Four hours later, Kimberly pulled Nick aside. "Here's what I have." She pulled out a notecard with a short paragraph scrawled.
Coming up next is Persevere, by Felicia Gregory. This piece is dedicated to Theodore Flit, student at Springfield Senior High who died during his school years. We play it with grief, though we never knew him. But this is not a funeral song. We don't want to be pessimistic or cynical, though maybe that's what Ms. Gregory wanted. We want to commemorate a kid like us and for you to join us. Here's to you, Theodore!
Nick beamed. "Brilliant."
"I'll have to get the 'real' one from Ms. Larson so she doesn't suspect."
"Go for it."
Dashing down the hallways, Kimberly found Ms. Larson handing out printed copies of Aurora, as opposed to Mo's notebook paper. He was amazed. "This is-like-real music!"
Kimberly got her card and lined up to go in.
All was quiet as the kids sat in their seats. Mariana rose to the microphone. "Hi, my name is Mariana and I play the saxophone. I'd like to welcome you all to the seventh grade band concert. Our first piece is the theme song from, The Addams Family. Some of you might remember the TV show, and others might just recognize and appreciate the catchy tune."
She returned to her chair smiling.
The song went flawlessly. Aaron got up to introduce the next selection. "Hi, my name is Aaron and I play trombone. We'll now be playing a piece written by Mozart for orchestra. It was later adapted for middle school band. As this is a middle school band…here is Eine Kleine Nachtmusic!"
After a smooth performance, Rufus began his speech. "Hi, my name is Rufus and I play the flute…"
Kimberly read over Ms. Larson's card to see what it said for curiosity's sake.
"…Everglade Fantasy, by Arthur Desdemond."
It was an easy piece, and the band played it well. Teeth chattering, Kimberly walked to the front of the stage. Her footsteps reverberated on the floor. She shook her head sadly, a minute movement, but Simon caught it.
She breathed into the microphone. It was amplified and echoed. The audience giggled. "Hi, my name is Kimberly and I play the trumpet. Coming up next is Persevere by Felicia Gregory. It was written for the students of Springfield Senior High. When their star swimmer broke his leg in a preseason practice the team was demoralized. But through the encouragement of their fans, they won the district title anyway. We hope you enjoy the piece!"
Persevere was the longest composition in the concert, but when it finished, Coral, the girl who had volunteered to introduce a piece earlier but had lost the lottery, rose to the microphone. "Hi, my name is Coral and I play clarinet. Our-"
"final," someone else continued.
"piece," and they took turns, word by word.
"is Aurora, written for us, the kids at Aurora Middle School. We all consider it pretty special because it was written by Mohamed Boston, who's in the band with us."
Mohamed stood up and waved.
"So remember that even though we're young, we can-"
Everyone had said one word so Coral took over again. "still do things as well as you."
It received a standing ovation.