Erin was hit with a blast of warm air as she exited the building with her friends. It was late summer, mid-August, and the sun a little too bright for the morning class.

Her friends chatted excitedly about their Marching Band class and their music. Erin joined in as well, but the talk with Caeden still lingered at the back of her mind.

"HEY ASH YOU'RE LATE!!!"

Everybody turned, including Erin, towards the path that led to the band building. A girl in a white shirt was running towards them with a textbook in one arm and the other carrying a big instrument case.

"I ain't late! The bell didn't ring yet!" She yelled out tiredly.

Erin waited for her friend to put away her instrument.

Ash ran towards her.

"Hey, thanks for waiting," she said between pants.

"Sure," Erin said. The two walked onto the football field towards their group of friends.

"So.....didja go talk to him?" Ash nudged her friend with her elbow, grinning from ear to ear.

"Talk to who?"

Ash muttered some profanity under her breath that shouldn't be typed onto this screen.

"Caaaaaaaaeeedeeeeeeeeen," she harshly whispered.

"Oh!" Erin blushed "Um, about that-"

"What are you two whispering about?" a friend called out from the group "Is it about how cute the Drum Major is?"

"Yes," another friend said "We must discuss how much we ship Ash with her Ferret Senpai..."

The group burst out laughing and it was Ash's turn to blush.

"All I did was say thay he was my Senpai," she said "Next thing you know, Hana is going to write fanfiction about us!"

"It would be my pleasure," Hana casually replied and the group burst out laughing again, leaving Ash's face to flush even more.

Ash opened her mouth for a comeback, but the group heard a whistle blowing.

They turned their heads towards the source of the sound.

A tall, slim boy was seen taking a whistle out of his mouth. His soft features, well-rounded face and slightly-frowning mouth clearly made his profile like that of a ferret's. It was his ferret face that made him stand out over the crowd.

"Everyone, get into your section!" He yelled out "We're gonna be doing the drill!"

"On the first day of school, no less," Erin heard Ash mutter, her face still red.

The group dispersed, Ash included. Erin looked around hopelessly for a familiar face. Nope. Her friends have all left for their sections and she couldn't find hers-

"HEY!!!" Someone called out. Erin turned and so a waving figure on the other side of the football field.

It was Caeden.

She ran towards him while she tried to think of a way to hide her pink face. Luckily, it was hot that school morning and her redness could be mistaken for the heat.

"Hey Erin," he said as she approached them. She muttered a "Hello" back.

"Still quiet as always," another boy in the group muttered. Caeden snapped his head towards the boy, who quickly pushed up his glasses to hide his embarrassment.

"Shut up, Cory," a girl with long, blond hair punched the boy in the arm "She's a Freshmen, and Freshmen just gotta learn to toughen up!"

She flashed a grin over to Erin.

"The name's Makayla! I don't think you'd know me since I wasn't there at Band Camp!" She stuck out her hand towards Erin. She cautiously reached over to shake Makayla's hand, but instead her hand was snatched and pulled. Erin let out a shriek and found Makayla hugging her, much to her surprise.

"Awwww, you're so sweet," she let go and began to pinch Erin's cheeks "Omg, they're so soft~!"

"Um," Caeden reached out a hand, laughing "I don't think she likes that-"

"It's no fun now that Adelle's left to be Drum Major. I know she still plays with us, but it's not the same!"

Makayla finally let Erin's cheeks go, leaving them quite red and tender to the touch. Well, at least it hid her blush as she looked over to Caeden.

"Yeah, she's gotta man up if she wants to be a trombone," Cory said "Especially if she wants to be part of the Trombone Suicide."

"Suicide?!" exclaimed Erin "That doesn't sound fun!"

"Oh, it is fun!" Caeden said, grinning as if he were recalling a happy memory "It's really dangerous, but it's really fun! A lot of people get severely hurt though if they do it wrong..."

He began to mumble off. He had his hand in a thinking position under his chin, giving the illusion of being in deep thought.

Erin sighed.

It was only the first day of school and it already seemed that it would never end.

Not that Erin really minded.