Sleepovers, Solos, and Sheet Music

by Michelle Schusterman

  It didn’t help that I was sitting last chair, too. Not because I was upset about it—although after making all-region, it was sort of embarrassing that I’d messed up that chair test so badly. I knew I’d do better on the next one, though. And in the meantime, I got to sit next to Owen, since he was third chair. But I was used to having the saxophones next to me on the right. Now, the second row of clarinets sat to my left. And my chair was more in front of the trombones than the trumpets. Our songs sounded different since I wasn’t used to hearing those parts so loudly. It was kind of neat, but it threw me off a little.

  Plus, Julia was only two chairs away in the row in front of me. I couldn’t help glancing at her during rehearsal. It dawned on me that I hadn’t seen her hanging out with anyone on the trip. Sure, she sat with Sophie on the bus. But in the gym, and at the zoo, she’d been alone.

  Well, not alone, I reminded myself. She has her phone, after all. It was a mean thought, but it was true. And it helped me feel less bad. Because the truth was, phone or no phone, Julia looked pretty lonely.

  “We have to be in the lobby at seven tomorrow morning,” Owen said, reading his schedule while everyone packed up. “I might ask Mrs. Park for that air horn. Make sure Trevor actually gets up.”

  I laughed, but before I could respond, someone spoke up behind me.

  “Hey, Holly?”

  Turning, I found myself face-to-face with Aaron. For a second, I panicked—did he want to talk to me about Natasha? He’d asked me for advice last semester because she’d avoided him after the winter dance. It was nice that Aaron considered me a friend, but I so did not want to talk to him about their break-up.

  “Yeah?” I said, stomach twisting with nerves.

  “Want to run through the trio with me and Liam?” Aaron asked. “It’s been a while, and Mr. Dante said the ensembles have half an hour before the bus leaves to practice.”

  “Oh!” I couldn’t keep the relief out of my voice. “Yes, definitely.”

  “Cool,” he replied. “Liam’s in one of the practice rooms over there. I’m gonna go grab a drink first. Do you want anything?”

  “No, thanks,” I said. “I’ll be there in a minute.” Turning, I grabbed my folder and horn case. Owen was still staring at his schedule. “Guess I’ll see you on the bus?” I asked. He nodded without looking up.

  “Okay.”

  Mrs. Park gave us a ten o’clock lights-out curfew. Like that was going to happen. Especially not when the room includes a girl with a seemingly endless supply of candy.

  “Seriously, how much junk food did you pack?” I asked when Gabby pulled yet another package of Twizzlers from her bag.

  “Oh, I went through everything I packed on the bus yesterday,” she replied. “But I stock up every time we stop at a gas station.” Tossing me a few Twizzlers, Gabby headed for the door to the adjoining room. “We’re going to play truth or dare. Wanna come?”

  “I’ll wait for Natasha.”

  Once Gabby and Victoria had joined the others next door, I stretched out on one of the beds. By the time Natasha got out of the shower, I’d dozed off with a Twizzler hanging out of my mouth.

  Natasha poked me in the side, giggling. “Lucky for you I’m so nice. My camera’s right there, and this would make a great picture.”

  Rubbing my eyes, I sat up. The Twizzler fell into my lap. “Ugh, I didn’t realize I was so tired.”

  “Where are the others?” Natasha asked, settling onto the bed next to me.

  “Next door. I told Gabby we’d go, too, but . . .”

  “But Julia’s over there,” she finished.

  “Yeah.”

  “Yeah.” Natasha glanced at me. “So . . . how was practice? I mean, the trio?”

  “Good,” I said. “And Aaron didn’t say anything to me about . . . you know. About you and him.”

  She laughed. “How’d you know that’s what I wanted to ask?”

  “Because I would’ve asked you the same thing,” I told her, smiling.

  The door opened, and Sophie stuck her head in. “Have you guys seen Julia?” she asked.

  “Um . . . no,” I said. “She’s not in there with you?”

  “Nope.” Frowning, Sophie checked her watch. “She said she was going to get a drink, but that was a while ago. I’ll go check the hall.”

