"Shit." Dale said, as he sat in the seat beside me. I was riding on bus one, the bus that most upperclassmen rode on. The only reason I was, well, mainly because of David and Dale. We were on the buses, heading to Miller's Mill, where we will be holding band camp. Room assignments have already been called. I didn't know who I was with yet.
"What's going on?" I asked. I had to stop being shy around him so I could get use to having him as my teacher. Dale sighed deeply as he rubbed his head.
"My fucking ex...Jamie." He muttered, as he pointed towards the front of the bus. I looked over to see a extremely gorgeous girl with long blonde hair, smiling as she sat beside a lanky brown hair boy, who was wearing a green t-shirt that said: "Cavaliers".
"What about her?" I asked, not taking my eyes off the beautiful girl. Dale noticed how attentive I was on studying her, and smirked a bit, pulling me back down in my seat.
"She broke up with me last season, after it. I was heartbroken, and now she's openly flirting with Alex, my best friend." Dale explained, looking down a bit. He then shook his head. "By the way," He immediately changed the subject. "You're gonna have to hold a tradition up."
"What would that be?" I asked, and Dale patted my head.
"Being a hot tenor player for the ladies. We tenor players...well, most of us, are known for being extremely good to the ladies. I was voted most dateable freshman my freshman year." Dale had a arrogant smile on his face, and something told me that was gonna be the worst thing with him.
"Most dateable freshman? What the hell?" I asked, a bit confused.
"It's something every girl in this band does. Even the freshman, they get in a group at band camp and vote on which freshman it is. The guard also have something called the 'List'. They put the names of the hottest guys in band on their white t-shirts one week in band camp." Dale explained, suddenly, a very attractive girl came out of no where, smiling. She had long brown hair, black framed glasses, and a very white smile. She was wearing shorts and a white t-shirt.
"Mmhm, and Dale is gonna make the list again this year...and I think this cutie is going to as well." She said, smiling sweetly at me. Dale smirked, giving me a nudge.
"This is Zane, he's my tenor amigo. Zane, this is Cassie. She's a sophomore in the guard." I muttered a hello to her, and her smile widened.
"Awwwwww we got a little cute shy tenor player! That's what we always wanted!" She exclaimed, and I felt extremely embarrassed, looking down, my hair covering my face. "But then again...David is probably going to corrupt him. Like he corrupted every cute guy there is."
David overheard this, and turned around, smiling. "Whatever bitch, if we let you have him you'd probably make him another one of your slaves by offering a little something something in return for a good time, which you'd never give him."
"I'm not a WHORE David!!" Cassie said, kicking at him, when David snorted.
"I never called you a whore, I just called you a seducing bitch."
Dale and I laughed, as Cassie started attacking David. After awhile, Dale pulled out a binder, which I could tell was the sheet music. He handed it to me, and asked: "Can you read?" I nodded, and he pulled out a pair of sticks. He gave them to me. They were a strange kind of stick, I never seen it before.
"Those are Ralph Hardimon sticks. These sticks were given to me by my tenor teacher and my older tenor amigo, Sean Miller. The greatest tenor player in this state. He marched in Santa Clara Vanguard, a drum corp known for it's drumline and he got these." Dale said, letting me study them. There were a list of names on the sticks, written in tiny black letters. "Those are names of former tenor players at this school. These sticks has been around for about fiveteen years, never broken. They can only be used at your final show, your final year."
He then swiped them from my hands, smirking. "This year is my last. And I get to play my last show with these."
"Thats awesome. What's Santa Clara Vanguard again?" I asked, confused. Dale blinked, then took out his Ipod, and he put one earphone in my ear. He then started a song, which was horns blowing. I jumped at the loudness, and the sudden chord hit by the brass.
"This is the Santa Clara Vanguard. The show is called Phantom of the Opera."
I was indulged into the noise of drums playing, brass playing loud chords, and it sent shivers up my spine. Dale noticed my love for the sound, but he removed the earphones from me. He smirked as I looked at him in confusion.
"Tyler will show you the actual show once we meet him at band camp. Tyler marched in Phantom Reginment the same year as this show. Pretty much all our instructors were in a drum corp before."
"Really?"
"Yep. Tyler, our battery caption head, marched Blue Devils from 1985-1989. He was center snare those years, he is a beast at the snare drum. Our bass tech, Art Ellison, marched with Glassmen, a drum corp in Ohio. He mostly played third bass, then switched to second during his last two seasons. Our snare tech, Stewart Youngblood, marched with the Cavaliers from 2003-2005. He was on the inside, but still, that's a pretty good spot." Dale explained, while I still a tad confused on who these corps were.
