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Message-ID: <52040asstr$1127196604@assm.asstr-mirror.org>
From: "Jim C" <jimc_author@hotmail.com>
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Subject: {ASSM} Lucky Stiff by JiMC (36 of 46)--MF, FF, mc, md, magic, romance
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Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 02:10:04 -0400
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This story is copyright (c) 2003-2005.  All rights are
reserved by the author, including that of publication.
Posting on-line is only allowed when permission is explicitly
granted by the author, and then only for the complete story,
including this disclaimer.  Contact the author at
<jimc-author at excite dot com> for more information,
referring to this story ("Lucky Tickets 2: Lucky Stiff").

I explicitly grant permission to post this story to
StoriesOnline.net and asstr-mirror.org.

The following is a work of fiction and is just a fantasy.
Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely
coincidental and entirely unintentional.  There may be
references to people in a historical context, but they are
not really characters in this story.

This is a story that describes sexually explicit situations
in a fictional universe that only vaguely seems similar to
the one we live in.  Most of the characters in this story are
under aged.  However, the target audience is adults (people
over the age of eighteen) with broad minds.

* * *

This is a sequel to the story "Lucky Tickets," and as such,
you may want to read that story first to get a better
introduction to the characters present in both stories.  Like
a lot of sequels, it's not really meant to be read out of
order.

* * *

Chapter 36--The Concert and First Day of School

        Don't know much about history,
        Don't know much biology.
        Don't know much about a science book,
        Don't know much about the French I took.
        But I do know that I love you,
        And I know that if you love me, too,
        What a wonderful world this would be!
                -- What A Wonderful World (Sam Cooke)


    There were no suites available at the Marriott.  Despite
the fact that Kristen already had a suite at the University
Inn, she figured that she wanted to stay at the Marriott if
that was where we were going to perform.  It just made things
easier for us.  We settled for two adjoining rooms and told
the reception clerk that we were expecting some equipment to
be arriving by five, and to let us know when it arrived.

    The clerk looked oddly at us and said, "Can you wait a
minute?"

    "Sure," Kristen said, a bit confused.

    The clerk went back into the office, and returned with
the manager.  "Archy Jonas called and told me that you might
be coming over later.  You're replacing John Fuller in the
lounge tonight, correct?"

    "Yes," Kristen said.  "Jim here will be replacing him
specifically."

    "Archy said that tonight you might be playing some
different styles since you are from out of town."

    I nodded.  "I hope you don't mind..."

    The manager held up his hand and smiled.  "It won't be a
problem, but please realize that it's just a cocktail lounge.
I used to be a musician when I was younger, and I understand
if you want to play rock and roll or things like that.
Please remember that our patrons aren't all from your
generation."

    "I understand," I assured the manager.  "I do know some
people that seem to dig the stuff I play.  If they don't seem
to appreciate the newer stuff, I have a pretty good knowledge
of the older stuff.  OK?"

    The manager smiled even broader.  "Thank you."

    "No problem.  By the way, Kristen here will be performing
tonight as well."

    "You play?"

    Kristen smiled.  "Guitar tonight."

    "Electric?"

    "I have three guitars arriving later.  An acoustic, a
bass, and a lead."

    "It sounds like you do this quite often!"

    "It's a first for us," Kristen said, looking proudly at
me.  "We're doing this as a way of returning a favor to
Archy."

    The manager smiled.  "It sounds like it will be an
interesting evening."

    Lynette and Kristen left me in one of the rooms we had
while they went to the University Inn to pick up their
luggage and to purchase some new clothes for the performance.
In the time that I've lived with Kristen, I learned that
there really didn't need to be a reason for a woman to need
new clothes, and with Kristen's virtually unlimited budget,
this was normal behavior for her.

    I was watching television when the phone in the room
rang.  Looking at the clock next to the phone, I could see it
was about 3 pm.

    It was the manager.  "Your music equipment has arrived.
I had them deliver it into the lounge."

    "Is the lounge open right now?" I asked.

    "It opens at five."

    "Would I be able to do some setup right now?  Maybe get
in a rehearsal or something?"

    "That would be no problem."

    "Thanks!" I said, putting the phone down.  I left a note
telling the girls where I was going to be, and headed
downstairs.

    I saw the manager at the reception desk, and he led me
into the lounge.  There was a bartender inside, who looked
surprised when he saw me.  "Are you the new piano player?"

