1 Chapter WANNA BET Davis Beadle beat his drumsticks on the back of the bus seat I shared with Sherman Frye Sherman read wildflower facts out loud from this field guide he’d brought Nonstop For two hours My brain was in total snooze mode Finally gravel crunched under our tires and we rolled to a stop beneath a giant oak tree We were here So were a ton of other kids already lugging around instruments and settling into cabins Band camp I pumped my fists in the air Then I scrambled across Sherman and hopped out of my seat Five days of nonstop fun here I come Sit down Zac Mr Byrd our school band director stood in the aisle He pushed his glasses up on his nose and said Let’s chat first 4
May as well get comfortable I kicked back in my seat propping an elbow on Sherman’s head Sherman laughed But Byrd frowned Just kidding sir I said But I sort of wasn’t I mean the whole band knows Byrd’s chats are more like twenty-minute lectures Anyway we are here to have fun as Zac said Mr Byrd began But we’re also here to grow as musicians Everyone should do his or her best Behave as well as you do each day in the band room His eyes locked on mine Or even better Man you just KO’d my plans I faked a one-two punch Total knockout I mean it Zac Cut the goofing off he said Byrd probably secretly wanted to have fun too But once he became a teacher Poof His sense of humor disappeared That was my theory anyway Now take your instrument off the bus with you Mr Byrd continued eyeing me This means neck strap mouthpiece reeds Everything 5
Tally Nguyen smiled from across the aisle Yeah Zac I play saxophone in the Benton Bluff Junior High band And I forget all of that stuff for practice sometimes Okay a lot Sue me Byrd clapped his hands then Let’s go register File in everyone Byrd led the way off the bus and out into the sunshine We followed behind him like junior high band soldiers Byrd acted like a drill sergeant most of the time He even insisted we call him sir But Byrd sure didn’t dress like a drill sergeant He looked ready to hit the beach instead Today brightly colored huts dotted his tropical shirt He paired blue shorts with flip-flops and tube socks which stretched tight around his calves His leg hair curled over the top like a bazillion tiny fuzzy spiders trying to escape from the elastic So everyone sort of hung around outside the camp office waiting for cabin assignments And 6
while Byrd checked in our band I checked out the girls in the other bands She’s cute I elbowed Sherman when a girl carrying a trumpet case walked past What about Baylor Sherman asked Baylor’s cute too Baylor Meece is one of the nicest girls in our band too But we’re just friends Sherman’s eyebrows wiggled up and down You sure Maybe Baylor smiled at me a lot So sometimes it was hard to tell I prefer other flute players Sherman went on I like girls who play woodwinds too I said And girls who play brass And percussion Sherman blinked That’s all the girls Zac Yep I grinned I know And right now I’m gonna get to know her I rushed toward the girl with the trumpet Wait I’m coming too He ran to catch up Fine I said But act cool 7
