A/N: I mostly write anime fictions, but I though this time I'd try something new.
When in doubt……….Tiki Tiki Tah!
This story may not be the best story in world to hear, but I feel it must be heard. Not everything in life you hear is pretty……my story is proof of it.
I was just another lonely freshman in High School, not much was to say about me. I was like every other clueless kid there, lost and confused. It was my first day so I was still new to everything. I would stubble into the wrong classroom and hall way, look for a restroom to find out it was way across the other side of the campus, you know stupid freshman stuff like that.
As if public embarrassment wasn't bad enough for my first day, my mom enrolled me into the Marching Band without my yes or no. She thought it would be a great way for me to get to know new people, but I knew the real reason on why she wanted me in band. She though I had no talent in sports, because I was so short. Yes, ok I admit I was very short for my age, but it was no reason for her to not even let me try going out for the football team. There was no talk about it, I was in. I had no musical experience so I was walking in blindly.
I had band for 6th period so by that time I felt depressed and embarrassed. As I walked into the class I saw many students talking. Most seemed to be very friendly with each other and seemed they knew everyone for a long period of time. I couldn't have felt more out of place.
The bell rung and a man went to the front of the classroom.
"Ok everyone take a seat!" yelled a man who looked to be the band teacher. He had a short brown hair with a nicely trimmed mustache. He moved his arms around in a way of telling everyone to sit. "Sit down, peoples sit down!" he would yell.
Everyone slowly started to take there seats. Since I was very new I just took a corner seat. Everyone looked as if they where sitting with there friends, they wouldn't noticed me in the corner….or so I thought.
"Young man!" yelled the band director. "Young man in the corner over there." He pointed over to me. I looked shocked at him and wondered what he wanted. "There are plenty seats in the front over here." He said. "Please sit up here."
I could feel my face getting red and I got my backpack and moved. I could have sworn I heard some girls giggling as I was moving.
"That's better." He said looking down at me. I could feel my-self getting redder by the second. He then looked back up toward the class. "Ok welcome to Beginning Band everyone. My name is Mr. Sony and I am your band director. Now I know most of you from the band camp we had a week before school started, but since I see some new faces in here I would like for you to reintroduce your-selves. Who would like to go first?"
Right after he said that a girl rose her hand up as fast as she could. She was a pretty young lady with light brown hair. It was long and she showed a lot of pride in her-self. Mr. Sony then shook his head for her to go.
She stood up and started to speak. "Hello, my name is Julie, I'm a freshman and I play the Clarinet. I started playing it only in band camp and I feel I've gotten a lot better at it then when I started."
"Good Julie." Said Mr. Sony. "Anyone else?"
There was another boy who had his hand raised up really high. He had short black hair and braces. He also looked as if he had a lot of confidences in him-self. Mr. Sony shook his head again.
He stood up too. "My name is Martin, I'm also a freshmen and I play Trombone. I've been playing the trombone for about 3 years now, but this is my first time playing with a marching band."
I gulped a bit after he said that. '3 years?' I though
"Very good Martin! It's good to know you have some background in the field of music."
Right after he said that, there was this kid who was moving wildly in his seat. He started to fall forward a bit and looked as if he was going to die if Mr. Sony didn't call on him. Mr. Sony noticed and nodded toward him.
He got up very clumsily like and looked worst then I did when I went for a seat. He had red hair and was a little tubby. "Hi, my name is Greg. I too am a freshmen and I play the tuba!" He then sat back down as fast as he got up. The class started to laugh a bit. All that for 2 sentences?
"Umm…yes Greg next time wait calmly ok?" said Mr. Sony as he had his hands over his face.
The list of freshmen went on forever and I hoped that they would forget about me. Instead they saved me for second to last.
"You young man," said Mr. Sony as he pointed to me. "What's your name and musical background?"
I got very nervous as I stood up waiting for some one to make a short joke about me. I was right as I heard some girl whisper it on my left side. It took me a while to say something but I finally mustard out my name.
"F-Felix." I gulped as I could hear some Felix the cat jokes going around. "M-my name is Felix, I'm a freshman and I have no musical background." I then sat down fast as my face continued to get red.
Mr. Sony shook his head. "That's ok; you're not the only one in this room with any musical background. What do you wish on trying out?"
"Give him a tuba!" yelled some kid on the other side. He had long hair up to his eyes and looked very mischievous. He was the only junior in beginning band. "It look really funny having the tuba on a short guy like him!"
The class laughed as I hung my head down. I knew that was coming. Mr. Sony glared at the boy.
"Kevin, cut that out. Stop picking on the new kids" He looked back at me. "Now really, what do u have in mind?"
I just shook my head. "Umm…..I-I really don't know sir." That's all I could bring my-self to say. At this point I just wanted to go home.
"How do drums strike you?" he asked. "Since you weren't here for band camp I think drums just mite be the easiest thing for you to learn right now."
I shook my head yes. Just then Kevin spoke again. "Give him the BIG Bass drum! It………."
"Kevin see me after class." Said Mr. Sony in a toneless voice. The class started to laugh again.
I was going to lower my head again until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked around to see the girl sitting next to me with a smile. She had beautiful blonde hair up to her shoulders and the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen. "Don't worry." She said to me "Kevin always needs to make someone the butt of his jokes. He gets great joy making other people feel miserable. Don't take it personally."
I felt my cheeks get a little pink. This girl was really beautiful and she was talking to me! I was just about to talk to her until Mr. Sony said what I was going to ask.
"Well, well saving the 'best' for last. Ms. Amanda Brill, still taking my Beginning band class after all these years I see."
She giggled. "Yes Mr. Sony I just can't get out of it!" she joked.
"Well introduce your-self officially."
She proudly got up. "My name is Amanda, I'm a senior and I play Alto Sax. I'm in this class because I love and not because I failed." She then glared at Kevin who sunk in his seat. She then sat down.
'Senior!' I thought again 'She's a senior? Great….she's a senior and I'm a stupid freshman.'
Just then the bell rung and everyone ran out. As I picked up my bag and started to walk out Amanda put her hand on my shoulder again. "Hey if you ever need help reading music or anything don't be afraid to ask me ok?"
