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Kinoko and Akane are excited for the high school marching band to start. The change of their very lives! Little do they know what's in store...Dedicated to all of us crazy people in the story although we have different names.
CHAPTER ONE: THE DISASTROUS FIRST DAY
On that morning of a Florida day in June, little kids were outside playing and teenagers were out shopping or playing sports. Well, not all, really. So begins the tale of the freshman bandies; a group of unsuspecting soon-to-be-freshman who were soon to begin a camp which would slowly but surely change their lives.
DRAMATIZED
Kinoko woke up rather early, ecstatic about the day's activities. She would start off at Weston Theater Camp from nine AM to three PM. Not really a band thing; more of a drama geek thing, really. She was always into drama into drama as a hobby and, unless it was about band, there was no better way to kill a month of summer than with some drama. What Kinoko was really anxious for was the mini-band camp which would follow the day’s dramatic activities. Kinoko put on her eighth grade Falcon Cove t-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts. She raced through breakfast, made her lunch, her mom got the car, and they were out the door. Luckily, Falcon Cove-where the middle school band and drama camps were being held-was almost directly across from the neighborhood Kinoko and her family lived in. Falcon Cove was also directly the high school of dreams-Cypress Bay. The only separation was a fence that was constantly and easily climbed. Many middle schoolers, if lucky, could see a high school junior or senior sprint across the lawn, jump the fence, and run into the getaway car waiting for them. The car would then speed away and the student, as far as we knew, was never caught.
Kinoko arrived at her old school and ran towards the band room, where most of her friends would be. The peach and tomato red of the the middle school whizzed by in a swirl of colors and Kinoko thought that she was going to be more sick than she already was. Her stomach was doing nervous, painful, and exciting back flips inside her all at once as she raced towards her old second home. Before she could slow down or sneak around him, Mr. Stein, the drama director, got in her way and she crashed to him, sending them both sprawling on the floor. He got up and looked a little irritated, giving Kinoko a fierce look, indicating that she shouldn't try to do that again. "You want to hang with the band kids," he told her with a clenched jaw, "join the band camp. I don't care if the drama and band rooms are separated by nothing more than a door. You signed up for drama, not band. Into the DRAMA room you go."
Kinoko sighed, wished that she HAD signed up for the band camp, and responded with a polite 'yes, sir'. She walked inside the drama room and dumped her bagged lunch onto the lunch pile. The rest of the room came into view; to her right the door to the band room stood tall and proud. Papers covered the window in the doorframe so that Kinoko's drama buddies wouldn't make fun of them as they had done last year by playing "Drama kid, drama kid, band kid" as a replacement to "duck, duck, goose". Kinoko had gotten so irritated as to wander off and add to the drama some of her own. In front of her, the doors to Mr. Stein's office, storage, and the other exit. To her left were carpeted rows meant for chorus, a ramp leading to the backstage area, and locker-styled costume closets. She was instantly reminded of how every year at drama camp seems to be its own one, big play. All of the students joked around and called it a soap opera, making unintentional fun of all those who cried and gotten broken feelings because of that year's "season".
Kinoko was attacked with some rapidly fierce hugs and called out, "Can't...breathe..." Promptly, the ambush lifted and Kinoko could finally peer through her tousled brown hair to her friends' faces. "Kaoru! Sarai! Chels! Tiny! Jacki!" exclaimed Kinoko as she hugged each one of her friends.
"Hey Noko! Haven't seen you since last summer," said Kaoru as she brushed aside her long-banged, boy length black hair. "What's hangin?"
"Tiny is!" shouted Noko as she picked up little Isabelle. Noko flung Tiny upside down over her shoulders and started running around the room. The small ten year old's brown hair blew wildly as she hugged Noko's waist and screamed with joy.
"Hey Biggy!!" she yelled excitedly. Her dark brown eyes sparkled with delight. "Good thing Mr. Stein is outside, huh?"
