Disclaimer: Don't own diddly-squat. The characters belong to their respective owners, the Newsies belong to Disney, and all my friends belong to themselves. Otherwise, enjoy!
It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them.Agatha Christie
BRAIDS"I AM THE ALMIGHTY FLAGGOTT!! FEAR ME!!"
"Hey!"
"And you are my secondary flaggott, Liz."
"Thank you." And she gave me a very overly perky smile.
Yeah, we love guard. Got a problem wid it? Didn't think so.
It was a Monday morning, 20 minutes before marching band. We always get there early, 'cause Liz drives like an idiot, going twice the speed limit, so we're always there super early. I'm amazed she hasn't killed anyone yet. Although she has crawled up onto the curb a couple of times.
"You know, you don't wanna make your benevolent captain mad. 'Cause when I get mad, everyone gets mad."
"Ain't that the truth," I heard Izzy mutter.
Yeah, I'm the captain of the color guard, and sometimes I morph into bitch mode when things aren't perfect after the first couple of times. Ohm. Ohm. Breathe in, breathe out. Ohm.
"Hey, anybody seen Mandie? I've got her hat" I heard Liz say.
"She's probably ogling Mr. Nielsen, her favorite hobby" I heard Dutchy respond. Dutchy is the bass drum rank leader, and he's got Spot, Jack, and Race under him. There are six bass drums. The others have no chance. Band Geek is a trumpet, Liz's friend Kirsten(a.k.a. The Bouma) is a mellophone, Liz, Izzy, and myself are flaggotts, Dave transferred into the snares, and Dr. Allen is a trumpet. Yeah, we took over marching band, and it's SO much fun. Oh, yeah, and Sapphy is a flute. And she has heard every American Pie joke in the book so she slugs people instead of laughing.
Our show's theme this year is 'West Side Story', and it's an extremely cool show, if I do say so myself. Band Geek auditioned for drum major, but messed up on a tiny piece of the teaching portion, so someone else got it. Oh, well. She'll get it next year. I know it. Anyways, we needed to get going as soon as possible because we had a game coming up in 3 days, and we were still looking a touch sloppy.
"Mandie? MANDIE!" Liz was yelling. I followed her, if only to tell her to shut up. We found her outside the band office, as Dutchy had said, ogling our 37-year-old band teacher. Ew. But Mandie is happy whenever he's around, so who are we to judge?
"Yo, chica. You left your hat at my house" Liz said, in half her usual volume, 'cause Mandie was making "Shh!" gestures with her hands.
"Well, are you gonna take it, or what?!" Liz asked in exasperation. Mandie gave a huge sigh, grabbed it, and smashed it onto her head, over her bush of curly, frizzy brown hair.
"You're welcome, Ms. Frizzle" Liz said sarcastically. And she stalked off, quivering with indignation.
'We've got to get her a new fixation" she said under her breath.
"DUH!" Izzy and I chorused together.
"She's only liked him for…what? This is going on her third year?" asked Dutchy sarcastically.
Liz hauled her flags out of the cupboard, and pulled out her practice flag. They are pretty damn ugly, pink with a white stripe on top. They're actually heavier than our performance flags, for reasons I still haven't figured out. Oh, well. C'est la vie.
"Hey, Braids, you wanna go to The Human Music Box with us next Saturday?"
"Isn't that a bar?"
"Yeah, but Blink's uncle owns it, so he let Blink and all his friends come in whenever we want."
"Cool."
"So, you in?" she asked.
"Sure" I said. "I'm in. Sounds like fun."
"Cool."
"Cool," I agreed.
JINX"Holly! Melody! Where the HELL are they?"
God knows, they're probably ogling the band guys changing into their uniforms.
It was Thursday after school. I was looking for Holly and Lizzi, 'cause we gonna go watch our friends in marching band perform during the half-time show. I found them (no shocker here) trying to watch the drum line get changed. They weren't having much luck, seeing as how the door was shut, and there was paper taped over the window. They were giggling to beat the band(A/N:Aww…bad pun…sorry. I'll try to control myself.), and that kind of thing annoys me.