I stupidly shook my head and squeaked out an "Ok." She then walked over to her own hall way. 'This is going to be a long year'
-
A couple days went by until I had to take the official Marching band "class". It was the zero periods after school and there seemed to be a lot of students there with many different instruments. I once again walked around blindly not knowing what do to until Julie saw me. She waved toward me. "Felix! Oh Felix!" she yelled as she ran over to me.
"Hello Felix." She pulled her hand out for me to shake. As I shook it she continued. "I'm trying to be friends with the entire new freshman around here. If you need anything ask me!"
"Ok….ah than-"
Then just as fast as she came to me she ran off to a new freshman to tell them the same thing. I felt so stupid listening to her.
"Oh don't mind her" said some girl behind me. I turned to look at her. She had dark black hair that was short up to her chin. She wore very stylish glasses. She continued "She's just trying to be 'Ms. Perfect.' So don't feel bad if you feel out of place." She then pulled out her hand. "My name is Amy by the way, I'm a sophomore. You're one of the many new freshmen I believe right?"
I shook her hand and said "Ah yeah. My name is Felix."
"Like Felix the Cat right?"
I groaned. "Yeah like the cat."
She laughed. "Hey don't take it too personally but everyone has some type of nickname around here. Mine is M-a." she rolled her eyes. "Yeah I know very corny. But just don't take it to hard if u get a nickname that's about your height or something ok?"
I shook my head. She then walked off. I've only been around the band classes for a couple of days and I felt very out of place. No one really ever gave me my own voice or tried to really get to know me. No one but that Amanda girl. I would feel butterflies in my stomached whenever she was around. I knew this was bad because she was a senior and I was a freshman, so I tried to stay away from her as much as I could.
-
Just around that time Mr. Sony came into the room. "Ok peoples time to get started. Since we still have a bunch of new freshmen here we are going to sectionalize for the next hour or so. The group groaned. "Ok winds in here, Brass in the next room and battery out side."
Everyone started to move but me. Since I was so short I would usually let other people go before me. That and I still wasn't used to getting my bass drum. It was bass drum number 2 so it wasn't that big, but it still looked very funny when I had it on. The other bass drummers would laugh at me. I finally got my drum on and waddled out side.
As I finally got outside I got to see how many people we had. I learned in class what all the drums where so seeing people on them helped me out more. We had 2 boy snare players, 2 girl cymbal players and 3 bass drummers including me. We're all boys. I also remember hearing about the tenors but I didn't see a tenor player. One of the snare players got out of the line and started to talk.
"Ok I guess I'll start the sectionalizing." He said. He had what looked like slick greasy black hair, and a mini goatee thing going on, on his chin. "My name is David, but everyone calls me Davy." Some of the new guys started to laugh. He rolled his eyes and said, "Laugh all you want about MY nickname but wait until we give you yours!"
Everyone stopped. He then continued. "I'm the Ass. Drum Capt. of this year's band and drumline. Our Drum Capt is I think still at a Detention and will be late. We'll start out with some simple exercises right now until she gets here."
'She? Our Capt is a girl?' I never would have thought about that since most of our drumline was of boys.
"No need for that Davy I'm here!" we heard a girl yell from the other left side of us. There then was a girl with messy short brown hair slowly walking over to us with the tenors on. Her hair was a little higher then her shoulders and she had black jacket over her harness. Everyone who was a vet in the drumline turned to her with there arms in the air and yelled some thing like
"HEY! THUMPER!" or "Thumpers back!"
She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." She just simply said back. She gave Davy a high five. "How are things going so far Davy?"
"We just got started. I was going to wait until u got here to introduce everyone, so you want to start that now?"
"Yeah that sounds cool." She then turned to us. "Everyone take your drums off this may take a while."
As everyone started to do that she continued to talk. "Hello everyone and welcome to this years drumline. My name is Jen, I'm a senior and I'm your Drum Capt. again this year."
The vets all clapped and yelled "THUMPER!"
She gave off an uncomfortable smile and continued. "Ok, ok for you new kids if you haven't guess my nickname is Thumper. Yes the people who gave it to me got it from that rabbit off bambi…….god I hate that movie." She then shook her head. "Anyways if you wish you can call my either Jen or thumper……………………"
"THUMPER!" all the vets yelled again.
She just shook her head and smiled. "Yeah……yeah…..Anyways how many new kids do we have?"
Three people including me raised there hands. 2 of us where on bass and one girl was on cymbals. Thumper shook her head. "Ok cool, I guess well start out with the vets first."
She turned to Davy. "I take it Davy already introduced him-self so, well go the next snare player." She pointed over toward him. He was middle height with short black hair and growing a very thin mustache. "Go a head and introduce your-self."
He raised his hand as in saying hi. "My name is Nick, I'm a junior and my nickname around here is lil Nike." He laughed after he said that. "I can't believe that's still my nickname after all these years!" he through his arms in the air. "I grew damn it!"
Everyone laughed as Thumper shook her head. "Hey I don't care if you grow to be 6.7 your forever lil Nike to me!" She said pointing to her-self. Lil Nike then moved back and shook his head. "Next person."
The girl cymbal player came up next. Her hair was waving and was a lil brown with a hint of red. "My name is Cindy, I'm a sophomore and I love the mallets more then these cymbals." She then moved back.
"Hmm……we never came up with a nickname for you did we?" said Davy as he tried to come close to her. She moved back again shaking her head.
"It's cool Cindy." Said Thumper. "You don't need a nickname around here. Next."
The guy that played bass drum number 1 moved forward. He looked a little taller then me and had hair up to his neck. "My name is James, I'm also a sophomore and my nickname is James!" he smiled.
"That's not a nickname!" said lil Nike. "We just never gave you one!"
"Is so a nickname! That's what everyone calls me!" he argued back.
The guy behind me was laughing. "He's got a point." He said covering his mouth as he continued laughing. He was taller then me but a little heavier as well. He had a buzz cut and light brown hair.
Thumper looked at him. "And what's your name there giggles?" she said with a smile.
He stopped laughing for a sec and said "Oh my name is Gilbert, I'm a freshman and I've never played drums before, but I used to play piano." He started to giggle again.
"Ok there Giggles, at least we know you can read music." said Thumper as she looked away towards Davy. "Looks like you're the first freshman with a nickname there 'Giggles'. And guess what? It's worst then mine!" joked Thumper as everyone started to laugh.
