Wren marched up the hill and off of the field, face troubled as she walked towards a wooden building, past what appeared to be the mess hall, according to the large sign hanging haphazardly above the door.
Stopping sharply before the door she took a deep breath and opened it, stepping inside before she could change her mind. Unsure as to what she was going to do, but positive that it involved me, I followed her in.
Wren walked up to a desk with an elderly lady sitting behind it. "Hi, may I please speak with Mr. Riktor?" she asked in her politest tone of voice.
"Why of course Miss. May I have your name and section so that I may tell him that you are here?" responded the secretary.
"My name is Serenity Blauker Ma'am, and I am the Color Guard Captain." Wren replied evenly, in a calm manner which belied the fluttery feeling that I had developed in the pit of my stomach.
The lady desk told us to wait, though did not offer us the use of the chairs in front of her desk, and disappeared through a door. Though I felt exhausted, I followed Wren's example and continued to stand.
The secretary returned and motioned for us to follow her then walked briskly back to the door, knocked sharply upon it once, and walked back to her desk, leaving us by the door. We stood there for about a minute, but it felt like an eternity, until a low voice spoke out.
"Enter."
Wren did so immediately, with me just a step behind. The room was plainly furnished, the sparse furniture built not for decoration, but for continuous, sturdy use. The desk was hardwood, and probably once had been a fine piece, but the years had marred it, and coated it with a multitude of scratches. But instead of ruining the desk, they seemed to make it more distinguished. A fine example of practical furniture.
The director himself sat behind this desk, his elbows planted upon it firmly, fingers entwined within each other, watching us over the tops of his hands.
"Well Miss Blauker, what may I do for you and your friend? Or was she dragged along for moral support?" he asked, his face stern, but his eyes laughing ever so slightly at the fact that girls could never go anywhere without a group.
"Umm, ... well, ... you see sir, you put my cousin here in the Seventh Newbie Cabin, and well, umm, yeah..." Wren stuttered out, nervous despite her formerly calm composure.
Ricktor frowned sternly. "Wren, you know better that. Your cousin is a freshman, which means that she automatically gets put into a NB (a/n - 'NB' stands for 'Newbie') cabin. There will be no exeptions to this. I have never allowed there to be, and I will continue to maintain that principle. I will not make an exeption just because the person happens to be related to a section leader or captain, and I am ashamed of you for thinking that I would. This is not a good way to start off you section leadership Serenity." he said, his voice a borderline angry tone.
"But sir, she's - " Wren started.
"No buts Serenity. I'm not changing my mind." He interrupted, now sounding angry. For Wren's sake, I decided to interject.
"Sir, may I say something?" I asked.
"I strongly doubt that you could say anything to change my mind, but you are most certainly welcome to try." he said coldly.
"Umm, I think what Wren was trying to tell you is that I'm not a freshman. I'll be a junior starting this year, umm, yeah. Sir." I added, not sure if I was making a huge mistake or not by talking. Riktor blinked several times before saying anything.
"You mean that you're not a freshmen?" he asked, slightly startled. I shook my head.
"Oh. In that case - Wren, I apologize. I should have realized that you of all people would never ask to have the rules bent towards your favor." Riktor said, an apologetic look pasted unto his face, and turned to me. "Please sit down, both of you. What is your name Miss?" he asked me as Wren and I sat down awkwardly upon the surprisingly comfortable wooden chairs.
"Umm, my name's Lynn Katherbee, and I play the Tenor Saxophone sir." I spoke quietly, unsure of myself now that we were sitting down, and not confronted by a very angry band director. But he just nodded
"I see. Welcome to our band Lynn, or should I say Moth? As you've apparently already been inducted, unless my sources have misinformed me?" he asked, one eyebrow raised. Unfortionitly I was still in a slight state of shock by the fact that he knew what the others called me to realize that I was supposed to respond to his comment, fortionitly Wren was paying far more attention then I.
"No Mr. Riktor, you were informed correctly. Lynn has been named, by Nealan Johnson, on the bus ride here sir." Wren answered for me.
Riktor nodded his head. "Firefly? Oh - well that's okay then. Now, what was it that you came in here for?" he asked, switching back to the more immediate problem.
"You put Lynn into one of the Newbie cabins sir." my cousin responded calmly.
"Oh. Right. Now that I can do something about. Is this your first year in marching band Moth?" he asked, when I shook my head he continued. "Then I don't see any reason to keep you in a Newbie cabin, nor to stick you in that rank. I'll switch you to Coda Cabin Two; and Wren as well so that you won't have to stay in a cabin by yourself." Riktor smiled at our poorly hidden smiles of relief. "You can thank me later. I would go and unpack now if I were you. You only have half an hour to unpack Moth, Wren - you're down to forty-five minutes 'till your lunch starts in the mess hall. I trust neither one of you will be late. You're excused, go and find your cabin." he told us, shifting in his chair so that he could see out of the window to the forest beyond.
Quietly we got up and left, taking our instruments with us. As we walked past the disapproving glare of the secretary and out of the building. Only then did something hit me. Turning to Wren I said, "How did he know that I was a Vegetarian?"
Wren rolled her eyes and basically ignored my question as she started walking down the hill towards the marching field to get her luggage. Leaving me standing there alone with my question. Shaking my head I ran to catch up. Apparently there were many commonly known things in this band that I would have to figure out by myself.
a/n - thank you to all of my reviewers. i managed to write this during my breaks at VBS. Now i'll do my individual thanks i guess...
Guard Babe: thanks for your review! and for putting me of both of your faverites lists, and on author alert! i'll tell my friend that there's another person who never lets go of her flag out there, she'll be glad to hear that she's not alone! (she's the person that Wren is based off of.) Thanks again for reviewing!
alycat15365: thanks for your review! i bet theirs a buch of people out there who agree that clarinets rock, and i'll agree somewhat (gimmi a break, i play the bass, so my allegiances are tied in several places btw the brass, low brass, and woodwinds.) hehe, my story does kick butt!!! and drum majors can be a real pain in the, yeah, sometimes can't they? (not that i have anything agianst drum majors, one of my really good friends is one!)
ancient echos: see, more updates!!!!! btw: i love that line too!! assistant section leader? just how big is your flute section?!? thanks for reviewing agian!!!!
Briana (oboe): thanks for reviewing, i would have thanked you sooner, but anubuss forgot to tell me about the review! (shakes fist at anubuss, j/k) yeah, sitting in front of them is annoying isn't it? thanks agian!!!
-gryffyn (will update as soon as she writes the next chapter!)
oh, and you're all my new best friends!!!!!
