I bolted upright when my alarm rang off. I was a little shaken, but then I realized why- First day of school. Last first day of school. I got up and began to change into the outfit I picked the night before- A flannel, some ripped jeans, and some black vans.
"Y/N!" Mom called from downstairs. "Mila is here! She brought you Tim Horton's!"
As soon as she said the name of my girlfriend, I rushed downstairs. Camila Cabello and I have been friends since she moved to town sophomore year. I was immediately smitten with her, and the end of our junior year we finally decided to try dating each other. We spent a lot of time together due to the fact we did marching band together. But this year was different. I was drum major, and Camila was Guard Captain.
"Good morning, Guard Captain." I said, a smile etched on my face.
"Good morning, Drum Major." She said back, holding up coffee and a croissant. Gosh, even though she wore a simple sweater and skirt, she still looked beautiful. I couldn't even begin to fathom how much I loved her.
Wait, I said to myself. It's only four months. Should you say it? Nah, not yet. Tonight at the game.
"I'm coming to the home game tonight." My mom's voice brought me back to reality. "So excited! This is the last season where Jamie and you are going to be in the same band!"
Jamie, like my girlfriend, also does color guard. She's in eighth grade, and is the youngest girl on the team. Yet, she can toss a flag and rifle like no one's business.
"Let's hope she catches her toss during halftime." I joked.
"Do you wanna attempt it?" Camila taunted.
"Nope, I'm good on my stand overlooking her, totally not in the path of her destruction." I replied back, getting a laugh from the two.
"Get to school, girls. Can't be late on the first day of senior year!" Mom kissed me goodbye as I got into Camila's BMW with her. As usual, Ed Sheeran was playing. She always says it's the best to listen to in the morning.
I ate my croissant pretty fast, as she knew I was practically addicted to Tim Horton's. She laughed as I drank my coffee.
"You really really like croissants." She teased, as she pulled into the school parking lot.
"Not as much as I really really like you." I replied back. As soon as she parked, her lips met mine. It was full of energy, and yet so calm and collected. Just then, we both heard screaming.
"Get it, Cabello!" Dinah, Camila's best friend screamed.
"Y/N, you can do better than that!" My best friend Nate hollered.
"What an uneven parking job!" Ally, Nate's girlfriend complained.
Camila laughed as she still held onto my face. All our friends were in marching band as well. Nate played bass drum, Ally played clarinet, and Dinah killed the trombone. It was weird for all of us that day, and the awkward screams kind of broke the tension.
"Hello, immature young adults." I greeted as I walked out Camila's car.
"We're immature? You work at a comic book store." Nate pointed out.
"And you dress up each year for Free Comic Book Day." Dinah added. "What were you last year? Obi Wan Kenobi?"
"C'mon, the guy cancelled because he couldn't grow a goatee. I was the next best option apparently." I reminisced on the day I was the famed Jedi from Star Wars. It was also the day Nate decided to bring my girlfriend to my work.
"I think it was adorable." Camila said, grabbing my hand while using the other to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. I couldn't help but notice how she always looked so lovely.
"Take a picture. It'll last longer." Dinah joked.
"She told me to stop doing that, like, three weeks ago." I used to always take a picture of Camila off guard and looking beautiful. However, she made me delete them because she thought they looked ugly. Not possible.
"Don't we have stuff to learn guys?" Ally, the only level-headed person in our friend group asked. "The bell may ring soon."
"Ally's right. Good thing it's a half day." Camila remarked.
"We should go to the diner before the game." I told her.
"But I gotta go pick up Sofi." She said back, reminding me of her adorable sister.
"I have some extra money. We can take her with us?" She responded by kissing me on the cheek and giggling like a preschooler.
"You're so cute when you try to be an adult." When she said that, butterflies formed in my stomach that I couldn't get out. I didn't want them out.
...............
After school, Camila and I made our way to the elementary school. The whole time, she was blasting Gwen Stefani- and I'm not talking about current day Gwen, I'm talking about the years of Hollaback Girl and No Doubt. Her music taste was almost as strange as her.
"Y/N!" Sofi saw me and I jumped out of the car, running to her and delivering the biggest hug I could.
"Hey, kiddo! You hungry?" She nodded, and I looked back at Mila.
"What are we getting today?" She asked, opening the car door.
"Maybe a milkshake if and ONLY IF Camila lets us play one round of Frogger at the arcade in the back." Camila laughed at this, mostly because despite how fun Frogger is, it's impossible to get a high score.
"Y/N, you're clueless. Pac Man is where it's at." Camila pointed out.
"That's not true, Kaki!" Sofi argued. "Y/N said once her and Nate were playing and at level 256 it completely crashed!"