  “Okay.” I waited until Sophie had left before adding: “Ten bucks says she’s on the phone with Seth again.”

  It came out angrier than I intended. Natasha glanced at me. “You okay?”

  “Yes.” I bit off another piece of Twizzler. “No, I’m not. It just really bothers me that Julia told Sophie about our fight. Sophie, of all people.”

  Natasha tilted her head. “What do you mean?”

  “Because she’s such a gossip!” I exclaimed. “Julia told her we yelled at her for hanging out with her boyfriend too much. It’s like she did it because she knew Sophie would tell everyone, and they’d all think you and I were being mean.”

  “Oh.” Natasha was quiet for a second. “No . . . I don’t think that’s why she talked to Sophie.”

  I looked at her in surprise. “What?”

  “It’s just . . .” Natasha cleared her throat. “Well, you’re right—Sophie kind of is a gossip. But there’s a reason she always knows everything about everyone. She’s a really good listener.”

  “She is?” I shrugged. “Oh. I guess I don’t know her that well.”

  “Yeah, she’s actually pretty nice,” Natasha said. “She and I talked a lot last semester when . . . um, when you and I . . .”

  After a few seconds, I realized what she meant and laughed. “When we hated each other?”

  Natasha giggled, too, her face pink. “Yeah. That.” She grabbed one of my Twizzlers and bit off a small piece. “Anyway, I couldn’t talk to Julia about it, so I talked to Sophie. I mean, not about you! Well, sort of about you. How we didn’t like each other, and it was upsetting Julia, and I didn’t know what to do. I was lonely, and I just wanted someone to talk to . . .” She trailed off, giving me a worried look.

  I grinned. “It’s okay, I know what you mean. That’s part of why I ended up hanging out with Owen so much.”

  “Right.” Natasha smiled back. “Well, I guess my point is that Sophie is easy to talk to. And her and Julia are in the same ensemble, remember? So they probably got to know each other a little better during all those practices, too.”

  A loud knock startled both of us. Natasha hopped off the bed and hurried to open the door.

  “All right, girls,” Mrs. Park said, stepping inside. “It’s almost eleven, and we’ve got an early morning. Time to—” She stopped, looking around. “Where are your roommates?”

  “Next door.” Natasha stuck her head into Leah’s room. “Gabby! Victoria! Mrs. Park’s here.”

  After Mrs. Park went over tomorrow’s schedule (and threatened to use her air horn to wake us up if necessary), she headed into the other room. As soon as the door closed, I turned to Gabby.

  “Hey, did Sophie find Julia?”

  “Yeah.” Unzipping her suitcase, Gabby pulled out her pajamas. “She was in the lobby, but she came back up with Sophie. Lucky for her—we were supposed to be in our rooms by ten.”

  I shook my head. “Guess talking to Seth again was worth risking getting in trouble.”

  “I guess,” Gabby said. “Something was definitely up, though. Her eyes were kind of red when she got back. I’m pretty sure she’d been crying.”

  Natasha and I exchanged worried looks. Maybe it was time to try talking to Julia again.

  If I hadn’t been so exhausted the next morning, I would’ve laughed when I got to the lobby. Everyone looked dead tired, even Mr. Dante. We were like zombies. A zombie band wearing really cool T-shirts.

  The bus ride to the campus was only twenty minutes, but Trevor snored th
e whole way. “I don’t know how you share a room with him,” I told Owen.

  “I’ve stayed over at his house plenty of times,” he said with a shrug. “I came prepared.”

  “You mean you’re used to it?”

  Owen looked surprised. “No, I mean I brought earplugs.”

  My stomach tingled with nerves when we pulled into the parking lot. Mr. Dante had explained that this contest was like Solo and Ensemble—the judges would give us a rating based on our overall performance. He said it was good practice for the big contest we’d be attending in May. But thinking about this as just a practice performance wasn’t helping me feel any less nervous about it. The concert hall would be open for anyone who wanted to watch, including students and parents from other schools.

  Like all-region, I reminded myself. And that went great, right? So just relax.

  It didn’t work. I wondered how many performances it normally took before musicians stopped getting pre-concert jitters. Maybe I’d be over it by high school.

