[IC] Band Beats

[zeldaz]

---

The band room during first period was a quiet place. One could come down and not even know what class this large room could be used for. But when second period came around, everyone could tell that it was the band room. From the scales and loud blats from the trumpets and the kids walking around with reeds between their lips.
Sal was typically there first period. Since he was a senior, he had already gone through most of his classes and had a couple free periods where he spent all that time in the band room.
He sat in the senior chair in room opposite the band room, one of the large practice rooms where lessons happened. The bell for the next period rang, pulling Sal slowly out of his seat to get his section ready for that day.
Theresa followed in the crowd that walked down to the music department. She held her binder tight against her chest, tapping her fingers against the plastic material along to what she would have to be playing later.
It was stand band season. It meant spending Friday nights out on the football field, playing in the bleachers to cheer on their home team. Thankfully, they didn't have to memorize the music until summer, but it was a busy season, as they also had to plan for the homecoming game, where they actually marched onto the field, played their one song and danced. All in just a few weeks.
Theresa weaved her way into the band room, leading herself to the back of the room where the percussion section was located. She dropped her stuff on a chair and then paced the room, trying to figure out how she could help the freshman out by gathering their sticks together.

---

[Erklings25]

As much as Tudor enjoyed stand band season, the three words he used to describe it were 'Hell on Earth.' He loved his music, he loved band, but he hated football games like a Marvel fan hates a DC fan (those strange people who like both exclusive.) Though he thought it was much better than marching band season, he hated having to cheer on a bunch of idiots playing a pointless, barbaric game (in his opinion.) His cynicism was sometimes infectious, but he had to grin and bare it. After all, it was still an excuse for him to play, right? Exactly.

The best thing was to watch all those people flood into one room, all for a simple band practice. The very idea of that camaraderie excited him, even if he never showed it. That would be letting his guard down. Something he couldn't afford to do, under any circumstances. People were people, no matter how much camaraderie they could show. Everyone has it in them to be worse than they should be. Well, that's what Tudor thought.

With his folder in hand, Tudor shuffled to the practice room, avoiding eye contact with anyone and everyone. Now wasn't the time to be socializing. A bunch of freshmen would be joining the group today, he dreaded it. As much as he could pretend to be passive, he was being nice behind gritted teeth. Kids coming in and acting like they rule the roost, they're the best. It killed him sometimes. Couldn't they just be down to Earth, like him? Complaints aside, he silently skulked into the practice room, acknowledging any presences with a curt nod.

[SouffleGirl123]

Jacinta stretched her necks, her arms wrapping tighter around the textbooks and folders already clung closely to her chest. Jacinta was never a fan of football, or marching for that matter though any chance she had to play her clarinet was a good outcome for her by any means. Placing ber textbooks in her locker she retrieves her clarinet and her band folder, starting to tap at it softly with her fingers as she continues on to the band room. No sign of her best friend yet, Liz would turn up soon enough she knew.

By the time she reached the band students were already tickling in from every door. Jacinta gave a sigh, attempting to not look annoyed. Of course, it was the people there that were making her so but extra time she spent after class to finish the question she was on, as most of the class fleed upon the bell's first appearance despite still having a bit to do, left her leaving later than usual resulting in her appearance in the bandroom not be her signiture almost instance of the bell.

At finially getting into room she opened her case and pulled a reed from it's plastic cover. She was yet to spot Liz, however, she could see Tutor in the distance. What was up with him? Even when Jacinta moved to America from Wales the pair were still practically brother and sister, so why was he shutting her out now? She decided to give it another try.

"Tudor!" She greets him cheerily after she was close enough to not have to yell her greeting.
@Erklings25

[GirlOnMarz]

Ashanti Jones

_and

Jacob Jones

---

Ashanti laughed hysterically as she and Jacob pulled into the school parking lot, tears threatening to fall and ruin her mascara. Jacob laughed nervously, his hands tightly gripping the steering wheel. Ashanti's laughs slowly came to a stop, but she couldn't wipe the smile off her face. "You asked him what? Our Dad?"
Jacob sighed as he turned the car off and tossed his keys into his backpack. "I just wanted him to help me run lines, Ash, it's not that big of a deal," Jacob said as he got out of the car. Ashanti knew, though, that it was a big deal. Their Dad had never approved of Jacob and his "hobbies," wanting him to play football or basketball instead. Jacob slowly walked towards the school's front door, waiting for Ashanti to get her things and catch up. When she did, her smile had been replaced by a smirk.

"I'll help you run lines after school," she said when they'd gotten inside. "It'll give you an excuse to come see Mom."