Gilbert just shook his head because he knew that will forever be known as Giggles now. I got more nervous as I knew them going to go to me next. Since Gilbert got a nickname within 5 seconds of them knowing him I knew I was going to get a nickname like "Shorty" or Felix the Cat" or something stupid like that. I was wrong.
"What's your name?" she said as she pointed to me.
I looked up shy fully. "Um….My name is Felix…………………….."
Giggles was laughing as I heard him squeak out of his voice "the cat". I tried to ignore him. "I-I have no musical talent at all."
Thumper shook her head up and down toward me. "That's ok. We're all here to learn together."
"Hey, hey what's his nickname!" yelled James. "How about Short stuff?" he jumped around.
'I knew it. Great that's worst then Giggles!'
To my surprise Thumper shook her head no. "Naw man, that's WAY too common. The only reason I gave Giggles here his nickname was because he won't stop laughing!"
Like he was called for, Giggles started laughing. "Point taken." Said Thumper shaking her head. "We'll think of something later as we get to know you better."
I smiled. It was cool that for about the first time in my life I wasn't stereotyped about my name or height. It felt really good. I would say that was the first time I grew respect for Thumper.
-
That day was long and hard for me. It seemed like everyone there had some type of musical talent but me and I was the one making everyone fall behind. The snares where getting annoyed and so where the other bass drums. I wanted to die of embarrassment.
"Ok well go over it again." Said Thumper as she was in line with the snares. "8 on the hand, is just 8 hits on the right, then 8 hits with your left. You do this a total of I believe 4 times. Everyone get it?"
Everyone groaned. This was about the thirtieth time doing it and I still didn't have it. Everyone knew it was me who was bringing everyone behind so I left my neck getting red. Thumper counted it off, and I messed up again.
Davy groaned and got out of line. "Ok who doesn't get it?"
I was too embarrassed to raise my hand so I kept it down. Davy was getting upset. "Come on we can't go any further if we keep making the same mistakes! Who was it?"
I could tell Davy was very, VERY upset. Just before I was about to raise my hand and Davy was going to yell again, Thumper cut in. "Hey Davy how about you take over for a little while, while I take Felix and work with him one on one."
Davy calmed down a bit. "Alright that sounds fine."
She then whispered to Davy, "Look the more you yell, the more you'll scare the new kids, and then they won't want to come back."
Davy shook his head and understood. Thumper then turned to me. "Come on Felix, fallow me."
With my bass drum on I followed her over to the other side of the lot. She looked at me while she took her tenor off. "Go a head and take your drum off."
As fast as she said it I took the bass drum off my back. Since I never carried anything like that before it was heavy for me. She then sat near my bass drum and took her sticks.
"So you have no musical talent?" she asked as she started to drum on the floor.
I shook my head. "No. I just have no rhythm I guess."
She laughed. "That's what everybody says. You should have seen Davy when he first came, he couldn't even hold his sticks."
I giggled a bit. Thumper stopped drumming and looked at me. "Ok, what do you feel is your biggest problem in drumming?"
I thought about it. "I guess I just have a lot of doubt on weather I can do it or not."
She snickered. "If that's what you think then listen to this. Whenever in doubt……..tiki, tiki tah!"
I gave her the weirdest look. That had to be the oddest thing I had ever heard in my life. How was that supposed to help me?
"I bet your wondering how is that supposed to help you?"
I looked at her funny again. "Yes. That doesn't make sense."
"I knew you'd say that." She got closer "Ok. Back when I was a freshman, I was very confused about my life and on what I was to do with it. I join an all percussion group here that went into competitions. I was very nervous and it took me forever to get the music down. At one point in the music we all had to voice out weird rhythms. I can still remember the group rhythm. It was Ta, Ta, Te, Tah, Tiki, Tiki, Tah."
She gave a sigh. "Try singing all that in rhythm at a fast tempo." She remembered it for a second then shook her head.
"Anyway the point was we were the top of the class. It was literately seconds before we went on for the Championship performance when the Capt of the time noticed I was super nervous. She came over to me and told me 'Don't stress over your part. Just remember that you've worked your butt of on this and you don't deserve to lose. Just think of Tiki, Tiki, Tah.' Little did she know, that helped me a whole bunch. I was so nervous I just needed someone to tell me everything was going to be ok. We won that year, and after we all jumping up and down and having a great old time she came up to me again with a huge smile telling me, 'Remember, When in doubt………..Tiki, Tiki Tah!' And ever since then I've carried that with me."
I wish I could say I understood her story perfectly, but sadly that wouldn't be until later in my life. All I did was look at her funny and say "But how did Tiki, Tiki, Tah help you from being unstressed?"
She smiled. "It was just timing I guess. Hell she could have said Ba, Ba Boo and it would have helped me. Point was she gave me support. Now I'm telling you the same thing to show you my support. So just remember when ever you need help or you're stressed just think of this saying, 'When in doubt…….Tiki, Tiki Tah.' Ok?"
I still gave her a weird look. "I still kind of think its crazy." To this day I wish I didn't say that.
She just shook her head with a smile. "Alright then, lets get to work."
-
She worked with me for a long time. It took me forever to get 8 on the hand down. She taught me some other exercises as well. Some that had to do with bouncing of the drum others just had to do with counting, which I found out soon that I was much better then I though I was. When I finally got it she stopped working with me one on one and worked with everyone as a group. I felt behind, but I knew Thumper wouldn't just let me lag.
Our class for the day finally ended and I had a feeling no one in the drumline liked me. I had a feeling Davy hated me because I was slow. Thumper cared, but that was about it. We were walking back with our drums on when I saw Amanda coming out of the room. She looked over toward me and had the biggest smile on her face that I'd ever seen.
"You're here!" she yelled and ran toward me. I though she was going to attack me with a huge hug, so I started to blush a bit, or so I thought.
In stead she ran right passed me, nearly knocking me over and ran to Thumper who was right behind me. I felt like an even bigger idiot and began to blush more. She nearly jumped on Thumper making her tenors fall back in forth on her back.
"Hey, Hey watch it I still have my tenors on!" Thumper yelled as she tried to hug back. Then just as fast as Amanda hugged her, she slapped her side of her shoulder. "OUCH!"
"When are you going to learn to come to practice on time so we can talk before we have to start?" she then gave her a face.
