The Line Read Online Free
Author: Courtney Brandt
Tags: High School, marching band courtney brandt, band nerd drumline, band geek, drum line
camp.
Tom pulled down his sunglasses and said, “We just have to make a quick stop.”
Lucy knew what exactly what he meant. Tom refused to drive anywhere further than five miles without beef jerky and a Big Gulp from the local Quick Trip. In addition to the refreshment stop, before Lucy could do or say much of anything, Tom had quickly added Nevada, Ewan, and Nathan to the minivan.
The road trip was filled with establishing new inside jokes, reciting lines from favorite movies, mooning other cars, listening to Tom’s band Eight Cadet (a ska-influenced group whose “gigs” had so far included a neighborhood block party and a bar mitzvah) newest recording, talking about the season ahead and, a sigh-worthy, all too brief nap on Nevada’s broad shoulder. Lucy considered the entire event an outstanding success. In the early afternoon, the party wagon pulled up to the girls’ dorm. Lucy waved goodbye to the guys as she went to check in. The bass drummer swept into the lobby as the girls outside watched her section mates pull away. Lucy was rooming in a triple with Mandy and Gina, who were arriving together after making a planned stop at the nearby outlet mall. After Lucy put her things away, she stretched out on the bed, closing her eyes and remembering previous band camps: getting dunked in large bins of ice, crushing on hot upperclassmen, learning music and trying to memorize it as fast as possible, laughing at the planned night activities, flirting with classmates, meeting transfer students from different schools, making new friends and trying her best to go on as few hours sleep as possible.
Post band camp
Dear Diary,
First of all, please pardon the extreme stream of consciousness style of this entry. I haven’t got a lot of sleep this week! But, as usual, it was totally and completely worth it.
So, first of all, learning drill was a different experience than I thought it was going to be. Sure, it was hot and sweaty, but it’s was also pretty amazing when you think of it – 250 people on a field, actually going where they are supposed to go all while playing memorized music! (BTW, the show’s theme this year is ‘A Night At the Movies’ including: Mission Impossible, Pink Panther, and James Bond – the drum solo takes place in the 2nd song – we’ve learned the music, but haven’t learned the extended drill yet). Learning the music and the formations was an intense process that took awhile, but I’m proud to say we all accomplished it and I can’t wait to see how far we’re going to go!
Of course, like any good band camp, there was more than just marching and music…
First of all, can I just say how much I hate Mark? We fight so much that the rest of the basses have dubbed us Mr. and Mrs. DeMatteo. (Yes, I, of course, have taken his last name.) There is not ONE thing we can agree on. The tempo (which I set), dressing the line (I decide how sharp the diagonal will be), how hot it is, how cold it is, visuals… That being said, we can have moments when it’s Lucy and Mark vs. the World…where we have a never-ending stream of inside jokes, non-stop flirting and the rest of the basses have no idea what is going on between 1st and 2nd. Realistically, I’d say it’s about 30/70 for the whole love/hate thing. However, Mark does help me realize I’m a lot tougher than I used to be. Lucy from two years ago probably would have run off crying, but junior Lucy has a quick response ready. I think Lance is getting close to killing us…
Mandy and I tried to keep each other on track (and mostly failing) to study for our upcoming AP U.S. History class. Hey – not our fault! We had every intention of studying every day, but as soon as we took those books out someone was there to distract us. Interestingly, the main distraction came in the form of one Jeremiah Stanford. I have to stop and wonder what my captain dating one of my best friends would mean for me? Sure, it would raise my profile, but is
Tom pulled down his sunglasses and said, “We just have to make a quick stop.”
Lucy knew what exactly what he meant. Tom refused to drive anywhere further than five miles without beef jerky and a Big Gulp from the local Quick Trip. In addition to the refreshment stop, before Lucy could do or say much of anything, Tom had quickly added Nevada, Ewan, and Nathan to the minivan.
The road trip was filled with establishing new inside jokes, reciting lines from favorite movies, mooning other cars, listening to Tom’s band Eight Cadet (a ska-influenced group whose “gigs” had so far included a neighborhood block party and a bar mitzvah) newest recording, talking about the season ahead and, a sigh-worthy, all too brief nap on Nevada’s broad shoulder. Lucy considered the entire event an outstanding success. In the early afternoon, the party wagon pulled up to the girls’ dorm. Lucy waved goodbye to the guys as she went to check in. The bass drummer swept into the lobby as the girls outside watched her section mates pull away. Lucy was rooming in a triple with Mandy and Gina, who were arriving together after making a planned stop at the nearby outlet mall. After Lucy put her things away, she stretched out on the bed, closing her eyes and remembering previous band camps: getting dunked in large bins of ice, crushing on hot upperclassmen, learning music and trying to memorize it as fast as possible, laughing at the planned night activities, flirting with classmates, meeting transfer students from different schools, making new friends and trying her best to go on as few hours sleep as possible.
Post band camp
Dear Diary,
First of all, please pardon the extreme stream of consciousness style of this entry. I haven’t got a lot of sleep this week! But, as usual, it was totally and completely worth it.
So, first of all, learning drill was a different experience than I thought it was going to be. Sure, it was hot and sweaty, but it’s was also pretty amazing when you think of it – 250 people on a field, actually going where they are supposed to go all while playing memorized music! (BTW, the show’s theme this year is ‘A Night At the Movies’ including: Mission Impossible, Pink Panther, and James Bond – the drum solo takes place in the 2nd song – we’ve learned the music, but haven’t learned the extended drill yet). Learning the music and the formations was an intense process that took awhile, but I’m proud to say we all accomplished it and I can’t wait to see how far we’re going to go!
Of course, like any good band camp, there was more than just marching and music…
First of all, can I just say how much I hate Mark? We fight so much that the rest of the basses have dubbed us Mr. and Mrs. DeMatteo. (Yes, I, of course, have taken his last name.) There is not ONE thing we can agree on. The tempo (which I set), dressing the line (I decide how sharp the diagonal will be), how hot it is, how cold it is, visuals… That being said, we can have moments when it’s Lucy and Mark vs. the World…where we have a never-ending stream of inside jokes, non-stop flirting and the rest of the basses have no idea what is going on between 1st and 2nd. Realistically, I’d say it’s about 30/70 for the whole love/hate thing. However, Mark does help me realize I’m a lot tougher than I used to be. Lucy from two years ago probably would have run off crying, but junior Lucy has a quick response ready. I think Lance is getting close to killing us…
Mandy and I tried to keep each other on track (and mostly failing) to study for our upcoming AP U.S. History class. Hey – not our fault! We had every intention of studying every day, but as soon as we took those books out someone was there to distract us. Interestingly, the main distraction came in the form of one Jeremiah Stanford. I have to stop and wonder what my captain dating one of my best friends would mean for me? Sure, it would raise my profile, but is
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