The Magic Inside

I'm With the Band

A/N: Those lovely instruments up there are ALL MINE!!! They are my babies. And yes, I am aware that the violin is missing the G string. I blame Guitar Center. You see before you Samantha the French horn, Christy the flute, and Coral the violin. I also have Remi the ukulele, Vale the violin, Melody the mellophone was adopted for about 5 months, and that is probably it. Also, this one is pretty lengthy compared to my other chapters, so get comfy, grab a mug of hot chocolate, and get ready. Also, me updating this(finally) is my Christmas present to all of you. Merry Christmas.

A week had gone by, and nothing else interesting happened. I decided that as an extra class, I would be taking Band. My first band class was that day, and I was going to be tested on what instrument I would play. I waved goodbye to Scorch and Jade, and Cocoa was coming with me. She was joining the band, too, and she already played clarinet. She held it in her hand as we walked down the winding path through the mountains that led to the band hall. It was much higher up on the mountain, and there was just a small path that led through a bit of forest to get there. We hiked the beautiful trail, making our way up the mountain. The sunlight filtered through the trees, which bathed everything in a golden light. Birds flew around in the canopy, singing their little songs to each other. One cardinal sat on a log near the path, regarded us for a moment, then flew away to sing some more. When we emerged from the forest, we saw the band hall.

The band hall was a quaint little cabin that looked as if it had merged with the mountain. Ivy creeped along the wooden walls, the stained glass windows shone in the afternoon light, and a small waterfall ran a river in front with a little wooden bridge completed the picturesque scene. It looked exactly like a cabin in the mountains should. Cocoa brought me inside, and we ran over the bridge together. Cocoa flung the door open, and, if possible, I was even more baffled by the inside than the outside. There was a glass chandelier, hanging over a small table. On the table was an assortment of musical instruments, and I recognized a few, while others I had never seen before. There was a flute, a clarinet like Cocoa's, a saxophone, trumpet, a French Horn, a tuba, something that looked like a baby tuba, and a trombone. There was also a whole plethora of percussion instruments, and a cello and a violin. The light in the room was all different colors thanks to the stained glass windows, and there was a large stairway leading to a second floor. The atmosphere in the room was bright and friendly, and an older man, probably around his late forties, walked down the steps. He waved, a big smile on his face, "Hello, Cocoa! Who is this?"

"Hello, Mr. Findley!" Cocoa answered, "This is Amber. She wants to join our band this year."

"Wonderful!" Mr. Findley came over and shook my hand. He had a slightly pudgy build, a smiling face, and black hair that had a few visible gray streaks. He was a few inches taller than I was, and he gave me a huge smile, "Hello, Amber! I'm Mr. Findley, the band director here. We're glad to have you."

"Thanks," I replied, "It's great to be here."

Then came the flood of band questions, "Were you in your school band? Can you play an instrument? Do you know what you want to play? Do you have a preference? Do you have an instrument that you definitely don't want to play?" All of which, the answer was no. I had no idea what I was doing. I had no idea what the difference was between the instruments, and no, I could not play Concerto Number 5 for piano by Beethoven(that wasn't a question, but I'm sure it would've been eventually.) Anyways, during roughly the next 20 minutes, the rest of the band kids filed into the door and introduced themselves. I met a lot of really cool people. First was Adrienne, the drum major, who was a tall skinny girl who must've been at least 16. She had almost snowy white hair and blue eyes. She wore her hair in a long braid over her shoulder. Now that I think about it, picture Elsa, but with basketball shorts and a blue tank top, and that's what Adrienne looked like. Next came Fiona, a cocky brunette with a short stature but a tall attitude who was the flute section leader, and wasn't about to let you forget it. Then was Damian, a tan blonde with cobalt blue eyes and a sickly sweet smile. He was the trumpet section leader. After Damian, a large group came in, none of which stepped forward to introduce themselves; there were at least 10 in the group. After that was Moana, a petite and very polite girl with chestnut brown hair with eyes to match, and she was also the French horn section leader. She was with her friend Joan, who also played French horn. Lastly was Meghan, who everybody called Taco for some reason, who was the clarinet section leader. There had been a few small groups that didn't introduce themselves, and when all was said and done, there had been about 50 people that I had seen walk in the doors. Cocoa went up the stairs, and I went to follow her, but a firm but gentle hand was on my shoulder, pulling me back. When I turned around, I saw Moana.

"Hello Amber," she said in a silvery voice, "Mr. Findley wants me to help you choose what instrument you'll play. Is that alright?"

"That's great!" I replied, "So," I glanced over to the table of instruments, "So I can play one of those?"

"Yeah," Moana smiled, "Are you ready?"

"Of course," I responded, "Always."

"So," Moana walked over the table, "There are four kinds of instruments we play here. There are brass, woodwind, strings, and percussion. In brass, there's trumpet, French horn, trombone, baritone, and tuba. In woodwind, there's flute, clarinet, multiple types of saxophones, bassoon, and oboe. In the string family is violin, viola, cello, and bass. Lastly, in percussion, there's snare, bass, marimba, accessories, and so many things I don't even know the name of. Do you know where you want to start?"

"Well," I said, "I've always wanted to play violin."

"Great," Moana gently picked up the violin and showed me how to hold it and move the bow. She handed it to me and when I moved the bow, a loud shriek followed. She took it back, "Maybe not," and gave me another string instrument, but much larger, "Cello," she told me, "Like this," and proceeded to play a little tune. She gave the bow to me, and I made an okay noise that still sounded a bit like a dying cat. She clapped, "Great job," and put it back on its stand. She turned to me, "Well, now what do you want to try?"

"Maybe a brass instrument?" I said indecisively.

We repeated the process, and I made okay sounds on all the brass instruments except tuba, which Moana told me sounded weak and airy. We tried again for woodwind, and the only one I could really play was flute, then percussion, and I was okay at that. After we were done, Moana said to me, "Now you can pick which you want to play. You can change your choice if you end up not liking it, and you can learn how to play them all eventually if you want, but pick just your favorite for now."

"Alright," I said, "No pressure," I told myself. Which did I like? I wasn't sure. I had figured that the band director would just hand me an instrument, but no, I had to pick which one I liked the best. I didn't like making choices all that much.

"It's alright if you don't know immediately," Moana reassured me, "Class is almost over, so you can think about it overnight and tell us tomorrow if you like."

I nodded, "I'll do that if you don't mind."

"Alright," Moana said, "Would you like to go for a walk? Mr. Findley won't mind."

"Sure," I replied. She led me out of the band hall, and we disappeared into the woods.

A/N: Did you like it? Anyway, I ran into a dilemma when I finally overcame writers block and started writing this. I need more characters. So, if you want an OC of yours in here, please fill this out. 

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Thanks guys!!! Have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!