Date: Tue, 26 Aug 2003 17:06:41 -0500
From: bluechair@writeme.com
Subject: Band Camp Adventure (Part 1): Midnight Conversation

Band Camp Adventure
Part 1--Midnight Conversation
bluechair@writeme.com


One time, at band camp... I fell in love.

	Ok, ok, I know it's cheesy. But still it's true. No, it had nothing
to do with a flute or a trumpet, although that's what I play. But this is
how the summer before my senior year became one of the best memories of my
life!

	I had never been there before; band camp that is. It was totally
different than anything I've ever experienced. We had to live in these
shacks called "cabins," wear these horrible uniforms, and eat this horrible
food that no one liked. And the rules there were so stupid. The counselors
were so anal about everything. Throughout the time I was there, we referred
to the counselors as Nazis of course. Everything had to be perfect. And for
the most part it was.

	We were located in the middle of a beautiful National forest.
Trees, sand, and stinky bathhouses surrounded us everywhere. There were
squirrels and chipmunks running amuck. If you left a piece of food under
your bed, you were sure to get little friends visiting you, chewing through
your luggage, and leaving plenty of presents which were not as welcome as
the starburst wrappers one of my mates all over the place.

	The cabins were set up nicely. There were a lot of them. But they
were grouped together into smaller sections. Each section had about 5
cabins with one counselor per cabin. For my first year, we had the most
awesome counselor. He rocked like nobody's business. In addition to the
counselor, each cabin had 12 guys in it. The beds were lined up like
barracks. But hey, it's all good when you're roughing it for a week.

	When I got to the camp, I knew I was in for an awesome experience.
"Hello, my name is Andrew. Who are you?" asked my counselor with a huge
smile on his face.

	I smirked and answered, "I'm Kyle. Nice to meet you."

	"Kyle! Oh you're our trumpet player! Sweet. I love the trumpet. Go
ahead and grab your stuff out of your car and pick a bunk." As he pointed
to the only two bunks open.  Of course, two top bunks. I've always had a
fear of top bunks since I was a kid. My sister's friend worked at a camp
for a summer and fell out of her bunk on my birthday. She was paralyzed and
had to learn how to walk all over again.

	But I smiled and said, "This one is good." And so, my mom and I
went and got my bags, and we moved me in.  My mom, being the nurturing type
that she is, made my bed and everything. What a great mom. But it was time
for her to go and me to stay and meet new friends. I had an audition that
afternoon and went to it. It went well; I then came back to the cabin to
see if anyone else was around.

	It was then I met some cool guys. Four of the guys were around.
"Hey, I'm Kyle. Who are you guys?"

	"My name is Eric. This is Alex. And these guys are... ummm..."
	"Brian. I'm Brian." And the other guy nodded and said, "And I'm
Paul."

	"Hey guys, what do you all play?" And the conversations sparked and
if you know instrumental musicians, you know they love talking about
themselves. Eric was a horn player. Alex and Paul were both drummers. And
Brian was a sax player. He was also in the Jazz group like I was.

	Brian and I really hit it off. We were both kind of nervous. It was
our first year at band camp. Not to mention, the whole audition part of the
camp. We talked a lot and found out we only lived about thirty minutes from
each other. Who knows, this could be the beginning of an awesome
friendship.

	After a few hours, which felt like decades, Andrew called us all
together for a cabin meeting. "Hey guys, before we all go to dinner, we
need to go over some rules."  I always hate the beginning of things. There
always has to be this time where the "authority figure" says what we can't
do. "Don't do this and don't do that. Don't go here or there. Stay away
from the blah blah blah..." However, Andrew wasn't like that.

	"I hate rules guys. Especially this camps rules. But they kind of
make sense. Like this one. Don't go in girls cabins. Duh, I don't want to
be hearing that any of you are banging some clarinet player." He gave a
glance over to Tim who was a clarinetist. "And stay away from the girls
too."  A few chuckles.  Tim was blushing too. "Basically guys, don't act
like morons. You didn't come here to be told what you can't do. You came
here to learn and have fun. So, that's my deal. If you're a moron, I'll
treat you like one. And if you're not a moron, I'll still probably treat
you like one, but at least then it'll be a joke."

	Maybe you could think of this guy as the lamest thing on Earth. But
when you're away from home, and you know every other cabin is getting
scolded because their counselor knows they are going to do something bad in
the future, you can't help but laugh because this guy is so darn loveable.
But finally, the cabin meeting was over.

	We had a few other things to deal with and then, it was night
time. Night time at camp is interesting. You've got about an hour to just
hang with your friends in your section. But my cabin liked to go to the
cabin and chat.  It ended up that Brian and I were in the same band. That
was exciting. I had someone I knew--at least someone I would get to
know--in my group.  So I knew we'd see plenty of each other. The guy was
growing on me. I knew our friendship would take wings and soar.

	So basically, after that first day, Brian and I were inseparable. I
found out we had a lot in common. We both loved Butterfingers. We both love
movies like Empire Records and The Breakfast Club. And most importantly, we
both actually liked green vegetables. Who'd have thought it?  It's kind of
funny how you can have so much fun with a conversation like ours: "I can't
believe it, Broccoli is the best man!"

