Day Two is Day One – at least it is for our class schedule this week. It’s also going to be my favorite of the two days.
Some of my classmates would think that was nuts, since we have Math, English, and Science; but it’s the Phys-ed, Music, and Spanish classes that I’m going to have the most fun with. Of course, I actually have fun in the other three subjects too, but my new favorite class this year is going to be music.
I’ve never really put much thought into playing musical instruments – except maybe to learn how to play guitar like Dad does. In the past, that was partly because Mom and I were trying to keep hidden; and being a music prodigy is something that gets noticed as much as prodigious academics or sports. Mom and I have also had other priorities, and while we both love music; Mom was never into playing it even when she was a kid and teen. This year, we get to start learning how to play the usual range of wind and percussion instruments that you’d normally find in any small high school band; and while we won’t pick ‘our’ instruments for a few weeks yet, I already know after today that the saxophone is the one I love the most. This isn’t the Sight, or some other Magi power, but a simple connection that I didn’t feel with any of the other instrument demonstrations today. Rowen told me that she felt exactly the same way about the flute and piccolo; despite the fact that those demonstrations weren’t very good compared to some of the other instruments.
Our Instrumental Music teacher is Mrs. Robinson, and please don’t go there. Yes, she’s very pretty, and a Mom; but she’s also happily married to Mr. Robinson; he teaches at the school too; and they’re only thirty-one. There might even be more girls with crushes on him than boys crushing on her. Anyway, just in case someone might think my instrument choice was teacher-related; it’s not. Mrs. Robinson’s best wind instrument is the oboe; though she also plays the piano and cello; and can at least demonstrate every instrument she showed us today with varying degrees of success.
A downside of finding a new passion for me is that I can get a bit too focused on it. I’m better at controlling that than I used to be, but that didn’t keep me from memorizing a book on musical theory and another instruction book for learning to play the alto sax tonight. That added forty minutes to my bedtime computing, but I probably wouldn’t have gotten to sleep without that bit of extra studying. I’ve jumped ahead now without even writing anything about the rest of the day, so let’s take a moment and go back to the beginning.
Tai Chi by the river is always one of my favorite parts of the day, and then we jumped into our usual school and work day routine. That meant a normal breakfast, and it didn’t take me long to get cleaned up and ready for school – at least compared to yesterday. The sundress was exchanged for shorts and a sleeveless top. It was going to be another hot day, and though I’m now acutely aware of the fact that I don’t fill out a shirt like most of the other girls in my class now do; I won’t be trading off comfort just to wear something that would mute that obvious, if temporary, fact.
Yes, I know. I think I’ve mentioned before that Magi Masters aren’t immune to the forces of life that apply to everyone. Understanding all of that doesn’t always make dealing with the reality of being an eleven-year old girl easier. If you really want to think about that, keep in mind that I actually have to ability to affect things like my physical development if I chose to do that – just as Mom didn’t have to go through the usual physical post-pregnancy issues. For that matter, I could help every girl in town too if I could do that without revealing my secret identity. All of that’s a moot point, though, since I won’t be making any changes like that to myself or anyone else.
Moving beyond discussing my lagging physical development, Mrs. Warren hopped right into our Math and English classes this morning, and it looks like the review phase is going to be very short this year. We rounded out the morning with Phys-ed, and Rowen and I are both glad that we have that right before lunch. You only have time for about a two-minute shower if you have one of the first two class times of the morning or afternoon; and there’s no time to dry long hair.
The top lunch topic, at least for the guys, was the first home game of the season for our football team. I haven’t written about our school football much, and didn’t pay any attention to their first away game last Friday; other than to know they’d lost a close match. Some of the girls were either actually – or pretending to be – interested in talking football; though they still managed to work the usual fashion, entertainment, and general gossip chat into the conversation too. Rowen and I can think of a lot of things we’d rather be doing, or talking about other than football, but I suppose we are going to need to actually show up and support our team once in a while; and it’s practically mandatory once you’re in Grade Nine and above. There’s rain in the forecast for Friday, though, so don’t expect that to happen this week!
I wonder if that would be different if Dad had played league football when he was in high school? There aren’t likely very many alumni players that don’t at least go to the home games.
Getting back to school, we start the afternoon with Science, and then wrap up with Music and Spanish. By the time Rowen and I went home to do the after-school snack with Mom, Ethan, and Ehlana; we had a fair bit of homework. The good news is that it wasn’t a work night; and we could blast through all of it in about fifteen minutes thanks to a little Magi power. We sat up in the lounge and talked for another half hour after we were done the work before deciding that it was safe to go over to the park and play without looking suspicious. Every kid and teen in town knows who does and doesn’t have the strict, homework first rules; and Rowen and I are definitely on that list.
That still left us with an hour or so to play before we needed to be home for dinner. Rowen was staying for that; mostly because she and I did a Magi lesson with Mom after dinner. I didn’t really notice it last night, but not having baseball at all this week feels a bit strange. Mom and Dad both had work they wanted to get done tonight, though, so after Rowen went home; I took care of Ethan and Ehlana while they worked in the office. We played in Ehlana’s room; had a nice chat; and I took care of the bedtime bath and story before having our snack with Mom and Dad in the office.
I’ve been working on my computer since coming up to bed, and with the extra studying; it’s now... past one-thirty.
Oops. Time to wrap this up.
Say ‘goodnight, Cassie’.
“Goodnight, Cassie.”
