TONE DEAF

Chapter 1

"You're not going to believe this!" I shouted to my best friend, Corrie, who was walking beside me.

"No so loud, please," she muttered under her breath.

"You don't understand," I continued, lowering my voice a little. "I mean, sure no one is excited to go back to school." I glanced at the walls of Lei Mons high school. They looked the same, except that a little more plaster had fallen off the walls since last semester. The skating rink where I had spent a good part of my intersession seemed much more appealing at the moment.

"But look just look at this!" I pointed to my schedule. "This has to be a mistake. Maybe it's someone else's,"

Corrie glanced at the schedule. "Oh, no!" she said, clutching my arm. She obviously understood how serious the problem was. "Did you choose band as your electives?"

"Are you kidding? No way!" I replied.

"Then how did it end up on your schedule?"

"Who knows? Maybe the computer had a bad day when it put together my schedule. I chose theatre for elective, and modern dance was my second choice band, even as my one hundredth choice."

Lisa laughed out loud. "You can't take band Maddy! You're tone deaf!"

"Thanks a lot," I said. "So much for supportive best friends." But she was right. I'm tone deaf as they come. "Seriously, Corrie, what am I going to do? I've only had three clarinet lessons, and they were all disasters!"

"I know, I remember." Corrie tapped her chin as she pondered my problem. " It's no big deal, really. I'm sure that when you explain the situation, they'll put you in another class. Don't worry so much, Maddy."

"You don't understand," I said, exasperated. "Electives fill up quickly and I need this eighth class if I want to graduate a semester early."

"What do you want to do that for?"

"So I can take a trip around the world before I go to college," I explained.

"But you can't graduate early!" Corrie wailed.

"Why not?"

"Because we have too many important places to go together when we're seniors. What about the prom? Isn't that supposed to be the most important night of a girl's life?" Corrie asked.

I shook my head. "There's no way I'm sticking around just for prom!"

"What about the trip we had planned to the dude ranch?" she asked.

"We can still do it," I told Corrie

"What about the fact that school wouldn't be the same without you?" she demanded.

"Well... I'll think about it," I said, grinning at Corrie. For a moment I had forgotten all about my schedule problem, but now we were standing outside the band room and i began to panic. "What should I do?" I cried.

"Just go right in and explain. Mr. Vector is the teacher, and he's really a nice guy. He'll understand."

"This is crazy, Corrie. How did I end up in this situation? It's just not fair!" I started feeling angry. "Band isn't even supposed to be offered as an elective in the spring semester. It's only supposed to be offered in the fall."

"Don't you remember Mr. Pointdester's speech right before Christmas?" Corrie did a great imitation of the principal. "Due to the overwhelming student interest in electives, this year we will offer band, band, cooking, and metal shop during the spring semester as the fall."

"Oh, yeah, now I remember." I groaned.

"He thought it was great news. Well, I think it stinks!"