Note: Love you all, for your responses. Just liked to say that. I think that covers it.

Another Note: If I screw anything up on the topic of instruments, please don't blame me; The last time I played an instrument, I was in elementary school (it was the flute, if you were curious, and the violin before that; neither lasted for more than a year). I just swing that flags. So I'm going to focus on that.

Chapter Five: Day One A.K.A. The Nightmare

You know that dream? The one that everyone has at least once. The one where you go to school fully clothed, walk into class, and suddenly, BAM! You're naked. And everyone stares. And laughs. And you just can't move. You just stand there-naked-and let everyone laugh at you until you wake up.

That was what the first day of band camp was like. Except, there was was only a little laughing. Usually behind my back.

I got to the Middle School on time, about ten minutes early, and parked. I then sat in my car, steaming, for about five more minutes, debating turning around and just speeding back home, playing sick. But, after being in the same marching band for the last two years from my old school, it set me with a deep dense of pride, so eventually, I got out of the car, grabbing a bag that held a bottle of cold water and my lunch, and walked up to the building. I pushed open the door...

And was met by sudden silence.

Most of the band was there, and looked like they had all been talking, but had now stopped, glancing over at me, standing in the doorway, while I felt myself burn up like a stack of hay. It was only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity.

"Hey, something up? You've gone tin man in the rain." I swear to the lord, that was the first time in the last few days that I was glad to here that voice. The moment Anali had walked in behind me, everyone else seemed to stop staring, going back to their own conversations. I could have kissed her...well, hugged her at least. I think kissing is a bit over the edge.

"Oh, hey..." I said, letting out a breath as I walked in after her. She tossed her denim purse on the ground a bit ungracefully, a few pieces of trash fluttering out, which she shoved back in. "Pretty glad to see you," I admitted, which got a grin out of her.

"I guess I'm your only ally here, huh?" She said, chuckling a little.

"You could say that..." I mumbled, when Anali went over to greet three other girls, who were talking amongst themselves. One girl was a little chubby, but in a way that was extremely cute, with brown hair tied in a ponytail, and a sweet smile, who greeted Anali immediately. The second was a bit taller than Anali, with tied back blonde hair, wearing shorts and a volunteer's t-shirt, who was talking to the first girl. The last girl seemed to fit with the rest of the girls, with a naturally joking face, wearing a pair of black shorts with purple stains on them, and a band t-shirt, joking with the others. Immediately, I guessed that they were also members of the color guard.

"So, that's him?" The girl in the band t-shirt suddenly said, making me jump.

"Yup. Hey Mark, get over here," Anali called, waving me over. I walked over, feeling that naked-dream feeling again as all three of them stared at me, while I moved next to Anali like a lost puppy that just got found in a crowd. Yeah, you can laugh at me, but I did. "Ok, so this is Ally, Kate, and Jessie," Anali said, going in order around the circle, from the cute chubby girl, to the blonde, to the band-t girl.

"Oh, hey!" Said Ally, smiling broadly.

"Hi," Kate said, raising a hand in greeting.

"What's up?" Jessie said, nodding simply. "So, I'm guessing that you've done this before?"

"Done what?" I asked, afraid of what was coming.

"Color guard, duh. I mean, a guy isn't suddenly just gonna come in and sign up for a mostly girl thing unless he's done it before."

Shit. I still hadn't figured out my answer for this. I just kind of stood there, feeling the blood rush to my cheeks, while I gaped for an answer like a fish flopping around on land. "Uh...uhm, well, I...uhm..."

"I don't think it matters," Anali suddenly cut in, and I got the hugging impulse again. I would need to thank her later for saving my ass all these times during the day.

"Just curious..." Jessie said, when suddenly, the band director walked to the front of the room, gathering everyone's attention.

"Alright, everyone, welcome to the first day of Band Camp." There were a few cheers in response to this, which were quickly silenced. Mr. Trenson then went on to describe what was going to happen during band camp, how things were run, who was in charge of what, times for meals, and what not. He then announced that we were going into sectionals, and I almost walked off with the drumline to one of the rooms, before Anali grabbing my arm and pulled me towards the gym.

"Thanks..." I said, rubbing the back of my neck while Anali just rolled her eyes.

