This One Time At Band Camp

Chapter 32

Wednesday morning came and mr. Boston still wasn't back. It didn't change the fact that we still had to be at the school for extra early rehearsals. Even when it was thunder storming, as it is today, there is still stuff to do.

"Alright kids," mr. Gregg says as he stands in the front of the band room. "Rain or shine, this band spectacular is going to happen. I think today is a good chance for you all to have sections and put some final touches on the music. Okay? Great! Now split!"

Noah and I grab our mellophones and music. We head to the practice hallway and go to practice room #9. It's unlocked so we just walk right in. They're usually locked, but obviously mr. Gregg had unlocked them earlier so people could practice today.

Once we shut the door, we put the music on the stands and begin to warm up a bit. We tune a little and eventually are satisfied. We run through each song for the show this week and call it a day.

"Everything sounds pretty good to me," Noah says sitting in the only chair.

I pull the bench out from under the piano and sit on that. "Yea. Pretty sure this weekend's show is going to be fine. Why is everyone so worried?" I say.

"Last year didn't go as well as everyone would have liked. We hadn't practiced the new sets enough and well, long story short, we're lucky no one was hurt in the major mess up."

"Oh" I say. "That explains the need for these long reversals."

"Yes," Noah says nodding his head. "Like this one." He checks his watch. "We've literally done everything possible and still have 20 minutes to spare. Lucky us."

"Well, maybe you can explain to me what this whole band spectacular thing is?"

"It's not that bad,"noah says. "It's like a football game with out the football. Just halftime. We get like 8 bands together in one stadium and we all put on half time performances. It's really fun and actually gives us a chance I enjoy other band's performances. It's honestly my favorite part of the year."

"So it's not like a competition or something?" I say.

"No competing. Just fun." Noah says. "We haven't been able to compete in a few years. Since the budget cuts in 2011, we can't afford it. Plus, since then, the band hasn't been quite big enough for it.

"That makes sense. Okay. Maybe we should head back to the room to put our stuff away," I say, placing my mellophone in my case.

"Yea. Maybe we can get away with sneaking out today. I get the feeling others finished early today too."

"Oh! speaking of finishing, can you give me a ride home from school today?"

"Sure no problem. We can head out after gym," Noah says as he opens the door. It's surprisingly quiet which means no one else is practicing either.

We close the door behind us and notice it locked itself. "Huh that's new," I say.

"Eh, I think it's just one of those safety locks that the school installed on a lot of the doors last year. They're getting just a bit too paranoid."

"Yea. You're telling me. With all the cameras nowadays, I feel like our school is filming a reality tv show."

We get a good laugh out of that as we head to our lockers in the band room.
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"How are you not sweating?" I ask Julia in the locker room. We had just ran a mile in gym and she locked perfectly fine whereas I look like I just got out of a pool.

"I used to do track in middle school. I wasn't very good, but it did keep me in decent shape."

"Decent? You finished a whole minute and a half before all the other girls," I say to Julia as I change back into my school clothes. Since it's the last period of the day, I'm not in any rush.

"That's because most of you guys weren't actually trying. A 9 minutes mile? I was expecting more from you Zoey." Julia take off her gym shirt and puts some fresh deodorant on.

"Hey. I was trying, in case you couldn't tell by my sweat. I just hate running. That's all." I freshen myself up a little bit too, but I take a lot longer than Julia.

"Did you ever find your phone today?" Julia asks me as we grab our bags.

"No. It's not in my bag and it's not in my locker. But I know I brought it to school today." tell me that doesn't suck. I wanted to watch some videos on YouTube during class and it wasn't in my pocket. I practically died of boredom all day.

"Maybe it fell out in the band room," Julia says as we leave the locker room and head into the gym to meet Noah.

"Good idea," I say as we walk to wear Noah is already waiting for us.

"Damn. You guys take forever," Noah says while standing up.

Julia flips her hair. "Perfection takes time. You can't rush these things. "

Noah rolls his eyes. "You good to go, Zoey?"

"Yea, but can we take a detour to the band room? I think I left my phone there this morning."

"No problem. I parked over in that wing of the school anyways, he says as we head to the door.

"Awesome thanks again," I say. And I turn around and say "see ya later julia" over my shoulder. She just waves back.

We walk to the band room and find no one is in there except for mr. Gregg who appears to have been crying while listening to some sappy music coming from his office. We try to not notice.

We check my locker, my case and the floor and still can't find my phone. "Maybe it fell out during the sectional this morning," Noah suggests.

"Good idea," my face brightens up. "I'll go have mr. Gregg unlock the practice room. Wait here!"

I walk towards the office and knock on the door. Mr. Gregg looks up. "Sorry to bother you sir, but could you unlock one of the practice rooms for me? I think my phone fell out during sectionals this morning.

He slowly stands up and leads me through the back door in his office which goes into the practice hallway. He grabs the keys from his pocket. "Which room were you in?" he asks.

"9" we walk over and he unlocks the door. I find my phone lying by the door.

I pick it up. "Oh sorry! I didn't know it wasn't actually in the room. Sorry to bother you."I start to move away, but me. Gregg stands still.

Did you guys shut the light off after your sectional this morning?"

"Yea. Why?"

Mr. Gregg finds the key to open the door. "Because it's still on. Don't worry. I'll shut it off. "

He opens the door and both our jaws drop. I couldn't believe what I was seeing, but I didn't want to see it anymore. I ran away towards the band room and grab Noah by the arm. I drag him out towards the car.

"What happened? did you find your phone?" Noah asks.

I nod my head because that's all I can get out. I could already feel the tears forming and I didn't want anyone to see me cry. We reach the car door and I jump inside. I silently begin to cry.

Noah doesn't pester me with questions. He just leaves me be. I can see his hands tightening around the steering wheel, so maybe he already has a hunch. I guess that's good. That's one less person I'll have explain it too.