Chapter Text
Virgil couldn’t help being extremely nervous. It was about halfway through the summer holiday and yet here he was on his way back to the school building. He was going to have to deal with a lot of people, some of which he liked and others he didn’t. He would have to get up early on some days just to make sure he was on time and then put hours into the show. Of course, the fact that he would have to meet and get to know even more new people just added to his anxiety!
See, today, Monday, was the first day of marching band practice at Sanders High School for the season. It was already a terribly hot day despite it only being the morning. Luckily for most, the morning practice would be entirely indoors because they were just starting and needed to be introduced to everyone, especially the freshmen. Unluckily for Virgil, he was section leader, so he would have to go out and help the freshmen learn marching basics in the heat during the afternoon.
Virgil didn’t exactly know how to feel about being section leader. While he loved the fact that he wouldn’t have to listen to anyone in his group bossing him around (and he’d make sure that he wasn’t as bossy as the section leader was last year), he also didn’t know what to do with all of that responsibility. He would be in charge of leading the sectionals when there was nobody there to help and he would also have to make sure everyone in his section knew what they were doing. Of course, he was the only one who really could have been section leader this year. He was a junior, but there were no seniors in his section and the other junior who was supposed to be there needed to get surgery. Therefore, Virgil was the only upperclassman in the section. Technically second year marchers could become section leaders, but Mr.Mike, the band director, thought that Virgil was the best option. He still had to go through the process of being interviewed and stuff like that for the position, but there was no doubt that he would get it.
Arriving at the school, Virgil made sure to park towards the back where he wouldn’t have to be next to too many of the other kids. He grabbed his bag, instrument case, water bottle, and phone and made his way into the band room. The band room was on the side of the school and had its own door from the outside. It used to be an old loading dock in the school, but they turned it into the band room. Stepping through the door, Virgil immediately went to claim his seat at the end of the second row where all of the clarinets sat.
Yes, Virgil played the clarinet. He rather enjoyed the sounds it produced and loved to practice on his own. He found it fitting for him to be in the section that couldn’t be heard as well on the field. It was like it was made just for him. He could get away with not playing for a moment and the song wouldn’t be messed up. Getting away with not playing all of the sixteenth notes was easy.
Pretty soon all of the seats were filled. Everyone had their instruments out and were playing random tunes. There were groups everywhere talking with those they haven’t seen in awhile.
“Hey Virgil!” A voice called out. Virgil turned to his side to see his friend Patton walking towards him. Patton was a junior as well, but he was a field commander. He was one of the field commanders who stood on a side podium because it was his first year as one. An experienced senior gets the middle podium. Virgil and Patton have been friends since kindergarten, and by now they were practically inseparable. Virgil didn’t have many friends or people to count on, but he was sure glad to have Patton as his best friend.
“Hi Patton,” Virgil greeted with a small smile, a rarity around anyone else but a usual for Patton.
“How has your summer been so far? I’ve missed you so much! I feel like I haven’t seen you in forever!”
“I just saw you last week, Patton. We were binge watching Voltron at your house, remember?” Virgil asked.
“Yeah, but that was forever ago,” Patton pouted.
Virgil was going to respond, but suddenly Mr.Mike stepped up the podium, signaling for everyone to sit down and get quiet. Patton waved goodbye to Virgil and headed to the front where the other two field commanders were.
“Hello!” Mr.Mike exclaimed when he was sure that he had everyone’s attention. “You all know me from years of being in band, so I don’t need to tell you that I am Mr.Mike. Welcome to marching band new folk, and welcome back returning marchers! I want to have a great season and we’re hoping for another 1 at states. Last year…”
Mr.Mike went on to talk about the previous year and all of the good and bad that came out of it. The band had gotten a one at states the year before, so they were all hoping for the same results this year. He then started to talk about some things that were planned that year and all of the forms they needed to turn in (emphasizing the fact that pay to play was due by the first football game). Finally, he gave them the gameplay for the day and dismissed them to go to their sectional rooms in order to introduce themselves to their section.
“Clarinets, this way!” Virgil called after he made sure that the clarinet sectional room was the same as usual. He led his group into an art room at the end of the hall that they were allowed to use. He had them all sit in chairs in a circle.
Virgil counted how many of them were in his section this year. There were no seniors, as there were no juniors last year either. Virgil found that he somewhat missed last year’s seniors. They provided a sense of leadership that he didn’t think he could manage, despite them being bossy. There were a bunch of sophomores. It seemed like at least one of them had decided not to come back for their second year of marching, but there were still about 8 of them. Finally, he found that there were 6 new faces in their group. This seemed like a lot to Virgil because he was in charge of helping them learn.
