Chapter 13: December 19-20

December 19

Tonight was the winter concert for both bands. This is when we present all the music we’ve been working on since Marching Band ended. I wasn’t nervous about any of it except my ‘solo’ part, which was actually a brass quintet part that only ran about 20 measures, something less than a minute long. I’d practiced it on my own at home, after school with the rest of the quintet and countless times with the full band during two months of rehearsals in class and after school. Mr. J. hadn’t made us work on that part any extra since before Thanksgiving, so I suppose we were good enough.

I’m in our lower-level band, Concert Band, which naturally goes first in the concert. We were already on stage when the bulk of the audience showed up, and with the lights up on the stage, it was hard to tell who was there. I knew Dad was here since he brought Katie and me to the high school. Mom was supposed to show up, and Becky said she wanted to be there, too, claiming that it would be nice to hear Katie playing her oboe rather than a xylophone. She was especially happy that she didn’t have to help haul stuff from the band room to the football field and back. Katie had a small solo of her own but seemed a lot more confident about pulling it off than I did about mine.

I spotted Dad during our warm-ups. He was about twelve rows back near the center of the auditorium and had a clear view of me. Mrs. Kowalski was sitting next to him. Mom and Mr. K weren’t there yet. I figured that if I didn’t see them by the time the concert was over it would be safe to assume that they slipped off for a little nookie. I didn’t see Becky, either, but I was sure she’d show up.

I didn’t get another look before the house lights went down and our band director, Mr. J., stepped out from the wings to impressive applause. After he gave the usual speech about no video or audio recording and telling everyone to silence their cell phones under penalty of death, he talked a little about the pieces we’d be performing and then turned around to us and raised his baton.

The concert was pretty good. I cracked a note during my solo, but otherwise it was better than we’d played it in rehearsals. Our audience certainly clapped like they appreciated it, so we were all pretty happy.

Next, we filed off toward stage right while the Symphonic Band filed in from stage left and we went to the seats we had vacated. I wished that Katie could sit with me, but she was seated several rows in front of me between the flute section and the bassoons. She did turn around and smile at me, though.

Mr. J. led the Wind Symphony in a quick warm-up and then turned around to talk to the audience about the music they were going to be playing. When he’d finished that, he turned to the band and began. I was blown away. I know they’re better than we are, but within the first eight measures, I was pretty sure that I’d never be good enough to get in next year, if ever.

The whole concert was like that, and when they were done, the audience just erupted into the loudest applause I think I’ve ever heard. Louder even than the cheers for touchdown passes at the football games, though that may just be because we were inside. Still, they were loud and they kept going for a long time. Most of my fellow Concert Band members were right there with them, too.

Mr. J. eventually had us file out of the auditorium and back to the band room so we could pack up our instruments. I put mine away in the band locker because I would have class the next day. I wasn’t going to play it any more tonight and it made no sense to haul it around. Once my stuff was stowed, I was free to go, so I headed out toward the hallway near the entrance, where Dad and I had agreed to meet.

I spotted him first. He was talking to Mrs. K and Becky and had his back to me. I walked up and stood beside him and said hello to everyone. I’d barely gotten through the greetings before a slender pair of arms circled my waist from behind. Since Katie often greets me like that, when she can sneak up on me, I spun around and planted a big kiss, with lots of tongue, on the owner of those slender arms.

The next thing I knew, I was being punched and slapped by the owner of those arms and opened my eyes to see an angry face framed with long, wavy blonde hair. Crap! It actually took me a second to realize that I’d just laid a passionate lip lock on my sixteen-year-old cousin, Lucy.

“Lucy?” I cried out. “I wasn’t expecting you!”

“Obviously,” my cousin growled. “I’d hate to think you planned that.”

“That’s what you get for sneaking up on him,” Dad laughed.

“Oh, crap.” I moaned. “I’m sorry, Lucy. I thought you were my girlfriend, Katie.”