	"No way Kyle! Brussels sprouts rock!"

	"Are you joking me man? It's a toss up between Broccoli and
Cucumbers."

	"Oh my goodness no! Asparagus is only second to the sprouts man!"

	"Brian, you've got to be kidding me. Asparagus makes your shit
green!"

	"Alright guys!" shouted Andrew from the head of the table, "That's
enough of colored crap and eat some meat! Meat's good for you. It puts meat
on your bones. Well, that makes sense I guess. Oh just stop talking about
vegetables!"  With that, Brian and I erupted with laughter. Not that
anything was particularly funny, but just because we wanted to laugh. We
laughed so hard that I had a pain above and below my belly button and at my
sides. Thank goodness I didn't pull a muscle.  Most of our time together
was like that; enjoying each other's company, laughing, and just having a
great time. Then, one night, things took an unexpected turn.

	It was after lights out and we are allowed to chat with each other
for a while. So as usual, I sat down on Brian's bed and we all talked.
This wasn't out of the ordinary because Alex and Paul always did the same
thing. Eric and a few others would always camp out on the floor to listen
in or sometimes talk along with us. But sometimes our conversations would
die down and become more individualistic.

	"Hey Kyle," whispered Brian.

	"Yeah man? What's up?" I answered.

	"This has been so awesome man. I was so worried about coming to
camp. I mean, I'm an only child. So I don't have anyone else to share a
room with. And sharing a room with 12 guys seemed a little odd. I was
worried about making friends and stuff.  I'm so glad I met you."

	"Me too buddy." I told him. "It has been so awesome getting to know
you. I hope our friendship never dies!  I'm also from a small family. It's
been just me and my mom since I can remember."

	Brian then said something that meant a lot to me. "You're like the
brother I never had!"  Tears started to well up in my eyes. I always wanted
a brother--a younger brother who I could teach and hold and help him
discover things.  As I sat there looking at him in the dark--even though
I couldn't see him well--I knew he had a faint smile on his face and
tears in his own eyes. I moved closer to him by kneeling on the bed and
embraced him. His arms came slowly, but quickly enough, up and squeezed me
tight bringing me to him. He then leaned back so that I would fall on top
of him and we laid there in an embrace breathing slowly and crying
slightly.

	It was a magical moment. I've never felt that close to anyone
before. We stayed there for about a minute or two. As I relaxed my arms to
try to get up, he relaxed his. I placed my hands on his bed on either side
of his head and I started to push myself up off of him. I stopped when my
nose was about five inches away from Brian's. I could see his eyes in the
moonlight. The beautiful blue reflecting in the pale glow. I then looked to
the side and realized everyone else had gone to sleep. And I looked at him
and said, "Hey, how long were we lying like that?" Brian just smiled and
shrugged his shoulders. He just stared at me.  I smiled back, and with
that, his smile died. The corners of his mouth relaxed and his eyes got
sorrowfully big.

	I could feel my heart breaking. Why was Brian so upset? He went
from joy and happiness to grief and despair. My smile waned in the blue
moonlight and I was a loss for words.  I wanted to scream out, "What's
wrong Brian?"  I tilted my head as if to tell him to go ahead and tell me
what's wrong.  All that did was get him to squint his eyes. He inhaled a
long, deep breath, which caused me to breathe through my nose an equally
deep breath. We both held our breath and I waited for him to say
something--anything!

	His face came toward mine.  I just kept on looking into his eyes.
Then, without even realizing it, I closed my eyes, and I felt my own neck
lowering so that our lips were touching, his partially open while mine were
still closed.  I could feel the warmth of his breath on my cheek. His lips
closed around mine and rested there for a moment. I pulled back in a gasp.
Both of our eyes opened as wide as they would if we were just doused with
freezing cold water.

	Brian gazed at me wide eyed and open mouthed breathing hard. I
could feel his chest heaving out of fear under me.  My arms were
straightened to hold myself up. I found myself fighting for air through
pants and sniffs. My heart was racing. What just happened? Did we just do
what I think we did? What is going on? We can't do this! Not here! Not now!
But we did. I gave Brian a look of disbelief as I inhaled intensely through
my mouth.  He scrunched up his entire face, closed his eyes, and turned his
head.  I could see him sniffling, and I know he was crying.

	He had no reason to feel bad.  I didn't mind. I would do it again.
But he must have felt horrible.  So I lowered myself so I could whisper
something in his ear, "Brian," and all I heard was a sob. "It's ok." And I
moved my mouth to his cheekbone and gently kissed him just below the ear.
And he sat there sobbing.

	I put my weight on my elbows and held his head in my hands so we
would be face to face.  "Don't worry. I love you too." And with that, I
wiped a tear from his eye with my thumb. He closed his mouth to take a long
inhale through his nose. Finally, he was calming down. I rested my forehead
on his, and he lost it. We shifted our weight so that we were lying face to
face in a loving embrace.  I kissed him one last time on the cheek and
said, "My dear Brian, it will be ok. I'll stay here as long as you need
me." And with that, we held each other tight and drifted into sleep.