A/N - Normally, I have to write a standard disclaimer whenever I post something on fanfiction. But I'm pretty sure you guys know I don't own marching band so no disclaimer is necessary. XD

You guys should also know that this isn't a true story. It's just based very loosely on my own small, private school marching band.

Chapter 1

“DAISY’S BLEEDING!” shouted Maria as she stormed into the band hall in an uncharacteristically bad temper.

Those who were “privileged” enough (and I use that term very loosely) to know what exactly this meant shuddered violently.

“Damn it,” Jacob muttered under his breath. The freshmen exchanged glances of puzzlement and slight fear while the upperclassmen who didn’t know what Maria meant just shrugged. The girl was definitely a weird one and spending ten hours a day with her (fifteen on Fridays) eventually had them used to her outbursts and random musings.

Luke followed her into the band hall two minutes later. He turned to the group of kids crowded around the door and said, “Daisy’s—”

“Bleeding,” Jacob finished for him. “Yeah, we heard.”

Luke nodded in return. “Kay. Just thought you should know.”

One of the braver freshman turned to Jacob and asked, “Who’s Daisy?”

The older student just shook his head sadly. “Trust me. You don’t want to know. I don’t even want to know.”

“Consider yourself one of the lucky few,” Luke said as he clapped his hand on Jacob’s shoulder. “And at least she has a way to tell you these things without just saying it and making everything really awkward.”

Jacob snorted. “That’s never stopped her before.”

Two seconds later, Maria appeared out of nowhere, toting her horn and a water bottle. “So?” she snapped. “Are we going to march or what?”

Tray sighed as he picked up his clarinet case and hat. “Just our luck,” he muttered under his breath so only Casey, Whitney, Luke, and Jacob could hear him. “The week she starts her period is the same week we have state.”

Casey stroked her jaw thoughtfully. “I dunno. Maybe it’s a good thing, you know? If she’s more irritable then she’ll catch onto the smaller things faster. And no one likes making her any angrier than she already is, so they’ll be quicker to fix it.”

Casey was half right. Maria did notice the small things faster, but it wasn’t necessarily a good thing.

“GODDAMN IT RYAN, IF YOU MISS THAT SET ONE MORE TIME I WILL TAKE THAT CHIP AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR ASS!” she screamed after Jacob called them to at ease to see if they hit their spots. “STATE IS THIS SATURDAY IN CASE YOU HAVEN’T REALIZED! WE DON’T HAVE TIME TO DICK AROUND WITH THE DRILL, EITHER YOU GET IT RIGHT OR I MAKE SURE YOU CAN’T MARCH!”

Ryan, being the scared-shitless freshman that he was, paled in the presence of Maria’s towering fury and nodded.

“WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR? WRITE IN YOUR DAMN DOT BOOK!”

The poor freshman fumbled for the notebook and pencil hanging around his neck and immediately started to make note of his error. The rest of the band was trying hard not to laugh at his misfortune of having Maria as his section leader.

“God, are you sure she put the tampon in the right hole?” Tray muttered under his breath to Casey who knew better than to laugh, even if they weren’t at set.

There’s something to be said about a woman’s heightened sense of hearing when on her cycle, because even though Maria was on the other side of the practice field, she could still hear him. “I HEARD THAT!” she shouted in his general direction.

“Okay,” Mr. Robinson announced on his microphone atop the tower, a hint of amusement shining through in his tone, “take a five minute break and be back in set thirty-two.”

No one really questioned Maria’s methods of leadership. When she wasn’t on her period, she was actually a really compassionate leader; rather than screaming and biting people’s heads off, she’d kindly tell them that they missed their spot or correct their technique if it was needed. Unfortunately, the combination of her “lady time” (as Luke liked to call it) and the fact that the TPSMEA State Marching Competition was looming ever closer had her on a very, very sharp edge.

“Um, Maria?” asked Jacob as he walked up to her on the sideline. She nodded to him as she took a sip from her water bottle. “I don’t really think that you should be yelling that loudly at Ryan. I think he’s a little embarrassed. He’s really shy after all and—”

“Jacob, he’s not a pansy,” she snapped as she screwed the cap to her water bottle back on. “If I didn’t think he couldn’t handle it, then I wouldn’t yell.”

“But you never know,” he said timidly. “Ten years from now, he might be lying down on some psychiatrist’s couch telling him or her about some craz—I mean really loud section leader he had in marching band when he was a freshman. You don’t really want to scar him for life, do you?”

Maria’s eyes narrowed. “You were about to call me crazy, weren’t you?”

He tried to resist the urge to gulp when he saw the fire in her eyes. “N-no,” he stammered. “I wasn’t about to call you—”

“Don’t lie to me, Jacob!” she shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear. Luke, who was standing next to the mallet instruments, shook his head. “And how dare you question my leadership skills! I do what works, you just watch! Ryan’s not going to miss that set again. If you’re going to try and fix something, how about you work on not rushing the beginning of the opener?”

That comment flipped a switch in his dormant brain. “Oh, I’m rushing the opener? How the hell would you know? You’re not watching me anyway!”

“Well if you conducted at the right tempo, maybe I’d be more inclined to look up every once in a while!”

“I’d like to see you do a better job!” he spat. “Oh, but wait…you can’t! YOU’RE NOT THE DRUM MAJOR!”

The practice field became deathly quiet. The upperclassmen looked at each other fearfully while the self-proclaimed “Vets”—Whitney, Casey, Luke, and Tray—looked back and forth between their two Vet leaders warily. It had been by common, silent consent that no one was to ever, ever talk about the results of last year’s drum major auditions when in close proximity of the two contenders. That was just how it was done. And now the contenders themselves had just acknowledged the white elephant.

“Maria,” Whitney began, almost desperately, “I’m sure he didn’t—”

“Fine,” Maria cut her off, as though she wasn’t there, “Fine.” She lifted her hands and unclasped the necklace around her neck. When she got it off, she slipped the class ring that hung from her favorite silver chain and threw it at his feet. “It’s over, Jacob. Don’t ever talk to me again.”

Casey and Whitney both sucked in a breath while Luke’s and Tray’s jaws dropped open. The band’s “it” couple—the Barbie and Ken, the Romeo and Juliet, the Elizabeth and freaking Mr. Darcy of the musical set—had just broken up.

Hurt flashed in Jacob’s eyes for a very brief moment, but passed just as quickly as it came. “Fine,” he repeated as he picked his ring up off the ground. “Not like I wanted you to wear this anyway!” he shouted at her retreating back.

The close foursome winced in unison as Maria stopped walking very abruptly and spun on her heel. “Fuck you, Jacob Robinson! Everyone knows that the only reason you got the drum majorship was because you’re the director’s son!”

“Ms. Mendez!” Mr. Robinson shouted. “That’s enough!”

She scowled at the both of them, picked up her horn, and walked off the practice field, but not before giving them a piece of her mind—more specifically, an obscene hand gesture.

When the dust was somewhat settled, Mr. Robinson cleared his throat and spoke into the microphone, “Ten seconds to set thirty-two.”

Jacob huffed through his nostrils and stalked off back to his stand. “Hey,” Luke murmured under his breath as he passed by, “are you okay?”

“Shut up and play,” he snarled. Luke knew better than to argue.

A/N - So what do you guys think? It know it's a little on the short side, but this seemed like a pretty good place to stop.

Reviews are greatly appreciated!