"Noah Jameson asked you out??!!"

    I just told Nicole and Dahlia about Noah, and you can imagine their reaction.

    "Oh my gosh, Rhea, you're like the luckiest girl in the world!!" Dahlia gushes.

    I tell them everything that happened at the party, and after squealing and giggling in front of my locker for a few minutes, a feel a pair of strong hands grip my waist.

    I smile shyly, and right before Noah turns me around, I see Nicole and Dahlia looking at me teasingly.

    "Hey!" I grin.

    "Hey Rhea. So about that date you owe me... how about tonight?" Noah flashes me a charming smile.

    "I'd love to... I can't," I sigh. "Remember that stupid Spelling Bee we're having? Well, I have to practice with Vicky tonight."

    "Aw come on! Make it tomorrow! It'll be worth it!" Noah pouts cutely.

    "I'm sorry, I can't. We were supposed to practice yesterday, but because of your party, we had to switch the practice to today. If I bail on Vicky again, he'll hate me forever!"

    "Oh, alright!" Noah stomps his foot, trying to look angry, but failing miserably. Giving it up, his tone softens. "See you later! But don't forget about that date you owe me!"

    I wave him off, and then lean against my locker and sigh. A day should have more than 24 hours. There's just so much to do!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    During Algebra, I see a notice on the Notice Board which is extremely eye-grabbing, with large instruments drawn all over the border. As soon as the bell rings, I go up to the notice curiously.

    "All senior band members must attend practice today in the music room during lunch," it states, in bold, black letters.

    Algebra was my last class before lunch, and I grab an apple from the cafeteria, then rush off to the music room. When I open the door, I see a bunch of people gathered around a table, chatting with each other quietly. I look closer and see that Noah, Nicole, and Scott are already present.

    I walk up to them and grab a chair.     "Hey guys! What are you all talking about?"

    "We're just talking about the band," Scott explains.

    "Rhea, there's someone you have to meet. This is our drummer, Toby Rock," Nicole says, pointing at a boy with dark brown hair that fall just under his chin, and dark brown eyes. He has a mischievous expression on his face and he holds a pair of drumsticks.

    "Yo!" he greets, drumming a tune on the table.

    I smile at him and wave, and as soon as I sit down, Professor Zinc barges into the room.

    "Hello, senior band members!" he exclaims. "Let's get right down to business, shall we? From now on, I will expect you all to make up a practice schedule for outside of the school, since in school you are only allotted the music room for one hour per week. You will decide amongst yourselves which songs to play and everything, but just for today's first practice, I have printed out sheets of music for you all. Remember, Maple Marshrup Academy's annual music concert will take place 5 weeks from now."

    In a softer voice, as if talking to himself, Professor Zinc continues, "Which I never really understood... Why host the concert towards the beginning of the year instead of towards the end?"

    Regaining his composure, Professor Zinc says, "Let us begin! Please take your places on stage. Scott and Nicole, you will be the backup singers for Rhea. The three of you, please come over here to get your microphones."

    Once we're all settled on stage, Professor Zinc hands out the sheets of music.

    "Just for today, I would like you all to play Titanium by David Guetta. I understand that a few mistakes will be made as you are all sightreading, but try it out anyway."

    We spread out the sheets on music stands in front us, and I put the lyrics on the music stand in front of me, although I don't really need them. I've always loved this song, and I'm pretty sure I know all the lyrics by heart.

    Noah starts us off, playing the opening tune on the piano. He nods at me and I begin.

    "You shout it out, but I can't hear a word you say. I'm talking loud, not saying much."

    "I'm criticized, but all your bullets ricochet. You shoot me down, but I get up."

    By the time the chorus comes along, I am completely engrossed in the song. As we end the song, Professor Zinc applauds loudly.

    "That was wonderful! There were a few mistakes here and there, but all in all it was really good. Let's run through it a couple more times, then you can go, alright?"

    Here we go again!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    My last class of the day is English, and after class, I walk up to Vicky.

    "Hey Vicky! So, are we still on for practice today?"

    "Yup. So what time should I come over to your house?"

    "How about at 5:30?"

    "Perfect! See you there!" Vicky exclaims, and turns around to walk out the door. Two seconds later, he turns back around. "Wait, I don't know your address!"

    After giving him my address and bidding him adieu, I make my way to the bus and plop down on a random seat. I hope Spelling Bee practice is as much fun as band practice... although I doubt it will be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    I reach home at five o'clock, and hastily eat my lunch and get ready. 'I forgot to tell Mom that Vicky's coming over,' I remember suddenly.

