The New Drummer

1When Ethan moved from Kaohsiung to Taichung in the middle of tenth grade, he did not know a single person at his new school. During lunch breaks, he sat alone and pretended to read while groups of classmates laughed around him. He missed his old friends, and every evening he told his mother that school was "fine," even though it was not.

2One afternoon, as he walked past the music room, he heard a drumbeat that was slightly off. Without thinking, he stopped at the door and tapped the correct rhythm on his leg. A girl holding a pair of drumsticks noticed him. "You can play?" she asked. Ethan nodded. He had played the drums in his old school's band for three years.

3The girl, whose name was Joy, explained that the school band had a performance in two weeks, but their drummer had broken his wrist playing basketball. "We're desperate," she said, handing him the sticks. "Just try."

4Ethan played the song once, and then again, a little faster. When he finished, the other members clapped. That evening, for the first time since the move, he talked to his mother for an hour about his day.

5The concert was not perfect. Ethan missed a beat near the end, and his hands shook before the show. But afterward, five band members invited him out for hot pot. Sitting at the crowded table, Ethan realized that he no longer needed to pretend to read. "Sometimes," he later wrote in his diary, "a new start begins with a sound you can't ignore."