Alright! Here's a Henry Danger idea that randomly popped up in my head with marching band, so yeah, hope you like! c:
I drank down the last of my water, sighing in annoyance as I realized there wasn't any water fountain nearby where I could fill it up again.
Great, now I'm going to be all sweaty and hot and have nothing to drink.
I sat up, shifting my neck strap and moving my saxophone in a more comfortable position for myself.
Being the leader of the whole marching band, Dennis called, "Alright, everyone, get in your positions! We're going to do some drills and then do a full run of the show!"
"C'mon Henry, we have to start drills again." My friend, Chris, gave me a nudge.
"I know, I know." I began following him, but then came to a halt as I nearly crashed into Jasper.
"Hey Henry! Are you excited for our first competition?" he asked, nearly bouncing in excitement.
"No," I responded, and then wondered afterwards why that line came out so negative. I guess the heat's just getting to me.
"We still need to work on that last movement. We only have two rehearsals left, and the band's gonna suck if we don't fix up the whole show by then."
Jasper gave me a pat with one of his drumsticks.
"It's okay, Henry, if the whole band isn't good by our first competition, I'll save the show with my secret weapon!"
"For the last time, Jasper, you can't play the bucket!"
My friend pouted childishly. "Well, it should be an instrument." he muttered under his breath.
I chuckled softly. "How you made it into the drumline, I'll never know. I originally thought you would be better off in the Pit."
"Nah, drumline is my thing, not the Pit," Jasper replied. "Besides, I think you'd be a nice addition to the drumline, if you ever decide to switch."
"No thanks," I shook my head. "Tenor sax will always be my number one instrument."
"Henry!" Chris' sharp growl made me turn around to see my fellow band member frantically waving me over.
"We're almost going to start! Everyone's just getting into their positions. Save your chit-chat for later!" he shouted.
"Gotta go!" I quickly told Jasper before jogging over to Chris.
"Alright, alright, I'm here. You may be section leader for the saxophones, but there's no need to start bossing me around like my parents." I said with slight amusement.
Chris rolled his eyes and then sighed.
"Sorry, but I need all us woodwinds to be where their supposed to be. I really want to win first place for this competition, or at least get a really good score, and that means practice has to be just as good."
"I understand." I mumbled.
"And with Jason injured and not being able to march, I'm the only baritone sax right now," Chris flashed me a silly grin. "You know I don't do well under pressure."
"Heh, yeah..."
I felt a hand on my shoulder and spun around to see Ray standing beside me, slurping down a smoothie.
Ray sometimes came by when there was no trouble or crime to stop and joined the other people on the bleachers to watch me and Charlotte's practice.
"Hey, kid..."
He was about to say more, but my gaze suddenly shifted to a certain girl.
Charlotte stood in her spot a few feet away from me, practicing one of the pieces on her trumpet, which gleamed brightly in the sunlight as she played.
I greatly admired her skills at the trumpet. The clearness of her higher notes, the softness of her tone when they had to play quietly. Who knew my best friend was such a band geek?
I still remembered the day Charlotte told me about it at the Man Cave and practically dragged me into marching band as well. Jasper followed us afterwards. I have to admit, though, I certainly enjoy it.
Most considered Charlotte the best trumpet player in the band and the 9th grade, including myself. I felt a faint blush appear on my cheeks.
I guess I forgot to mention I had been getting quite the crush on her lately. It was kind of awkward considering we've only been good friends for a long time, but I couldn't deny it.
"Henry! Snap out of it!" Ray groaned, snapping his fingers in front of me, jolting me out of my thoughts and back into reality.
"Oh, um, sorry." I stuttered out, forcing myself to turn my gaze away from Charlotte.
Ray gave me a quizzical look, and glanced at me, then proceeding to look at Charlotte before finally looking back at me and putting two and two together.
"Ah, got a little crush on the trumpet girl AKA your best friend, eh?" he chuckled. "I always thought you two as more than friends, ever since you gave up going after all those girls you used to date."
I blushed even more. "Shut up."
"There's no denying it, my friend," Ray joked, messing up my hair.
He then smirked. "I'm so going to tell that sweaty-handed Jasper friend of yours about that after your drills are over!"
"Oh no you don't!" I hissed. "If you do that, then I'll never hear the end of it."
