JeffMads Modern AU | Year 1 {Complete}

Band Practice

IM #1 IN THE MAC AND CHEESE HASHTAG!! IM SHOOKETH.

//hi. As of now it's 9/23 and I just finished this. Sorry. :( anyways I'm done with creative titles, hence this title. Hope you enjoy this//

Charles put his arm around me and I leaned my head on his shoulder. I felt so bad whenever I was with him. He made my stomach churn.

"What's wrong James?"

"N-nothing."

"You stutter when you lie. Tell me what's wrong."

The only thing wrong was the fact that I was with him and not Thomas.

"I promise. Nothing's w-wrong," I tried to hide the stutter as much as possible.

Charles sighed. "Fine."

We were sitting on the couch in his dorm. There was a soccer game on tv. I didn't like soccer.

"Don't you have marching band in a half of an hour?"

I looked up at the clock. I did. Marching band was once a week until we got into marching band season, where we would be going everyday.

"Yes."

"Well I suppose I can let you go" His tone was playful.

"Yes... I suppose." I ducked out of his arm and grabbed my bag off of the ground.

"I invited James Reynolds and Isabella Bunbury over tonight for the championship game. Get here about 7:30, ok?"

//Just an fyi, Isabella Bunbury, historically, is Charles Lee's wife.//

"Yeah ok." I left and almost instantly it felt like an enormous weight was taken off my shoulders.

Conveniently(probably for story progression), Aaron Burr was only a little ways down the hallway. He played the clarinet in the band. Clarinets are the worst, hands down.

"Aaron!"

He turned and smiled at me. "Hello James."

I caught up with him and we strolled along side by side.

"I think I finally mastered the formation steps."

"Oh... that's great." I hadn't practiced in the last week at all.  Him being a clarinet, and I an oboe, we had fairly easy steps in the band. I couldn't possibly imagine being a trombone or tuba.

"And I can't wait for you to out beat the Jefferson kid on the violin."

I totally forgot about that.

I wasn't the best at the violin, my strongest instrument was definitely the oboe, I had been playing since middle school. And playing against Thomas? No way.

"Uh... maybe some other time," I replied.

"James... are you alright?"

Everyone was asking me that lately.

"It's just," he continued, "first you miss practice, then you look sleep deprived, and now you are-"