Chasing Butterflies Chapter 32: Not My Tempo (Patreon)

“Five… Six!”

Five, six, seven, eight…

Olivia finished the count off in her head, moving her feet in time with Alyssa’s clapping. The rest of the dozen flutes did the same and sent their entire miniature arc swaying in place. They all hit the first note in unison, and for a fraction of a second they sounded relatively cohesive. But then they had to keep playing, and the section tumbled over themselves as though their entire group had been pushed down a cliff.

Fingers scrambled ineffectually across keys as the flutes struggled with the devilishly difficult passage. The high pitched trill of a piccolo served as a guiding line, a reference that revealed what the music was supposed to sound like. A reference only followed by one other.

Olivia pushed her fingers to the edge of their abilities, pushing forward relentlessly. Everything else faded into the background as she focused on keeping up and nothing else. When they finally reached the end, she pumped a fist.

Yes! Made it without dropping out once.

It was a feat that no other flute could claim, though from the sound of it, the juniors were having a better time of it than the rest. Still, Olivia’s journey was considerably shakier than she liked. It definitely needed improvement and a lot more practice before she could really call it a success.

Still better than last week. That third arpeggio is really tripping me up, though… How in the world does Naomi do it?

Her eyes slid to the piccolo in question. The girl stood tall and elegant as ever, towering over the other flutes in both stature and ability. It was no wonder that the senior continued to be a legend well after her graduation.

“All right!” Alyssa tried to smile but it came out as more of a grimace. “Seems like this section’s still giving us a little bit of trouble. Let’s try again, a little slower.”

By “a little slower,” the senior apparently meant “half speed.” It was an excruciating tempo to drop to, especially after the last attempt. But even that proved too fast. The freshmen in particular continued fumbling notes as they struggled to make their fingers fly across the keys. Still, it was better. And every repetition just made them improve a little bit more.

Given how easily she could manage at this speed, Olivia decided to focus on precision and careful placement of her fingers. Just because it wasn’t a challenge didn’t mean she couldn’t make use of the opportunity. Working on her dexterity now would only make it easier to keep up when they dialed the tempo back up. And that was an absolute necessity if she wanted to even start getting musical about it rather than just playing notes.

Eventually, Alyssa motioned for them to relax. “Great! It’s already sounding way better. How about we take a quick break?”

There were a few sighs of relief as the girls laid their long silver instruments on the ground. Some traded them for water jugs while others clumped together to sit in twos and threes. Alyssa immediately began chatting with one of the juniors about homecoming and other teenager things.

Olivia took a swig of water herself, but kept her flute in hand. She sat cross-legged, silently working through fingerings for the section. It wasn’t like she particularly needed a break. In fact, she felt an even more pressing need to get this right. The fact that it was still giving her trouble was honestly a bit annoying. Sure, she wasn’t the only one, but still…

“Ahem.”

Olivia looked over as Alyssa gave her a meaningful look. Something inside her railed against the strange note of condescension in the section leader’s expression, urging her to defy the implied command. But she quickly stamped the feeling down and forced a sheepish smile onto her face. “Sorry.”

Alyssa smiled and returned to her conversation. It was something that seemed to happen more and more as of late. She’d always remembered Alyssa as a good section leader, but now that Olivia was trying to make the most of her practice time, they found themselves a little at odds over the whole mandated break thing. It was starting to get a little under her skin. It wasn’t even about being ordered around by someone half her real age. It was the way she went about it.

There’s really no sense in complaining. Past me just went with it, which means I have to as well. Even if I’m getting the sense that past me was maybe a little more naive than I realized.

Olivia set the flute down so as not to tempt herself. Without much else to do, she simply thought about the show and its music. Ms. Villanueva had promised the second movement of Metamorphosis next week, once they’d gotten a better grip on the first one. The third and final movement would come after homecoming. Olivia kind of wished she could get all of them at once, but that wasn’t how it worked here. The music teacher was very cautious about overwhelming them with new material, especially considering the overall difficulty of the show. Giving them all three at once also might lead some to split their focus in too many directions and neglect some of the earlier difficult sections like this one.

…Yeah, she’s probably right to do that. The poor freshmen are already freaking out. Dumping the whole thing on their heads would probably send them running for the hills. Though that does make me wonder… How long do we have before the first competition? It has to be a while still, right?

“...Hey, Chrissy?”

“Hmmm? What’s up?” Her fellow freshman lowered her water jug and looked over.

“Do you remember when our first competition is?”

“Oh! End of September.” Chrissy instantly responded. “I don’t remember the exact date, but I know it’s on a Saturday. Why?”

“Just curious how much time we have.” That was still a good distance away. They had another month to get through all of Coach Bryan’s drill and get it some much-needed polish. It likely wouldn’t be enough time to field a complete show, but that was nothing new. As far as she remembered, the first competition or two had most bands doing the same. Only the super competitive high schools squeezed their kids enough to cram in all of that learning and practice time.

