August 16th
6:07am
The O'Connell's
Beep…beep…. beep….
"Damn alarm clock!" Ryan O'Connell groaned, sitting up in bed. "Somebody remind me again why I'm getting up this early when there is still a month of summer left…"
"Because you are a band dork," a voice came from the doorway. "And band dorks are dorky enough to sacrifice their own personal sleeping time to stand outside in the hot, blazing sun for a month, marching 'til their legs fall off. Yeah, I don't understand it, either."
"Ug…" Ryan groaned again, throwing his pillow at his younger brother, Isaac. "Go away. Let me sleep…"
"No can do," Isaac said happily. "You gave me orders last night to make sure you were up by 6:10 on the dot, and there is no way I'm going to defy my drum major's orders."
Ryan sat up and glared groggily. "Damn drum majors…. who'd want to be one of those? Pssh, not me! They have too much responsibilities and have to be there A WHOLE 30 MINUTES BEFORE THE REST OF THE BAND!"
"Sucks to be you, then, Mr. Drum Major, sir!" Isaac saluted his brother with a smile. "Up. Now."
Ryan groaned again, pulling his covers up over his head. "Leave me alone. Tell Mr. Blake I quit. Who cares if this looks good on college applications, and this is all I've been working for my whole high school career? Oh, why did I agree to do this?"
"Because you are a band dork," Isaac repeated. "Didn't I just go over this? And up. Now."
"No," came Ryan's orders from under the blankets. "Go away. Now. That's an order. In fact, that's my first official band camp week order. Ha. Take that. Leave. Out. Now. Go."
Isaac shrugged and left, flickering the lights on his way out. Ignoring his brother's moans of protest against the light, Isaac quietly knocked on the door next to his brother's room and slipped silently in.
6:12
The Pahl's
"Band Camp, band camp, band camp!!!!" Max Pahl cheered, stopping his dance to trip his younger sister with a crutch. "C'mon, Kristy, be more excited! This is Band Camp! It's only the most fun you will ever have!"
"Then why do you always start complaining about it on the second day?" Kristy retorted, poking her brother with her toe.
"Because that's what band camp is!" Max explained. "It's the worst time you will ever have in your life. You'll hate it; you'll deeply despise it. With a passion. A BIG passion. You'll constantly ask yourself why you are putting yourself through this hell."
"Why are we putting ourselves through this hell?"
"Because it's band camp!"
6:17
The Blake'sOf course, Mark Blake had been up for hours. It was the first day of band camp, after all. He had spent the morning going over the score again, rehearing his "Welcome to Band!" speech, and memorizing the number of his Drum Major to give him the wake up call Blake knew he always so desperately needed.
In fact, as Blake checked his watch, he decided that it was time to give Mr. O'Connell a call. He prepared himself for the loud moaning and yawning that was sure to come.
6:18:09
The O'Connell'sRyan groaned to himself as a phone rang elsewhere in the house. As long as it wasn't for him, he didn't really care.
"Ryan! Phone!"
Damn.
"Tell whoever it is I jumped off a cliff," Ryan yelled back.
"Why would I do that?"
"Because that's what I'm going to do if you damn people keep waking me up!"
All was silent, so Ryan hoped that his other younger brother, Erik, had told whoever was on the phone he wasn't there.
"Ryan!"
Ryan threw a nearby shoe at the door, hitting his younger sister in the face as she opened the door.
"Good morning to you, too," Annie told her brother, throwing the shoe back at him. "Isaac told me that you are not getting up, and he bet me $5 that I can't get you up within 30 seconds."
"Good luck with that," Ryan grumbled. "I'm not moving. Nope. Never."
Annie just grinned. "I had hoped you would say that." She reached into her back pocket and took out a small silver thing. "I've been practicing the upper registers of my piccolo. Do you want to hear them?" She put the instrument up to her lips.
Ryan groaned. "Fine. I'm up. Go tell Isaac he owes you $5."
"Thanks, Ry!" Annie skipped out of the room, smirking Isaac, who was leaning against the door. He handed her a green bill with a glare not unlike his older brother's.
6:21
The Tiel'sAmy Tiel was too busy debating whether to chuck her alarm clock out the window that she hadn't noticed her little elementary school brother, Timmy, taking the shoelaces out of her DrillMaster's. He sneaked away while Amy was still gazing out the window.
"I hate band," she announced to herself. "Seriously. I hate all the little new freshmen snots already. And I hate being a section leader. I don't want to have to deal with the little bugs' whining and complaining. Hell, I don't want to deal with the upperclassmen's whining and complaining."
"And I don't want do deal with your whining and complaining," Timmy told her.
Amy just glared and rolled out of bed, pulling on her shorts and tank top. She had slipped into both shoes before grumbling, "Hey! Who took my shoelaces?"
6:23
The Blake's
Mark Blake smiled into the phone. He had just hung up with Ryan O'Connell's brothers, Jake and Erik. Jake had promised to do whatever humanly possible to wake up his brother. Blake was confident in all the younger O'Connell's abilities. In fact, he was going to rely on them all season long to keep his drum major in check.
6:25
The Pahl's"When do we have to be there?" Kristy asked her brother. "I'm nervous."
"I have to be there at 7:15, you have to be there at 7:30," Max informed her. "One of the oh-so-high perks of being a section leader. We get to get there before the rest of you regular people. Except for you, Kris. You get to get there early with me! Isn't that great?"
"Fantastic," Kristy grumbled. "Hey, can we leave early to stop and get some coffee?"
Max shrugged. "Sure. But why are you addicted to that stuff? It's a nasty habit, and it'll stunt your growth."
Kristy laughed at him. "Max, I'm 5'. I think my growth has been stunted far before my love for coffee kicked in."
"True, true," Max agreed, grabbing his crutches off the ground and standing up. "I, on the other hand, am tall. So ha."
"Loser," Kristy told him.
"Do you want me to bring you to go get coffee?"
"I'll shut up," Kristy promised, holding the door open for her brother as he crutched himself down to his car.
"Good," Max smiled, getting himself into the car and checking the mirrors, ignoring the handicapped sign hanging on the rearview mirror.
6:30
The O'Connell's
"I hope you all are happy," Ryan said, pacing in front of the couch holding all four of his younger siblings. "You just successfully managed to piss off your Drum Major. I won't be forgetting this at practice today."
"Sure," Annie teased him. "You can't even remember your own siblings' names. How are you going to remember something that happened when you were still asleep?"
"Hey! I know you guys," Ryan protested.
"Who am I?" Erik asked him with a smile.
Ryan looked from Erik to his identical brother, Isaac. Erik was wearing Isaac's trademark beat up old hat, and Isaac was decked out in Erik's standard khaki shorts. "That's easy," he informed Erik. "You're Isaac."
"Wrong!" Jake chimed in. "Good job. You can't even tell them apart. And you call yourself an older brother." He shook his head in pity.
"You, shush," Ryan ordered. "You are just a lowly freshmen. As for you two," he said, turning to Isaac and Erik, "Aren't you two a little old to be playing the switching identities trick? You guys are sophomores."
"But it gets you every time! How could we resist?" Erik grinned, handing his twin his hat.
"Ha ha, real funny," Ryan said, rolling his eyes. "Real nice. But, seriously, guys. Please don't make this season hard on me. This is my first year as a Drum Major, and I don't want my four little siblings ruining it for me. Please. Now, you have a little less then half an hour to get ready, because you are all getting there early with me. Now, go."
"Yes, sir, Mr. Drum Major, sir!" Annie saluted, with Jake following suit.
Ryan glared. "Siblings…"