So I snuck up behind them, clapped one hand over each of their mouths, and said, "Please stop giggling! They're trying to get changed, I have a headache, and we need to go get seat in the section near the band! ¡Vamos!"
So we headed out to the stadium, bought our tickets, and spread our stuff over one row next to the band section. Our band is bizarre. They can't just file in.
Oh, no.
They have to march down to the field, drums beating, flag girls turning, drums majors with those stupid hat on, etc. Oh, well. The half-time show is worth it, buh-lieve me! We have close to twenty friends in band, now that Dave's transferred into the snares.
Here's a rundown:
3 trumpets(Dr. Allen, Band Geek, and Blue)
2 mellophones(The Bouma and Skitts)
3 flags(Izzy, Braids, and Liz)
4 bass drums(Spot, Jack, Dutchy, and Race)
2 snare drums(Snitch and Dave)
2 flutes(Sapphy and Alaska)
1 saxophone(Jenny K.)
I heard a series of drum beats, so I turned around and saw all 220-odd members of the marching band coming toward me, a wave of blue and white and black. There were also small flashes of color from the color guard's flag bags. They filed into the stadium, taking up one whole section, and making a HUGE amount of noise. I found Jenny, and went over to talk to her.
"Hey, Jenny. How ya doin'?"
"Hey, Jinx. I'm doin' pretty good. A little tired and depressed, but okay. You?"
"I've got a headache, and your noise, and the giggling of Broadway and Melody, does NOT help any. But I'll live. You're gonna play a kick-ass show, right?"
She gave me a small smile. "Sure. Hey, you might wanna watch out for Braids, Izzy, and Liz. They each drank a Mountain Dew before they came down here, and they're wired out to here."
Oh, speak of the devils.
"And where have you three little hellions been?" I heard Mandie ask.
"Bathroom" they said in unison.
'Figures' I thought.
"And why did you three think it was necessary to drink a Mountain Dew a piece before we got down here?" asked Jenny.
"We was thirsty!" said Braids indignantly.
"So you drank the one brand of pop with the most caffeine in it. Smart. Real smart."
They all bowed. "Thank you, thank you!" said Izzy, very dramatically.
I rolled my eyes. In case you couldn't guess, most of my friends LOVE to perform, which is why they're in drama club, choir, and band. I'm in all but band-not really my thing.
SPITFIRE"TREY PARKER!" I shouted.
"ELIZABETH KRUEGER!" he bellowed back.
"Ain't no mountain high!" I sang.
"Ain't no valley low!" he sang back, and we sang the rest in unison.
"If you need me, call me! No matte where you are, no matter how far! 'Cause, baby there AIN'T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH, AIN'T NO VALLEY LOW ENOUGH! AIN'T NO RIVER WIDE ENOUGH! TO KEEP ME FROM GETTING TO YOU, BABE!"
I sat down next to Blink, and we watched as Izzy and Braids quoted random lines from 'RENT' and 'The Pirates of Penzance', respectively.
"How's it goin' with you and Little Drummer Boy #3?" I asked, with a huge grin on my face.
"You're enjoying my misery, aren't you?" he asked, in an attempt at seriousness.
"Of course!" I replied cheerfully. I grabbed his arm, and we started dancing around the bleachers, singing 'Higher Ground' by The Red Hot Chili Peppers.
"'TILL I REACH THE HIGER GROUND!!" we finished, just as the announcer started talking.
"Hey, Blink, I've got to go sit with the guard, but let's go to Pizza Hut afterwards, OK? Tell Jinx and Melody and Broadway for me, ¿por favor, me uno-ojo amigo?"
He laughed. "Sure thing. But how are we gonna cram…" He paused to count. "…19 people in your car, Spits?"
"We aren't gonna, dumbass" I replied, smacking him upside the head.
"We'll have to take multiple cars, no duh."
"Oh, yeah."
Geez, sometimes blink is SO dense. The first half of the game passed rather quickly, 'cause all I did was talk to people. Yes!
Halftime!
DR. ALLENHey, I get to talk! Cool! Now you've gotta listen to me! Anyways, I almost quit marching band after my freshman year, but I didn't because band ROX!