“We’re going to go in a circle and introduce ourselves. State your name, grade, a favorite of yours, and an interesting fact about you. I’ll go first of course. My name is Virgil and I am your section leader. I am a junior and my favorite band is Evanescence. I am the only upperclassman in this section so I guess I’m the one to come to if you’re confused.”
“My name is....” the person next to Virgil started to talk, and then they continued around the circle. Somehow at the exact moment they got done with introductions, one of the other field commanders came in and handed Virgil a stack of warm up packets that they would be using the entire season. He also gave him the fight song for everyone. Mr.Mike hadn’t given anyone the list of what part everyone would be playing, so no other songs would be given out.
Virgil passed out the packets and the school’s fight song to everyone. He didn’t bother taking one for himself because he still had his from last year. He explained to the group that they played all of the warm up songs except for one of them. That meant they had four songs for warmups. They went through the warmups for the first time and Virgil tried not to cringe when they messed up a rhythm. Finally, as they were finishing up with playing through the fight song, it was time to go back to the band room and attempt to play with the rest of the band. They grabbed the stands that they were using and filed into the band room.
“Let’s start with the warmups,” Mr.Mike said when the band was ready. He counted them off for the first one and they started playing. They got through half of it before he stopped them to tell them to play with better tone quality.
After warm ups they played through the fight song twice in order to get used to having the roll off from the percussion. Finally, Mr.Mike gave them a final talk for the day and let them end practice. Most of the band left to go home, but Virgil had an hour before he had to go out and help with marching basics. He was planning to spend that hour eating lunch at McDonalds or something, but he was approached by another one of his friends.
“Virgil!” Roman exclaimed. “Patton, Logan, Thomas, and I are going to Wendy’s for lunch. You should join us.”
Virgil felt his cheeks heat up a little bit. He would never admit it to anyone, but he thought that Roman was sort of...cute. Of course, the fanciful person would never like him, so he just hid his feelings.
“Sure,” Virgil said, wanting to spend time with his friends. He may seem like a total recluse most of the time, but he really did like hanging out with the few people he could consider friends. “Are they going to go to marching basics afterwards?”
“Well, Thomas has to since he’s in guard and Mr.Bloomer is making the entirety of pit go. Patton has to go as well since he’s field commander. We’re all going to suffer in this heat,” Roman explained. Virgil nodded in understanding. All five of them were juniors, but they were in different sections. Patton, like mentioned before, was a field commander. Logan played in the front ensemble, the pit, so he didn’t march in the show. The percussion instructor, Mr.Bloomer, made them learn since they marched with symbols in pregame and during parades. Thomas was part of the color guard and was the most likely to get a solo performance out of all of them. He was a phenomenal dancer and just the best guard member overall. Roman was the section leader for the flute section. While there were other juniors and some seniors in the flutes, he beat out all of them when going for section leader.
Virgil dug in his bag to find his keys, but he was stopped by Roman.
“I’ll drive you, Brad Pitiful. It would be easier and use less gas.”
Virgil sighed but didn’t argue. He followed Roman to the parking lot and sat in the passenger seat of his car. Soon, they were on their way to the nearby Wendy’s. When they got there, they found that they made it before the others, who Virgil was told were all riding with Thomas. They went ahead and ordered their food-a spicy chicken sandwich and fries for Virgil, a box of chicken nuggets and fries for Roman, and a small chocolate frosty for both of them-and found a booth that could fit five of them. They sat across from each other and started to eat.
A few minutes later, Thomas, Patton, and Logan came walking towards them with their own trays of food. Patton sat next to Virgil, dragging Logan down to sit next to him. Thomas sat next to Roman, smiling widely.
“It feels good to be back with the guard!” He grinned. “I’ve missed it all year.”
“Yeah,” Virgil said, “but I’m not excited for marching basics.”
“I am!” Patton shouted. “I’m ready to teach all of the kiddos how to march!”
“It’s like 90 degrees out. We’re going to be sweating a lot and might even start to feel sick,” Logan said.
“You’ll be fine,” Patton said, leaning in to give Logan a kiss.
“Guys, why?” Thomas asked, but not so secretly having an awed look on his face.
“Why not?” Patton questioned, smiling at Thomas as he pulled away. Logan had a surprised look on his face, dumbfounded.
Patton and Logan have been dating since the end of last school year. Patton had asked Logan out during a movie night that they had. The five of them tended to have a lot of random movie nights, but sometimes only a few of them count make it. Patton only invited Logan over that day so that he could ask Logan out without the others distracting them.
They continued eating and talking with each other. When they were done, they threw away their garbage, stacked the trays above the trash can, and headed back to the school.
It was time for marching basics.