“Speaking of which,” Becky said. “I think John better come with me and do a little damage control. Katie saw the kiss, and she does not look happy.” She grabbed my arm and hustled me off in the direction where she’d last seen Katie.

Katie had already gone outside. Becky and I found just as she got to Becky’s car. She was trying to get into the locked sedan and was yanking on the door handle as hard as she could. Becky approached her first and wrapped her in a big, motherly hug. Katie clung to her mom and sobbed inconsolably for what seemed like an eternity. I heard phrases like, “he was kissing her,” and “she’s so beautiful,” and “I just know he’s going to break up with me,” interspersed with the sobs. Eventually her tears slowed down enough that Becky released her.

Katie finally looked around and spotted me. Her green eyes were on fire as she pounced at me, claws out. Fortunately for me, Becky quickly grabbed her daughter’s shoulders to keep her back from me. Becky told me to start explaining.

“I’m sorry, Katie. My cousin Lucy is here and she sneaked up and hugged me from behind. I thought it was you, so I grabbed her and kissed her. Now she’s all upset with me. Please, I don’t need for you to be angry, too.”

“Your cousin?” Katie sputtered. Her tears were still in her eyes, but the fire was starting to recede. “You really thought it was me that hugged you from behind?”

“You’ve been doing it a lot lately,” I nodded.

“So, you spun around and kissed her just like you do to me?” Katie continued.

I nodded.

“Did you slip her some tongue, too?” my girlfriend smirked.

“Yeah,” I chuckled. “And I must be a terrible kisser. She hit me!”

“Don’t worry, John,” Katie soothed as she moved into my arms for a hug. “Mom and I are still teaching you.”

“Let’s go inside now and see if my cousin lets me live long enough for any more lessons.”

We went back in the school and found Dad where we’d left them, along with Mom, my cousin Lucy and my Aunt Rose, Mom’s sister. Katie went right up to Lucy and put out her hand. “Hi, I’m John’s girlfriend, Katie,” she said with a smile.

“I’m Lucy,” my cousin said as she shook Katie’s hand. “John and I are cousins.”

“Kissing cousins, apparently,” Katie laughed.

“Yeah. Who knew?” Lucy answered while shooting me a glare. “I sure didn’t!”

“Sorry about that,” I mumbled. “I thought you were Katie.”

“Judging by that kiss, I should hope so!” Lucy laughed. “I’m really sorry I slapped you.”

“You actually slapped him?” Katie chuckled.

“Yeah,” Lucy told her. “He surprised me. One second, I’m hugging my cousin and the next, I’m practically being groped.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” I protested.

“No, it wasn’t,” Lucy mumbled. She sounded a bit odd, not like her usual cheerful self, and I quickly decided to steer the conversation away from the kiss.

“So, Luce,” I said, “what brings you down here?”

“Mom and I have been visiting colleges,” Lucy told me. “We were at the University of Virginia. It’s a beautiful campus, but I didn’t really like the people that much. They just seemed false, like they’d cut your throat if they thought it would put them ahead of you in the class rankings.”

“I’ve heard there’s a lot of competition to get in...”

“Yeah,” Lucy nodded. “And they’re all ‘Thomas Jefferson designed this,’ and ‘Thomas Jefferson envisioned this,’ and Mom finally whispered in my ear that Thomas Jefferson was great and all, but HE went to William and Mary, so while I was off on another department tour, she called and set up a visit for me there.”

“How was that?” Katie asked her.

“Lot’s better,” Lucy beamed. “The campus is beautiful, the people are nicer and I didn’t feel like I was stuck out in some small town in the mountains away from civilization.”

“I’ve heard that Charlottesville is actually pretty nice,” I said.

“It is,” Lucy told me, “but it’s way out there by itself. Honestly, why are all these huge schools stuck out in the middle of nowhere by themselves? Why aren’t they in cities where real people live?”