"Sofi is right. It took me 17 hours but it was so worth it."
"My two little nerds." She muttered under her breath.
Freddie's was the best diner in town, only because of the food and their impressive arcade game collection. Camila and I had our first official date here, and I remember how we had a little fight about who was going to pay the tip. That was coincidentally also where we had our first kiss.
The only bad part? We were the only two of our friends who didn't work there.
"What a small world!" Nate sarcastically exclaimed.
"And to think I never run into Beyonce." Dinah replied. "Booth for three?"
"You know me so well." Camila said to her best friend.
Camila, Sofi and I were seated at a window booth. Camila sat next to me while Sofi colored on the kids menu.
"How was classes today?" She said, grabbing my hand and playing with my fingers.
"Well, my AP Lit teacher seems nice, and so does my Stat teacher. But my Psych teacher? She gave everyone palm readings in order to get to know us! What about you?"
"AP Calc will be the death of me. The textbook is like a thousand pages." She laughed.
"I can't wait for the game tonight!" Sofi happily interjected. "Mommy and Daddy are coming!"
Camila's parents were lawyers, so they were always busy. She was incredibly good with children, and Sofi was no exception. She loved her ever since she laid eyes on her.
"What team are we playing tonight?" Camila asked.
"Um...I think the Ridgeview Rattlesnakes?"
"Ah! THE ENEMY!" Camila exclaimed. Ridgeview and our school, Garrison, have had enemy bands since the 80's. They have been copying and reusing our shows and stand tunes due to the fact they are lazy and lack originality.
"Is there a new drum major there too?" I ask.
"I don't know." Camila shrugged. "Maybe, since that prick Sebastian Mendes left."
Sebastian and I never really got along, mostly because he chose a private school over his old friends in Garrison. It was a total douche move, but I wasn't surprised.
"Let's not think about that now." Camila put her arms around me. "This milkshake isn't going to drink itself."
...........
"GOOOOD EVENING, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! WELCOME TO THE FIRST GAME OF THE SEASON, HERE ON THE BEAUTIFUL GARRISON HIGH FIELD! TONIGHT WE HAVE THE HOME TEAM, THE GARRISON GREYHOUNDS, AGAINST THE RIDGEVIEW RATTLESNAKES."
"Okay, Student Leaders!" Mr. Jonas called. "I want you guys to go meet up with the Rattlesnakes's band and introduce yourselves. It's a season tradition, and we need to be the bigger band and pay respect."
Camila, Nate, Lauren Jauregui, the Brass section leader, Ally, and I came together to walk into a sea of white and green. Their band was a little bigger than ours, and I tried to scout out the drum major.
Suddenly I spotted him: Brown hair, brown eyes, black and green uniform. He was tall and looked at his band as if he was a drill sergeant in the Army. He had a crooked nose, probably from too many fights.
"Hi," I approached the boy, holding up my arm. "Y/N Allen, Drum Major for the Marching Greyhounds."
He looked at me for a while, sized me up, and shook my hand.
"Shawn Mendes, Drum Major for the Rattlesnakes Band."
That's when it hit me. This was Sebastian's brother, and something told me he was going to be a bigger pain in the ass than his predecessor.
"Is that Camila Cabello?" He asked, pointing to her and her ruby red cloak.
"Yeah, she's the Guard Captain." I answered.
"She's my ex-girlfriend." I was about to punch him so hard that his nose would look even more disfigured.
"Cool. cool. Well, uh, she's actually my girlfriend now." Shawn's face hardened.
"Listen, Allen. I don't know who you think you are, but this is my year. I'm telling you to back off. You won't stand a chance against my band. Not with those dented tubas, of course."
I wanted to hurt him. But that was the old me. I was now a more calm and peaceful person.
"It's sad when the dented tubas sound better than your entire brass section. Best of luck to you, Mendes."
I walked away as he let out a frustrated grunt and grabbed Camila.
"Babe, we're leaving." I said calmly.
"Camila!" She turned around to the boy, who looked at her like the world.
"How dare you say those things to my girlfriend. You don't deserve to wear Sebastian's uniform." Her words were like venom as they hurt him like bullets.
"Alright guys. Let's get into formation." An assistant Rattlesnakes Drum Major said as Shawn stared as us walking away.
"He isn't going to make this season easy, huh?" I asked her as she felt her wrist.
"No, he won't. You have to promise me you won't stoop down to his level."
"Baby, what do you-"
"I mean he's done some messed up shit. And you're better than that." She kissed me, wrapping her arms around my neck as I grabbed her waist.
"I think I'm in love with you." I blurted out. She looked taken aback, but then she grabbed my hand.
"I think I'm in love with you too. Now let's go kick some musical ass."