The smug expression still stayed on Ray as the band's drum major, Brittany, called everyone to set.
"Alright! Let's go from the top of the show!" she told them.
Ray winked at me before racing back to the bleachers.
"We'll see how that goes." I mumbled, getting back into my position.
Once we started playing, I silently counted my steps as they went from movement to movement.
When the band reached movement four, I mentally facepalmed as I remembered we hadn't had enough practice on this movement. Great, now watch us all fall apart on this piece.
At least I had already memorized the movement. I continued counting my steps. One two three four...five six seven eight...nine ten eleven twelve-
I suddenly felt something collide into me, hitting me hard on the nose. There was a squeak of, "I'm sorry!" and the band stopped playing.
"Ow..." I glanced up to see Charlotte putting down her trumpet and looking at me with wide eyes.
"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" she yelped, clearly looking embarrassed. "Are you okay?"
I rubbed my nose, wincing when I realized it hurt more than I had expected. But I definitely wasn't going to show it in front of Charlotte.
"I'm alright. You?"
"I'm fine," she replied bluntly, the sympathy melting away as her gaze hardened. "What were you doing out of your position?!"
"I was just going to ask that," Chris said flatly, walking over. "But don't sweat too much about it, you weren't the only one that got out of position. Though I'm rather surprised that you did, Henry, out of all the members."
"I'm sorry," I mumbled, still rubbing my nose. I hadn't even noticed I had missed a few sets. "Guess I just got distracted or something."
Charlotte glanced at me with a strange look but then shrugged. "If you say so."
She gave me a grin before walking back to her position.
I returned it with an awkward wave before turning back to Chris and shooting a dark look at him as I returned to my spot.
We continued practicing for the next hour or so. And thanks to the sun beating down on us in the field, I felt like I was getting fried to a crisp. Good thing I had brought sunscreen.
But it didn't help that I had run out of water, and I didn't want to bother anyone by asking for some. Most of the members were being rather moody anyways. And my nose still hurt.
"Hey, Henry, are you alright?"
Turning around, I saw that Ray had come down from the bleachers and was looking at me.
"Of course I am. Why wouldn't I be?" I replied, puzzled.
Ray suddenly looked a little uneasy. "I dunno...you just seem a little...well, sick." He shook his head. "Never mind."
And since when was he so serious? I gave him a funny look before turning around to see Charlotte walking up to me.
"Dennis finally called us for a break, thank god." she said, grabbing my wrist and tugging me towards the benches.
I followed her over and Charlotte sat down, chugging down her water and running her fingers over her trumpet.
"Yeah, it's really hot outside." I told her, wiping some sweat off my forehead with my shirt.
I saw Jasper in the distance, and he waved a hand and winked at me.
With a groan, I realized that Ray wasn't joking when he said he was going to tell Jasper about my crush on Charlotte. Shee-it.
Jasper padded over, and as he passed me he whispered, "I totally ship it!"
I facepalmed as Ray came up from behind me, giggling like a little girl.
"I don't like you anymore." I muttered to him.
"Oh, lighten up," Ray gave me a pat on the back, and I couldn't help but chuckle.
"Anyways, Schwoz called me over that there's some trouble downtown that needs my help. I'll see you and Charlotte later, alright?"
I nodded, though I was a bit disappointed I couldn't go because of practice. But either way, I had already missed enough marching band practices because of crimes that needed me and Ray.
"Got it!" Me and Charlotte gave him a thumbs up and then I turned back to continue my conversation with her.
"Just watch him screw up everything because he doesn't have you by his side." she teased.
"We'll see about that," I said, and then decided to change the subject.
"So, how do you think the band's going to do next week?"
"I'm hoping we'll do great. The only reason we keep screwing up today is because everyone's so tense. And this heat wave isn't helping at all." she responded, poking at a valve on her trumpet.
She then glanced at me. "You're sweating an awful lot."
Charlotte was right, and I grumbled to myself as I attempted to wipe more sweat off of me. "Isn't everyone?"
"Yes, but..." Charlotte frowned, placing her trumpet on the bench and then getting up. She placed her hand on mine before pulling her grip away.
"Alright, this might sound like an odd question, but how do you feel?"
"Um..." I shifted awkwardly. "Hot, sweaty, and kinda dizzy? My mouth feels really dry too-"
"-Because you're dehydrated." Charlotte cut in. "That's what I thought. I would ask you why you don't have water, but I think it's more important that you go to the nurse right now."
