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.