It was day five of marching band camp. I had survived the last four and was making my way to the end of the last day. My experience had been different than all others. I was a percussionist. Percussionists are known for their lack of brains, common sense, and pretty much everything that had to do with school. I wasn’t like that. I didn’t fit in. I was a straight A student and did sports and wouldn’t even think to do drugs or under aged drinking. Not all percussionists live up to the full stereo type but many in the group I was in did.
There was one guy in particular that stood out to me, but not for this reason. Was it because of his smooth and soft hair, his enchanting eyes, and the way he spun his sticks? Of course. His name was Ryan and to say the least, he was the hottest guy I’d seen in a long time. Granted he was a junior and I being the freshman I was, stood no chance. I’d heard things about Ryan before. Some saying he was a jerk, others saying he was just a normal guy with his own little quirks. I just had to find out for myself.
Ryan stuck to the upperclassmen for the most part as anyone would expect. Only now and then did he pay any attention to newbies like me. From what I could tell, he probably wouldn’t be the best in a relationship and I couldn’t even see myself being in one with him. I still wanted him to notice me. I had started to wear more exposed clothes and try to look my best, but nothing. It wasn’t till the fifth day when I finally gave up that he noticed me.
The night before, I had missed one of our marching fundamentals lessons. Since there are only two at the whole camp, this was an issue and I needed to be caught up. I had asked a friend of my sister’s who was also a percussionists and probably the only other sane person in the group to help. We had decided on Friday in between the percussion sectional and the group rehearsal. So it was now day five and we had just finished the sectional. My sister’s friend, Chloe, took me out into the half way and started to walk me through the commands. We weren’t exactly being quiet with all the laughter that was going. After about five minutes, Chloe remembered that she had to go help our band director with something for that night. She left me alone in the hallway to work on my own. I started working on slides and just marking time.
I was concentrating so much that I didn’t notice that Ryan had stepped out of a room and into the hallway where I was. I accidentally, not knowing he was there, made a right turn directly into him. I’m pretty sure my face turned as red as it could possibly get without exploding. I apologized and got back to what I was working on. Before I could continue, he tapped my shoulder.
“Do you need any help with anything?” He asked.
“I don’t think so but thanks.” I replied with a smile.
“You just broke the number one rule of marching, no smiling.” He said with a smirk.
“I can’t help it.” I replied.
“I can help with that. First of all, I want to see if you are marching in a straight line. So I want you to close your eyes and do what you would normally do. Then open them after eight counts.”
I nodded and started on my way. About halfway through, I heard his breathing get closer and closer.
“No matter what, keep marching. Even if you run into something.” He reminded me.
I continued to walk. I made it the full eight steps but before I could open my eyes he told me to go another eight. I did these slower thinking about my form. I was at about step six when I felt myself run into something. It wasn’t a wall, it wasn’t a chair, it was Ryan.
“I didn’t say to stop marching. Keep going.” He said.
I followed instructions and tried to push through him. Getting nowhere now, I opened my eyes.
“You’re doing better. Now I want you to stand against that wall over there so that I can check to see if your back is straight while you mark time.” He said as he pointed to the wall next to me.
I did as he said and walked over to it and started to mark time in place.
“You’re doing well. Just remember that you can’t show any emotion when you do this. You have to keep a straight face and be serious. And no matter what, don’t break position.” He reminded me.
I continued to mark time. He started to get closer and closer to me. I tried to think of something else to keep from moving or smiling. He stopped inches from my faces and just started into my eyes. I could feel my face starting to heat up as he looked at me. He brought his body closer and closer until we were practically touching. Then he leaned in and slowly brought his lips towards mine. I could feel his breath on mine and I couldn’t do anything about it. Then he kissed me just like that.
I just stood there as he kissed me remembering what he said, never break position. I started to kiss him back as he drew nearer to me with his body. He gently grabbed my face with one hand and touched the other one to my waist. Still not breaking position, the passion began to grow and all I wanted to do was let him have me. And at that very moment, he pulled away just long enough to say “Maybe just this one time you can break position.”