Funky Drummer Demons
Chapter 1
By: Shorty Carter

"Cheer up, the worst is yet to come." - unknown
"Puck, have you seen my drumsticks?"

"Why would I have seen your drumsticks?"

"Ah!"

"You bloody bastard! Get back here with my mallets!"

"Put the hammer down, Venni, you can kill him later."

"Hey guys, are you all warmed up?" The group of screaming, laughing, confused kids looked up to see their drum teacher walking towards them. Some hid their weapons, some came out of their hiding spots, while others said hello to the teacher.

"Almost," came the reply to Mr. P's question. He grinned, knowing that that meant they weren't.

"Do we at least have everyone?"

"Almost."

"Who are we missing?" he asked, pulling out music for them.

"Shorty, Runt, Demon, and Peeps I think," Kelli "Seeker" Carter said, pulling her drumsticks out of Puck's back pocket. "I thought you said you hadn't seen them!"

"I didn't! My butt did! You never asked my butt!" Andy "Puck" Ogdahl shot back, grinning. Seeker lunged for him, and the two went rolling.

"Guys, guys! Calm down! Now, do you know when they'll be here?"

"Have no clue. They said they were going to go pick up Demon and Peep's crap and drop it off at the apt."

"Demon and Peeps got kicked out of their houses again, didn't they?" Mr. P asked, sitting on the edge of the stage.

"Yep! But it was for a little thing this time! All they did was set the garbage cans on fire!" Ryan

"Mallets" Meyer explained, setting up his tenor.

"How many people do we have then this year, counting those missing?" "11ish. Depending on if we get more pit people."

"Good, we'll still have room."

"Why? 11 are a good number. Last year we had 10," Venni said, removing the cover from the marimba.

"Well, you all know the Lynd schools finally closed, right?" Mr. P asked. The kids nodded.

"So we're getting some new students. There's some drummers, really good ones too, and I told them to come to practice."

"Why?"

"Because we still need more bass, snare, tenor, and pit people. Plus, the girls out-number the boys right now. It'll be good to get some more guys."

"What are we all discussing? It better not be our outfits for this."

"Look who finally showed up," Stephanie "Bridge" Bridgeland said, coming in from the opposite door.

"I could say the same for you, Bridge," Diane "Shorty" Carter spat back, walking in with Runt, Demon, and Peeps.

"Oh, that's 12 Mr. P!" Ginger "Trash" Pals yelled before turning to Susan "Susie Q" Verly and whispering, "I forgot the Bitch."

"We still have room for more!"

"What are we discussing?" Tommy "Peeping Tom" Ahmann asked, walking up the stage steps to search for his snare.

"Mr. P invited newbies."

"Guys, come on. Newbies are that bad! Hey, you may even find you like them!" Mr. P said, trying to encourage them. It didn't really work.

"But we're a family, Mr. P! We all stay in one apt, we all act like each other; we're like family!" Brittany "Runt" Boogard whined, not liking the idea of newbies.

"We're adding to the family then. Think of it as getting some new brothers and sisters."

"Are they going to have to stay at the apt?" Mallets asked, pulling out the bag of drumsticks. Shorty followed, none to happy, and began to feverishly clean her cymbals. Ryan, Ryan Meyer that is, laughed when he saw this. There were three Ryans' in the Winter Drumline, also known as the Funky Drummer Demons. Ryan Bayerkohler, Shorty's boyfriend, given the name Demon for his ways of drumming; Ryan Meyer, given the name Mallets for the one time he managed to aim and break a light while throwing his tenor mallets in the air; and finally The Ryan, given the name The Ryan because the other two.

"They might. Some will for sure, because I met their parents. Others, you'll have to ask." "Newbies in the apt. Great! Make my day why don't you!" Shorty muttered, setting the cymbals down and picking up the duct tape, electric tape, and salt ball they used for stress relief and throwing it at the door. It just barely missed a group of kids coming in.

"What, sick of us already?"