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
Sherman isn’t exactly the coolest geek in the band More like the weirdest He keeps a yo-yo tucked in his pocket and is always showing off his newest trick And he warms up every day before band practice Like seriously warms up with jumping jacks and yoga Super weird But I still like hanging out with him Most of the time Act cool Sherman nodded his brown curls bobbing up and down Got it Hey watch this I stooped to pick a flower with bright yellow petals I’m gonna give her this daisy Sherman held up his wildflower field guide Actually that’s a black-eyed Susan See how the center is brown Daisies have yellow centers with white petals Dude who cares It’s summer break But I didn’t give Sherman time to answer I hurried on over to the girl with the trumpet A flower for you I said holding it out to her 8
Her eyes widened but she took it It’s pretty she said Thanks You’re welcome I smiled My name’s Zac Wiles by the way What’s yours Aubrey Fowler Hey Sherman jumped in if you mixed the letters around that would spell flower Aubrey laughed and tucked the flower I gave her behind one ear Nice I said Did you know that’s a black-eyed Susan Sherman asked her Aubrey shook her head Yep Sherman said It’s sad so many earthlings don’t know the different species of wildflowers Sherman I said hoping he’d zip it But he ignored me and kept on going Wildflowers are important you know I wish we could petition the president to create a law so we could learn more about them in school 9