    I rush to her room and knock on the door. "Mom?"

    "Come in!"

    "Hi mom! I forgot to tell you, remember that Spelling Bee I'm having in school? Well it's a team spelling bee, as in, people are paired up. My partner's name is Vicky, and he's coming over for practice today. Can we please use the living room?"

    "Rhea, slow down!" my mother exclaims. "Sure you can use it, but don't break anything!"

    I roll my eyes. Typical mother! "We're not five, mom!" I say, then grab a dictionary from my room and rush down to the living room to make sure everything looks neat. I place the dictionary on the center table (that we recently bought) and just then, the doorbell rings.

    I run up to the door, panting, and yell, "I'll get it!"

    I open the door and see Vicky wearing a big shoulder bag. How much practice material did he bring??

    "Hey! What's up with the huge bag?" I ask curiously.

    "I said I'd bring flashcards and my old Spelling Bee papers. Well, here they are!"

    "Wow, that's a lot of papers!" I say, staring at his bag.

    We stand there for a few minutes, then I exclaim, "Oh! Sorry! Come on in."

    He walks in and looks around the hallway.

    "We're going to study downstairs, in the living room," I say, pointing at the stairs.

    As we walk down the stairs, Vicky remarks, "Your apartment is big!"

    "Yeah! For an apartment!" I joke.

    Vicky looks at me strangely.

    "Lame joke. I get it."

    We walk into the living room, and Vicky looks around curiously.

    "Why do you have so many books?"

    "Reading is one hobby my parents and I share."

    "What does your dad do?"

    "He's an archaeologist. He's currently out digging in Peru."

    "Oh okay. So let's begin practice!"

    I nod and we sit down on the couch.

    "Do you want to start with the flash cards or study lists?"

    "I guess... flash cards?"

    Vicky takes out a bunch of yellow flashcards from his bag. "So here's how this works. We'll take turns picking up a flash card and reading out the word written on it. Obviously, the other person has to spell it. If they get it right, they get to ask the other person. If not, they have to spell out another word, and so on. Got it?"

    "Got it," I respond.

    "Great... you can start," Vicky offers.

    I pick up the first flash card from the pile, and read out, "Armadillo."

    Phew! Thank god I didn't have to spell that. Imagine an armadillo appearing in the living room. My mom would freak! Not to mention Vicky...

    Vicky's voice snaps me back to reality. "A-R-M-A-D-I-L-L-O, Armadillo," he spells confidently and without stopping.

    "Alright, my turn," Vicky says, grabbing a flash card off the top of the pile. "Spell out, Anonymous."

    "A-N-O-N-I-M-O-U-S," I spell uncertainly.

    Vicky looks at me strangely. "It's alright. Probably just a slip of the tongue. Try again."

    "That's wrong?" I thought I got it right. "Okay, let's see, A-N-N-O-N-I-M-O-U-S," I spell, even more uncertain this time.

    "Didn't you say you're good at spelling?" he asks, in doubt.

    "Well yeah. Am I not?"

    "Judging from the way you spelled that word, I would say not," he remarks, rolling his eyes.

    "Excuse me, but I'm a straight-A student," I say, defending myself.

    "Really?" he asks dubiously. "You get A's on your spelling tests?"

    "Ah, see, we never had spelling tests at my old school. And the rest of our exams were always multiple choice."

    'Come to think of it,' I think to myself. 'I've never been tested on spelling. I've never had spelling exams, never participated in spelling bees, and I haven't used my powers much either, except for really easy-to-spell objects. Maybe I'm not so good at spelling.'

    "That explains it," Vicky says. Was he listening to my thoughts? Then he continues, "If you've never had a spelling exam, no wonder you're not good at spelling."

    This time, instead of defending myself again, I merely nod my head, accepting the truth.

    "That's alright! We'll just have to work on you even harder!" Vicky exclaims cheerfully. He is surprisingly sweet during practice!

    We continue practicing with the flash cards, and luckily, none of my words are objects, so the practice session continues smoothly.

    But even if any of my words were objects, I doubt I'd be able to spell them correctly... :(

*****************************************************************************************************

What did you guys think of band practice? And Spelling Bee practice?

Picture up on top is of Toby Rock, the senior band's drummer.

Listen to Titanium by David Guetta, the song in the band practice, up above.

VOTE! COMMENT!

~Ananya