    "Yeah," I said, grinning.

    "The people that delivered the equipment set it up for
you already."

    I was surprised.  "They did?"

    The bartender nodded.  "My name's Greg.  If you need
anything, just let me know."

    "How about a large Coke?" I asked.

    He laughed.  "I was hoping you wouldn't order a beer.  I
take the eighteen age limit seriously.  You're what?
Seventeen?"

    I shook my head.  "Sixteen, actually, but don't worry.
My father's drinking turned me off social drinking.  I think
I'd prefer to avoid the temptation than find out later that I
might be as bad as he was."

    The bartender seemed impressed.  "Humph.  You seem a lot
more mature than you look."

    As I examined the equipment, I found that the music store
included a stand for the piano, and also an adjustable padded
bench.  In addition, the guitars were all standing on little
devices that looked a bit like plate stands.  There were
cords attached to all of them as well as a mixer that fed
into an amplifier.  The piano had its own mixer/amplifier as
well, surprising me.

    There were even a couple of microphones set up.  On the
guitar amplifier was a handwritten note:

	Dear Kristen,

	    I forgot to give you your professional's
	discount, so I decided instead to add in the mixers
	and the second amp on the house.  Give me a call if
	this is not acceptable.

	    I wish the two of you the best of luck and keep
	us in mind if you decide to perform in Lafayette
	again!

	Sincerely,

	Kurt Helmut
    I smiled as I read the letter.  The setup looked quite
professional, actually.  I adjusted the size of the bench,
and decided that I liked it very much.  I would have to
convince Kristen to allow me to keep at least the bench for
the music studio at the apartment.

    This electric piano had four voices, which had different
timbres.  I asked the bartender for some masking tape and a
pen, and after testing out each voice, I wrote styles over
each of the voices: Jazz, Blues, Eerie, and I left the last
one as is: Acoustic.

    There was no mistaking the Acoustic style with a real
acoustic piano, but it was passable.  For grins, I tried the
intro to _Lady Madonna_ and realized that it would never do
for that song--it sounded too phony to be a real piano.
However, it seemed fine for _Colour My World_, which
surprised me.

    The bartender seemed impressed.  "You're not doing the
regular stuff, are you?"

    I immediately switched to the "blues" style and started
playing _Wave_.  "I can do the usual stuff, but at my age,
rock and roll is what I identify with the best."

    "I heard you play that song from Chicago before.  Do you
know any more of their tunes?"

    Asking any musician from Illinois if they could play
Chicago is probably an unnecessary question, but the
bartender probably didn't know where I was from.

    I considered their work and my repertoire.  The best song
of theirs that I knew how to play on the piano was _Saturday
in the Park_.  I grinned and started playing the familiar
introduction to that song.

    The bartender smiled, and as I went to the repeat of the
intro, I was surprised to hear a trumpet play the rundown
that accompanied the song on the record on cue.

    Without missing a beat, I turned to see Archy with his
silver trumpet and his eyes were sparkling at me.

    I didn't miss the cue and started singing the words to
the song, with Archy expertly playing the trumpet part.  We
had played this song together during practice sessions the
previous school year.

    After the first verse, I signaled Archy to stop.

    "Hey, guy!  I didn't know you were here."

    "The manager gave me a call and told me you were
practicing.  I figured that I could give you a hand, since I
know you're a perfectionist and really like to practice
before performing.  Troy will be here in a bit for the drums."

    I smirked and nodded.

    The bartender interrupted.  "That was really cool!  For a
kid, you sure know your stuff.  You too, Tiny!"

    I didn't take any offense to that, since I knew what the
bartender was saying.  I've heard many variations of people
telling me how great I was.  Despite the fact that I had some
personal doubts about my talent, I found it easier to simply
accept compliments without major complaint.

    "Oogie is going to be the greatest musician the world has
ever known," Archy said, quite seriously, surprising me.  "I
only wish my uncle could have lived to see him play."

    I heard a female voice quietly say, "He's in heaven,
looking down at the two of you and as proud as he can be." I
didn't see where she was, but I recognized the voice as being
June's.

    Archy turned around and that was when I saw that June was
behind him.  "That just might be, but if he's in heaven, I
have a feeling that he's not very happy.  All his friends
will be somewhere else!"

