Freshman Year

Chapter 4: Where the Fuck is My Straw?

I sat in disbelief as I stared at Drew. He noticed me and gave a little side smirk, as though he had been anticipating this reaction.

"Hello everyone, I'm Drew, and yes, I'm also your drumline captain. I'm assuming you all are wanting to try out for drumline, so I'll just get straight to the point. Drumline tryouts are on August 29. That's one week from today. You will be required to play 3 different pieces on the instrument you wish to tryout for. You can only try out for 1 instrument, and if you are not selected, you will be placed in pit percussion. Any questions?"

"Who will be judging us?" asked a brunette girl with an acne-ridden face.

"Myself, the lead quad player, and the lead bass drum will all take part in the judging process. Any other questions?"

Everybody looked around, but nobody raised their hand.

"If there are no further questions, please follow Ms. Christy towards the equipment. She will teach you the proper way to treat each instrument."

The young percussionists all stood up and walked in a crowd behind Christi. I hung in the back to talk to Drew.

"Why didn't you tell me you were the drumline captain?" I demanded.

"If you immediately give away all your secrets, people lose interest in you," he said matter-of-factly.

"I was also surprised by the fact that your a junior. I guess I just assumed you were a freshm-"

"A freshman?" he interrupted. "Haha, did I really have that 'lost puppy' look?"

"Haha, no, it's not that, just that upperclassmen don't really take the time to talk to freshman, or so I believed."

"Nah, I'd totally hang out with a freshman. I think it's more about who the person is, not what class they're in. After all, age is just a number, right?"

Right! So, since you don't mind being seen with a freshman, maybe you'd like to hang out some time?" I was praying to God he didn't turn me down, otherwise I'd just look like a complete idiot.

"Sure! I'd love to! Let me just get your number real quick." As we exchanged phone numbers, Christi continued with the percussion tour, pointing out instruments and the safety precautions for them. I quietly talked with Drew in the back, paying no attention to my guide.

We walked out of band class together and went our separate ways. As I walked towards English I Honors, I realized several people were staring at me, mostly preppy looking girls. What do those bitches want? I did a dramatic hair flip just to piss them off even more. They hissed in disgust.

My English teacher, Mrs. Dotty, handed us a paper explaining the classroom rules and materials required. We read through them and then sat for the last 20 minutes of class talking amongst eachother.

The bell rang for break and all the kids crowded towards the cafeteria to get their breakfast. I walked through the line and grabbed a blueberry muffin, banana, and some orange juice. As I looked around the room I saw Drew sitting in a corner with a few other people. I walked his direction and set my tray down next to him.

"Hey," he said as I took a seat.

"Dammit! I forgot a straw for my orange juice!" I announced louder than I intended, looking around me for any teachers that might have heard.

"Ooookay, good talk," Drew remarked sarcastically as I got back up and headed to the utensil cart.

I was looking straight forward towards the cart, determined to get my straw, when I felt someone's hand grab my ass. I wasn't sure what to do, so I just did the first thing I could think of: I spun the fuck around and back-handed that motherfucker. It took me a second to realize what I just did. I almost started apologizing until I remembered: he grabbed MY ass.

I could vaguely hear his friends in the background shouting "Ooooohhh!" I quickly turned back around to go to my table. I think I'll just drink my OJ without a straw for today.