"Yeah," said Chels as she picked up Teeny, AKA Jacki. "You know how he hates when we pick up our Teeny and Tiny." Chels started to follow Noko's lead as the other drama kids watched and laughed. That was, until, Mr. Stein walked in. His face turned a dark burgundy and he began to shake violently. His eyes filled with frustration as he shouted "PUT. THOSE. GIRLS. DOWN. NOW. You are what? Three? Four years older than them? For goodness sakes behave for once!!" He stormed into his office, followed by the assistant director and the counselors as they all crammed into the crowded area. Not one of them seemed pleased with the girls' behavior, but behind all of the adults' backs Rizzo, their counselor, smiled and gave them a thumbs up before turning around to listen to another lecture.
"Well," started Sarai in her bubbly voice, "thus begins the soap opera, season three!" Everyone in the room laughed, knowing that the real drama was surely yet to come.
A LATE START: PART ONE-POP TARTS FOR SLEEPERS
Akane slept until noon, when her mother dumped the folded laundry onto her bed. "Wake up," she began, "you sleep any later and it'll be the next day." Mrs. Kara left the room and Akane to her own routine. Akane yawned, stretched, and just lay there on the messy bed trying to wake up. After a while her stomach began to growl and she decided that it was time for breakfast. Lazily, she picked herself up, left her room, and headed straight for the kitchen; merely a few feet away. Her father was working and her mother was scurrying around the house to do chores.
She walked over to the food pantry, and as she opened it up she found herself gazing upon the immense stock of food for breakfast. Pop-tarts, multiple cereals, breakfast bars, and numerous junky breakfast foods were begging to be eaten. Half-asleep, she reached for her favorite Cookies and Cream pop-tarts. Akane sat down and enjoyed her breakfast as her mom began to vacuum. The pop-tarts slowly disappeared and the sound of machinery running over carpet soothed Akane's ears. In moments, everything was slipping off into darkness and Akane was yet again asleep...
SICKED OUT OF CAMP: PART ONE-STRETCHES AGAIN?!?!?
Kinoko was enjoying the afternoon stretch, painful as it was. The dancing part of drama wouldn't begin until the following day, when the happy campers would begin to research their monologues. They needed to audition for the camp version of The Fiddler on the Roof, Jr, and although not all were talented, all of them would get some sort of part in the a long year of laziness, the work would begin. It couldn't PROPERLY begin until the students had finally stretched out their muscles on the hard wooden floor. A person could seriously injure themselves if they didn't suitably stretched before dancing. Noko told this half-truth to herself over and over as she endured the prolifiration of her muscles, trying to remind herself that she needed to hold up until band camp. She was sick and she knew it, but if she skipped out on drama camp she'd never be allowed to the thrills of band camp by her parents.
Ms. Luta let them go as the hour hand on the clock reached three. All the campers shuffled their feet to get their shoes and leave. Sure, they were so happy to leave, but the exercise tore them up; they definitely needed to stretch more often, adjust to it, and forget the pain. Noko felt pain taking a wild roller coaster ride through her body from both the cramping of her muscles and the stretching at the same time. Sarai came over, bouncy as usual although the exercise had the taken the wind out of all their lungs.
"Hey Noko! Aw, you don't look so good. Are you going to be ok? I have some chocolate if it'll make you feel better..." Sarai happily but worriedly said in a sing-song voice.
"Nah, don't worry, Sarai. I'll be ok. I just GOTTA make it through to band camp. Besides, I don't think chocolate will do very good. I have my 'horse' now." Noko raised her eyebrows as if to hint something.
"Your 'horse'? What's a-ohhh," Sarai said, getting the message. "You really shouldn't go to-"
"I AM GOING TO BAND CAMP EVEN IF I DIE BEFORE IT STARTS." Noko looked at Sarai with a caring but evil glare in her eye. She was NOT going to give up before it even began; she just couldn't. Her pride and summer joy wouldn't let her.