  Warm-ups started kind of sluggish. But after we finished tuning, Mr. Dante blasted that air horn. Trevor yelled, “I’m awake, Mom!” and everyone laughed, and rehearsal ended up being really fun after that. I felt better by the time we filed onto the stage in the concert hall. The three judges were easy to spot, and the seats weren’t even half full. Off to the side of the stage, I noticed a small cluster of chairs and music stands for the ensemble performances.

  After Mr. Dante introduced us, we played our first song—a march we were also playing for the big contest at the end of the year. Then a few ensembles performed, including the quartet with Natasha, Gabe, Victoria, and Max.

  After the band’s second song, the percussion ensemble performed, followed by Julia’s group. When they finished, I followed Aaron and Liam to the cluster of chairs and whispered “nice job” to Julia as she passed me. Surprise flickered across her face, but I thought I saw the trace of a smile, too.

  “I can’t find my music,” Aaron said when I sat down. Liam and I just stared at him, and Aaron pulled his copy of “Triptych” out of his folder. “Just kidding,” he added with a grin, and we snickered.

  Tapping his foot, Aaron counted us off. Sitting in front of the whole band, not to mention the judges and everyone else in the concert hall, was a little intimidating. But it turned out to be the best we’d ever played the trio. By the time we finished, my cheeks were flushed and I felt a little giddy.

  Pre-concert jitters, I decided, were totally worth the rush that came with a great performance. And apparently it was even more effective than Gabby’s M&M sugar rush, because by the time we filed offstage, everyone was chatting and laughing and looking wide-awake. Out in the lobby, the chaperones herded us onto what looked like a choir’s platform risers to take pictures.

  “Stay with your sections!” Mrs. Park called, arranging the flute and clarinet players on the first row. “Saxes and French horns on the second row . . . Sophie, are you chewing gum? No, Trevor, please remove the hat.”

  Owen and I turned to see Trevor taking off a green cap with long ears like Yoda from Star Wars with a resigned sigh.

  “Okay, folks,” said the photographer once the chaperones made sure each section was holding their instruments the same way. “Stand up straight, look right here . . .” He wiggled his fingers over his head. “And . . . smile!”

  Flash!

  “All right, hang on just a minute and we’ll do another one . . .” We rubbed our eyes while he adjusted his camera.

  “We should switch places,” Owen told me. “It’s just a fluke that you’re fourth chair. You shouldn’t be positioned like this in the picture.”

  “It’s not a fluke,” I said. “You sounded better on the chair test than I did.”

  He shrugged. “Just that one time.”

  “You got a Superior rating on your solo, too,” I reminded him. “It’s pretty crazy that you’re practicing so much with all the baseball stuff going on.” He made kind of a funny face. “What?” I asked.

  “Well . . .” Owen smiled a little. “That’s kind of why I’ve been practicing more.”

  I stared at him for a second before realizing what he meant. “Because if you’re practicing for band, Steve won’t bug you to play baseball with him?”

  “Yup.”

  The photographer spoke up again before I could say anything.

  “Now let’s try a fun one. Instruments on your head, goofy faces, whatever you want. You’ve got five seconds to strike a pose!”

  “Can I wear my hat?” Trevor yelled, and Mrs. Park rolled her eyes.

  “Why not.”

  Grinning, Trevor pulled the cap back on, then started swiping his trombone over me and Owen like a lightsaber. Laughing, we cowered with our hands over our heads just as the photographer snapped the shot.

  “That’ll be a good one,” Owen said, and I grinned. Everyone kind of stampeded off the risers, and Owen tripped a little on the bottom step. I grabbed his hand and held it for a few seconds until we were safely on the ground. And then another second. And another. Because he wasn’t letting go, and neither was I. Just when we were about to go from “helping each other off the platform” to “actually holding hands in front of the entire band,” Mr. Dante called, “This way!” and we had to turn abruptly and follow him in the other direction.

  I glanced at Owen. Okay, this time he was definitely a little pink-faced. Ugh, why did I keep doing this? Hopefully when we got back home, everything would go back to normal. Natasha caught my eye and smiled, and I wondered if she’d seen us. Well, better her than Gabby.