Still… two months into the school year? It doesn’t feel like nearly enough. Then again, marching season is a fall activity. And I did miss those two weeks of band camp before school started…

Chrissy gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t be nervous. We’ve got plenty of time. I mean, this stuff is bound to get easier eventually, right?”

Olivia smiled. “Easier? I doubt it. But we’ll probably get better at faking it.”

The girl giggled.

Olivia briefly returned to her own thoughts, idly observing the flutes around her. Naomi was silently practicing as Olivia had been, although she didn’t face any reprimand for it. Emma alternated between chatting off Luna’s and Chrissy’s ears about homecoming, head swiveling between her neighbors like a prairie dog. Madison, the last freshman of the group, had drifted toward Alyssa and her junior friend at some point. The other junior—Maggie, if she remembered right—chatted with the two sophomores, whispering and occasionally shooting glances at Alyssa.

She looked between the two groups. Did they always get along this poorly?

She didn’t think so. In her memory, the flutes had all gotten along pretty well together. Then again, it wouldn’t be the first thing she’d been mistaken about. Alyssa and Maggie had already kind of been catty with each other too, even during that first interaction about showing Olivia around campus.

I guess I really was just blind last time around. Either way, this is seriously giving me flashbacks to Trisha’s “friends” in PE…

“Have you ever tried playing piccolo?”

Olivia looked up in surprise as Naomi approached her. From Olivia’s seated position, the piccolo was tall enough that she had to crane her neck all the way back to see her face.

“Hmmm? No, I haven’t.” Olivia admitted honestly. “Why?”

“Would you like to try?”

She blinked. Naomi smiled softly, holding the tiny instrument out to Olivia. She was serious.

“Are… are you sure?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Olivia eyed the slim black tube. Piccolo wasn’t just another instrument. It was one that needed to be auditioned for, a position coveted by the best flutes as proof of their abilities. Olivia had never been among them, and even if she had, the idea of putting herself out there for an audition was unfathomable. So why was Naomi asking?

Naomi watched her reaction intently. “…Unless you’d prefer not to, of course.”

“I…” Olivia hesitated. It wasn’t like this was an audition itself. The girl was just asking. That’s all. “Sure. I’ll try.”

The tall girl handed over the piccolo. It was small, shorter than Olivia’s forearm and sleek black with polished silver keys packed too close together. Holding it felt cramped and tiny compared to what she was used to.

Olivia took a moment to adjust, then raised it to her lips. But as she drew in a breath, she froze. Her eyes flicked over to Alyssa.

The section leader had, of course, noticed. She’d turned her head to watch Olivia and Naomi carefully. There was a clear note of disapproval in her eye as she looked between the two. But she didn’t say anything or object.

Maybe it’s because Naomi’s also a senior? She may not want to push her luck trying to tell her what to do. Seniority holds practically as much power as a formal position around here.

Either way, it wasn’t an opportunity that Olivia would squander. Forming her mouth, she carefully blew into the piccolo.

A breathy and shrill note greeted her ears. Despite knowing what to expect, Olivia still winced at high pitch. Even the low notes on this thing threatened to make her ears ring. But rather than recoil, she doubled down and tried again, adjusting and putting more air into the instrument until it no longer sounded like a hoarse shriek. Then she tried a few more notes, bouncing around and feeling the differences between this instrument and her own. Before long, it started to sound almost passable.

“Not bad,” Naomi said with a note of approval. “Better than my first attempt, at least.”

Olivia snorted. “I doubt that. Your first attempt probably sounded like a choir of angels singing.”

The swanlike girl’s mouth quirked. “I think you would be surprised. Contrary to popular belief, I was not born with a piccolo in my hands. Or a flute, for that matter.”

Olivia could believe it. Few people got to the level that Naomi had from sheer talent alone. That was certainly part of it, but the girl’s work ethic made it clear that it wasn’t the only factor.

Emma bounded over enthusiastically, her eyes glued to the piccolo. “Can I try?”

Naomi looked the boisterous freshman up and down, then shrugged. “I suppose.”

Olivia passed the instrument over. Emma’s first notes certainly weren’t lacking in the effort department. Just like with her normal playing, Emma seemed to lack even a shred of shyness or hesitation. She belted out shrill notes with an enthusiasm and confidence completely at odds with her lack of ability.

Oh, that sounds kind of harsh. But… she’s really not good.

Once Olivia’s ears stopped ringing, another flute approached and asked to try as well. Soon the piccolo was making its rounds through most of the flutes, accompanied by no small amount of giggling and nascent tinnitus. Just when Olivia felt as though her hearing was well and truly damaged, Alyssa stood up.

“All right! That’s enough of that. Let’s get back to work, everyone!”

The rest of the girls retrieved their instruments and got back into place. They launched right back into practicing the same section as before, slowly upping the tempo bit by bit.

Olivia glanced toward Naomi on occasion with wonder. After trying it herself, the girl’s ability to make piccolo sound good seemed even more astonishing. And every once in a while, she noticed the tall senior looking at her as well.

It was probably nothing. And even if it was…

…I’m sure it’ll go away if I just ignore it.