Sax and the City

Chapter 1- Aw, Crap, I Missed My Dot

"Stab, Close!"

Kayla groaned inwardly. It was the sixth time they'd run this set, and the sixth time she had missed her dot. Seriously, what the heck was going on? She usually felt so confident in her marching ability. It was the only thing she felt she was good at. She paged through her dot book, checked her front-to-back, and stepped it off for now the seventh time.

"You missed it again?" A yardline over, Aron was staring at her. "What's up with that?"

"Shut up, Aron." Kayla felt the blood rush to her cheeks and she scowled.

"You wound me!" Aron clutched his heart and stumbled away.

"Saxophones! Focus, please. I feel like your focus has just vanished since we left the practice field. I know you're tired, so am I, so let's get this done." Their band director, Mr. Quintey, was talking loudly via the microphone at them.

'Because sitting in an air-conditioned, shady box is so tiring." Aron mumbled. Behind him, a shorter Asian girl laughed loudly.

Kayla scowled some more. The girl was Mari-with-an-I, as she so often declared, and she was third chair. Aron held the cherished second chair, and Kayla lorded over them all. It was this thought that brought her some happiness, but it quickly vanished.

"Hey, Kayla! Bet you can't make your dot this time." Aron teased.

"Watch me." Kayla straightend, posture perfect. Aron's dot was right behind her, so he would have a perfect view.

Mr. Quintey called for a reset and their drum major started the gock block. Kayla took a deep breath. She could nail this.

"Five, six, seven, push and one!"

She marched the sixteen count move with precision, toes lifted in perfect backwards marching posture. Aron would be speechlees. Pleased with the thought of besting him, she forgot to watch her step. Her right foot landed in a divot and twisted. A streak of white hot pain shot through her foot and into her knee, which gave out. Kayla fell gracelessly backward, right on top of Aron, who was still marching. Her head cracked right on the edge of his saxophone bell, and her vision faded to black.