A/N: For my readers/commenters who are paying close attention, this story is based on an actual Bands of America competition at Rutgers. I don't want to say much about the facts now because that would wreck the story. I promise to run a chapter of author's notes at the end of the story since many of you seem to be interested. I'm going to try to finish this story soon since I have ideas for two other stories.Thank you all for your wonderful comments. Enjoy the competition! R&R! xoxo. (PS - this is not the end and it is supposed to end with an incomplete thought)
I stood at attention staring past my mouth piece at the giant stadium off in the distance. It was 7:25 on that Saturday and the morning fog was starting to lift.
"Forward March!" Lily's voice rang in my ears as Ryan clapped a steady tempo. I march forward automatically on the practice field trying to keep my eyes up. After fifteen minutes of physical warm-up McBride got us into a giant circle where we practiced breathing and long tones. I wasn't exactly sure what the average marcher felt a half hour before a Bands of America performance time but the fire I was feeling in my heart seemed to match the fire I saw in Andrew's eyes. McBride then pulled us into a circle and with tears in her eyes told us how wonderful we were.
"This is it. I want you to forget about the mediocre marching band everyone knows."
"And loves!" yelled Jimmy.
"And loves," she added smiling. "Now that same marching band is going to get out there and be unbelievable. I don't care how many points you get or what your rank is. You are going to be unbelievable. You guys mean the world to me and in my 35 years of teaching I've have never worked with such a hard working group. So forget about winning or proving anything. Just get out there and do the best you can. Because I think you are the best. Let's show them how we do it at Frost High School!"
The band cheered and yelled and exchanged high fives. Lily pulled us into a circle where we all put our hands in the middle, counted to three, and yelled 'Clarinetees!' The band then went marching two by two to the stadium at attention to the click of the head snare drum on the drumline. Through the Rutgers campus we marched until we all stopped right outside the stadium and waiting for the band ahead of us to finish. It was George Washington High School playing louder and more beautifully than ever. The band knew going in that they would be a hard act to follow but it didn't matter. It was unbelievable that we were even here. Andrew walked slowly through the two lines patting everyone on the back. It was a process the drum major went through at every performance. Only this time Andrew had tears in his eyes.
"And now," a voice blasted over the loud speaker, "all the way from Virginia, the pride of West County, The Frost High School Marching Band!"
The snare drum clicked again and we were off.
"The 220 members are lead on to the field by drum major Andrew Murray. They will be performing Paris Sketches: A Discovery of Color featuring music by Ed Huckby. Drum Major Andrew Murray, is your band ready?"
The drum major turned on the podium and performed his salute. The crowd clapped politely.
"Frost High School, you may take the field in competition."
Andrew gave us the band horns up signal and I took a breath of the New Jersey air through my nose and let it out slowly through my horn as the show began. As I marched from set to set I felt like I was floating. I didn't focus on field judges or the cameras or the crowd. The band reached the end of the second movement and the horns came down. Andrew turned to acknowledge the crowd's loud applause. I stood at attention trying not to smile at the diagonal that the clarinets had formed perfectly. As the band eased into the ballad my heart pounded and I tried really hard not to get out of step at the slow tempo. At measure 25 we hit the set with the four, interlocking circles that stretched from both sidelines and hit the 20 yard lines. The C cords rang out past the press box and into the sky. As the notes got louder, the wind picked up and gave the giant, pastel colored flags and the music wings to soar into the listener's hearts. It was a moment when a player realizes why he works so hard. It was simply beautiful. The fourth movement began with a bang. Wooden fingers flew across the keys as the brass double tongued melodies that brought the fast movie city to life. Sabers twirled through the air as other guard members jazz ran to the side lines to get the giant flags for the big finish. The band marched the last few sets before falling into a block and performing a spectacular 8 step rewind followed by a horn pop and the ending pose.
My heart pounded as the crowed applauded loudly. The entire section of Frost parents were on their feet. That could have meant anything though. They were supposed to love us. The snare drum clicked and the band marched off the field sweating and breathing hard. "You guys sounded great!" a pit member from the band that was going after us said honestly. We reached the parking lot, still speechless. This show truly was breath-taking. It didn't even matter what anyone else thought. We had done our best. It was thrilling, it was alive, it was loud, it was fast, it was….