"You'll hear more about drum corps when you come to band camp. Tyler will explain it to you and Storm. Storm knows only one drum corp called the Blue Devils, but the only reason why is because I'm going out for them." Dale said, laying back in his seat.
"Why not the Santa Clara Vanguard?" I asked, and Dale shrugged.
"The Santa Clara Vanguard isn't for me. I'm sure I could make it, but they haven't been doing well these last couple of years. Though, Ballet for Martha's drum break is amazing."
"Yea, I'm going for Phantom Regiment." David said, overhearing our conversation. "I know Alex is going for Cavaies."
"Blue Devils all the way..." Dale said, and I smirked.
"I'd love to go for one, after high school, it sounds fun." I said, smiling as Dale shrugged.
"Maybe. You are the third tenor player in a while to be able to march them for all four years, that is, if you stay. Hell maybe you can go to a corp in the middle of it. You are a pretty good drummer already." Dale explained, smiling as he patted my head. "We just gotta cut this mess off." He rubbed my hair, messing it up as I glared at him.
"Zane!" I looked up to see Cassie, smiling as she handed me her phone. "Put your number in!" I blinked, but did it anyway, as Dale shook his head. I could tell he was thinking that I fell under her spell. I really didn't, I just was being a kind person.
Hours later, we arrived at our destination, the Miller's Mill. It was a pretty big camp, and I was one of the freshmen that was shocked by it. The field was so clean and well-kept, while there were various housing places on the camp. Dale smiled as he pointed to the big one in the back.
"That's where we are staying. You, David, Richie, Storm, Woody, and me. We're gonna have some fun." He explained, while I looked at him with a confused look.
"How do you know we are gonna be in the same room?" I asked.
"David, Woody, and I signed you guys up. We like ya."
We got off the buses, being informed by L that our luggage and equipment was being taken care of by the band parents. "Now, we have to go over a couple of rules before you all are dismissed to go to your instructors."
L looked at us, and held up his hand, I then realized that one of his fingers were a nub. I didn't ask any questions. He held up his nubby finger.
"Number one. NO. PURPLING. Especially between the Guard and the Drumline. Mostly, from the tenor players."
Everyone looked at Dale and I, Dale having a smirk on his face. I just blinked, pretty confused about what was going on. Then the memory of Dale explaining to me how tenor players were known for being well with the ladies.
"Number Two, Seniors, treat the others as they would treat you. Sure, you get more privileges, but that will not tolerate any hostile attitude or abuse of power." The seniors groaned at this, Dale didn't say a word.
"Number Three, section leaders, keep your section under your control, and thats right, I'm talking to you, Dale." Everyone looked at Dale again, who just had his arms crossed. "I really, really, do not want to do what had to be done your sophomore year."
Dale's eyes widened at that comment, and he nodded quickly. The other seniors and juniors on our line quickly nodded too. I didn't understand what happened, again, I didn't ask questions.
"Number Four. Do not play on each others equipment. Especially, on the drums. We all know how protective of them they are, especially the snares." All the snares nodded, especially, Richie, who, I saw, had a picture of his snare on his phone.
"Number Five, the big one. Have fun. Feel the music as you play, and remember. We are the Redskin band....now....ONE TWO THREE!" He yelled the numbers out so loud, then a response from the band, except me, came out.
"REDSKIN PRIDE!"
"Winds and Brass, go to the lunchroom, Pit go to the auditorium. Battery, go to the tree. Dismissed." L said, as the groups of people ran to their sections. I sat there, blinking, curious about how this 'Redskin Pride' thing.
"Zane, stop standing there."
I quickly turned around to see Richie and Dale, who both were waiting for me. I quickly caught up to them, and we began to walk to this huge tree.
Once we arrived, a stubby man was sitting there with sticks, pacing. He had short, spikey black hair, and a pair of glasses with a devil's goatee. He had this intense look on his face, and he was a tad overweight. He wore a shirt with a tornado on it, saying: "Whirlwind Festival 2004", and a pair of basketball shorts with sandals. Near him, in our arc, was our drums. He stopped when he saw us, and he looked, pretty pissed.
"Where, the hell, have you all been? I've been waiting here for ten minutes." He said, and Dale shrugged.