    "Archibald Jonas!" June said sternly.  "You will not talk
that way in front of me.  We respect the deceased and we hope
that they all find peace in the afterlife."

    "I'm sorry, June," Archy said, chastened.  "I was just
joking.  Uncle Jake used to say things like that."

    June didn't answer, but nodded and changed the subject.
"The two of you sound great together."

    The bartender agreed.  "This kid seems much better than
John is."

    "Oogie here is still in school in Illinois," Archy
pointed out.  "He's going to change the world with music when
he's older."

    "What key do you play _Ipanema_?" I asked, hoping to
change the subject.

    "G major seventh, I think," Archy said.  He had come a
long way from his lack of knowledge of music in the past six
months.

    "First melody note is an A?" I asked.

    "Yup."

    "Great," I said.  That put the real key a whole step
down, due to the fact that the trumpet plays in a different
key.  I thought through the chord progressions in the key
that I knew the song and did a mental transposition and
didn't think there would be any difficulties.  "Want to give
it a try?" I asked.

    Just then, Kristen and Lynette entered the lounge.  "Give
what a try?" Kristen asked.

    "_Girl from Ipanema_," I answered, happy that my muse had
shown up.

    Kristen squinted her eyes.  "I can play that on piano.  I
don't think I've tried it on guitar.  What key?"

    "Try the acoustic," I suggested.  "F-major-seventh is the
key." Kristen and I both knew that the trumpet plays a whole
step up from the piano and guitar chords.  "You can watch me
for the changes."

    Kristen picked up and quickly re-tuned her bass guitar,
not having to adjust it much since she had done it earlier.
"I'm ready.  Want me to take the vocals?"

    "Kristen's playing?" June asked.  "I was wondering what
the guitars were for."

    "I'm auditioning for Oogie's band back in Illinois,"
Kristen said with a grin.

    "I'll take the vocals on this one, Kris," I said, not
wanting to turn the song into "Boy from Ipanema." I turned to
Archy and asked, "Do you do any solos on _Ipanema_?"

    "First repeat of main verse.  We usually don't piano solo
that song."

    "Cool.  I'll be the backup." I looked at how comfortable
Kristen was holding the bass.  "We'll try it twice.  First
time, Kris will be on bass, and second, I'll let her take the
melody on lead guitar after your solo, and then she can duet
with me for repeat bridge and final verse.  OK?"

    "Is he speaking English?" Lynette asked, grinning.

    "All musicians talk that way," June said, smiling.

    "Shut up in the peanut gallery!" I said, grinning as
well.  I played the introduction, and started singing.

    I noticed that when Archy played his solo, he gave it
more of a cha-cha beat than a bosa-nova beat, so I adjusted
the style of my playing for the remainder of the song, and
found it worked nicely.

    Kristen put the bass down and picked up her lead guitar.
She quickly tuned it and then turned on the pickup.  "I'm
ready." It was obvious that Kristen picked up the chord
progression from watching me on the piano.

    We did the second run through and Kristen did a rather
plain rhythm guitar backup for the first part, but right
after Archy's solo, she cooked when she took the lead,
turning it into a minor solo as well.  In fact, I almost
missed my cue to sing the duet.  When I heard Kristen's
lovely voice, I started singing harmony a third step down.

    As I was finishing the song, I realized that Kristen had
gone back to rhythm back beats, playing better than the first
time.

    "That was great, Kris!" I said when the song was
finished.  "You're hired!"

    "Well, I do declare!" Kristen said in her Scarlet O'Hara
voice.  "I do think that man wants me in his band!"

    Everybody laughed at Kristen, and we then rehearsed
_Wave_, and a few Sinatra songs that Archy said was part of
their regular set.  There were few snags, other than the fact
that Kristen insisted on singing lead on _Summer Wind_--it
was one of the songs for which she knew all the words.

    The drummer arrived and was introduced to me as Troy.  He
set up and accompanied us on the songs.  He was quite
competent and didn't insist on taking solos.  I think there's
a law somewhere that says that all drummers insist on taking
solos, but if that was true, Troy didn't seem to know it.

    Now that Kristen and the drummer were around, I decided
to do some of the newer stuff.  We started with _Saturday in
the Park_ and moved on to some Elton John songs.  I added the
Van Morrison and Sugarloaf numbers as well, thinking of Patty
Nadal back home, and found that Kristen was quite competent
about picking up the right guitar for each song I suggested.

