Within Us

Chapter 2

I had missed my bus already. I had slept through both of my preset alarms on my phone and scrambled up to slap something on. I didn't bother with brushing my teeth or showering. I already have my driver's license but what's a license good for if you don't have a car. I ran to my brother who was off work.

"Can you drive me to school"?

I would classify myself as "the quiet" kid. I didn't have anyone that I would consider a true friend. I had classmates that were willing to talk to me once in a while but that was about it. I sat in the third row in the bandroom not talking to anyone. The same row as the other four trumpets, six trombones, three euphonium, and four tubas. Most bands were shaped in an arc with three rows but my vampire-looking director never liked that. He had us in a square with rounded corners and the chairs and music stand were extremely tight. He was calling students up to receive their papers that the judges had handwritten their comments. Mr. Dawn was pale as a non-living person, in his late 60s, calling up students to collect their papers and calling their scores out loud.

Wait, he's calling our score out loud?!

The creaking bandroom door opened as a girl that I'd never seen before walked in. Or a girl I thought I hadn't seen before. She was a new student in our classroom but wasn't new to band. She sat down in the clarinet row that was in front after Mr. Dawn gave a haphazard introduction for her. I glanced at her to try and think of where I'd seen her before. I looked at her dark hazel hair and her clarinet case. My thoughts were cut short when Mr. Dawn called me by my last name. "Anderson". Almost everyone did that. They all call me by my last name and rarely my first name, Will. I don't mind it, it's just different I guess.

"An excellent"

He said as I went to grab the paper from his wrinkled hands.

How the hell did I get an excellent?!

I went back to my seat and looked at the comment portion of the paper. It's funny, the neat cursive handwriting is almost too nice for me to read. Each line curved, smoothed, and connected, something my playing should be.

Comments/Recommendations:

Use more air and more clarity during the 16th notes.

Practice connecting the phrases and notes more smoothly

Lighten up on your tongue at measure 83

Overall, your sound was musically. Just have to clean it up.

That's odd, very few comments considering how much I screwed up. It was all things my director had told us. I must have zoned out for some time as the new girl was now standing directly in front of me. I was now looking at her Nike sneakers which looked really rough and worn out. They looked like she had them for more than two years at least. I blinked twice in quick succession and looked up to see her face and meet her green eyes. I quickly look away to avoid eye contact.

"Um hello, I was wondering if you could help me with my essay prep assignment. I saw you have the "best essay writer of 2021" award on your book bag"

Our school had this thing where students with the best essays, math scores, science projects, etc, would get some pins and a plaque in a plastic frame. It was recommended that we put the oversized pins on our book bags and hang up our plaques in our bedrooms. I happen to have a big oversized blue rectangular pin that says:

Best Essay Writer Of 2021

Will Anderson

I didn't care much about the pins or my achievements. I just stuck it on my bookbag to make it look less plain.