"L held us back. Giving us the normal rules and such." Dale explained, and the man sighed deeply.
"I see, can't just do it after I see my line. Ahh, Storm, nice to see you back. Thought I ran you away." He said, and Storm laughed.
"No way Tyler, this is what I love to do." He said, smiling as he stood near his drum.
So that's Tyler. I thought, as I looked at the man. He seemed, nice, but really strict. Tyler then looked over at me.
"So you must be Zane..." He said, and I nodded quickly. He then studied me with full attention, and then smirked.
"You seem to have the capabilities of a drummer..." He said, smiling, then he looked at the line.
"Get your drums on, now. We are going to warm up! Eights, quickly now!" We all ran to our drums, and put them on. I had help from Dale, who laughed as I attempted to put them on. When we were ready and set, Tyler looked at Richie, who tapped us off.
We went straight through the exercise, luckily, none of us screwing up, especially Dale and I. Tyler was watching me, making sure that I didn't screw up under pressure.
After the exercise was done, Tyler kept his eyes on my hands. "Flow-Diddles."
We began the paradiddle exercise, I went through it ok, I wasn't very good at paradiddles. Dale was a beast, barely even trying. After it was done, Tyler kept watching my hands.
"Higga-Digga Bird."
We began our roll exercise, and I played. Tyler watched my hands, then looked up, then his eyes widened a little. Probably cause this whole time, I kept my eyes on him. After it was done, Tyler stopped us, making us go in set.
"Zane I gotta tell you, you learn really quick. Your paradiddles are a bit off, your pinky comes off during rolling, but I can tell, you're going to be one HELL of a tenor player."
"He's got what it takes." Dale said, smirking. "Hell, he'll deff beat Storm out for center next year."
I then looked over to see Storm, who just looked at me, then looked away. I was confused, but didn't ask any questions, as I usually wouldn't.
"Well guys, we seem to have a amazing line. We are deff going to run 2-3-4 this year."
"Yea, but Codes is a gay show to do." Catie said, and David shrugged.
"Sounds pretty cool...do you have a good feature written?"
That question made Tyler smile, and he pulled out a bunch of sheet music, handing it to each one of us. When Dale and I got ours, it said the title on the top.
EUREKA! Codes percussion feature.
Written: Ludwig Van Beethoven
Arranged and Drumline Parts written by: Tyler Martin
"Beethoven? What the hell Tyler?" Woody asked, just blinking.
"The show itself incorporates Beethoven, but it left out Fur Elise, which is what the Pit will be playing...at 180."
"What the HELL?! 180? Highest drum feature tempo we ever did was 165!" Dale said, pretty shocked.
"Yea, but you all will enjoy this feature, since it's a major difference from our former ones." Tyler explained, smiling as he pointed to the music.
"Snares, you will have a part after measure 144, which, originally was a big roll from the snares and tenors to singular solos for all of you, where you all run up to a tom rack with three toms where you beat on and play the part with the snare." Tyler explained, and I looked at the music.
"So thats why it's blank?" I asked, and Tyler nodded.
"Yea, you and Dale will have the choice of writing the solos or having Sean and Danny writing them." Tyler explained, and Dale jumped up.
"Oh shit, Sean and Danny are coming?!" He said, and Tyler nodded. "They will be your instructors and tenor techs. I'm sure they both can help Zane here to get along."
"Who's Danny?"
"The best damn tenor player in the Tri-State and the east coast. He marched Santa Clara with Sean as the center." Dale explained, and I was pretty surprised.
"Yea it took me awhile to get him and Sean convinced, but when he heard that instead of one tenor player like last year that you are getting a new flesh and blood they are both interested." Tyler said, and smirked. "Who knows, maybe he'll be as good as you and Sean."
Dale made a arrogant smirk. "Sure, and pigs will fly."
I was slightly hurt by that statement, but I didn't let it get to me. I just had to prove him wrong.
"Anyway," Tyler began, pointing at the clock. "all the others will be here tomorrow. Right now, for the next two hours while L and his little precious band gets time to warm up and eat, you all get to work. Two hours, learning up to measure 102 and learning the drill." Tyler explained, and we all moaned, except me. I just kinda stood there.
"Don't start. Now, get in set, and look at your music." He gave us all stands which were behind him, and we set our music there. "180, tap off Richie."
Richie tapped, and we all began to read our music and play. I was unaware that the beginning of a tough day was about to start.