"Don't thank me, just remember next time," She said, shoving a flag into my hand suddenly and walking into the gym.

--- --- --- --- ---

I never thought what the Guard had to do was really that hard. Spin a flag around, throw it up a few times, avoid the band members doing the real work-well, what I had considered the real work. But jeez...was I ever wrong.

I thought it would be ok. The only Guard member I didn't really like was a heavier girl named Genie with a bad attitude, constantly complaining about what had to be done, on her cell the rest of the time. The rest of the girls were pretty cool. There was Diane, a taller blonde girl who seemed a bit absent-minded, but pretty together, then Lina, a calm, collected girl, who, like Diane and Genie, was a senior, though seemed pretty together for her age. There were two other members I hadn't met, Natalie and Hailey. Natalie was another senior, though she was a bit short, with long dark hair and delicate face, while Hailey was a junior, with dirty blonde hair and a smart air around here.

And then there was the coach, Frankie. She was pretty cool, compared to what I was expecting, and the girls who had been there last year-Diane, Lina, Genie, Natalie, and Anali-all spoke familiarly with her, and she did the same with them.

And then came the actual work.

While going step by step made it easier, I had no idea how to maneuver the six foot...thing. I believe I hit myself in every inch of my body, and dropped it even more than the other girls, when they weren't even dropping it; and they were dropping it plenty. If I hadn't felt like a moron before, then I did now.

"Mark, what's going on? Seriously, relax, you're too stiff," Frankie said, shaking her head a little, before going to help another girl. I let out a sigh, going back to the ridiculous firt pose-left foot pointing out, left hand doing the same, flag up-lowering the flag as Frankie had showed, spinning it up and turning it, tilting my hand awkwardly, suposing to spin it over that hand, which I actually pulled off this time, but when I turned around, my flag came into contact with another's-Natalie's.

"Oh, sorry..."

"It's fine, just watch out next time," She said, continuing going over the routine as if it were nothing.

After a while, Frankie had leave for her other job, and we went outside to mark drill spots, which was a relief to me; finally, something that wasn't that dangerous. If only the weather was better.

It wasn't hot out, even though it was late August, and there were clouds rolling in, but it was heavy and humid, and I was sweating after only a few minutes outside. It was only after drill number eight that I saw that I wasn't the only one being affected by the weather.

Anali's eyes were blocked by square framed sunglasses, her face shadowed slightly by a camo hat, but she looked strained and tired after only this short amount of time. She looked like this up until lunch time, which lasted forty-five minutes, but during that, she spent around fifteen minutes eating, then more or less passed out, falling asleep on her purse for the remaining half an hour, her eyes fluttering open every few minutes to check the time, then falling asleep again.

We went back out to do more drill, and she just got worse. It really didn't surprise me when the other band director, Mrs. Bentress, suggested she got home early. I didn't blame her either.

It did surprise me when I saw her back after the dinner break, freshly showered and rested, talking with one of the clarinet players, a small girl with fluffy brown hair and a thin face.

"Hey," I said, walking up to her as the clarinet player walked off to talk to someone else, Anali turning to face me. She still looked tired, but better than before.

"Oh, hey."

"How're you feeling?"

She shrugged, giving a small smile. "Better. I slept, ate, felt better. No biggie."

"You should drink more. You probably got dehydrated," I said, unusually concerned. Probably because she'd been looking out for me all day, I wanted to make sure she was ok now.

"It's fine. I'm fine. Don't worry so much. Worry more about how you're doing," She said, a wry smile on her face. "I saw you spazzing with the flag. You should bring one home tonight, practice."

I chuckled a little, rubbing the back of my head. "I can't help it; It's-"

"Harder than it looks?" Suddenly, the look on her face was the best thing I'd seen all day. Her smile was genuine, bordering on a slight smirk, as she pushed a wet strand of hair from her eyes. I felt like I should blush or something, then suddenly wondered why I was becoming a girl just by looking at her. She then shrugged, patting me on the arm. "Told you so."

She then walked away, making me wonder what the hell was going on, and why suddenly I felt like this, and it hit me:

God damnit, I was starting to like her.

And I thought that morning things weren't going to get worse. Boy was I wrong.

Ok, chapter five! It is there! Reply to it! R&R!