"When I learn to mess with the school clocks so I get to school on time and not get a detention every day!" Thumper joked as she was rubbing her arm. "So what's up?"
The Two of them talked as they walked into the band room to put there stuff away. I stood there as I watched them walk away. Then I felt a hit on my back. It was from Kevin as he was walking back to the room. "HA, HA! You thought Amanda was going to run to you yeah shorty! HA, ha, HA!"
I blushed more. I had to save my-self some how. "I did not! I-I just though she was going making me fall when she ran by!"
"Nice recovery." Said M-a as she went by with a smile on her face.
I knew she was being sarcastic so I just said under my voice. "Thanks" and walked to put my drum away.
-
Weeks went by and I got better at playing the drums. I learned how to play 8 on the hand perfectly. Now if only I could get the parade song then it would have been nice. It was called "Washington Post." I learned to hate that song with a passion and lucky I wasn't the only one. All the drummers hated the time signature it was in.
By this time not "everybody" hated me anymore. Me and Martin started to talk a lot, and Greg tagged along. Julie got the secret nickname by M-a "Ms. Perfect" which fitted her perfectly. She always tried to do the right things and be the best at whatever was happened at the time. None of us like it that much.
Amanda and Thumper were very close. I just took it that they were just friends for a very long time, but Martin seemed to think it was something more. At that point I just ignored him.
It was the day of our first parade, and I couldn't have been more unorganized. I couldn't remember everything in the song and to make matters worst we had to sit as partners on the bus. I didn't know who to sit with, or who wanted to sit next to me.
As I was packing my drum away and getting it ready to be put on the trunk, when Davy came into the room.
"Ok drummers we need all the drums on packed onto the truck first. So bass drums move on out!"
Since Giggles had the heaviest and biggest bass drum he moved over first. As I was going out side I could already see Thumper putting her drum on the truck along with Greg's tuba.
Giggles wasn't paying any attention on how he should put his drum on the truck so he put it up very poorly. So poorly that is was falling off the truck. Sadly we where all to busy to pay any attention to this, so when I came by the drum started to fall. I just put my drum on and started to walk away when the drum slipped of the truck. Thumper, who tried to catch it last minute, missed and yelled out "Felix look out!"
I turned to see a bass drum about to land on me. I didn't know what to do so I did the first thing that came to mind. I jumped.
Everyone watched as I leaped over the huge bass drum that would have smashed me if I stayed still. The drum landed on the floor and Giggles ran over to see if his drum was ok. As I landed everyone looked in amazement.
Davy was speechless. Thumper was wide eyed and just said "Wow, I didn't know you could jump that high, Froggy."
I looked at her. 'Froggy?'
"Hey yeah that's Felix's nickname!" yelled James jumping up and down. "Felix the Frog!"
"No," said Thumper "Its just Froggy." She then turned to Giggles. "Make sure you take good care of your drum Giggles! We don't want Froggy here to become road kill!"
Giggles was embarrassed as he picked up his drum again tried to put it on the truck better.
After my drum, harness and my stick bag where on the truck, I got the rest of my stuff to go find a seat on the bus. I looked around and saw lot of the band people already sitting with people. The drill team and color guard had there own bus so I didn't have to worry about them. I looked for Martin but he was sitting with Greg. I looked for James but he seemed to be flagging Giggles down. I saw Davy, but I didn't want to sit with him. I looked in the back of the bus and saw Amanda sitting all by her-self. I wanted to sit next to her.
I moved my-self to the back on the bus and saw an empty set right next to her. Instead of sitting right next to her, I decided to sit across from her. As I sat there she looked at me.
"Hey Felix."
I started to blush but I tried to fight it off. "I umm….got a nickname now."
"Really?" she said as she started to brush her beautiful hair on the bus. She moved her-self to where she could easily talk to me. "What is it?"
"Froggy" I shyly said. I tried so hard to keep my eyes off of her.
She giggled. "How did you get that?" she continued to brush her hair.
"The bass drum 3 fell off the truck and I jumped over it."
She stopped and looked at me. "You jumped over Bass drum 3? Just the drum or the case?"
"Both." I said kind of proudly.
"Wow I haven't seen anyone do that, I'm sorry I missed it."
"Yeah then Thumper called me Froggy for jumping over it."
"Oh" she said slyly. "So Thumper gave you that nickname huh?"
I was going to say yes until I got cut off by hearing a deep voice saying. "Hey Only Seniors are allow to sit in the back seats."
I got a little nervous until I saw Amanda roll her eyes and laugh. "Thumper!" she yelled.
I turned to see Thumper trying to look mean. She laughed and said "Naw I'm just fooling with you Froggy."
She then sat right next to Amanda on the window set. "Hey," Amanda said to Thumper, "Did you ever tell 'Froggy' how you got your nickname?"
I laughed a bit. I did think my nickname was better then hers, but still wanted to know how she got it. Thumper rolled her eyes and turned to me. "You know how Thumper from Bambi moves his leg really fast?"
"Yeah."
Thumper then turned to me and moved her left foot up and down as fast as she could. "I do that sometimes just out of no were. And this one here…." She poked Amanda "….is the one that started to call me Thumper! Then it grew to be this huge thing!"
Amanda laughed. "But you love it!" she said in a semi cute voice. I loved it when she did that. Thumper just rolled her eyes and leaned back on the window.
"Yeah, yeah." She said as she put her CD player on.
"Is anyone sitting here?" I heard someone say to me. I turned around to see M-a looking down at me. She moved her glasses a bit and asked again. "Is anyone sitting here?"
"Ah no!" I said and I moved out to let her have the window seat. She then put her backpack there and sat here-self down.
"Thanks. There are no seats left and I really didn't want to sit next to Kevin." She said as she glared towards him.
I laughed a bit. Just then Mr. Sony walked onto the bus and Amanda hit Thumper for her to take her headphones off.
"Ok band!" Yelled Mr. Sony. "Does everybody have everything that they need for today's parade?"
Everyone yelled a big YES. "Ok everyone, the bus ride there is going to be a long one so I hope u all brought something to keep your-selves busy."
-
Mr. Sony was very right. The bus ride there seemed to take forever and I didn't bring anything to keep me busy. M-a fell asleep on the window as did most of the students. I started to fall asleep until Amanda started to talk to me.
"Sleepy?" she asked
I shook my head and turned to her. "Not so much, just bored."
