This One Time At Band Camp

Chapter 16

My first ever football game was home, which meant we were at Becker's field. I had never been there before so I was shocked to find out how huge it was. Like damn. Most high schools just have a field and some bleachers. This place had a turf field that was marker for football and soccer. It had thousands of seats. It had press boxes and speakers. Huge lights were there to flood the place.

I felt like a v.i.p. because the band even had their own area of the bleachers dedicated to them. Like damn.

I ended up sitting next to Noah since we're a section now and , as he puts it, the only family we got. The clarinets were sat behind us, so Julia was nearby. Since I had left, she had befriended a couple other clarinets in which she sat by. One was named Sally, a junior, and the other was a very flamboyant black sophomore named Harry.

I quickly found out that Harry was gay. It didn't bother me. He was really nice and funny. He had an opinion about everything and everyone. He was quite sassy. I could tell why Julia liked him.

Before the pregame show, the football team had come out to warmup. Harry and Sally quickly instructed us in a clarinet ritual.

Harry was smacking Sally's arm. "Oooo. Look at the butt on that one! I'm giving him an 8!"

Noah next to me just rolled his eyes. "Do you guys have to do this?"

"Yes," Harry and Sally in unison.

"Mmm mmmm. Julia, look at that one over there. Looks pretty firm. What would you give it?" Harry turns to her and asks.

"Eh. A 6. He looks kinda like a douche. What do you think Zoey?" Julia says to me in response.

I have to ask which one she's talking about, and Harry quickly points out number 56 to me. "Oh. I, um, guess a 6 too. Not really into the whole rating guys thing." After that, Harry quickly loses interest in me.

Seeing as they kept this up for almost 20 mins, Noah left. I don't blame him. If I were a guy, I'd feel pretty awkward listening to a conversation about guy butts.

By the time those three were wrapping up, we had to get ready for pregame. Holy cow. My first marching performance. I was so nervous. What if I forget my music? What if I fuck it up? What if I trip and get mud all over my white uniform?

I knew I was being over dramatic, but you can never be too sure.

We did a quick warmup and got into our lines. We marched out to the field and waiting for football to finish. When they got off, we began to play "get ready for this." Some dude announced us and the crowd cheered. After that we fit in "can't touch this" before our alma mater and the Star-Spangled Banner.

After the show, we headed down to make a tunnel for the football team to run through. It was intense just waiting there. We played a couple stands tunes until they emerged from the locker room. When the started running, we played our fight song.

Once the other team came out, we marched off the field so the game could begin. We went behind the bleachers before we broke formation.

I walked back to the bleachers with Noah. We chat it up while chewing on pretzel sticks. By the time we make it back, the game has begun and they're like 2 minutes into the quarter.

We had barely sat down when we noticed the other band was arriving. They were a little bit late, but who can blame them. It's an hour drive to Revere. Plus, it's hot to be hard to transport all those people.

As much as I hate football, I was glad to see the game go by so quickly. Playing stands tunes actually makes it more enjoyable. It's like the parts that should be boring aren't because instead of watching the team huddle for a time out, we're sitting there blasting 'anyway you want it'.

It wasn't long until I realized I was having a good time. And, of course, being the band kid I am, halftime was my favorite part. Thousands of people watched us march out show (which was far superior to the other band's). We played 'welcome to the black parade' filled by 'creep' and 'all American nightmare'. We closed our show with 'we are young' and brought the house down. It was sweet.

Afterwards, we got what they call a "third quarter break". It meant we didn't have to be back in the stands until just before 4 th quarter started. This time is meant to talk, eat, and maybe meet some people from the other band while you're getting some food. It was soo got, I wasn't really in the mood for any food, but the cold water felt nice.

I made it back to the stands early and ended up watching the game for awhile. We were winning 49-28. Dang. I didn't know out football team even had that kind of skill. I was surprised.

Soon after, the rest of the band turned up. We played 'born to hand jive' at the quarter. It was fun.

The remainder of the game relied ?on the drum line playing cadences to keep the team going. When the last whistle blowed and the team lined up in the middle, our half of the bleachers roared instantly, the band began to play our fight song.

The football team came up to us and all knelt down and took their helmets off. We played the alma mater then. When we finished, we broke into some stands tunes until the crowds were fairly empty.

I packed away my mellophone and took the case to the spot on the trailer Noah had instructed me to. All in all, it was a good night. I was proud to call myself a lakeside marching bear.