#and thriving
Oh my gosh, so many things happened today. It’s like everything fell into place before M’s leave for the rest of this week. I’m so grateful to have this great person in my life. He is so amazing. I love him so much, he makes me so happy.
Without further ado, let’s get into it!!
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I entered the band hall beaming, as my lesson prior went amazing. Upon my first step through the door, my eyes immediately darted left, as per usual. They landed on M right away, standing on his podium and conducting the band, as they were playing a rep before I walked in. Just seeing him there immediately made me happier than I was before.
Along with this bunch of joy and excitement, I was quite surprised as well; M was wearing a very saturated shirt that almost glowed. He would usually stick to more desaturated colors, most of the time leaning on darker tones for an outfit. But this was new. I liked it. It screamed personality. I think he was eager to get the show on the road before he left for a few days.
As this flood of thoughts came to mind, I looked away so no one would question why I was staring. I began to hustle a little to my seat with my instrument and binder, but I soon decided that it would be better if I made my way over quietly. That way, I wouldn’t interrupt them, and I could keep listening.
When I reached my seat, I brought myself to focus on getting everything around me set up before I gazed at him. I didn’t want to waste too much time anyway, since it’s so easy to get lost staring at his features. Quickly after I sat down, he called the band to a specific measure in the music, and I began to play immediately.
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He had us start at the beginning of another one of our pieces. After a few reps, he finally didn’t cut us off right before I came in, so I began to play. I’d have to say I had one of the BEST entrances I have ever had when I came in on that measure. I was so proud of myself.
M even recognized this after giving another section feedback once the rep had concluded. “…And no bumps! Good job.” He smiled happily and looked at the tuba that would usually bump at first, then he shifted his attention to me afterwards. He brought his head back down to his score after. He probably realized then that I was the only one playing there…during my solo. Haha.
He would give me a subtle glance for most of the other times we played there, to cue me to come in. Even remembering the calm and simple look he laid on me just gives me so many butterflies. It was so careful. So cautious. He’s so adorable.
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During the after-school rehearsal, I was playing the best I could in the first piece we looked at. Eventually, though, I had missed a cue and M stopped the rep. “You’re supposed to play there,” he looked at the percussionist who plays on the same beat I did, and then at me. “Did you miss the cue?” He kept staring at me, smiling and appearing lightly entertained.
I was cowering, smiling giddily yet sheepishly all at once. I felt myself beginning to hide under my stand. I at first didn’t think he was talking to me. I was probably blushing. Haha. “Be honest—It’s okay if you missed it!” He carefully encouraged me after I was silent for a good four to five seconds.
“Yeah, I came in early,” I finally called just as he had begun to speak—I’m pretty sure to someone else. That was so embarrassing. Hahaha. We played that part quite a few times and I think he might have waited until I got it once to move forward, because that’s exactly what happened. That was nice.
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We made it to a section towards the end; a brass feature, where we could play loud. After a little bit, he told the brass to play it on their own. During our first rep of it, when we came in to play a single eighth note of the first measure, we all sounded absolutely horrible. Ahahaha. I was not centered at all, and neither were the others!!
He screwed up his face in bewilderment and I couldn’t help but laugh. He grinned as well, chuckling to himself. “Did ANYONE play that spot on?—Like, PERFECT??” He grinned wildly, and I shook my head and moved my hand left and right in denial. He was looking at me while I did this, and he continued to smile. “Okay, let’s try that again.”
So, we did, and when he cued us in, I played the note pretty solid! I didn’t hear the others all too much though, but they probably didn’t do too hot because M was cringing again. Haha. “Ah, you didn’t—“ He began to say something, then he suddenly stopped himself. He looked into my eyes right when he did so.
“You were *good*,” he pointed at me, “but the others were all over the place. They’ll try to be like you next rep.” I could tell he was happy with me, all by the tone of voice and everything when he gestured to me. It was nice.
He called out the measure number had us start again, and this time we were all good. We kept playing on for a bit until he cut us off. I was the only one to play that last note though. Whoops. It seemed like he wanted to look at me after I stuck out on that last note, because he turned his body and head my way slightly, but he just kept a sort of strategizing smile on his face.
He gave feedback, then after a moment of silence, spoke without looking at me. “R, you can play out.” I was caught off guard by the sudden comment. “Okay,” I called back in response, just as he was getting ready to get others in ‘set’ position. Again with the bad response timing. Whoops.
Since then, I tried to play as loud as I could. Eventually, near one of our last reps of the chart, we had played the bigger part, and M nodded with satisfaction once we reached the last note. He had everyone come in now, and we played that for a bit before switching pieces once more.
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M had us warm up on our own before the next piece. I sat there in my seat for a bit, feeling quite warmed up already because we had to play so loud. I noticed that he and another director (we can call him S) were talking. I saw M pointing at people down the line of the low brass, then I saw that he pointed to me.
I was super surprised, of course, but I tried not to react too much because I didn’t want to interrupt their chat. I saw him smile while speaking now, specifically mouthing the words ‘tuba’ and my grade level. I smiled to myself lightly; he was talking to someone else about me again?? That was so sweet.
S nodded at M’s statement, then I saw him do a double take. “Really??” I saw him mouth. His expression looked shocked. I’m not very young at all, but I was still flattered by their mutual surprise, and tried to suppress my smile as much as I could.
After S’s exclamation, M widened his eyes dramatically and nodded his head slowly and seriously at S, indicating that he strongly felt that surprise. I saw M mouth the words “Yeah” and “Right?”, and it was so sweet. Seeing him talk about me in that way….gosh, It’s always so heartwarming. He’s so nice to me.
M kept looking back at me for extended periods of time while he was talking to S, and at once point, after I caught his eye, I saw him chuckle a bit as I looked away quickly, leaning to grab my tuba off the ground so he would think I was doing something else…even though it was quite obvious I wasn’t. We made so much eye contact. I am fairly certain he knew that I knew that he was talking about me.
But still, again, it was so sweet. There’s always this light little cheeky look he gives others when he’s “bragging” about me. It’s so cute. He is the best thing to ever happen to me. I love him so much. ❤️❤️❤️
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I didn’t get to see him after that, but man, I had such a blast when I did. I hope he has tons of fun on his mini vacation. He deserves a good break and an enjoyable time. ^^
I hope everyone here has an amazing rest of your week as well! I probably won’t be posting stories since M isn’t going to be here, but I’ll post some answers to the February TC Challenge eventually, so look forward to it. Stay safe!!
