Feeling The Beat

Danny:

"Sorry, we're late! My brother wouldn't wake up," I said, looking over at Mike, giving him my death glare.

"It's fine Danny. I won't make you run, this time. You're new to this, but Mike, on the other hand, I need you to run two laps," Kendall said with some sass, which just angered Miley more, "Harness up Dan and meet us outside," Kendall said, before walking out of the band room. I reached up and dropped my arms by my sides. Ugh! I can't reach my drum. Why do I have to be so damn short?!

"Do you need help again?" Jackson's deep voice filled my ears.

"Yes please if you don't mind," I said with a small smile. Jackson reached for the handles of my drum and pulled it down swiftly, "Thanks!" I said unclipping the black box with my foot.

"No problem!" he said with a huge smile. He walked away and ran out with trumpet in hand. I walked quickly towards the door and was stopped.

"Oh my gosh, I am so sorry," a color guard girl said looking at me.

"It's fine. I couldn't see." I smiled.

"I'm Rose," she smiled and fixed her sunglasses.

"I'm Danny! I would love to stay and chat, but I'm very late," I said and rushed out of the door to warm-ups.

"Good job Danny!" Kendall said patting me on the back. I moved back and took off my drum.

"Thanks! I'm glad I can keep up with all of you slowpokes," I said, starting a challenge that I regretted immediately.

"Challenge accepted," Kendall said speeding up the metronome thirty clicks. Crap why did I say anything. I counted out all the beats and finally, he stopped the met.

"Dang Dan, that was at 200 clicks. You, miss, are unstoppable," Kendall said fist bumping me.

"Thanks," I smiled and followed him to the upper field.

"Yo everyone setup! You have three minutes to get your asses on your dots!" Harry shouted. Our show this year is called Peace, Love, and War. It sounds really dark and scary, but I like it. It's about these two lovers who are on opposite sides of the Civil War. The girl lives up North with her father, who's a general at West Point, while the boy is a confederate soldier from South Carolina. The last movement is the tragic death of both her lover and her father during a duel for her hand. Talk about a double whammy death. We started at the beginning of the show and at that moment, I knew today was going to be a long-ass day. After three hours of marching with only two two minute breaks, we finally were released for a ten-minute rest and reboot.

"Set! Up top going through the first movement!" Harry screamed and Kendall tapped on my head with his drumsticks and I grabbed my drum.

"Okay let's go, you guys got this!" Kendall said walking to his spot in the drill. I shoot out my arms and rolled my wrists. I place my sticks in the slots on top of my drum and form the W in War. The layout of the show is that the marching part of the band starts out by spelling out the title of the show. The color guard hid behind us and sat down on their knees staring up. We went through the first part of the show and I was loving every moment of it. The jolt of adrenaline when the big impacts hit has me shaking and the speed of my marching makes me sweat. My arms and legs were pushing as hard as they could go. We reached the end of the first movement and I could only hear my heart beating in my ears.

"Four more runs! Make it good and we will go home early!" I bent over to take a deep breath and I returned to my dot to get ready for the next four runs of the first part of the marching show. My feet were burning and my arms shook as I marched around the field. We got to the final impact of our show and I dropped my arms. The fresh nighttime air whipped across my face and I removed my hat to let it sweep across my sweat-covered hair, "Bring it in," Harry said, not screaming for once. I placed my hat back on and I jogged over and took a stand next to Jackson.

"Hey, the battery sounds good," he whispered, turning his head slightly.

"Thanks. Your section sounds wimpy," I smirked and he stared at me, with sad puppy dog eyes, "Kidding! You guys sound great," I said giggling. I looked over at Harry.

"If you guys put in 200% like I saw today, you guys'll kick ass at all the comps this season," Wait, Harry is proud? That's a first. I've heard it takes a lot to even make him laugh.

"Jeremy you may dismiss the unit," Harry said and headed off the upper field.

"With pleasure," he said with an evil grin, "BAND TEN HUT!" Jeremy screamed and everyone went to front positions. Feet together and instrument at attention. We all stare at him and waited to be released, "Band!!!! Dismissed!!!" he screamed and I actually jumped. Jackson laughed softly and I punched his arm.

"THANK YOU SIR!!" we all said in unison. Kendall did a click on his drum and that was the sign we were dismissed. I arch my back, stretching it from the weight of my big drum. I turned to walk and hit something. Seriously, can people not see that I am really short and can't see if people are in my way.

"You have to stop trying to knock me out. If I'm that bad of a trumpet player, just tell me," a deep voice said.

"I'm so sorry," I said and Jackson popped his head around my drum, "I can't see past this stupid thing," I said smiling.

"Yo! Danny line up we have to go!" Kendall called out and I held up my hand with a thumbs up.

"Shall we continue this conversation later?" Jackson asked, looking down at me.

"Yes, I will give you my number back in the band room," I said, walking past him.

"Okay," he simply said and I felt his eyes watching me as I jogged over to the line. Kendall clicked his sticks and we started playing our fight song off the upper field. We marched past the rest of the front ensemble and I saw one of the side speakers start to fall sideways. I ran out of the line and the battery stopped.

"Danny what are you—" Kendall said but stopped as he saw me catch the falling speaker.

"Oh my god! Thank you, Danny!" Zoe said.

"Can someone take off my drum so I can help her?" I asked trying to lift up the heavy speaker.

"Here I got it," Jackson's soft voice said. I stood up and lifted off my drum

.

"Okay on three. One...Two...Three!" we said together and put the very expensive speaker back on the black cart.

