Marching Band: The Journey [EDITING]

4 - Getaway Beach-end

I love band and all, but the first after school practice is always the worst. Especially when freshman don't listen. It even got on Mr. Austin's nerves because he was on the verge of making everyone apologize as a whole band. So when we ran back a the last drill spot, and ran through it again, Mr. Austin lost it. There was a combination of wrong step-offs, horrible sliding, and crappy attentions. When he told us to get down in position, the field let out an off-pitch groan in protest. I could see the anger lines on his face deepen so I whisper-yelled to all the woodwinds to stop complaining or they would get extra from me. They immediately dropped without another word and did the push-ups without a peep. I glanced over a Em to give her that look of 'we're besties lets have that telepathic moment' only to find her looking at Carson. More like his ass.

After Mr. Austin's outburst, Mr. Bell, our marching band assistant, took over. He was a little more chill and made jokes to cover up the stress of everyone. At the end of practice, everyone gratefully helped with pit and trash since Bell didn't make them do more push-ups. And as I was chilling with Em at the exit to make sure people were helping, we stopped Bell.

"Ay-yo, Bell Pepper!" I called out, making sure to use my nickname for him. Even though he tried to portray a face of hate, I could see the smile tug at his lips and the playful annoyance in his eyes.

"Hello, girls. How did you think practice went?" He asked, stopping to actually talk to us.

"It was fine, Michael." Em said, completely ignoring what he asked since Carson was making his way over. Her eyes became clouded over in adoration. Maybe she was thinking back to when she was looking at his ass when we were doing push-ups.

"Well, I'll see you girls later. I have to go see Austin." Michael asked, walking away with a smile.

"Ladies." Carson says with a smirk, wrapping an arm over Em's shoulders. When I tell you she swooned, she swooned hard.

We made our way inside, and on the way, I glanced over to see football players flooding from the school since they're practice was over too. Out of all of them, I saw Tony talking to Reese and Ethan. It was like he could feel my gaze on him because he turned to look at me. When our gazes met, he smiled his contagious smile. I motioned to the band room before jogging up to follow Carson and a love-sick Em.

-

"I wanna follow where she goes, I think about her and she knows it. I wanna let her take control, 'cause every time that she gets close, yeah." Tony sang out. It wasn't surprising that the captain of the football team, who also accomplished Jazz band as a freshman, and who took and is taking four AP classes through freshman and senior year, that he also has an amazing voice.

I laughed along, letting the air blow my hair back. It was our only free weekend until Thanksgiving so everyone decided to get together to go to the beach. My grandfather was nice and rented a beach house for us all, even though I may have lied to him and told him it was for my sister and I before she went to study abroad. Either way, the whole gang was coming. Carson and Em were tagging along with us. And by tagging along I mean Em fell asleep listening to music and Carson was playing games on his phone. Reese, Ethan, and Phillip followed behind. Phillip texted me earlier saying that he would rather ride back in the bed of Tony's truck then with them again. I was kind of pitying Phillip since he had to sit in a car with horny AF football players.

We finally turned onto the beach road. Our house was to the left, right on the beach. The sun, that was already slowly sinking, sent beautiful rays over the sky. When we pulled into the long driveway, everyone climbed out to look up at our house for the long weekend. Luckily, our free weekend was a four day one.

The house was beautiful itself, even minus the setting sun and relaxing beach. Under the three-story building was a shower to rinse off from the sandy beach and enough room for parking for four cars. Just after the wooden steps on the outside to the porch was a lower level with a game room. It was decorated with futons and to many gaming systems to count. Once you go up the staircase on the inside, your welcomed by the entryway with tiled floors. It led to carpeted floor for the rest of the floor. There were three bedrooms on this floor, one with a set of bunk-beds. Reese and Ethan pushed Phillip into the one with bunk-beds before diving for their own rooms. Reese and Ethan's rooms shared a bathroom in between and Phillip had his own. Thankfully the washing unit was on this floor.

The next floor up was still carpet, also still three bedrooms. On this floor, they each had a king sized bed and it's own en-suite bathroom. Since it was my grandfather who rented it for the weekend, it was decided I would get the master bedroom with the walk-in closet. Tony was rooming with me while Em and Carson split. If her dad found out she slept in the same bed as the male species, he would flip. Then the top floor was the main one. There were so many windows allowing light to cover every inch of the floor. A deck stuck out from the living room with a sliding door and the kitchen with a regular door. It was all hardwood, sending chills when my bare feet hit it. There was a little birch table tucked away in the corner with matching chairs. What helped the most was there was a guest bathroom tucked away in the far corner on the opposite side of the kitchen's bar.

Since it was late and no one had eaten, we decided to go out for dinner. Everyone dipped to their own rooms to get ready. Tony got dressed in khaki shorts and a light blue dress shirt. He looked sexy AF because he had some stubble growing. I just slipped into some high-waisted, light washed, ripped jeans; a white tank-top tucked in with Tony's sweatshirt on top. When we met with everyone else down by the cars, I was surprised to see the guys made an effort. Reese and Ethan were sporting the same style as Tony except Ethan had a navy blue shirt and Reese had a light green shirt. Phillip was in his usual jeans and a blue flannel on top. Carson was in maroon skinny jeans and a dark gray dress shirt. Em was admiring him from her spot under his arm. She was looking cute in black leggings and a long maroon sweater.

We all climbed into our designated vehicles before taking off to the restaurant. I had called ahead earlier to get us a reservation since they're usually packed. When we arrived, we were instantly led to our table and given our menus. Em and I started nibbling on the little biscuits they give you since we didn't really have lunch. The staff was quick to come get our orders for both food and drink. I was surprised that they delivered that fast. Once the hot, steamy food arrived, everyone shut up to eat up.

-

After dinner, we all went back to the house. Carson dragged a sleepy Em down the street to an ice cream parlor. Phillip crashed in his room. Reese and Ethan decided to check out the game room. Tony pulled me onto the beach for a walk. He was gentleman enough to hold my shoes along with his. Before we got close to the water, I pulled up my jeans to mid-shin. The sun was low and the mood was right. I already knew where this night would end. With me in his arms.

In bed.

~~~

Hey girls and guys!

I am so thankful for all my readers. I hope you will stay with me through my journey. You guys mean the world to me because have all been loyal so far. There are so many more things to say but I wish to not cry at 8 in the morning, so I'm going to wrap this up.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and if so, don't forget to VOTE and COMMENT! Add this book to a reading list because you know you want to be updated when I update... :)

~Lotus