Anyways: Halftime. When we show those idiots form the other schools marching bands who's boss! From my place in the trumpet section, I could see Mandie, Braids, Liz and The Bouma. The drum majors took their places.
"Detail, atten-HUT!"
"ONE!" we all shouted back.
"1,2, 1,2,3,4!"
I saw Mr. Nielsen mouth the opening counts. We played the opening notes of 'Maria', 'cause the trumpets open up that song. Then everyone kicks in their two bits, but trumpets are still the coolest. Ha ha!
We played a totally kick-ass show, everyone seemed to be performing extra well, giving 120%. Mr. Nielsen always makes us give 110%, so we end up somewhere around 106%. But it was like they were possessed, and…yeah…I'm babbling. Anyways, we ended up losing the game, but it was against West Side High, and we never win against them. The last time we did, was, like, in 1967, or something. Whatever.
"Yo, Alec!" I heard Liz call. "Spankin' show! You were great. Oh, and you, too, Mandie, Braids, Izzy, et. al, it takes too long to name everyone I know in band. To all 19 people I'm friends with in band, kick-ass show! And everyone…else, awesome show!"
I laughed. Liz has this thing about not leaving anyone out. It's rather weird, to tell you the truth.
"Hey, Alec!" came my girlfriend Christina's voice. "Good show tonight."
"Thanks" I said, smiling at her and giving her a hug,
"Dutchy!" I heard Blink and Liz yell. "Gimme a beat!"
Dutchy is my twin brother, and he plays the bass drum. He struck up 'Boom' by P.O.D., and Liz and Blink started to sing.
"BOOM!"
"HERE COMES THE-"
"BOOM!"
"READY OR NOT, HOW YOU LIKE ME NOW!"
And they started doing a rather bizarre hip-hop dance, totally in step with one another. Lord. They are extremely bizarre. Yeah, they're my best friends. Ain't life grand?
SHOUTOUTSHA HA HA!! Ch. 10 is COMPLETED!! IT LIVES!! IT LIVES!! Ok, sorry, I'm done now.
SAPPHY: Spot says that if he weren't gay, you would definitely be the first person he came running to for comfort. I agree, Itey IS stupid for making Spot choose.
COIN: Hurrah to slashy goodness! LOL! The Dave/Blinkiness is oozing out my brain, but my muses are rebelling against me. It's not that I can't think of anything, but I have six different ideas for my multi-chaptered fics. Oh, and Mush wants to say something:
Mush: (singing) And I will love you, 'till forever.
Until death do us part, we'll be together.
Just take my hand, and hold on tight, and we'll get there.
This I Swear.
ME: (eye roll) He's a bit of a hopeless romantic. But it's fun to write him that way. Love ya, thanx for the review!
Erin Go Braugh: Yeah! Another update! LOL! I'm just on a spree, aren't I? YIPPEE!! It's fun to feel like I'm slowly catching myself up. Hope you liked this one, you're in it! Love ya, thanx for the review!
SATURDAY: Youse get a very vague shout out, and a plea to come back, because it seems like she's fallen off the face of the earth, or something. No updates, no reviews, no nothing! (cries) Any who: IZZY, COME BACK!
ElvenRareHunter: See, I TOLD you you'd get into this one, and I keep my word! Hurrah for keeping promises! Love ya, thanx for the review! Oh, and I hope you don't mind that I put you in as a giggler, I just had an idea for some people to spy on the drum line, so, that's where you went!
Turpentinechaser: Glad you liked it. This one was exceedingly random, 'cause when I wrote it, I kinda had marching band on the brain!
Newsies: Nah, ya THINK?!
Me: Geez, my muses sure are cranky. Must be 'cause it's raining, and I won't let them go out. You know what? I've changed my mind. They CAN go out, as long as they get sopping wet, and let their clothes cling to them. (grins evilly) This shall be most enjoyable…OK, youse guys, you can go out.
Newsies: YEAH!! (all rush for the door at once)
ME: (eye roll) Gotta love 'em!
A/N: I seem to be on a roll of inserting rather bad puns into my latest chapters, but I'll try to control my impulses, for the sake of my eye-rolling reviewers. But youse guys still love me anyway, right? O' course ya do!