the band director sat As usual he was wearing a tropical shirt this one featuring not just big flowers but also pink flamingos sipping lemonade Mr Byrd looked over the rims of his glasses at Yulia and me Are you going to stand there gawking or are you going to choose an instrument Um choose an instrument I mumbled Speak up son Mr Byrd said Yulia elbowed me and whispered Don’t forget to say sir Choose an instrument sir I said louder this time Mr Byrd is an ex band geek And even though he dresses like he’s ready to hit the beach for some fun in the sun he directs his band like he’s a drill sergeant and expects everyone to call him sir That’s one of the few things that people outside of Room 217 know about what goes on inside here Mr Byrd seemed satisfied He motioned us to the back of the line where other new band members waited to choose their instruments 6
While we stood in line I made a discovery I’d always wanted to discover something new even though guys like Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison pretty much knocked me out of getting the chance And then I finally did it Hey Yulia I think I’m part scientist I said Davis Beadle you can’t even spell scientist Yulia joked I don’t have to spell it to be one I said I just have to observe things Then I slowly spun around in a circle inspecting the kids and instruments that filled the room Yulia put one hand on each of my shoulders forcing me to stand still Okay what have you observed Well you know how people say dogs look like their owners I said Yulia raised an eyebrow It’s definitely true I’ve seen it Our English teacher Mrs Tudor is Exhibit A 7
What Yulia looked surprised Yeah I continued There’s a close-up of Luca Mrs Tudor’s bulldog in an I Heart My Dog picture frame on her desk Luca’s bottom teeth stick up over his top lip And if you look real close you can see Mrs Tudor’s bottom teeth too even when she’s not smiling Just like Luca I never noticed that Yulia said That’s weird So weird Try diagramming sentences with Mrs Tudor and her teeth staring at you Yulia laughed That explains your grades Very funny I frowned If my grades weren’t good I couldn’t be in band I reminded her Anyway what’s even weirder is that it’s true for musicians too That’s your big discovery Yulia asked Yep I nodded People look like the instruments they play Yulia shook her head like she didn’t believe me So explain Kori Neal 8
Easy I said She’s tall like her trombone And Baylor Meece Her hair is long and black just like her clarinet Sherman Frye Yulia asked Even easier I said Flutes are thin and Sherman’s the skinniest kid in seventh grade So we’re both signing up to play trumpet Yulia said How do you look like a trumpet Okay Yulia had me there Trumpets are shiny They’re the stars of the band And I’m never the star of anything Plus trumpets are small Yulia might be small but I am definitely not I look more like the whole brass section combined I’m not sure I finally said I’ll probably have to play the trumpet for a while before it happens to me It’ll be like metamorphosis or something Yulia shook her head again By then we were next in line Mr Byrd stood up Attention His voice echoed off the cinder block walls and everyone froze 9
