The Flier (Patrick Stump)

1 - Adrenaline

/Chapter 1\

Zenna's First Day of Guard

Being late for almost everything was always a curse. Never did I once say, "Oh, I love being late!" At least, I didn't remember any time when I had said that. So, when I looked at the car clock and saw that it was one minute until the beginning of the first Winter Guard practice, I nearly screamed. I could not be late. I literally felt adrenaline start to course through my veins. It was not a good feeling at all.

"Calm down, Z!" Dad exclaimed, noticing how stressed out I was. "They won't kill you if you get there a minute behind schedule."

"But then I'll have a bad reputation and they won't like me and-" I started to stutter, but my father cut me off.

"Zenna, if you don't just breathe, then I will pull over and you will be even more late." Sighing, I relaxed my body and took a couple of deep breaths. "Look, we're already there, right on time," he grumbled as we turned into the parking lot of the high school where we would start practicing. I glanced down at the clock again. He was right; we were there on time.

"Sorry," I mumbled, pulling on the sides of my jacket.

"It's fine, kiddo," he replied as he smiled. Once we got in front of the school, he stopped the car and I slowly unbuckled. "Listen, don't be too worried about the people here. I'm sure they will all like you."

"But what if they don't? And what if they're rude?" I question, frowning.

"Then if they give you any shit, you ignore them because if they think they aren't affecting you, they'll get bored," he answered. "Have fun, Z. Jess will be here to pick you up after practice." With that he closed the passenger door for me and drove away, leaving me alone on the sidewalk. I inwardly groaned. Jess was my dad's girlfriend, and I absolutely hated her. If the word "whore" was in the dictionary, her picture would be right next to it. My dad had no idea, but I've caught her walking in the front door at two in the morning with her lipstick smudged and her hair messed up. She was sleeping around, and it bothered me to think that one day, he would find out and be heartbroken. I couldn't bear the thought. Quickly, I ran to the front door of the school and rushed inside, scanning for any sort of life in the desolate lobby. If I found them before they started doing anything, I wouldn't really be late. Soon, I found a tall girl with an unbuttoned red flannel shirt, a black tank top, and black leggings walk out of a room all the way on the left end of the hall, laughing so hard she started coughing. That was the band room! Composing myself, I walked down the hall towards her and whoever she was with. For some reason, though, when I got close to her, she didn't seem to hear my footsteps. She just continued to do what she was occupying herself with: buying a water bottle from the vending machine on the other side of the hall. Her tongue stuck out to the side a little bit as she flattened the crumpled up one-dollar bill against the machine. Once she was satisfied, she shoved the bill into the slot, and her shoulders slumped in relief when it took it. Her long black hair slightly swayed as she pressed the button with a water bottle on it.

"Um, hello?" I squeaked, which made her jump and instantly turn around.

"Oh my God!" she gasped.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," I muttered. The water bottle fell to the revealed slot at the bottom, causing a loud clunk to echo in the hall.

"No, no, it's okay! I just didn't hear you coming," she laughed, coughing a little at the end. She bent down and pulled the bottle out of the machine. "Are you here for Winter Guard?" I nodded. "Well, it's nice to see you here. I'm Hope Etla, the only junior of the group. Who are you?"

"Zenna Walt, freshman," I replied.

"Ooh! We have a freshman in our midst I see!" she said, smiling and coughing into her elbow. Why did she cough so often? Maybe she had a sore throat...? I had no clue. "Well, Zenna Walt, welcome! I'll have to introduce you to the others, come on." Suddenly, she wrapped her left arm around my shoulders and forced me to walk with her into the wide doorway of the band room. The royal blue carpeting matched wonderfully with the cream colored walls, and multiple doors were scattered in different spots. In one corner in particular, about four other people were sitting in a circle and talking as if they were best friends. They probably were.

"Guys!" Hope loudly said, and everyone got quiet and turned to face her and I. I wanted to dissolve into the floor. "Meet the new freshman in the Guard, Zenna Walt!"

"Helloooooo!" the smallest in the group greeted, standing up and walking over to us with a big smile on her face. She was very, very small. Abruptly, her arms wrapped around me, and I stiffened. I didn't know who she was, let alone want her to give me a hug. When she finally pulled away, she beamed up at me. Her innocent eyes were so bright. "I'm Isabelle Waters, but everyone calls me Izzy. I'm a seventh grader." That explained why she was so little.

"Hi," I said, forcing a smile onto my face. Everyone else in the group got up and walked over to the three of us.

"Hi!" the tallest boy grinned. He had short, dirty blond hair and stereotypical nerd glasses that fit his face just right. "I'm Quinn Oakley. Sophomore." He was kind of adorable, I had to admit it. It's not like a crush was already developing, but I could tell that I wanted him as a friend.

"Lizzie Oakley. Sophomore," the brown-haired girl closer to Quinn's height stated. She seemed kind of angry. However, maybe it was her time of the month. I shouldn't already be judging her.

"They're siblings," Hope pointed out.

"No shit," Quinn said, glancing at Hope with a 'she isn't dumb' look. Lizzie slapped his arm. He stopped talking and looked at the ground.

"I'm Kamryn, but you can call me Kam if you want," the last girl said. She was short, but not as short as Isabelle. In fact, she was only a couple inches shorter than Lizzie. She looked older than everyone else in the room, though. "I'm the co-instructor. Em, the other instructor, isn't here yet."

"And neither are a few others..." Hope trailed off.

"Has anyone heard from Patrick?" Kamryn asked, as if everyone could answer the question. I definitely couldn't. I didn't even know who she was talking about.

"I texted him earlier, but I didn't get a response," Quinn answered.

"I still need to know if-"

"Yes, I'm still doing it Kam. I said I was!" a voice exclaimed from the doorway. A deep voice. Everyone turned, including Hope who forced me to turn. A boy, maybe sixteen or seventeen, was leaning against the side of the doorway with a black bag the size of a Guard flag slung over his shoulder. His light brownish-reddish hair was swept across his forehead, with a black fedora covering the top of his head. When I saw him, my heart started beating faster than it did in the car. It was probably beating so loud that Hope could hear it. How could a boy be so good looking?

"That's where that bag was! Damn you Patrick, I was looking everywhere for it after that competition!" Lizzie yelled, and Quinn slapped her arm just like she did when he cursed. "Don't touch me!"

"Yes, Liz, I had it the entire time," Patrick said, smirking as he walked into the room. Then, his dark eyes locked with mine, and I think I almost had a heart attack. "Who is this?"

"This is Zenna! She's a new member of the Guard," Hope introduced. He walked a little closer to the group, and I could barely breathe.

"What grade?" he mumbled. I couldn't tell who he was talking to, so I just stayed quiet. We kept eye contact, and he soon raised his eyebrows. "Well?"

"Oh, I'm a freshman," I choked out. That was embarrassing. He was talking to me!

"You don't look like a freshman," he commented, coming even closer to me. Close enough to where he twirled a piece of my wavy hair around his finger and it didn't pull on my head. Close enough to where his face was a mere six inches from mine.

"And h-how is that?" I stammered. He chuckled and looked away from my hair and back into my eyes.

"Because you look so much prettier than an average freshman girl," he answered in a low voice. We stayed like that for a second before he released the hair from around his finger and backed up a little.

"Well, while we wait for the other people to get here, we should go ahead and stretch," Kamryn stated, clearly as uncomfortable as I was because of that. And, just like that, I was already enjoying Winter Guard.

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AN: ooh! so... what do you think? first chapter: yay or nay? anyway, any comments, votes, or reads would be nice! and, it would help if you shared the story around a little, so that others could read it and join in on the fun... :)