Three months ago their parents had a huge argument, resulting in their father moving out and taking Jacob along with him. Ashanti and Jacob still hung out everyday, but rarely got the chance to see their other parent. Jacob smiled and nodded as the bell rang, signifying the end of first period. Jacob's first period, like many other seniors, was free period. Ashanti, on the other hand, decided that she'd much rather spend her time curling her hair instead of sitting through an hour of Trigonometry. Together they went to their lockers to retrieve their instruments, and then headed towards the band room.

By the time they'd reached the band room, the room was almost full. Ashanti, leaving Jacob to do "whatever Jacob does," found a seat and pulled her Trumpet out of it's case, humming to herself. Unlike the majority of the band kids, Ashanti actually liked football. She glanced up and watched as Jacob looked around the room, more than likely trying to find Grover.

[RomanAria]

Noelle Webster
Noelle was one of the first ones into the band room. She’d finished her math worksheet early, as ever, and had left class the moment the bell rang. It wasn’t like she had many friends to talk to during passing period, so she quickly made her way to the band room with her awkwardly-sized clarinet box.

She absolutely /hated/ stand band, for the simple reason that she never got to play Chirpy, her a-flat piccolo clarinet and her ultimate favorite instrument. Though everyone else likely found the sound of it shrill and it did tend to tire her mouth out a lot, there was just something so… fun about it. And she almost never got to play it, except for concert season or for solo festival.

Anyway. She took a reed for both Chime, her e-flat, and Lyric, her b-flat, out of the box, tucking them into her mouth to moisten them. Kneeling in the corner of the room as she assembled her instruments, she had a good vantage point over the rest of the room, while still staying out of the way of the seniors – for all she could probably outplay them, they did have age and time in the band over her. She was just a ‘lil freshman, and she sensed the seniors wouldn’t quite let her forget that.

---

---

Liz Webster

Liz had to all but sprint to make it to band on time.

Damn that stupid overdue chemistry worksheet. It was the first one of the year, so it would hold a large impact on her grade in the class for a while... She hadn’t realized it was due today, and naturally, thinking she still had another couple days, hadn’t even looked at it. Well, a confrontation with Mrs. Anderson the grumpy old science teacher had left her hastily scribbling notes for three of the five minutes of passing period. Leaving her only two minutes to grab her clarinet from her locker, jam a reed into her mouth and then sprint to the other side of the school.

She made it, barely; she was somewhat panting as she slammed through the door a second before the bell. Then she looked around the room, eyes lighting on Tudor and Jacinta.

“Good morning, Jackie!” she exclaimed, somewhat skipping across the room to hug her best friend. She dimly realized that she’d broken up some kind of talk between Jackie and Tudor and flushed slightly. “Good morning to you too, Tudor.” She said, doing her best to be cheery and cover up the awkwardness.

[zeldaz]

Theresa stopped rushing around the band room, placing her mallets on the drum in front of her. Her ran her hands through her hair, pulling it back into a ponytail in preparation for playing.
She, unlike the current drum major, always wanted to be very prepared. She arrived as early as she could, made sure the rest of the section showed up, and kept track of all the little details so if a stick broke or a drum went out of tune, she was always the girl to find.
Sal on the other hand, had found his way back into the chair in the ensemble room. He kept an eye on the door, waiting for their conductor. In the meantime, he had one earbud in and was slowly scrolling through his phone. Every once in a while it would buzz with a message from someone, but he didn't move much from his spot.
When the conductor got there, she would poke her head into the room to tell him that it was time. She moved to her podium and started the instrumental warm-ups while Sal slowly made his way to the back of the room and pulled on his snare. By the time he got there, he could call off the first song and seem just as prepared.
The conductor was a small old lady. She seemed frail, but as soon as she got onto the podium, she was filled with an unknown energy and conducted with a fierce determination. As long as you were on her good side, things would go well. If you forgot your music binder in the band room, she would hide it, some with forgotten sticks. She could be harsh, but she did it for a reason.
Until then, he stayed in his place.

[bix]

Grover Santiago

A late Grover threw open the door to the band room, clasping his writing notebook in his arms. He looked at the crowd, an embarrassed smile on his face. Yeah, he was late a lot, but that didn't stop him from feeling terrible every time.

He looked around for the conductor, glad that she was nowhere in sight. He really didn't want to marked down late today. His eyes turned to the class. Then quickly turned away, because everyone was staring at him and that made him seriously uncomfortable. He avoided the Liz/Tudor/Jacinta trio (but gave a friendly smile to the latter), almost eluded Ashanti's piercing gaze, and successfully navigated the mess of stands in the back of the room.

At the tuba room door, he allowed himself to drop his notebook on some random shelf.

