Bands of Life
Chapter 1- The Beginning
It was the day after my 12th birthday, and my mum and I had decided to go shopping to get me kitted out ready for the new school year, which started the following week. We went all over New Jersey; we had to get the right gear, to make the right impression. Well, that's what mum thought, I didn't mind because I knew once people found out I was academically and musically gifted, my reputation would crash and burn. It's at this point that I'd like to stop and introduce myself. My name is Cherry Banks, and I live with my parents and sister Zoë in Twin Peaks, New Jersey, so called because of the two, well, twin peaks, big hills that can be seen from all over the town. I'm musically gifted as I said before, I've played the violin since I can remember, mum says since I was three. Anyway, I was sent to school with my lunch in one hand and a violin in another, and have had lessons all through school, so it has been a pretty long time. Anyway, back to the shopping, we'd gotten everything else on the list and my mum said, "Well, shall we go and pick up that shiny new violin case?" I smiled at her and said, "Sure thing Mum." And we walked over to Mrs Roberts' Old Music Shop, where Mrs Roberts herself was serving behind the counter. You may be wondering why the new violin case, but no new violin. Well, I'm prone to blonde moments and have been known to borrow strings etc from the wrong case before, so mum ordered me a custom made one from the shop. Mrs Roberts smiled as we walked in and I politely went up to her and asked, "Hello Mrs Roberts has my case come in yet?" Mrs Roberts ducked under the counter and brought out a shiny, dark blue violin case. I gave it the once over and it was perfect. On the handle in gold lettering was my name, and inside the bright pink padding screamed out. Mrs Roberts smiled again and said, "There you go Cherry, hope that fixes your identity crisis!" And she gave a little laugh. I picked up the case and some extra strings and we headed home.
The next Monday I was really excited, because it was to be my first day at Twin Peaks Junior High. I woke up and had a battle on my hands already; I didn't know what to wear. I didn't want to make too much of an impression, but then again I didn't want to be seen as not caring about how I looked. So I decided on my hipster jeans, blue cowboy boots and my red and white off the shoulder top, over which I threw my denim jacket. I went downstairs and ate a plate of bacon and eggs, then grabbed my backpack and violin and ran to the bus stop. I had to meet the Band Director Mr Reynolds to arrange violin lessons and find out about auditioning for the band. I met my best friend Sue Lewis at the bus stop, she had her huge tuba case with her, so I guessed she had the same idea as me. I watched her haul it up the street and said, "So, arranging lessons and band auditions Sue?" She smiled and said, "Well, you might be, but I have a lesson today, and I'm auditioning for the band after school." She explained that her mum, Mrs Organised, had called ahead and sorted out lessons and found out the day for the auditions for the brass section. The bus pulled up and we struggled on and found seats for the ride to school. As the bus trundled along Sue and I caught up on what we had missed in the summer, Sue had been away at a camp for tuba players and I had been helping my dad with his latest project, restoring an ancient Jaguar E-Type. I love cars as much as music so this was a treat for both of us. Oh, and Sue had finally gotten rid of her braces, which she had gotten two years before. "Glad I got rid of them before lessons started again, or I'd be stuck! Remember the last two years? Wow was my teacher hard on me for having braces. It made playing so hard! " she said with a laugh. A few minutes later the bus pulled up and we piled off.