Sentence Sneak Peek - Notes From an Accidental Band Geek

Notes from an Accidental Band Geek by Erin Dionne

The first sentence from each chapter of Notes from an Accidental Band Geek, it's a mini summary of what you can expect to read.

* ARC read via Around The World ARC Tours
* Spoilers are highlighted like so :)

"Dad, seriously."

"I hoisted my stuff and stepped away from embarrassment ground zero."

"That first rehearsal?"

"Ensemble was just as tortuous."

"I let myself in through the kitchen door and plopped the seven zillion tons of brass instruments, papers, and embarrassing memories on the floor next to the bench at our table."

"Over the next week, I attended every band camp session and doubled my practice time at home to learn the hateful mellophone."

"Later that night, I tore through my closet, trying to figure out what to wear for the first day of school."

"After French, I ran into Jake outside of my history class."

"After three days of freshman-only lunchtime orientation sessions—meet your guidance counselor, here are good ways to manage your time/deal with stress (ha!), and an intro to the computer lab and library services—the school finally let us have a regular lunch."

"Three weeks into the school year was our first major marching band performance."

"One afternoon a couple of weeks later, Sarah met me at my locker before lunch."

"I wish your father wouldn't hide his peas under his mashed potatoes."

"At the end of the day, I stopped by the front office and picked up the ugly plastic shako box."

"If I thought the first day of band camp was chaotic, it was nothing compared to competition day."

"Let's say there's such a thing as "sneaking" a delicate sneeze during parade inspection—which is nearly impos-sible anyway—there'd be no mistaking the lion-like sound I make when it happens."

"Right after the collapse, it was total chaos for what felt like two hours, but was really only about ten minutes."

"The next couple of hours flew by."

"My parents found me back at the buses and congratulated me."

"I sulked over the competition for about a week."

"That Saturday, before my private lesson, Mom brought me to Sarah's house to work on our costumes."

"By Friday night I was a jangle of nerves."

"We'd been at the dance for an hour, but I hadn't danced at all—instead I'd spent most of the time playing name that tune with Hector and reminding myself to relax and have fun."

"I didn't know what to do."

"My day didn't improve at school."

"After getting my horn and band buddy, I found a piece of floor away from Hector and Sarah where I wouldn't get trampled and waited, alone."

"Around me, the excitement built as Mr. Sebastian and AJ ushered us out for practice."

"Wrapped in a fog of worry, I went home wishing there was someone I could talk to about my Darcy's/Shining Birches dilemma."

"I hid in my room for the rest of the night, rejecting my mother's two attempts to talk."

"I spent all of lunch blowing my brains out on my horn, work-ing those audition pieces like it was my job."

"I joined the rest of my section in our customary practice spot by the oak tree."

"I saw the next few days through a near-constant blur of tears."

"My dad had a concert that night, so we didn't have round two of our fight over the dinner table."

"I thought prepping for a field show took a lot of work; working on a parade routine for a nationally televised cel-ebration made any rehearsal before this look like a nursery school music class."

"School dragged by slower than a mouse towing a concrete block across a football field."

"A little while later, Jake took out a deck of cards from his bag."

"As soon as the group saw me peek out the window, the chanting began."

"Luckily, the rest of the ride to New York was nowhere near as interesting or entertaining."

"AJ, Mr. Sebastian, and the band parents corralled us and ushered us back to the buses so we could change and have breakfast."

"The review stand was packed tighter than a whale in a bikini."

"I don't remember much after the disastrous end to the solo."

"By the time we boarded the bus to go home, I was feeling just as good as everyone else about our performance, and had even managed to accept a few compliments regarding the solo."

"That night, after I enjoyed some of Aunt Denise's dry reheated Thanksgiving turkey, my mom and I sat on the couch together and watched coverage of the parade on the news."

Coda - "So, that Saturday, Dad and I drove to Chestnut College for my Shining Birches audition."