    Kristen suggested a song and a key, and announced that
she would sing lead on it.  I watched in awe as her melodic
voice seemed to get the entire emotion of the song, and I
noticed that as she was singing while playing the bass, she
was staring right at me:

        Stars shining bright above you,
        Night breezes seem to whisper "I love you!"
        Birds singin' in the sycamore trees,
        Dream a little dream of me.
        Say nighty-night and kiss me,
        Just hold me tight and tell me you'll miss me.
        While I'm alone and blue as can be,
        Dream a little dream of me.


    I watched, open mouthed as Kristen sang the bridge.  She
sounded wonderful, and I knew that she was singing right to
me.  Unlike most of the other songs she sang, this one was
breathy and romantic.  I played my best accompaniment to her.

    The second bridge was taken by Archy, who played a very
beautiful solo that neatly matched Kristen's singing style
perfectly.

    Kristen grinned at Archy and she sang the last verse.

    "Wow!" was the general expression of everybody who had
just heard this beautiful song, including the bartender.

    "That was great, Kris!" I finally said.

    Kristen smiled sweetly at me and thanked me for the
compliment.

    It was getting close to the lounge's opening time, and
Archy pulled the curtain around the performance area.

    We kept most of the instruments on the stage, with the
exception of Archy's trumpet and Kristen's guitars.  We went
up to our rooms, and stored the instruments there.

    It was almost dinner time, and I suggested we eat at the
hotel.  Everybody agreed, and we had a great meal.

* * *

    When we returned to the lounge later, we silently set up.

    I noticed that the lounge wasn't that crowded, and the
average age of the patrons was about thirty or forty.  This
confirmed what the manager had told me.

    I decided to let Kristen start with _Summer Wind_.
During dinner, she told me that this was a song her parents
really enjoyed listening to.  I made a mental note to put
this song, with Kristen singing lead, into the list of songs
that I intended to record as a present for the Swifts.

    From there, we did the standard bosa-nova numbers with
the cha-cha beat that Archy and the normal band played.  I
noticed that Archy and the drummer were playing almost as if
by rote, except that they weren't always used to my styling.
Kristen was amazing in that she seemed to anticipate when I
would go off on a tangent and take an unannounced solo and
fade into the background, and when I thought a guitar solo
was needed, she was there and ready to perform.

    After about fifteen minutes, Archy seemed much more
comfortable, and, like Kristen, he was able to anticipate
when I thought he'd be perfect for a solo.

    After playing a bunch of classics, I decided to go for
some rock, albeit older numbers.  First up was a number that
Kristen sang lead on, _Johnny Angel_.  It was an old number
from one of the stars of a 1950s sitcom that I barely knew.
I had heard the song, but never tried to play it before.
However, Kristen gave me the key, and it wasn't a difficult
song.  Unfortunately, it wasn't a song where Archy or I could
do a good solo.

    Next, I sang a duet of _Lollipops_ with Kristen.  It was
a number that Archy, Kristen, and I knew from her birthday.
That number came out surprisingly well.  Kristen definitely
had a singer's voice.  I was actually surprised by her range.

    I noticed that we hadn't lost our audience yet.  If
anything, the place was starting to actually fill up.  I
announced that Archy, Kristen, and I were all from a suburb
of Chicago and we wanted to dedicate our next number to our
great city.  I started the intro to _Saturday in the Park_
and Kristen was actually cooking on the rhythm guitar!  Archy
was impeccable in his accompaniment and the drummer was
smiling as well.

    I could see the audience was getting into the swing of
things.  We took it back to Sinatra with _Fly Me to the
Moon_, and then followed it with a rocking version of Elton
John's _Goodbye Yellow Brick Road_.  As I was singing that
song, I realized that the "Eerie" setting on the electronic
keyboard would be perfect for another Elton John number, and
made a mental note to add that one in our next set.

    Finally, it was time to end the set with Kristen's
hauntingly beautiful rendition of _Dream a Little Dream of
Me_ and I watched, transfixed, as Kristen serenaded me with
her beautiful voice.  Everybody else in the entire room
disappeared as she poured her soul out to me.  Archy's solo
on the song was even more beautiful than when we rehearsed it.

    In between sets, I walked off with Archy, Troy (the
drummer), and Kristen.  Archy told me that the next set was
in an hour, but that John, the usual pianist, usually sat in
the lounge and played for about twenty minutes in the middle
of the rest time.  I didn't have a problem doing that; it was
a good way for me to get rid of excess nervous energy from
performing with the rest of the band.

