Midland High School Marching Band

Chapter 7

The minute that Joe walked into the conference room with all the other drum majors signified the end of any and all of his confidence, and he immediately went into his “absolutely petrified” mode where he would talk to nobody that he didn’t know, and when it got this bad, he would literally only talk to Kierstan. He would, however, give off a telltale sign that it hit him if he were with Kiers: he would look at her, attempt to fake a smile, and then stop and bend his knee in a certain way in which it wasn’t supposed to bend, but Joe would do it anyways, and he wouldn’t even think about it; it would just happen. 

As per usual, Kierstan noticed that Joe had gotten a really bad sensory overload panic attack, which sent him into that mode, and she immediately let go of his hand. She knew that, in the case of sensory overload panic attacks, even the slightest touch can feel like one of the most painful things on planet Earth. Nevermind snapping your femur bone in half. The people in the femur ward would never figure it out. 

“¿Que pasa, mi amor?” Kierstan asked Joe; she knew full well that speaking Spanish would help him more than anything she could do otherwise. 

“No creo que pueda hacer esto. Literalmente he estado siguiendo tu ejemplo todo este tiempo. No sé qué hacer.” 

“No, José. Tú totalmente puedes hacer esto. Lo tienes. Yo ya sé esto. Te amo mucho negrito.” 

“Te amo mucho, también, Amapolita,” Joe smiled at that point. He always smiled when he called Kiers “Amapola” or “Amapolita”. It was a term of endearment that Joe had heard his grandfather use with his grandmother, and he found it to be adorable, even if it was a more Dominican thing. 

After the little pow-wow, Joe felt better, and he even didn’t get any more anxious than he already was once he calmed down when Hillsburg, Meadowbrook, and the rest of the drum majors filed in. 

The first of the rival schools to arrive was Meadowbrook. Joe noticed that they had three drum majors. So much more conventional than their two. He looked at the name tags for the three of them. Ashton, Tomás, and Nat. At first glance, Joe could clearly tell that Tomás was nervous and had similar feelings to what he had for the whole thing. 

Of course, none of the Meadowbrook drum majors seemed too overly pleased that they had to sit next to Midland. Ashton also didn't seem to be a huge fan of large rooms, and Joe was convinced that he was having some kind of minor panic attack or sensory overload or something, so he was gonna stay back and leave him alone for a few minutes. 

Just as he was about to try to make small talk with Nat and Tomás, he looked up and saw more drum majors coming in. One of them had a pin that said "Hillsburg Marching Moles", so that meant more rivals, which scared Joe to no end. 

The one wearing the Moles pin came into the room practically skipping. Joe wished he had that kind of positive energy. Two gentlemen followed her. The one who was skipping into the room sat where the name tag said “Thomas Samuel K. White”. The two gentlemen who followed Thomas were named Logan and Louis, apparently. Even with just the six drum majors around him other than Kierstan, Joe was beginning to feel overwhelmed. 

Nat looked over at Joe and Kierstan with a rather disgusted face as if to say, We’re stuck next to THEM for this meeting?! Tomás seemed to be thinking about something, but Joe couldn’t tell what. All the while, Ashton didn’t seem to really give a damn. 

The Hillsburg drum majors seemed to be much more social, which Joe loved the idea of, at first, but it also made him nervous because he didn’t want to annoy anyone. 

“Oh, hello!” Thomas said, while smiling nervously. “Midland, right? Texas? My dad is from Texas… nice place! I’m from Ontario though; I’ve only been, like, once. I’m not sure why my family moves so much. My mom is from Japan and--”