She nodded. "Yeah I know how that gets."
Thumper had her CD player on with her 5B sizes sticks drumming on her knees. It looked like she was practicing drum set.
"Yeah I hate it when Thumper practices drum set around me because I then have no one to talk to." She then gave off a sad face. I thought that was cute.
I laughed. "Why don't you just tell her to stop?"
"I've tried that. It never seems to work." She then stopped to think. She then bit her lower lip. She jumped up a bit and clapped her hands. "Oh I know the perfect thing to do!" she move to face Thumper and whispered to over to me "Watch what happens when I do this."
She then turned over to Thumper and lightly kissed her on the cheek. Thumper jumped in her seat and moved in all over. She also let out an "EAHHHHAHHH?"
I started to crack up as everyone turned in there seats to see what the hell was happening back there. I covered my mouth trying to hide the laugher in what I just saw. Thumper turned her CD player off and waved at everyone for them to turn back around. She then glared at Amanda as Amanda had a cutest little smile on her face.
"What did you do that for?" she asked as you can see some very small blush coming onto her face.
"Oh I just wanted you to stop drumming that's all." Amanda said very innocently. I kept laughing.
"You could have just asked." Thumper said quietly as she sunk into her seat. Amanda and I laughed a little harder.
-
The Parade its self is just a big blur to me now. All I really remember was being super nervous and worried about messing my bass part and Thumper trying to comfort me by tell me again, "When in doubt….Tiki, Tiki Tah."
It didn't help me like I hoped or at least I think it didn't. All I can remember is Davy giving me dirty looks after the whole things was over. After we where finished in the parade we didn't go back to the school like I though we would. We stayed for a little while longer to get and then check out our scoring from the judges. This is where I got a shock that I didn't expect.
I went to get my-self a hamburger at the stand with Martin and Greg, when lil Nike and Thumper went in line behind me. At first that didn't bug me, but I couldn't help hear what they were talking about.
"Oh look over there!" said lil Nike as he pointed over to the left. "She's a hottie if I ever saw one!"
'Is he talking to him-self? Why is he saying that to Thumper?'
Just then I heard something I would have never expected to hear from Thumper. "I don't know, she's a little to skinny for me. I like some meat on the bones. I hate it when girls are bulimic skinny."
'WHAT?' I turned in shock. Was Thumper just checking out another girl or just rating one for lil Nike? I kept listening in, trying to figure out what they where talking about.
"How about that chick?" pointed lil Nike "She's got a medium size body."
Thumper looks. "Hmm…..maybe, the body is in good shape, but you know I don't go by looks alone. I go by what's inside."
"Everyone says that but they don't really mean it!" complained lil Nike. "I mean not every person you've gone out with has been because of there personality! Some were just based on looks, I know it. Like the last girl friend you had! She had a great body, but she was such a bitch! You can't tell me you got with her base on her personality!"
'Did I just hear that right! No way!'
Thumper rolled her eyes. "Yeah………..yeah…..true she was a bitch. BUT you should go for personality over body…….."
At that point I just stopped listening. I started at ask my-self was Martin right in thinking Amanda and Thumper where closer then friends? I mean Amanda did kiss her on the bus freely. I was just very confused. Lil Nike noticed.
"Have you been listening this whole time Felix?" he said weirdly. I jumped a bit.
"Umm……." I started to get really nervous again. Thumper could tell.
Thumper smiled. "It's ok Froggy. You'd have to find out sooner or later. Best for me to just clear it up for you. Yes, I'm Gay."
-
Now at this point of my life, I've never met anyone that was gay before, so this was an all just a huge shock to me. After I got my hamburger I sat down with Martin, Greg and Giggles. I didn't eat since I was still trying to figure some stuff out.
"What's wrong Felix?" asked Martin as he bit into his hot dog.
"Nothing." I lied. I started to nibble at my hamburger.
"Hey guess what I heard on the bus ride here?" said Greg as he started to get a little jumpy.
"What did you hear?" asked a kind of uninterested Martin
"I heard that Jen and Amanda where an item!" he said as he stopped being jumpy. "Isn't that weird?"
"Who told you that?" questioned Giggles as he started to laugh a bit at the thought.
"One of the girl trumpet player said so." Said Greg as he goggled down one hot dog. "She said she saw them kissing on the bus!"
"No way!" said Martin in a very un believing voice. "They won't be kissing on a band bus!"
"Hey that's what I heard! She said she saw it with her own eyes!" Greg then eats another full hot dog.
"That's not true!" said Giggles. "I was sitting I couple seats in front of them I would have heard them making out!"
"Hey, I never said they made out! I just said they kissed!" Greg then ate another hot dog. Martin stared at him.
"How many hot dogs did you buy?" he questioned
"Only 3 and a hamburger."
"Only?" stated Giggles in a shocked voice.
Greg glared at him. "This isn't about me; it's about the two lesbians kissing on the bus."
This was getting stupid and I let it go one long enough. I knew the truth and I didn't want stupid rumors going on about Thumper and Amanda if they weren't true. Especially if it was about Amanda.
"They didn't kiss on the bus!" I stated.
"Yes they did!" argued Greg.
"No they didn't. I was sitting next to them the whole time! They didn't kiss!"
"But she just won't make up something like that!" Greg started to eat his hamburger faster.
"Well she did!" I said in trying to end it. I couldn't let them make fun of Amanda that way. Even though she did kiss Thumper, but it was just on the cheek and it didn't mean anything. I just keep trying to convince my-self that she wasn't gay. She couldn't be gay. She just couldn't.
-
After we where done eating the boys went to the restroom, while I decided to walk around. Everything I found out was just hard for me to swallow. 'Amanda can't be gay! I mean Thumper is gay. Why didn't I see it before? The short messy hair, the lake of femininity, the fact that she talks to guys way more then women, I mean it's so obvious! But Amanda just can't be! I mean……..'
I rambled on like that for a long time, until I bumped into M-a at the tables again. "What's wrong with you?" she asked. She put her half eaten hamburger down.
I shook my head. "Umm….nothing, just thinking."
She smirked. "You know you're a treble liar."
I gave a face. I didn't know how, but M-a could always see right through me. She made a motion for me to sit next to her. "Come here, and tell me."
I had nothing else to do, and I didn't want to hear the rumors from the other guys so I put my hands into my pockets and sat down next to her. "So what's wrong and don't lie to me."