    Kristen gave me a big kiss before I left to do my piano
serenades, and I felt fully recharged.  I walked out to the
keyboard to applause, much to my surprise.  Kristen came out,
and got a seat to sit next to me.

    The lounge was nearly full by this time.

    I didn't know what to start with, so I did the old
classic _As Time Goes By_.  It was a song that sounded great
on keyboard and didn't need a vocal.  As I played it, I saw
June in the audience, sitting at a table with Lynette.  June
was smiling and wiping a tear from her eye.  I then
remembered my "We'll always have Paris" conversation, and I
felt the same emotion that she was feeling.  I hadn't played
this song just for her, but once I saw her reaction, I made
sure it would be special for her.

    I decided to keep in the mood by playing Three Dog
Night's _Old Fashioned Love Song_, another song that sounded
great on the piano.  However, after playing the intro, I
forgot that I was doing a keyboard only set and started to
sing into the microphone, which was still turned on.

        Just an old fashioned love song
        Playing on the radio.
        And wrapped around the music
        Is the sound of someone
        Promising they'll never go.
        You'll swear you've heard it before,
        As its slowly rambles on.
        No need in bringing them back,
        Cause they're never really gone...


    The audience started to clap as I sang the song.  I was a
bit embarrassed.  With the exception of my own room in my
house, and alone in the music studio in my apartment, I'd
never performed solo in front of a large audience before.

    I continued singing, and at the end, the song received
applause.

    The next song I picked was an old instrumental, _Love is
Blue_.  I looked in the audience and saw that Sam and Archy
were both sitting with June and Lynette now.

    I played _Ipanema_ again, and then Sinatra's _Young at
Heart_.  Since I had already started singing along with my
playing, I sang the song, since I knew the words.

    Once again, I looked at the table where June was sitting.
I thought of the perfect song for her, and whispered quietly
to Kristen, who was sitting next to me.  "You have a
beautiful voice, and I know you have the range.  Can you sing
a song for me?"

    "Which song?"

    "_Over the Rainbow_," I said.

    Kristen closed her eyes, and I could tell she was
thinking whether she knew all the words.  After a few
moments, she nodded to me.

    I played an introduction, and stared at June as Kristen
sang:

        Somewhere, over the rainbow,
        Way up high,
        There's a land that I dreamed of,
        Once in a lullaby.


    Something within me told me that this song was special to
June, my little Dorothy who found herself in the wonderful
land of Oz with Kristen, Lynette, and me.

    Once again, I saw moisture in June's eyes as Kristen's
lovely voice sang the words made famous by Judy Garland.  I
sang a harmony to Kristen on the bridge, and Kristen smiled
at me when I did that.

    When the song was done, I had another brilliant idea for
a duet between Kristen and me.

    Without even telling Kristen the song, I played the
introduction to _Close to You_.  Kristen smiled at me, and
she started singing.

        Why do birds suddenly appear,
        Every time, you are near?
        Just like me,
        They long to be,
        Close to you!


    We played the song through, and I was ready to repeat
when I heard a trumpet play the famous repeat of the verse,
complete with a key change.  I turned and saw Archy playing
the part flawlessly.  He had come on stage as Kristen and I
were playing together, and surprised us.  His solo was
perfect, and between the three of us, I think we did great.
Maybe we weren't the Carpenters, but we did Burt Bacharach
and Hal David justice with the song.

    The applause after that song went on for about a minute!

    Troy, the drummer, came onto the stage at this point,
saying that we might as well start the second set.

    I was in the mood for something a bit more close to my
soul, so I told everybody that I was going to start with
Elton John's _Crocodile Rock_, which was the song that I
figured would be perfect for the "Eerie" setting on the
keyboard.

    Despite the fact that the chords were difficult for both
the guitar and the trumpet, we pulled it off very well.
After that, the audience cut us quite a lot of slack.  We got
a good reception with _Moon River_ and Elton John's, _Your
Song_.

    Kristen moved over to me and suggested _Stairway to
Heaven_, which surprised me, since it was a song that was
heavy on guitar work and a complicated song at that.  We
hadn't rehearsed it, but I decided to give it a try.  Kristen
didn't disappoint at all on the guitar, and I think I did a
good job imitating Robert Plant's vocals.  (I'm glad I loved
listening to that song over and over!)