  We filed down the hallway and stopped by the auditorium doors while Mr. Dante went inside. A few seconds later, he stepped out holding something behind his back with one hand and a sheet of paper with the other. He cleared his throat loudly, and everyone stopped talking.

  “First of all, I want to tell you that I’m very proud of your performance,” Mr. Dante began with a serious expression. Natasha and I exchanged nervous looks. It sounded like he was softening the blow of a really bad score. “I thought you did an outstanding job.” He paused, smiling. “And apparently the judges agreed, because all three gave us a Superior rating!”

  He held out a large gold trophy with purple and green sparkles, and everyone cheered. We headed back out to the parking lot, watching Trevor in his Yoda-cap wave the trophy over his head. Gabby skipped next to him, singing “We Are the Champions” at the top of her lungs.

  “May the Force be with us!” Trevor swung the trophy through the air and accidentally swiped Mrs. Park’s hair. Everyone laughed when she sighed and gently took the trophy from Trevor before he boarded the bus.

  “Is it time to head home yet?” I overheard her say to Mr. Dante. She only sounded half-kidding.

  Mr. Dante smiled. “I’m pretty sure the fun is only just beginning.”

  I figured I’d get to talk to Julia later that morning since we were going on a tour of the French Quarter. But as soon as we got on the bus, Mr. Dante told us we’d be grouped up with our roommates and a chaperone. So I ended up wandering through a cathedral with Natasha, Gabby, Victoria, and Mrs. Park. Thanks to Gabby’s post-concert peanut butter cups, we were all hyper except for Mrs. Park. When we left the cathedral, squinting in the bright sunlight, she immediately pointed across the square.

  “Coffee,” she announced. “Let’s go.”

  We followed her to a café with a huge pavilion and lots of tables. Mrs. Park stood in line while the four of us sat down.

  “Victoria’s going to kiss Max today,” Gabby told us as soon as Mrs. Park was out of earshot. “It’s her dare,” she added when Natasha and I stared at her in confusion. “Truth or dare last night, remember? I dared her to.”

  I grinned at Victoria. “Are you really going to do it?”

  “Probably,” she said. “We—”

 
“Not probably,” Gabby scolded. “That’s not how truth or dare works.”

  Victoria rolled her eyes. “I should’ve just picked truth, but your truth questions are even worse than your dares.”

  “Yeah, but where’s the fun in that, anyway?” Gabby asked. “I already knew you liked him.”

  “You do?” Smiling, Natasha turned to Victoria. “I didn’t know that!”

  Victoria grinned. “Yeah, we’ve been hanging out a lot lately. He asked me to the spring dance a few days ago. Hey,” she added suddenly. “Do you want to go to dinner before the dance, like a double date? Him and Aaron are pretty good friends—it’d be fun!”

  “Oh!” Natasha swallowed nervously. “Um, yeah, it would be. But . . . well, I don’t think Aaron and I are going to the dance together.”

  “What?” Victoria’s eyes widened. “Why not?”

  “Well, don’t tell anyone, but I’m going to break up with him.”

  I sat quietly while Natasha explained everything. A few times, I thought I caught Gabby glancing my way, but every time I looked back, her eyes were on Natasha.

  “I’m really sorry,” Victoria said when Natasha finished. “I understand, though. I went out with Liam a few times last semester. The first two times were fun, but by the third time, it was like suddenly we had nothing to talk about.”

  Natasha nodded. “Yeah, it’s the same thing with us.” She started to say something else, but stopped when Mrs. Park appeared with a huge tray. She set it down on our table—one coffee, four hot chocolates, and a few plates of what looked like mounds of powdered sugar.

  Gabby’s eyes bulged. “What is that?”

  “Beignets,” Mrs. Park replied. “They’re like doughnuts. My treat, so help yourself!”

  “I love you,” Gabby said fervently, grabbing a beignet. She held it close to her nose, sniffed, and promptly sneezed. Powdered sugar flew everywhere, causing Natasha to shriek while Victoria and I burst out laughing. Unperturbed, Gabby shoved the entire beignet in her mouth. Her eyes fluttered closed.