It was hard work getting the baritones to stop playing before rehearsal, but Eric Wright had succeeded. "Psst. Guys. Hey…guys?"

"What?"

"I was wondering, if you guys like band, do I have the deal for you?"

"I don't know," Chris Schaefer sarcastically responded. "Do you?"

"Yes. I do. Skip WorldSnap, come down here, and play a cool extra band piece-totally without teacher supervision." Eric had agreed to continuation of Mo's piece being played, as long as Persevere remained on the schedule for the band concert. And the more the merrier.

"I'll think about it," Chris sighed.

"That's all I ask. In the meantime, pass it on."

At WorldSnap that day, a few new faces showed up. Two trombones, a flute, Mo and Kevin's companion in alto saxophonistship (a girl named Mariana,) plus Chris made five.

A vote had been taken, and the results were 6-2 not to tell the newcomers about Persevere and Theodore Flit. (Simon and Kimberly dissented.) Instead, Eric got his chance to be a conductor, leading the group in the performance of Aurora. (Hannah had thought of the name.)

It didn't sound great-there was an over-abundance of saxophones and horns, and poor Gabrielle had to try playing all the percussion herself. But they did it.

The next day, Chris brought the entire baritone section along with him. By the end of the week, twenty-four kids-half the band-were in the ensemble.

It had fragmented as well. Once everyone was there, Eric would stay in the band room with Mariana, Chris, and the like. The other seven hung out in the music foyer, already knowing the piece fairly well. Gabrielle had decided, after seeing the turnout, to support Simon's efforts in playing Aurora instead of Persevere. She was helping Hannah learn her part, trying in the end to persuade her to join Simon's crusade.

An odd friendship, if you could call it that, was developing between Kimberly and Dana. At first they seemed opposites-Dana a popular, stylish girl, who couldn't care less about the difference between first chair and musical chairs. Kimberly, in contrast, was a loner dedicated to her work and not afraid to say what she thought. Still, they had much to learn from each other.

All in all, any one of the ensemble could say things were going well at present.

It was the future they were clueless about.