    When we finished, it was obvious that the people in the
lounge were thoroughly entertained.  The applause afterward
was very long, and we all thought we put on a great show.

    "Damn you, Oogie!" Archy said when we met back stage.
"We're never going to be able to duplicate this!"

    "Why not?" I asked.

    "Well, John doesn't play like you."

    "Get him to try," I suggested.  "How many weeks have you
been doing this?"

    "Three."

    I smiled.  "Find your own voice."

    Archy looked at me and didn't say anything for a few
moments.

    June moved up to the big behemoth and kissed him.  "Jim's
right.  He did the set the way he would do it.  Find your own
voice."

    Archy kissed June back and said, "How did you get so
smart, little kiddo?"

    June looked at me and smiled.  "I've been learning from
the nicest people in the word, Teddy Bear!"

* * *

    The outing to Purdue was the last great thing we did
before the beginning of my school year.

    Kristen had really impressed me with her performance at
the Marriott.  On the trip back from Indiana, we were talking
about her place in what I had in my mind as my band.  Kristen
was quite talented in her guitar playing, and had the voice
of an angel.

    She had a great vocal range, and it was obvious to me
that she had a gift for music.

    "Why don't you play when we're at home?" I asked Kristen
when we were alone after the trip.

    "I don't want to interfere with your big love."

    "You are my big love," I informed Kristen.

    "You're sweet!" Kristen said, giving me a big kiss.

    "You didn't answer my question."

    Kristen looked at me.  "Jim, you know that I want you to
succeed in whatever you do in life.  I don't want to be the
kind of girl that will dictate your life.  If you like music,
then it's special, since I like it, too."

    I was confused.  "So why were you hiding your talent from
me?"

    Kristen didn't answer that question.

* * *

    It was with a heavy heart that I went to class on the
third of September.

    As I expected, Kristen, Camille and Patty weren't there,
having graduated the previous year.  June drove me in and she
was with me, but I kept thinking about the previous year,
when my best friends were with me.

    June knew what was going through my mind and didn't
interfere.  In fact, she knew that I was pretty moody that
day.  The two of us picked up Merry at my parents' house and
Merry was tagging along with me, a bit apprehensive.

    I saw Sherry in front of the school, and I smiled.  I was
glad that I had that talk with Sherry during Merry's
initiation.

    "Hi, Sherry," I said.

    "Hi, Jim," Sherry said, smiling.  She also said "Hi!" to
my two companions.

    "Looking forward to eleventh grade?" I asked.

    "Yeah," Sherry said, nodding.

    We went into the building together.

* * *

    I had a brand new schedule, including two music courses
(Band and Theory), and started the day bright and early with
Math.

    There were some familiar faces in my classes, including a
couple of cheerleaders I met when Merry was initiated.  In an
interesting turn of events, I found that the cheerleaders
scrambled to find seats around where I was sitting, making me
a bit of a popular student.

    I remembered Patty's words from last year, when she said
that people were going to consider me a jock.  I really
didn't feel like one, but apparently the cheerleaders felt
differently.  All of them were exceedingly pleasant with me,
going out of their way to say "Hi!" to me, and I was equally
fraternal with them.

    Merry started school a day earlier as the school was
inaugurating a sophomore orientation program which would
allow the new arrivals to learn about the layout and
structure of the school day before being subjected to the
junior and senior students.  It appeared that despite the
sophomores' complaints that they had to withstand a whole
additional day of school (actually, it was only a half day,
and there weren't even any assignments handed out), the
general consensus was that the program was successful, as
everybody seemed to know where their classes were pretty well.

    On my way to my second period Physics class, I saw Mr.
Yank in the hallway, and he greeted me by name.  "Ready for a
new school year, Jim?"

    I waved at him and smiled.  "Well, a lot of my friends
from last year have graduated, but I hope to make some new
friends this year."

    Mr. Yank nodded at me.  "That's a good attitude to have.
We also have Kristen working part time in the music
department, so not all of your friends are gone."

    I continued smiling as I walked to my class.

    In second period, I saw a lot of people looking at me,
and I realized that they were waiting to see where I was
going to sit.  As I took my seat, there was a mad scramble to
find seats near where I was sitting.