"What?" I blinked. Okay, maybe she did have a point. "Are you sure? I mean..."
And suddenly, the ground lurched beneath me and I yelped and stumbled, tripping over the flag poles that had been left behind by the color guard.
"Henry?" poke poke poke "Why are you on the ground."
"Because the grass was being mean so I decided to attack it."
"Yeah, well I don't think the grass was doing anything to you. Now get back up before people start wondering what happened to you." she nudged me.
I stayed where I was, too embarrassed to move.
"You dented your saxophone." she added dryly.
Remembering that I was nearly on top of my saxophone definitely got me up.
I cursed and scrambled to my feet, ignoring the dizziness that followed. I quickly inspected my instrument, but couldn't find a dent in it.
Glancing up, I saw Charlotte looking at me in amusement.
"That certainly made you get up," she laughed, and then handed me a bottle of water.
"Thanks!" I grabbed the bottle from her and nearly chugged the whole thing down.
I looked around to make sure no one else had seen me trip, and sighed in relief to find out that the rest of the band was being occupied by the new uniforms that were on display.
Rubbing my nose where Charlotte had banged into me earlier, I felt something warm and sticky on my hands. Pulling back my hand, I saw that it was smeared with blood.
"A bloody nose. Lovely." I muttered.
Charlotte tugged at me. "C'mon, I'll go tell Dennis and take you to the nurse before you bleed all over the place."
I groaned, running my free hand through my hair. But then I smiled at her.
"Alright."
"Honestly, Henry, why didn't you just ask someone for some water?" Charlotte was scolding me at the nurse's office.
I was lying down on the bed, but then sat up as I answered her question.
"I didn't think it would affect me that much. Plus, everyone's so moody today that if I did ask someone for a spare water bottle they probably would've ripped my head off."
"Well you could've asked me." she pointed out, but decided not to push any further.
"I know..." I flashed her a sheepish grin.
Charlotte rolled her eyes, but then smiled back and sat down next to me.
"You should really get back to practice," I told her, a bit concerned. Everyone needed the most practice they could get.
"But I'm the best player they got, I don't need to practice much," she said in a cocky tone, grinning at me. "Plus, it's alright, I'll stay here with you."
"That's nice of you." I laughed.
"I know, by the way," she suddenly began. "And hey, I have to admit, I kinda feel the same way."
I choked on the water I had started to drink. "Wait, what?!" I spluttered, turning a bright shade of red.
"Chill out," Charlotte leaned in closer, giving me a pat on the back. "To sound all cheesy, it's just a confession of love."
"What are you talking about?"
"I know you like me," she chuckled. "You've been making it quite obvious lately. And I feel the same way too, you know."
I started at her, unable to speak. She really liked me back. I felt a laugh of relief bubbling up inside me.
"Well that makes my life a lot easier!" I chuckled, finally finding the right words to say. "You know, there was always something special I saw in you, something that wasn't in all those other girls I've dated."
"Thank you." Charlotte was about say more when two figures burst into the room, startling us. And of course they turned out to be Jasper and Ray.
"The ship has sailed! Chenry for the win!" Jasper cheered as he gave Ray a high-five.
"Aren't you supposed to be doing something else?" I asked Ray, trying to imply that he supposedly went to go 'stop a crime'.
"I might've lied. We were kinda spying on you two behind the door." Ray said with a smug expression, and I facepalmed.
"I knew it!" Jasper exclaimed, still all giddy from his discovery.
"Here, let's give them both some time alone before the nurse comes back in." Ray winked at me before exiting the door with Jasper right behind him.
"Remind me to kill Ray when we get to the Man Cave." I muttered.
"Will do," Charlotte replied. "So, are you feeling better now?"
I nodded in response.
"Good, now we can go back onto the field," she said, and her gaze then turned to our instruments that we had left on the chairs.
"...Or maybe we can practice the movements together before going outside?" she smirked a little.
"It's a deal."
I was actually going to write it in 3rd person POV at first, heh. I'm keeping this as a stand alone one-shot but I might continue to write more Henry Danger fics if you guys would like that. Just wanted to see my first try at writing a Henry Danger fanfic, lol. Tell me what you think in the reviews please!