The tuba room and the ensemble room were quite close together, and Grover, out of mere curiosity, looked inside. Through the small window in the, he could see a few percussionists practicing. There were a good number in there, but he only saw one: Salvatore.

Salvatore was sitting down and looking at his phone. It was a pretty mundane thing to do, but that didn't stop Grover from watching with rapt attention.

He was staring, he realized. And being pretty weird.

He made it to his seat with his tuba, trying to shove all Salvatore thoughts out of his mind (and failing miserably). To distract himself, he decided to oil his valves. After he unscrewed the first one, he noticed Jacob ambling about. Talking to Jacob would be a much more desirable task than tuba maintenance.
"Hey, Jacob!" Grover waved enthusiastically. @mskennedy615

Only after waving did he notice that he had left his book somewhere.

His book was somewhere. Anyone could pick it up and leaf through it if they wanted to. The odds of that happening were low, he knew, but his anxiety refused to take it to heart.

---

Freddie Gerdie

Freddie had gone into the band room when there was barely anyone there, pen slipped behind her ear and saxophone already in hand. She liked it when it was empty. The cacophony of tuning instruments and rowdy teens was gone, in favour of a soft silence.

Now, she thought, looking around the room, not so much.

Her sax lay on her case, and she sat cross-legged in her chair, drawing on her arm. She was drawing this cool peacock design that one day she wanted as a tattoo. But for now, with her anal-retentive parents, her tattoo dreams would have to wait.

A lot of things would have to wait. Like a third piercing. And another dye job. And a few other things that she hadn't mentioned to her parents yet.

She noticed Noelle at a side of the room, all by herself. Freddie smiled, and put her pen behind her ear. It was always fun bothering Noelle. She walked up to the corner where the small girl kneeled, and leaned against the wall. "How's it going, pipsqueak?" @RomanAria

[Erklings25]

Tudor had tried to sit down in peace, with nobody noticing him. But no, he couldn't go five minuets without Jacinta trying to patch things up with him. They had been friends in Wales, even when she moved away to America. When he came to America, Tudor had tried to avoid her as much as he could. He didn't like reminiscing Wales, and his family's depressing financial state there. Not that they would ever tell anyone about it. He slowly stood up when she called his name, and stalked forwards with what appeared to be a smile crossing his face. On closer inspection, it turned out to be a large grimace at the very idea of having to try and shut Jacinta up. Again.

"Listen here!" He snarled when he got close enough for her to hear him almost whispering. "Will you just shut up! Stop talking to me, will you? I am sick-" He was about to carry on when he was interupted. Again. But this time it was a third party entering the conversation. Oh, lord. It was Liz. She didn't seem to notice him and greeted Jacinta instead, which gave him just about enough time to try and sneak away from the two of them.

Oh darn, she noticed him. He turned a startling shade of crimson when she greeted him, and replied with a shy smile and a quiet, weak, "Morning Liz." He looked around the room, trying to catch someone's eye to help him out. The most he could find was his friend Freddie, trying to annoy Noelle, as usual. "Erm, excuse me. I think Freddie needs my counseling before she drives the freshmen crazy." He muttered and splipped away to the corner of the room, where Freddie and Noelle were situated. "Well, Fredrika Gerdie! How many time have I told you, don't bully little kids! When will you learn, mate?" He chuckled and looked down at Noelle quickly, addressing her like he normally did. "Morning, sweetheart."

@bix @RomanAria @SouffleGirl123

[SouffleGirl123]

As Tudor stood he seemed to be almost smiling, maybe they were getting somewhere for once since he arrived to America, however, as the distance between them decreased it become evident Tudor wasn't at all smiling. Jacinta forced a smile even though she was sure of what she was about to receive from him, nothing like she'd expect him to treat her only a year ago back when their connection was means other than face-to-face. She took a deep breath an readied herself for her old friend's wrath.

When he first started yelling at her in hushed tones it hit like a brick wall, it always did. Something must have happened between her move to America and his, unless he was ashamed of her. Maybe that was it. Maybe not. What she knew though was they were practically brother and sister since they were kids but there's something he's not telling her that has been destroying that connection the last year. Jacinta made the first move that surfaced in her head, a wary step back, her mouth slightly open as she stuttered in an attempt to intercept, "I... I... I..."

She took another step back for a body to come barrelling into her with a hug from behind. She gives her friend a smile, patting Liz' arm affectionately. "Hey ya Liz," She greets her friend hoping she was able to hide the wave of negative thoughts well enough. As Tudor left Jacinta gave a sigh, Well that was successful. She quickly turned her attention back to her best friend, turning to her and forcing a smile. "Now where have you been missy?" she asks in a mock disappointed parent fashion.

@Erklings25@RomanAria