    I saw Sherry Jordan walk into the classroom, and she saw
where I was sitting.  She walked over to the occupied seat
next to me and whispered something into the ear of the
cheerleader who was sitting there.  Without any fuss, the
cheerleader got up and offered Sherry her seat.

    Sherry smiled at me, and the teacher cleared his throat
in order to get the attention of the students.

* * *

    Third period band had a lot of familiar faces, and people
greeted me by name, or used the nickname "Oogie." I barely
remembered that Mr. Proilet had said that band attendance had
increased and saw that where we previously had about fifty
students in the band, it had increased to about eighty.  A
few of the new students were people I remembered in junior
high, and I thought that some of them had quit the band back
then.

    I remembered a year ago when I made a friend for life
with Toby McConnell by switching from trumpet to trombone.
The trumpet section looked pretty capable once again, but
before I could make up my mind where I was going to sit, Mr.
Proilet indicated that I should sit at the first chair for
the trumpet section.

    "I think everybody here knows Jim Crittenhouse," Mr.
Proilet announced to the class.  "We're blessed to have him
with us again this year.  This year, he will be helping me
out with getting the band together, and he'll once again be
putting together an extra-curricular jazz band."

    A lot of the students looked at me, apparently eager to
join the jazz band.  Last year's incarnation of the jazz band
had proven very popular, and more than a few people wanted to
try out this year.

    It occurred to me that I might have to turn down some of
these people if I wanted to have a manageable band.

    Mr. Proilet continued his announcement.  "Jim will be
holding auditions for the jazz band again this year.  If you
are interested in jazz band, you will see him after school
on... which day, Jim?"

    "Thursday," I said automatically.  "Tomorrow."

    Mr. Proilet handed out some music and we started
practicing some of the numbers for our first concert.  As was
expected when most students hadn't played their instruments
since last June (and some of the newer people probably hadn't
played for years!), the band didn't sound as bad as one might
think.  Of course, there were rough spots, and it isn't easy
for everybody to do a cold reading, but it was obvious to me
that the band would come along pretty nicely.

    After the period ended, I went up to talk with Mr.
Proilet.  A man entered the room, and Mr. Proilet introduced
him as Roger Harris, the person who was hired thanks to
Kristen's donation to the school.

    "Hello, Jim," Mr. Harris said.  "I've heard many good
things about you."

    "Same here," I said.  We shook hands.

    Mr. Harris looked as if he were in his late twenties,
about five or ten years younger than Mr. Proilet.

    "I'm sorry to hear that I won't be able to get you for
the marching band."

    I shrugged.  "It's not personal," I said a bit sheepishly.

    Mr. Harris simply laughed and said, "I hope you don't
mind if I sit through one or two of your Jazz Band
rehearsals.  Jean has really told me a lot about your musical
talent."

    Now I was really embarrassed.  "Sure thing."

    Gym class followed music, which was followed by lunch.

    Sherry and I shared the lunch period again this year, and
I was happy when I saw that June also had lunch during this
period.  The three of us sat together, and it turned out that
our table ended up being the "cheerleader table."

    June told everybody about our adventure at Purdue,
including the concert that we put on.

    "Kristen sings like an angel," June said.

    Sherry nodded, having heard Kristen play at our
apartment.  "I wish I could have seen that concert.  Oogie
and Kris must have sounded awesome together."

    "Archy was there, too!" June said.

    Everybody laughed, but I noticed that a lot of
cheerleaders had nodded when Sherry made her comment.

* * *

    At the end of the school day, I met Merry in front of the
school.  I couldn't find June, but Sherry came by and told me
that June had to run an errand for her mother, and that
Sherry would drive my sister and me to our homes.

    Sherry dropped off Merry first, and then drove me to the
Swift's estate.

    "I guess you didn't record your concert," Sherry said, a
bit sadly.

    "No," I admitted.  "I didn't even think of doing that."

    Sherry was quiet most of the way back to Kristen's.  I
noticed that she didn't stop the car.  "Do you want to come
in?" I asked.

    "Maybe some other time," Sherry said.  "I have homework,
and I also need to do some chores around the house."

    "OK, Sherry," I said, leaving the car.

    Before Sherry pulled out, she opened the driver's window
and said, "When you make your first album, I'll be your first
customer!"

--
jimc_author@hotmail.com

JiMC is only a pseudonym.  Respect my privacy and I'll respect yours.

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