I'm Just a High School Student

I’m Just a High School Student

Patty Johnson was incredibly nervous. She twirled a drum stick as she walked down the sidewalk. There was a spare one in the back left pocket.

“I can do this. I can really do this.”

A woman pushing a stroller looked at her funny and Patty just kept walking.

The big house on the corner was where all the musicians hung out.  Most of them were college students working on their music degrees.  Every weekend and sometimes during the week, there was a major jam.

There were guitarists and bass players, there were piano and keyboardists. There were percussionists and banjoists. There were saxophonists and trombonists. Every jam session was different featuring a variety of musicians.

At the Christmas party, there was going to be some wild and funky music going down.  Patty just hoped that she wouldn’t get laughed at or ridiculed.  

It all started when there was a Christmas pageant at school. The students were invited to participate and there were three rock bands. But, at the last minute, the drummer for one of the bands became ill.  Patty was asked to fill in and she did.

The young girl was a hurricane on drums. She kept the beat and pushed the others hard challenging them to the point that they had to really bust a note to keep up.

They finished in second place and it was fun.

One of the teachers in the audience didn’t know that Patty played drums at all and certainly not so well. The next day, he approached her.

“Hello, I love your style and think you are going to be a great drummer someday.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“I think that you need to be exposed to a wider audience. “

“What do you mean?”

“I have a nephew who plays guitar, piano and other instruments.  Maybe you should hook up with him?”

“I guess I could.”

“Great.”

The nephew was a college student. Patty was fifteen.  

“What am I doing?” Patty said as she walked to meet the nephew at a coffee house.  

His name was Phil.

“Hey, you must be Patty?”

“I am. You must be Phil.”

“My uncle told me that you are a hurricane on drums.”

She was shy around the older guy.  

“I was a fill in and really wanted to rock, so I did. The original drummer is back with the group.”

“Well, you made a great impression.”

“Thanks.”

“I wanted to meet you. I understand that it is Christmas and you are really busy. But, we have a party going on the Saturday before Christmas. I live on Gill Street. Do you think you could make it?”

“I am not sure because after all I am a teenager.  I gather that everyone at the holiday party will be older?”

“They will be but that is okay.”

“I will try and make it.”

All week long, Patty hemmed and hawed about going.  She talked it over with her cat.

“Puss-puss, what is a girl supposed to do? I could go to the party but if do am I going to be like laughed at?  I am only in high school and everyone else is older. Some of them play in real groups and orchestras and I am just a little punk girl bashing away with a bunch of pimple faced musicians.”

Puss-puss looked at her and blinked his eyes.

“I wish I was a cat. Cat’s have it so easy. All they do is sleep, play and eat. They don’t have to worry about making moral decisions that could last a lifetime.”

Puss-puss rolled over and wanted a belly scratch.

“If I don’t go then I might gain the reputation that I am a party pooper. If I do go, then I will get laughed at. I can’t win. What am I going to do?”

Puss-puss rolled over and looked at her waiting for its belly scratch.

“You know what, Puss-puss, I am going.”

She got dressed in nothing fancy just a pair of her nice jeans and a festive top that she had received for Christmas the year before.

She arrived at the party and the place was swinging. The music was good and loud. She knocked on the door and waited. She knocked again. Finally, on the third time, Phil opened the door.

He had his arm around some pretty girl and smiled.

“Patty, glad you could make it. Come on in.”

So she walked inside and took her coat and shoes off. The music wasn’t from some computer or other device; it was live. The cats were really bringing it down.

Everyone stopped when Patty walked into the room.

“Hey, everyone, this is Patty.”

The serious looking dudes with goatees and thick glasses all nodded her way. She blushed so hard that the girl nearly fainted.  

“Patty is a drummer.”

There was one drummer who smiled and a number of others that were keeping rhythm on different instruments.

“Come in and join the jam session.”

“Do you want a beer?”

“Hey, no beer for her and no social pressure.”

“I’ll pass on the beer, I don’t like the taste of it. As for the jam session, well I am really intimidated, I just started playing seriously a couple of years ago and you guys are a lot older than I am and are more advanced.”

They all smiled at each other and nodded their heads.

“A player is a player,” said Steve the drummer.  

He stood up and graciously offered her the drum chair.

“Oh wow, never mind the beer, I think I need a stiff shot of whiskey.”  Patty tried to appear less nervous and smiled.

Everyone laughed.

“This is a Christmas party.  We are all musicians so at this thing of course we are going to jam.” Steve shrugged his shoulders.

“We don’t know what else to do with ourselves.”  Jerry the spoon player smiled.

“And we aren’t here to judge your talents or lack of talent. Ah, man that didn’t sound right.”  Pete the piano player shook his head.

“What are poorly spoken piano player is saying is we don’t care if you are in high school or are younger or don’t have the experience we have.  You were invited to come over here and hang with us.”  Phil looked at her.

“Okay, you guys are the greatest.  But, I can’t take the drum chair from you. I mean you are really, really good.”

“Did you hear that chumps, the lady thinks I am really, really good.” Steve looked at her and smiled.  “The drum kit is yours because I have to go the bathroom.”

“Ah, man he’ll be in there for like an hour.”  Pete groaned.

“Shut up, dude. I will not.” Steve looked offended.

“You will if you are talking to your girlfriend.”  Andy one of the percussionists smiled.

Steve blushed and took off.

Patty pulled out the drumsticks from her pocket.

“She carries her own drumsticks around.  How cool is that?”

Patty looked at Pete and shrugged his shoulders.

She started out slowly and then locked into a groove, It was fun and she really started to swing. The guys nodded her way and she started to swell with confidence.

Steve came back and smiled. He sat next to her and it didn’t really throw her off balance. After a half dozen songs, she stopped.

“Okay, your turn.”

“I like your technique. You have a natural rhythm.”  Steve smiled.

“Thanks.”

“Do you want to learn a couple of tricks that I know?”

“I sure do.”

And the night proceeded as they jammed on one number after another. Sometimes Steve played and other times Patty did.  They other musicians liked the young girl and made sure she got home safely.

In her room later that night, she was reliving the moments. Puss-puss was next to her getting his belly scratched.

“Puss-puss that was the best Christmas party ever.”