Midland High School Marching Band

Chapter 13

As everyone returned to their seats, Joe noticed Anastasia talk to another Alvirne band member, and then she walked away towards the judges table. Did she know one of the judges? What in the world was going on? Joe had grown suspicious, but decided to go and sit with the rest of the Mud Pigs so that they could all hear the results together. 

Right when he got to his seat, he felt his phone vibrate. He quickly grabbed his phone and checked to see who it was. Sure enough, it was Anastasia, Hey, just want to let you know that you guys finished in 3rd place this year. Don’t ask how I know; just trust me. 

Joe was confused beyond belief with this message, although he was happy to hear that they had moved up in the rankings, Ok, first of all, how did you figure this all out, and secondly, where did you guys finish? I know Meadowbrook kicked out asses, but who else beat us out?

You’ll see where we finish, and yes, Meadowbrook beat you. They finished in second, Anastasia replied. 

Wait a minute. You didn’t pay off the judges, did you?

Well, I didn’t pay anyone off. But my friend Dimitri did. We would have finished in 5th behind Meadowbrook, you guys, Miami Central, and Hillsburg, but instead we are the winners cause Dimitri has money like you wouldn’t believe. 

Alright. That’s low, Anastasia. To pay your way into winning this competition. You guys already shattered everyone’s expectations. You guys are the first band from New Hampshire to even be here in 26 years. Isn’t that enough?

No. The only worthwhile outcome is for Alvirne to win. That is the only way that we can have tonight end. You and I both know that we deserve to win. I always get my way. Always. 

Anastasia, that’s low. Real low. And you realized that we can challenge the legitimacy of this, right? You guys will be disqualified from ever competing here again. 

We’ll just see about that, now, won’t we, José. 

Joe immediately got Kierstan’s attention, “Are you seeing this, Kiers? Anastasia paid these judges off. This is fucking bullshit! We were supposed to finish in second, only behind Meadowbrook, who is the rightful winner of this damn thing. Y’know what? I don’t care if she gets a notification, I’m screenshotting this shit and sending it to the group chat. What the actual fuck.”

Joe screenshotted the messages with Anastasia and sent them to the group chat with the rest of the gang. He knew something had to be done about this. It was an injustice to the entire community. 

As they continued through the list of the bands and their grades and rankings, Joe began to look into ways to challenge the results. Tomás was looking, as well, but not as hard as Joe was. He knew that he was running out of time, and that was when he knew what he could do. 

Each of the top three bands are given time to give a brief speech once the awards ceremony was complete. That would be when he provided his evidence that the Alvirne Broncos had bribed their way into a victory in the competition. It was only a matter of time before they were exposed for the cheaters they were. 

As the bands continued to be called into the twenties and the teens, Joe made his idea known to the rest of the group, who joined in on his idea whole-heartedly. Meadowbrook was in, too. This means that Joe would have ten minutes, rather than just five, to prove his point that Alvirne had bribed the judges. 

When they had reached the top five groups, the Meadowbrook and Midland drum majors began to prepare exactly what they were going to say. Hillsburg was called as the fifth place band with a 95.2% score, and that’s when they knew that Anastasia wasn’t kidding about this. Joe turned and said to Kierstan, “It’s Miami Central and then us.”