Steven to my locker. “What are you going to do about your duet with Melissa?” he asked.
“ Aaron is going to take her place,” I said.
“ Oh, yeah?” Steven asked. I could tell he was feigning indifference as he leaned against the locker next to mine.
“ Yeah, he already knows it,” I said with a shrug. “I guess we could have cancelled it, but you know Mr. Boyd. And, well, I’m kind of excited to do it.”
Steven grinned and punched me in the arm. “Yeah, you’ll be great.” His grin faded a bit as he saw something down the hall. I followed his gaze to where Jordan was talking with Chandler.
My stomach tightened, and I hoped Jordan wasn’t at the concert on Thursday. I grabbed my clarinet from my locker and turned to Steven. “I’m going to go practice.”
“ Have fun.” He paused. “Text me when you’re done.”
After shutting my locker, I kissed him and went toward Mr. Boyd’s classroom. I felt Aaron as I came closer. He played a pop song with his sax, hitting each note perfectly. He glanced up at me and ended the song on a melodious tone. He liked doing sax covers of the Top 40s. He’d actually been the main reason I picked up the clarinet instead of a flute or a brass instrument. My mom wanted me to start an instrument, and back in freshman year, Aaron and I had still been best friends. It seemed natural for us to have instruments that complemented one another.
I probably never would have joined band if he hadn’t been in it with me; even this year, I pulled some strings with my guidance counselor to make sure we were in the same period. At the beginning of high school, I could hardly keep up a rhythm without him next to me. Now, I was better because of practice, but I was still behind most other people in our class. When I wasn’t around Aaron. Since he was there during band and concerts, I did pretty well. It was bad when he was absent. My clarinet partners would look at me like I had forgotten the entire song. Usually, I had.
I gave him a few claps as I walked to my usual seat. He bowed a little bit, making me giggle. “Don’t upstage me at the concert,” I told him.
“ I would never,” he said, his eyes sparkling.
I took my clarinet out of its case and played a few scales. “Where’s Mr. Boyd?”
“ He’s in his office. He just told me to swing by when we’re done.”
“ Sweet.” I set up my music stand. “You got the sheet music?”
“ Yep. You want to play through it once?”
“ Sure.”
We played through, but I messed up around my usual spot, when things picked up. Aaron gave me a few pointers, and we made it through the entire thing the second time. The notes looked different when I was in Aaron’s presence. My fingers seemed to move of their own accord. I adopted Aaron’s easy attitude with the music, shedding my nerves as the song went on.
After we finished, he grinned at me. “That sounded great.”
“ It’s so much easier to play with you.”
“ Really?” He shifted his sax, his wave of delight washing over both of us.
“ Yeah. It’s awesome.” My cheeks warmed, and I shrugged. “Want to go again?”
We played it a couple more times and we sounded flawless together. I couldn’t believe what our minds could do when put together. I even started improvising a little bit, and we played a little jig afterwards. I felt like he was Charlie Parker and I was playing a solo during one of his concerts.
Aaron taught me I’ve Got the World on a String by Frank Sinatra, and we played it more times than we had played The Entertainer. I even started singing, though I’d only heard the song a couple times before. I jumped on the chairs and hopped from one to the other. When we approached the end, I threw my arms wide and sang the last words loudly while Aaron ended with a loud, impressive trill. We laughed, and I jumped off my chair.
“ That was great,” Aaron said, grinning.
“ I don’t think we need to practice anymore.” My stomach hurt
“ Aaron is going to take her place,” I said.
“ Oh, yeah?” Steven asked. I could tell he was feigning indifference as he leaned against the locker next to mine.
“ Yeah, he already knows it,” I said with a shrug. “I guess we could have cancelled it, but you know Mr. Boyd. And, well, I’m kind of excited to do it.”
Steven grinned and punched me in the arm. “Yeah, you’ll be great.” His grin faded a bit as he saw something down the hall. I followed his gaze to where Jordan was talking with Chandler.
My stomach tightened, and I hoped Jordan wasn’t at the concert on Thursday. I grabbed my clarinet from my locker and turned to Steven. “I’m going to go practice.”
“ Have fun.” He paused. “Text me when you’re done.”
After shutting my locker, I kissed him and went toward Mr. Boyd’s classroom. I felt Aaron as I came closer. He played a pop song with his sax, hitting each note perfectly. He glanced up at me and ended the song on a melodious tone. He liked doing sax covers of the Top 40s. He’d actually been the main reason I picked up the clarinet instead of a flute or a brass instrument. My mom wanted me to start an instrument, and back in freshman year, Aaron and I had still been best friends. It seemed natural for us to have instruments that complemented one another.
I probably never would have joined band if he hadn’t been in it with me; even this year, I pulled some strings with my guidance counselor to make sure we were in the same period. At the beginning of high school, I could hardly keep up a rhythm without him next to me. Now, I was better because of practice, but I was still behind most other people in our class. When I wasn’t around Aaron. Since he was there during band and concerts, I did pretty well. It was bad when he was absent. My clarinet partners would look at me like I had forgotten the entire song. Usually, I had.
I gave him a few claps as I walked to my usual seat. He bowed a little bit, making me giggle. “Don’t upstage me at the concert,” I told him.
“ I would never,” he said, his eyes sparkling.
I took my clarinet out of its case and played a few scales. “Where’s Mr. Boyd?”
“ He’s in his office. He just told me to swing by when we’re done.”
“ Sweet.” I set up my music stand. “You got the sheet music?”
“ Yep. You want to play through it once?”
“ Sure.”
We played through, but I messed up around my usual spot, when things picked up. Aaron gave me a few pointers, and we made it through the entire thing the second time. The notes looked different when I was in Aaron’s presence. My fingers seemed to move of their own accord. I adopted Aaron’s easy attitude with the music, shedding my nerves as the song went on.
After we finished, he grinned at me. “That sounded great.”
“ It’s so much easier to play with you.”
“ Really?” He shifted his sax, his wave of delight washing over both of us.
“ Yeah. It’s awesome.” My cheeks warmed, and I shrugged. “Want to go again?”
We played it a couple more times and we sounded flawless together. I couldn’t believe what our minds could do when put together. I even started improvising a little bit, and we played a little jig afterwards. I felt like he was Charlie Parker and I was playing a solo during one of his concerts.
Aaron taught me I’ve Got the World on a String by Frank Sinatra, and we played it more times than we had played The Entertainer. I even started singing, though I’d only heard the song a couple times before. I jumped on the chairs and hopped from one to the other. When we approached the end, I threw my arms wide and sang the last words loudly while Aaron ended with a loud, impressive trill. We laughed, and I jumped off my chair.
“ That was great,” Aaron said, grinning.
“ I don’t think we need to practice anymore.” My stomach hurt
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