I looked down and just asked her a simple question. "Are Thumper and Amanda and item?"
She choked on her hamburger a bit. "WHAT!"
I looked up at her. "Well are they?"
M-a gave me the weirdest look ever. "What makes you think that?"
"Well the two of them seem to be very close……………."
"So? That doesn't mean there automatically together just because there very close friends!"
"Well I just found out that Thumper is gay, and I heard people saying rumors."
M-a rolled her eyes and said before she took a bite of her hamburger. "Rumors are rumors for a reason."
I started to feel a little better. I smiled a bit and asked. "So Amanda isn't gay?"
M-a looked at me and what seemed to be a dirty look. At the time it looked as if she was giving me the look of jealously. "No." she said as she looked to the floor and put her hamburger down. "Amanda is straight as a line."
I felt so much better that I could have jumped in the air if I could. Amanda wasn't gay and she was available. I should have noticed that M-a was upset, but I was to busy being happy to figure it out. "You like her don't you?"
"Huh?" I asked as I looked back from being on cloud 9. "W-what?"
"Answer me." She said kind of uneasy like. "You like her!"
I could feel my cheeks getting a little pink. "Umm…..I guess so; I mean she's really cute looking."
M-ax's eyes got big. I even think I heard a "Humph" come out of her mouth. She then turned her head and stopped looking at me. Her face looked very sadden. She then sighed and sad in a very hurtful way. "That seems far, I mean every boy has a crush on her. Well…..I'm sorry to be the one to burst your bubble….." She sighed "But Amanda has a boy friend, so tough luck!"
Just then I feel fast from cloud nine and landed on my face. If it wasn't one thing it was another. It was now my turns for my face to be sadden. M-a violently got up form the table and threw away what seemed to be the rest of her hamburger. She walked away to where I didn't see.
Part of me wanted to cry. I knew I didn't have a chance with her, but most of me dreamed that I had the chance. If that wasn't enough I hurt M-a's feelings. How at the time I didn't know. I hit my face on the table. "God I'm so stupid!"
"Yes" I heard someone say.
I looked up and saw Thumper with her sticks in one hand and a soda in the other. "Just kidding Froggy."
Out of all the people to see I didn't really want to see her. I just put my head back on the table.
"Hey, I didn't mean it Frog man!" said Thumper as she sat in front of me putting her hand on my head.
"No it's not you." I said. "It's me."
"Well can I help?"
"I don't know." I looked up at Thumper. At that moment I just needed someone to talk to. To this day I'm so glad it was Thumper who was there. "Can I tell you something?"
"Sure Froggy."
"You can't tell anyone else."
"Oh it's THAT type of a thing." She joked. "Go on Froggy."
I sighed. "I like Amanda." I blushed after I admitted it a second time.
"Oh." Said Thumper sounding serious.
"Is it true….." I paused. "….that she has a boy friend."
She didn't answer me. She gave off a sigh and said "Yes, Froggy. She's had a boy friend for 6 months now."
I slammed my head back onto the table.
"If it makes you feel any better……." She said. "Everybody and I mean EVERYBODY who can get a boner, likes her."
I giggled a bit, and then gave off a gross face when I pictured Mr. Sony getting a boner off of her. Don't ask why I thought that.
Thumper laughed. "Hell……even I at one point had a crush on her."
I gave a confused face. "You did?"
She shook her head. "Yep," she then took a trip down memory lane. "I had it bad. Worst part was me and her got close. She felt she could tell me anything. I felt that way too, but I wanted more. I was afraid to tell her because I thought she wouldn't treat the same way, but since we where so close I felt she needed to know."
"What happened?"
"She got scared. She stopped talking to me for about a month and it crushed me. When she did that I wish I never had liked her. What made it worst is that since we where so close, everyone started rumors that WHERE together. It made her not want to talk to me anymore. At that point I had to force my-self to stop liking her."
"That's possible?"
"I guess so. I did it." She then picked her sticks up and started to drum on the table. "She got over me liking her and things went back to normal after about a month. Rumors still go around saying we're together, but we know the real truth. That happened our freshmen year, a week before the percussion Championships. That's when I told her."
I looked wide eyed. "So that's what you where confused about?"
"Yep, When the Capt. told me what she did, I started to practice more. Fact is with out Band I would have never gotten over Amanda so fast. 'When in doubt…..Tiki, Tiki Tah,' always reminded me to be one with the music. Playing music is what saved me from falling into a deep depression. In a way, Marching Band saved my life from being a depressed freak!"
I still didn't get it. I must have been stupid then I though. Thumper could tell that I didn't get it so she stopped drumming and gave me her sticks. "Look, play me something."
I looked at her funny. "What?"
"Just bag on the table. You don't have to do a rhythm, just hit the table."
I looked at the sticks and did what she said. I started to bang on the table. Then I hit some more. Then more, then more, then at one point I was just bagging away. I didn't even know what I was doing anymore, it didn't sound bad, but I can't say it sounded good.
The feeling was indescribable. The faster I went the better I felt. I let out all the hurt feelings that M-a gave me in telling me Amanda was with someone. I let out all the hurt feelings of liking her, and I even let out the hurt feelings I did when I hurt her.
When I was done I felt so much better. I wasn't healed but I felt better about my-self. Thumper smiled to me.
"Now think about when you get better at playing, how much emotion you could let out through your drumming."
"Thanks Thumper. I get what you're trying to tell me now."
She nodded. "Is there anything else on your mind?"
"Well…." I squeaked "I think I got M-a upset."
"How?" she asked confused
"She got really upset when I told her I thought Amanda was cute."
Thumper nodded her head and smiled a bit. "Well that's because she likes you."
My eyes widened. "HUH?"
"Thumper!" called Amanda from the bleachers.
Thumper got up from the table. "Amanda's calling me. Just give me my sticks back when we get on the bus."
Looking at her I asked "You really think she likes me?"
She gave me a look. "Frog, I KNOW she likes you. Why do you think she pops up and always wants to talk to you?"
Thumper then walked off to see Amanda. M-a liking me made a lot more sense to me now, but now I just felt like a big stupid idiot.
