching band exploded with cheers and excitement in unison, a final fanfare and conclusion of the pit's horrible suffering, the battery's dirty runs, the band's unstraight lines, the prop's muddy wheels, and the guard's drops and falls.
The first time they had ever been to State, they made fifth place.
==============
[A/N]: Aw man. I miss marching season. I think I'm gonna cry. *goes off in a corner to mourn the end of marching season*
Review, it will make me happy..
==============