Playing All The Right Notes

An Eventful Experience

After the rather riveting rally, almost the entire school flooded out of the gym and went in a hurry to what the jocks deemed a "sick tailgate party" which would take place before, during, and after the game.

Personally, all I wanted to do was go and change into some more comfortable clothing.

I love dresses and shoes and jewelry, but one can only take so much before their feet start to blister and their hair starts to die from all of the heat and product that it can take.

So, it was a welcome change when I emerged from the shower dressed in some comfortable white Converse, a cute white skirt, and the mandatory band shirt which was an all white t-shirt with the words Radiant Academy Music  written in cursive and colored gold. On the back was my graduation year with some wings on either side of them like the ones that the football players had on their jerseys. I decided to put my hair in a semi-high ponytail which was in curls since I had my hair in loose curls for the performance.

The skirt isn't exactly protocol for band apparel, but considering I'm first flute and an upperclassmen, I know Mr. Q won't pay mind to me. Besides, I know he has his hands more than full with the freshman who want to turn their band shirts into crop tops and muscle shirts in an attempt to make it look cooler when that's the farthest thing from it.

As I walked out of my dorm, I quickly made my way down to the band room to pick up my flute, my one prized possession that was given to me by my grandmother. When she heard me play on the flute that I borrowed from my elementary school at the time, she set out to start saving enough money to buy a flute that professionals use.

It took five years, but on the day before my first day at Radiant Academy, my grandmother flew all the way up from Mexico and gave me the flute, making me promise on everything that is holy and good that I would take care of it.

Flutes of this caliber are nothing to sneeze at, but since Radiant is home to some of the richest musicians in the country, if I had walked in with the cheap flute that I had bought with my birthday money when I was in junior high, I would have been the laughing stock of the entire school. 

If it weren't for my abuelita's kindness, I probably would still be at the back of the flute section, hiding behind my hair and staying out of the spotlight at any cost. A lot of the confidence that I gained from my freshman year came from my flute playing ability. 

We were offered the opportunity to audition for the solo since the first flute was going to be playing piccolo in the song and the second flute was out sick. Mr. Q thought it would be a good opportunity to gauge the skill of his new students and decided to hold auditions for the solo.

I auditioned without any high expectations, but I gave it my best, making it more of a personal challenge than an assignment. I told myself that if I could get an A on this audition, then I would start forcing myself to go outside of my comfort zone more often.

To my dismay, I got the solo, and soon after, I was promoted to a first flute forcing me to come out of my safe little shell that I had been hiding in ever since the first day of school. I was miserable sitting in the front row for the first couple of weeks, but it led me to meet my amazing best friends since the first flutes are the ones who get first picks on any projects around school.

I met Meadow through band because she needed musical accompaniment for one of her art shows and she thought that some flute music would pair well with her art, which was a collection called The Winds of Change, some of her proudest works. I thought they were beautiful and since I'm a first flute, I got to choose it as one of my assignments.

When I walked into the band room, it was relatively empty, save for Jasper, our pet hamster who can somehow make his running wheel squeak in time with whatever song we're playing. Jasper doesn't really like people all that much though and more often than not, he bites the hand that feeds him which usually ends up being one of the unlucky freshman.