"Thank you both so much. If that had dropped, Stephen would've killed me," she said whipping the panic tears away from under her eyes. Stephen Hood, I assume is the Pit instructor. He hasn't bothered to show up or give out music. The front ensemble just hasn't been playing this week. I feel bad for them in a way, but I'm so glad he is not my instructor. Nick Mathews, our instructor, has already given us our music.

"No problem. Anything to keep the expensive stuff from dying on us," I said, taking of my hat and smoothing down my hair. I placed my hat on with the bill facing my back and lifted my drum back onto my harness latching in both sides. I stood up and wobbled back a few steps. A hand was placed on my mid-back and the warmth of the touch spread through my body, "Thanks," I said smiling. Thank god that it's dark outside because my cheeks are heating up. Phew!

"So... I was thinking maybe if you want to, I don't know... You want to catch a movie with my friends and their girlfriends and you can be my date? Maybe?" Jackson asked and I looked at him and stopped.

"I would love to go! What movie and where?" I asked catching him off guard.

"Oh! Well, we're going to see The Apocalypse. We're going to the Avenue Hills Mall," he said and I smiled and nodded.

"Hey, Danny you out here?" Mikey said opening up the door.

"Yeah I'll be right there," I said and motioned for Jackson to open the door. He did as requested and I walked through the door. I walked over to the battery cave and took off my drum. I reached up and pulled down my empty case. Thank you, brain, for thinking to leave it near the edge of the tall cabinet. I set the hard black case on the floor and opened the lid to place my white and silver-colored drum inside. Once latched up, Ed offered to put up my drum for me. I took off my harness and saw my shirt. Oh, how I love sweat lines. Jackson walked back over to me and placed his hands on his waist.

"Oh the number! Here," I said pulling out my phone and placing it in his hands. I quickly typed in my name and number into his phone.

"Wait wait wait," Jackson stopped me. He held the phone up to my face, "Smile," he said and I gave my best, ' you're a dork' smile for the camera. He took a selfie on my phone and gave it back to me, "Okay, well I will text you later," he said picking up his case and left the band room.

"Ready?" Mike asked and I grabbed all of my band camp stuff and walked over to him.

"Yep," I said and followed him out of the room. I walked towards the front of the school and Jackson and I exchanged waves. I mouthed text me and walked up to Mikey's Grey Ford truck. I hopped in and slipped off my shoes quickly and stretched out my tired feet.

"So, how was your day?" Mikey asked, putting the keys into the ignition.

"I had band camp today and the mean drill coach made us rehearse the same opening chunk four times. And those are all seven minutes long," I complained looking up at him.

"Yeah I did that too," he said laughing and pulling out of the parking lot. I rested my head on the window and looked up at the nighttime sky. My phone buzzed lightly in my hands and I glanced down at the screen. I got a notification from Jackson. I smiled widely and clicked open the app.

Jackson: I hope your parents say yes.

Danny: I'm going to ask my parents about the movies when I get home.

"What's got you so smiley?" Mikey asked, making a right turn into our street.

"Um, nothing! It's nothing," I mumbled.

"Doesn't sound like nothing. Mumbler," he said and I started picking at my nails, "What are you hiding Daniella?" he asked and my head shot up.

"Wow using my real name, that's cold Michael," I shot back.

"Is it Brett's freshy?" he asked and my face burned up.

"Ummmm... Yeah kinda, I don't know," I said. Wow good job Danny, way to make it obvious.

"Ooooo! Danny's got a crush! Danny's got a crush!" Mike sang and I got out of the car, "I can't wait to tell Mom and David!" Mike said running to the front door.

"No!" I screamed and raced after him.

"Mom guess what. Guess what!" Mike said and I jumped onto his back and covered his mouth, "Get off me Dan!" he yelled, struggling to push me off.

"Danny let go of your brother!" my mom said sternly. I climbed down and picked up my hat, "Now what is going on?" Mom asked rubbing her eyes.

"Our little Danny has a crush!" Mike said with a huge smirk. I clenched my fists and my cheeks flared up.

"Oh my gosh really?" she squealed and gave me a hug, "So what is this boy's name, and has he asked you out on any dates? Do you have a picture of him? I want to meet him!" Mom rambled and then she stopped.

"His name is Jackson. He asked me to the movies this weekend with him and his friends and their dates. Yes, I do have a picture of him," I answered all of her questions. I pulled up the selfie that he took on my phone.

"He's adorable! Oh, and if you want to go to the movies, I would like to meet him first," she said and I started to think.

"It's Friday tomorrow. What if he came over for dinner?" I offered and her face lit up.

"Of course! Sounds like a great plan," she said and I hugged her. Oh my gosh, I might be able to go on a date with this guy. I did a little happy dance in my head and gave my mom another big hug. I ran upstairs and grabbed my phone. I juggled it in my hands and dropped it a few times before I could actually function as a human being.

Danny: Hey! So guess who has a date for the movies on Saturday?

Jackson: OMG! You can come that's super great!

Danny: Yeah, but my parents have one condition...

Jackson: Okay?

Danny: Ummm... they want to meet you.

Jackson: Okay cool, what day?

Danny: Tomorrow. Is that okay?

Jackson: Yeah that's perfect! Well, I'm tired and we still have band camp tomorrow. I'll see you later. Good night, Danny.

Danny: Good night Jackson.

I smiled at the phone and set it on my night stand. I changed into my fuzzy polka dot PJs and slipped into bed with a drum pad in hand. I crunched out a few rhythms and when my eyes started to droop, I snuggled into my warm, cozy bed.