-
We got back onto the bus and M-a's stuff wasn't there. I was in a seat by my-self. When most of us got on the bus I saw M-a sitting with Kevin. I tried to lock eyes with her but she turned her head trying not to face me. I felt like such an idiot. Since I felt worst I just took Thumper's sticks and started to drum on my foot. Just them Amanda came by.
"Oh don't tell me Thumper rubbed off on you too!" she complained.
It sounded cute, but I tried not to seem amused. It was going to hard trying to get over her, but I thought I would just try.
"What's wrong with that?" said Thumper as she was standing right behind her.
"We only need one drumming fool on this bus and you win the prize." She giggled and sat down in the seat.
Thumper just shook her head. "I'm going to get you back one of these days!"
"No you won't!" she said laughing still.
Thumper made a face and sat right back down. Amanda just laughed at her.
'You know they would make a funny couple. A cute one too. Better then it would with me and her.' I saw my-self slowly getting over her.
"You know what?" she said "My boy friend hasn't called me all day!" she said with a sad face.
"I don't think he likes me." Said Thumper with a look to the ground.
"What makes you say that?"
"He always tries to rough house with me, and every time I get close to you he gets jealous."
"He does not!" she then hit Thumpers shoulder. I laughed
"Does too!" she argued back. "It's a good thing you haven't kissed me in front of him he just mite shot me!"
Then Amanda hit Thumper harder in the shoulder. "OUCH!"
"Well you deserved that one!" she then turned to me. "You want to see a picture of what we looks like?"
"Sure" she gave me a wallet size picture of him. He was tall and looked like he was into Heavy Metal and Rap. He had a skin head look with little hair on his chin.
"His name is Damien. Cute huh?" she asked.
"How would I know?" I asked as a joke. Amanda laughed but Thumper laughed harder. Amanda then hit Thumper in the stomach.
"OUCH! What I do, he said it!"
"I'm not going to hit him. You yes."
I laughed hard.
"Well that sucks!" said Thumper as she put her CD player on. Amanda winked at me and I just laughed.
-
The bus ride home without M-a sitting next to me was hard. Thumper fell asleep well Amanda was on the phone talking to Damien. I felt really bad for what I did to her and from what I could see she wasn't having the grandest time sitting next to Kevin. I tried to get her to look at me but it didn't work.
I really needed to get her to stop hating me. I felt really bad, and the deep truth was, I thought she was cute too. I had my mind so set on Amanda that I never stopped to think of M-a that way. I couldn't take it any longer I needed her to forgive me.
Seat hopping was forbidden, but I couldn't take the guilt. I got out of my chair and ran over to her seat. I kneed and tried to look at her.
"M-a!" I whispered.
She ignored me. "Oh come on!" I pleaded "Please I didn't mean to hurt you!"
Still ignored me. There was only one think I had on my mind that I felt would work. So I went with my gut instinct. I lend forward and kissed her cheek. "Amy pleases," I said softly.
M-a was shocked, but not as shocked as everyone else who saw. I though she would love what I did……….I was wrong.
M-a slapped me across the face. I had a huge red mark that stung. Her face was red and she yelled. "DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN, YOU HEAR ME!"
No words can explain how stupid and embarrassed I felt. If that wasn't worst enough, Mr. Sony heard M-a yell and got out of his seat.
"Felix!" he yelled. "Seat Hopping is forbidden, please go back to your normal seat or you will see me after in detention!"
With that I crawled back to my set rubbing my face. Kevin was laughing his ass off until M-a punched him in the gut. Of course she did that when Mr. Sony sat back down, and Mr. Sony wouldn't believe Kevin anyway since he has been in so much trouble.
I felt really stupid and felt that it was all just a lost cause, until I saw M-a look back at me. Up till then she never looked at me. She looked at me and smiled. I could tell she was blushing a bit. And she rubbed her cheek. She then turned background.
I sighed. 'Gees……..Women!'
-
Time passed and many things happened. The Marching Band became stronger in the parades, Davy still seemed to hate me, Lil Nike was still trying to hit on girls way out of his league, and Giggles and James became the new trouble markers of the year. Thumper and I got really close through our drumming, and even though I still didn't understand her saying, I knew how close people can get through music.
At this point "Ms. Perfect" was now the most hated. Since everything had to be perfect and no one could fit up to par, everyone hated her for it. Martin and Greg became good friends, even though Martin hated Greg's eating habits.
M-a and I got a lot closer. I figured me kissing her on the bus wasn't the best thing for me to do, because it was too soon. She didn't hate me like I though, just didn't want rumors to start. At this time I and she have been dating for a while.
Amanda and Thumper where just as close as always. Rumors of them being together where still flowing around, but we all knew the truth. Once in a great while Damien would come down with Amanda to see the Marching Band. When he did come down, I watched how he acted with Amanda and how he acted when Thumper was around.
I felt Thumper was right. Every time Thumper touched Amanda, Damien would make a face. If Thumper hugged Amanda, Damien would make out with her right after they where done hugging. It was getting on Thumpers nerves and on mine a bit too.
One day something happened that I would never forget. Thumper and I where in the band room practicing one of the new songs together when Damien walked in.
"Hey is Amanda around?" he asked as he walked in. He tried to not look at Thumper.
"Hey Damien, naw I think she is with the rest of the band." Said Thumper as she tried to go back to helping me.
He smirked. "As if some stupid dike would know where Amanda is." He then began to leave.
That was the last straw for Thumper. She threw her sticks to the ground and walked over to Damien. "What the hell is your problem?"
"Nothing" he said trying to act tough. "I just don't like girls trying to be men, around my woman!"
"Your 'woman!'" Thumper was pissed. "You don't talk about Amanda like she's an item! You just can't take it that Amanda and I have a close friendship. A stronger one then you and she have."
Damien was getting pissed. I was getting nervous for Thumper, but she seemed to take control over it.
"You just stay clear from her 'Thumper' or you'll regret it." Warned Damien.
"You don't scare me." Said Thumper in a fearless voice. She almost sounded completely fearless. I on the other hand was about to piss my pants.
Just before Damien was about to say something we heard Amanda coming around the corner yelling. "Thumper!"
"What do you know," said Thumper in an evil tone. "She called me, and not you!" Thumper then walked off to greet Amanda.
Damien looked super pissed off. As if that wasn't enough Thumper did something she had never in her life had done before to Amanda. She kissed Amanda on the cheek.
