Midland High School Marching Band

Chapter 6

November 8, 2019. It was the start of 1st period, and the band was packing their luggage into the charter buses, as they prepared to embark on their 14 and a half hour trip to Nashville, TN. They were all very excited, and they had high hopes for the trip. The buses were divided by room, with all roommates being on the same bus. 

By the time 1st period was over, they had all their luggage and instruments underneath the buses, and they were getting themselves comfortable on the bus. The energy level was certainly high, although they would definitely settle down after about two or three hours of driving. 

Mr. Young came on the bus and was taking attendance. Aside from when Mary had her AirPods in and didn't hear him until Tammy took them out, there were no real issues. The only other issue was Joe yelling “HODGCHK” to annoy the crap out of anyone. 

“Will you just SHUT UP?” Steven yelled. He didn't have a good sense of humor. 

“No, probably not. I enjoy being an idiot. It's more fun than being a stuck up Chad that doesn't like to have fun and thinks that anyone that does is annoying,” Joe shot back. He was not taking crap from anyone this weekend. He wanted to be able to enjoy himself. 

After attendance was over, Mr. Young went on his standard trip monologue, “Alright, guys. We're going on a 14 and a half hour road trip. We're probably going to stop somewhere around Arlington or Dallas around 1:30 or so for lunch. In the meantime, please behave. Don't make a mess or cause any trouble between here and when we stop. I'm trusting you guys. You are all high schoolers. Not to mention, you guys have both drum majors on this bus. And most importantly, just remember that even though this trip has a competition, we need to have some fun, too.”

Joe was nervous. He couldn’t stop opening his phone and checking his social media. It wasn’t that he was expecting to find anything, but he just had that habit when he got stressed out that he would go on his social media. It was one of his nervous habits. 

What he didn’t notice was that he was shaking. Again, it wasn’t super noticeable, but Kierstan, of course noticed it because she had a knack for catching his nervous habits after the three months they had been together. She turned to him and asked, “You’re shaking, love. What’s wrong? You ok?”

“Y-yeah. I’m o-okay. J-just a little n-nervous for this weekend,” Joe replied. He was trying to hide it as much as he could, but he knew it was pointless hiding things from Kierstan. 

Kierstan grabbed his hand. “It’s all gonna be okay. I promise. What is it that you’re nervous about, mi amor?” 

Joe paused for a minute, trying to regain his composure. Whenever Kierstan used Spanish around him, it made him relax instantly, as he was from Cuba, and he moved to the United States as a child, where his name was changed from José to Joseph to sound more American. He was a citizen of the country, though, which was an advantage that some of his classmates even didn’t have. 

“I’m just nervous about being a sophomore drum major. What if people from other schools look down on me because I’m not a junior or senior? Especially Hillsburg and Meadowbrook. I know we’re really big rivals with them,” Joe was finally able to muster the concentration to respond. 

Kierstan decided to respond in Spanish because she knew it would calm Joe a lot more effectively than trying to in English, “Mira, José, si quieren juzgarte, ignóralos. Eres más fuerte que ellos.” She told him that he needed to ignore judgement and that he is stronger than it. 

Joe responded in kind, “Sí, lo sé, mi amor, pero ¿cómo hago eso si la gente está haciendo esto en la reunión?” He asked how to handle people at the drum majors meeting later that night.