Sarai's mother arrived shortly before Noko's and everyone else's did. Noko was used to hiding the pain of her cramping, so as she got into the car, she tried her hardest not to grimace. Thankfully, her mother didn't notice anything new. They arrived at home and Noko ran inside to change into black Capri’s and an older pair of white sneakers. She wanted to be ready for the exact moment when she could leap into the car and go to camp. She shined up her clarinet and made sure she had packed her paper bag, cheese sandwich dinner. Turning on some rock music, she lay down on her bed and pondered how she could waste the next half-hour. One of the songs she liked to jam to came on, so she did her crazy dance around the room. It ended and she got back onto her lavender cotton bed, and continued to think of what to do. Practicing was definitely out of the question because she didn't want to kill her embouchure too soon. Before she knew what to do, her mother came in and told her that if she didn't hurry up, they were going to be late.
Noko arrived at Cypress (short for Cypress Bay) and ran into her friend Anya, the flute player, on her way to the unknown band room. Neither of them knew where Akane was, and to them that seemed a problem. Akane was always on time and made it clear that she hated it when she wasn't. Sometimes, she was even a little earlier than necessary. It seemed odd not to see her bouncing up and down in front of them, coming out of nowhere. Noko put her clarinet in the band room and followed Anya into the cafeteria for more stretching. Great, she thought. For a minute, I thought that I would be able to get out of here unharmed. So much for a life thriller.
Noko could only stand a few minutes of the color guard stretches. She felt the agony triumphantly take over her body as she collapsed to the floor. Her drum major (who she would later learn as Annie) and the assistant drum major (who she would later learn as Fabio) rushed over to pull her to her feet and sit her down at one of the tables. Fabio ran to get Noko some water and Annie checked to make sure she was going to be ok. Fabio returned with Annie's cell phone, a bottle of water, and David, the woodwind captain. Noko felt very embarrassed but nonetheless called her mother who promised to get her when they all began dinner. Noko waited out the remainder of the stretches wondering where on Earth Akane could possibly be.
A LATE START: PART TWO-DINNER RUSH
Akane felt someone violently shaking her awake. Upon opening her eyes, she saw her mother frantically pointing to the clock. Akane switched into full gear as she sleepily dashed around the house to get dressed, make her dinner, and get her clarinet. She was almost two hours late for band camp! Within five minutes she and Ms. Kara were in the car and driving quicker than lightning could go at the right speed limit. Within ten minutes she was stumbling out of the car and rushed over to put her stuff inside the band room. Some of the band kids began to come out for dinner as she arrived, so she held onto her paper bag and ran outside to find Kinoko.
SICKED OUT OF CAMP: PART TWO-YOUR BARF IS SERVED
Noko watched out the window as a car came speeding by. Most likely a late camper, she thought to herself. She continued trying to keep her mind off of the stretches, for merely thinking about it got her sick. Mr. Bridges, the drill writer and also the one in charge of the camp for the day, announced that the kids were let out for dinner and Noko followed them outside, limping as she went. She didn't think that she could bear this wretchedness much longer. She looked up as Akane came speeding towards her, who then rammed into her hard as they both hit the wall with a loud thud. The two friends got up moaning and Akane cast an apologetic look her way.
"Hey," said Akane. "Sorry I'm late. I hope I didn't miss anything. Are you gonna be okay?"
"Yeah I think-blehhhhhhh," began Noko, but not soon enough. She began to throw up all over the ground to the disgust of many. Most of the campers averted their gazes, hoping that they would walk away and be able to eat with their appetites still intact.
The janitor came by and jokingly said, "I'm not cleaning that up." As soon as Noko finished, Akane took her to the restroom across the grass and the poor janitor pulled out his mop and began to work. Akane helped to clean her up just as her mother came by to take her home. Mrs. Nold discovered what had happened as she entered the band room to get her daughter's things. The two girls came out, sopping wet but thankfully clean. Noko slowly went inside the band room to thank the three strangers who helped her, said goodbye to Akane, and got in the car to drive home. Yes, she conceieved to herself, so begins the soap opera, season three.