Damien was ready to kill her, but you could tell he was trying really hard to hold back. Amanda was shocked as heck that Thumper kissed her, but out of reaction just kissed Thumper back. Damien was now going to have a heart attack.
"What was the kiss for?" asked Amanda still kind of in shock.
"Oh, nothing, just though I'd try something new." She lied.
Amanda turned and saw Damien near the band room. "Hi Hunny!" she said and she jumped in his arms. Damien, still very jealous barley hugged her back.
-
I always had respect for Thumper, but I really wish she would have never done that. Things got really rough from now on, when it came to Amanda and Damien. Damien wanted to just be with Amanda and to never see Thumper around her, but that was nearly impossible. Amanda and Damien started to fight a lot over Thumper, and Amanda and Thumper would fight about Damien.
Then it happened, the thing that would chance my views on life forever. It supposed to be a regular Sunday morning. I still remember it like it was yesterday.
It was 9:55 and I was sound asleep, until the phone rung. My mom picked it up and gave the phone to me. I was still half asleep when I answered it.
"………..hello??"
"Felix?" there was a sniffle on the other end.
"Yeah" 'Wow, he never calls me Felix."
"It's Davy." There was another sniffle.
'Why is he calling me? And why does it sound like he's crying.'
"What's up?"
"I've got some horrible news."
Got out of my bed a little bit more as I got nervous. "What happened?"
"It's about Thumper………" he started to cry more.
My heart fell to my gut, I didn't want to ask but I had to. "David…….what happened to Thumper?"
He sniffled again. "She went out with Amanda and Damien when it happened………"
I was getting jumpy now, I needed to know. "David what happened to Thumper?"
He started to cry harder. "She…….she got shot! Damien shot her!"
"WHAT!" I got really scared now. Without knowing tears started to flow from my face. "W-well, h-how, how is she is? Is she ok! Is she going to be fine……w-what……."
David was crying really hard when he just had to spit it out. "She's DEAD! Thumper's dead! Damien killed her!"
My heart stopped. 'No! He has to be lying to m. Thumper CAN'T be dead!" I couldn't help it now. I cried like a baby. "You're lying! How did this happen!"
"Amanda and Thumper where hugging each other goodnight and Amanda kissed her cheek like always. Then when Amanda turned and went into the house, Damien pulls out a gun and shoots Thumper in the chest. Amanda opens the door to see Thumper bloody on the floor and Damien running off. She called 911 but it was too late. He hit a major artery and she died."
He kept crying. "We're all meeting at the band room right now. Could you come down?"
"Y-yeah…..I'll be there." I whimpered. I couldn't believe she was gone.
The car ride over there was the longest ride I'd ever take. I wished it was a just a sick twisted joke. That I'd show up to the Band room and there would Thumper be standing there laughing at me.
But it was no joke. I went to the room to see everyone crying. I met M-a there and her glasses where off. Her eyes where red from crying and she ran to me to hug me.
"Froggy, she would call you." She cried. "I can't believe someone would do such a thing!"
As M-a held me I cried in her arms. This was one of my many moments to cry. "Why do people hate! What the point of hating someone because there different?" I cried.
M-a sniffled as she said. "Thumper was just another victim in a long line of Hate Crimes."
I lift my head up. I had to ask her this. "How is Amanda?"
M-a cried a little. "She's in the percussion room, and she's a wreck."
"Can I see her?"
M-a shook her head yes as the two of us walked over there. As we walked I saw Davy crying in lil Nike's arms. Lil Nike was crying as well. I heard him whisper "I'll always be lil Nike to her…….." he started to cry harder.
I looked another way and I saw Giggles and James crying just as hard. That had to be the first time I saw Giggles not laughing.
We got to the Percussion room. M-a stood outside the door. "I think you should see her by your-self."
I nodded as I walked in the dark room. She was looking over Thumpers tenors. Amanda looked treble. Her eyes where blood shot and it looked as if she hadn't slept in days. I walked behind her and whispered. "Amanda?"
She turned to see me and hugged me tightly. "Felix." She said. "Jen always called you Froggy…………." She started to cry. She held me tighter and started to confess everything to me.
"I should have listened to her! Damien was a jerk! He's going to be in jail for life. I can't believe he did that to her! To my Thumper, my best friend, my soul mate."
I couldn't think of anything helpful to tell her. Only one thing came to my mind and I had to say it. "When in doubt………Tiki, Tiki Tah."
She started to cry a little harder and then let the words sink into her head. She looked up at me and said "That's what Thumper would say to us right now huh?"
She then kissed my cheek and said "Thank you Froggy."
I shook my head a bit and she got up and went to her Sax. I had to ask. "I'm sorry, I still don't get what that saying means? Thumper would always say that but I don't get it."
Amanda sat down with her Sax at hand. She smirked. "It means when in doubt, look to the music." She then started to play her Sax.
Now I was no great musician, but want she played in that room, was the most beautiful music I had ever heard. It didn't have a time signature nor did it need one. She was playing from her soul. She let her emotions do the playing. She would cry as she played, but it was her way of letting the hurt out.
It took a death for the saying to hit me, and hit me hard. I felt like an idiot not knowing what she was trying to tell me. She tried to tell me that, music is the focus of our lives and when ever we feel that we can't go on, we need to look to the music in our hearts to keep going.
Amanda and I both knew that Thumper would want us to keep going on with life. It took me a long time, but Amanda it took her even longer. Prom and Graduation just didn't seem the same with out her right hand there. Damien was found guiltily and put in jail for life; while at the graduation ceremony they made an "In loving Memory of Jennifer "Thumper" Cassete." And reminded everyone that Hate crimes bring nothing but sorrow and grief.
-
It's been years since Thumper was taking from us, but I still go and visit her grave site. I look onto her grave stone reading. "Jennifer 'Thumper' Cassete. Beloved Daughter, Friend and Musician." Then is small writing on the bottom it reads "When in doubt……..Tiki, Tiki Tah."
There's not a day in my life where my heart doesn't find Thumper there. She helped me find the music in my life and I will forever remember her for that. Sometimes if I play with my set in my room, when I really miss her, I can hear her playing drum set in the background. Thumper lives on through music, and I will never stop playing, therefore she never really left us.
-
That was a little emotional to write out, but I hope you all enjoyed it as much I as I was writing it. Thank you for reading my story.