The next orchestra day, I met up with Frances and Amanda. Ms. Thompson had not yet arrived. We stood near the podium. Mr. Battle, the conductor, was writing some lame joke on the board. One of the violists, Elaine, chastised him horribly. He came up with some remark, and, thus, life went on.
"Are we going to Ms. Thompson's today?" Frances asked.
"I don't know, Frankie, it all depends." I replied.
"STOP THAT! I hate it when you guys call me that! When do you think we'll find out?"
"Probably when she shows up." Amanda said. She looked extremely tired, but it's a Monday! What do you expect? The band room door opened and slammed shut. Michele walked in, followed by Ms. Thompson. Michele is Japanese-American, her father being Japanese, her mother being Caucasian. She has the complexion of an Asian, the same dark hair and eyes, but her attitude is distinctly Caucasian. She's your classic prep, but her looks make her appear more exotic than the rest. She was friendly, fun loving, and cute as a button with a southern accent.
"Hey, guys!" Michele walked over to us.
"Hi, Michele." We replied in unison.
"Hi everyone." Ms. Thompson walked over.
"Hi." We all said.
"Can I speak to you three for a moment?" Ms. Thompson pointed to Amanda, Frances, and me.
"Sure, I'll talk to you guys later." Michele went to talk to Briana.
"Well, you guys can come over on Wednesday, if you'd like…but I might not be able to pick you up and take you home." Ms. Thompson said.
"Oh, that's no problem. I can drive." Amanda flashed her keys.
"Good deal." Ms. Thompson said, and walked off. Michele returned to us.
"What was all that about?" She inquired.
"Oh…uhm…" I began, trying to find a good excuse and FAST.
"Ms. Thompson invited us over and wants you to come, too." Frances piped up. Amanda and I looked at her, in shock. What the hell was she trying to do?
"When?" Michele asked, beaming.
"Wednesday." Frances replied.
"Ok! I'll ask my mom!" Michele happily left us. Amanda and I turned on Frances.
"What the HELL are you doing?!" I asked.
"Isn't it obvious? Didn't you say you wanted Michele?" Frances asked.
"You can't go around inviting people to other people's houses without the other person knowing, Frances." Amanda said.
"What do you want me to do? Uninvite her?"
"Tell Ms. Thompson about it, at least!" I said. "Besides, nothing will come of it. Michele is…" I looked at her "unreachable."
"Fine!" Frances stormed off. Amanda and I watched Ms. Thompson's expression when she received the news. It went from mild horror to pleasure. She beckoned me over. I glanced at Amanda before I ambled over to her. She gave me a hard look for a second, and then her face broke into a smile.
"Are you excited about Wednesday? Your fantasy might come true…"
"Well, sure, I guess. But the chances of that happening are very slim." I shrugged.
"I wouldn't say that…" I stared at her until she walked away. I didn't understand her sometimes.
I took my position in the orchestra. I had a vantage point. I could see Ms. Thompson, Amanda, and Frances. Life was great, sometimes. When tuning, I caught Amanda's eye. She winked and giggled a little bit, before returning to her task. Out of my peripheral vision, I could see Michele, who sat behind me. Her lips were pursed in deep concentration on the pitch. Her hair fell in her face a bit, and she stopped to brush it away. She saw me looking at her, smiled, and resumed tuning. At this rate, I wouldn't be able to tune myself! I stopped perving and got back to work.
Ms. Thompson helped people with tuning problems, and we played our pieces in preparation for the upcoming concert.
"Ok, everybody. Let's play the Fur Elise." She said in her teacher voice. Frances, Amanda, and I exchanged a knowing smile. We'd heard her use a different tone of voice with us, a begging voice. We worked on the piece for the duration of the class period. When class ended, I caught up with Michele.
"Hi! How's my favorite underclassmen friend?" I said, smiling.
"Hey, Danielle. What are we gonna do Wednesday at Ms. Thompson's house?" She innocently asked.
"Uhm…" I searched my mind for a quick, easy, answer that would quell her curiosity for the moment. "Lots of fun stuff…like…orchestral stuff." I said.
"Oh ok. See you later!" She smiled and walked off. Whew! That was a close one! I only hope Frances doesn't give it all away.
Wednesday arrives…
I strolled into the band room, feeling pretty good. I had spoken to Amanda the night before, and we got each other off. I was really nervous. I gripped my case with nothing short of a death grip. Looking around, I didn't see Amanda, Frances, Michele, or Ms. Thompson. Shrugging, I sat down in my usual spot and began unpacking my stuff. One of my friends in band walked over to me.
"Hi, Danielle." She said.
"Yo, Angel…what's up, eh?" I replied.
"Not much." She sat next to me. "Where's that chick?"
"Which chick?" I said, snickering.
"The orchestra chick!" She poked my ribs.
"Ms. Thompson? That's a good question. Usually, she's here by now. It's about 7:35." I shrugged again. "She's a big girl, she can take care of herself, I'm sure." At this statement, Ms. Thompson walked into the door. Among her usual bags, I noticed a strange looking drink. It wasn't a Fruitopia, but I didn't give it too much thought. She came over, and Angel left.
"Hi, Danielle. Are you excited about this afternoon? You haven't changed your mind, I'm sure." She smiled.
"Well, I must admit that I'm a bit concerned about Michele. I mean…she's…Michele. How can I pull it off, ya know?" A smidgen of anxiety crept into my voice.
"Relax; Michele will be fine." She put a reassuring hand on my shoulder before she turned to go. I watched her leave, doubting her word. Amanda and Frances arrived soon after, with the look of after glow plainly written upon their countenances. I smirked at them, and Frances almost blushed. Ms. Thompson, also, saw the pleasure on them, and shook her head, smiling. Amanda walked over.
"Hi, Danielle. Ready for this afternoon?" She grinned mischievously.
"…Not really…" I nervously replied.
"Ms. Thompson will take care of it. Don't worry. I'll talk to you later." She left to talk to her other friends. I wasn't so sure about that. Ms. Thompson was only human. What was she going to do? Employ the use of mind-altering drugs? Please, she wouldn't do that. Of course, then again, I didn't think she'd do me. I decided not to worry myself with it. Michele walked by. She looked as cute as per usual.
"Hey, Danielle." She said on the way to her seat. "Can I be your stand partner today? Lawrence is out on a field trip. He's going with Slash, Bill, Saul, and Won right after announcements. So it just leaves you, me, Cathy and Alex."
"Sure, Michele." I moved my music and instrument to sit next to her. The whole first violin section scrunched up together. The bass section was down to one. The second violins were all right. The violists were missing no one, but the cello section was made up of a total of two, Amanda and Briana. Of the two, while Amanda was section leader, Briana was the strongest. Mr. Battle was playing with them. I noticed he was rather quick to sit behind Amanda. He always did seem a bit jumpy around her, as if she made him nervous some how.