Reconnect: The Story of an old flame

Part 15: On the first day...

August 2002

"You look annoyed." Gaby said as she watched me brush out my hair. I sighed and shrugged as I smoothed it back into a ponytail. 

"It's crowded." I muttered. The girl's restroom in the band hall was always crowded at this hour- girls running around trying to look decent before going to class. It's a hard life- the band life. We wake up early, go to marching practice which lasts hours... then we have to get dressed and go from gross and sweaty to presentable in 40 minutes before our next class starts. At that very moment, the other girls were shoving us around as they tried to get their turn at the mirror. 

"Sure but that's not what I meant." Gaby said with a smile as she leaned against the counter, only to get pushed around a bit. 

"Maybe we'll talk outside? I'm almost done." I said, washing my face. I'd already gone through an extensive sweat removal process that included a bag of wipes but in my life I've become a real slave to an absolutely clean face. 

When eventually I managed to escape the jungle, I found myself face to face with Gaby who followed me all the way to the drum room. 

"So? Why the long face?" She asked. I didn't turn, instead I handed my gym bag to Amy who shoved it into our cubby with hers before tossing my bag pack at me. The drumroom wasn't nearly as crowded and I wished we could just be boys and change in there with the guys.  The drummers had it so lucky, there was only a few of them and since they had this room, they didn't have to worry about the boy's room. 

"So what?" I asked, sitting just outside the drumroom and arranging my books. I pulled out what I needed and looked up, glancing around. 

"Why are you so annoyed?" Amy asked, joining into the conversation. 

"other than the crowd?"I asked. 

"You dealt with them during band camp." Amy suggested.

"Yes but I wasn't in a hurry to get to class then. The bell is going to ring in less than 10 minutes." I said, still staring forward. 

"And you're ready with time to spare." Gaby said. 

"What's going on?" 

We looked up. It was Patty- always with a big bright smile. 

"Sara's in a bad mood." Amy said, tying her shoe laces. 

"I'm not." I said, doing the same

"I know why." Patty said, making us look up. 

"Oh yeah, why?" I challenged with a raised brow. 

"Because of her... right?" Patty said, pointing to Carol. I stared over for a second. Carol, second chair clarinet player and assistant drum major. We'd known each other since we were like 6 and there always seemed to exist some unspoken rivalry in which she always bested me. Sure- she was smart, hard working, beautiful and social- but what did she have that I didn't have? And since when did I care?

"I haven't liked her since I was 6 but that's never put me in a bad mood before." I said simply.

"Well, you've been making faces all morning when you look at her. It didn't take me long to realize you two aren't exactly friends." Patty said. "She is a little snobby." 

"Yeah." I muttered. 

Amy stared at me for a second. She'd always known I didn't like Carol, or Connie, or any of the other clarinet players but she'd never known me to stare for so long. I watched for a second as Carol and Connie both stood talking to Jake, who was laughing at almost everything they said. During band camp, everyone had been so wrapped up in what they were doing, that I didn't notice Carol and he had become close. Was she the next girl on his endless list? I smiled for a second thinking of Jake and his casanova like fame but quickly frowned when I saw Carol playfully shove him.