Darcy peeked through the curtains at the audience. She quickly looked through the audience and smiled, backing away from the curtain.
It was the night of the Talent Show and her friends talked her into signing up. She didn't want to do it since she was just a freshman and they would probably be the only freshman performing, which meant they went last.
They were all nervous since it was their first time performing in front of anymore. Plus, it took them a long time to come up with a name for them soon came to an agreement.
Darcy walked over to her friends and grabbed her guitar, wrapping the strap around her neck. They were on after the ballet dancers, which was in two minutes. Her dads and uncles were there, which made her even more nervous.
"You excited, D?" Dakota asked, grinning as he put his guitar strap around his neck.
She looked at him and smiled nervously. "Y-Yeah," she said, looking at her guitar.
Becky smiled and put her arm around Darcys' shoulder, pulling her into a side hug. "Someone's really nervous," she said, giggling.
"Is it that obvious?"
"Yeah. I mean, you're gripping your guitar neck for dear life," Cody said, pointing his drum stick at her guitar.
She sighed and loosened her grip on the guitar. "I just feel bad that we picked a song that Zach and Frankie can't do. They are part of the band too, aren't they?" she asked, looking at them.
"Of course but they understand. Plus, there will be other times for them to do something. It's not like we aren't going to do this again," Becky said, smiling.
"Looks like it's time," Dakota said.
Darcy watched as the curtains closed and the ballet dancers left the stage. She gulped as people helped set up the drum set and put the mics in the right places.
"Come on, D. You can do this," Cody said, giving her a quick hug.
She nodded slightly as they got in position behind the closed curtains. She took a deep breath as the principal introduced them. "Our last act of the night is from the freshman class and they are performing as a band. Introducing, Animal Innocence!"
The curtains and Darcy blushed as everyone stared at her. She saw her family smiling at her and she remembered all the times she performed with hem in front of bigger audiences. /'It's no different from that,'/ she thought, smiling.
"Hi! We're Animal Innocence and we're gonna be singing /Keep Holding On/," Darcy said, grinning.
Everyone went quiet as Becky and Dakota started strumming slowly. Darcy took a deep breath as she closed her eyes and leaned closer to the mic.
/You're not alone
Together we stand
I'll be by your side, you know I'll take your hand
When it gets cold
And it feels like the end
There's no place to go
You know I won't give in/
Cody started as Darcy opened her eyes and started playing her guitar.
/No I won't give in/
She heard the others do the vocals and she grinned slightly.
/Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll
make it through,
we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for
you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it
comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll
make it through,
we'll make it through/
Darcy looked at Becky and nodded towards her. Becky smiled and moved towards her mic, opening her mouth.
/So far away
I wish you were here
Before it's too late, this could all disappear
Before the doors close
And it comes to an end
With you by my side I will fight and
defend/
She smiled and closed her eyes.
/I'll fight and defend/
Darcy stepped closer to her mic and closed her eyes as she sung.
/Yeah, yeah
Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll
make it through,
we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for
you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it
comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll
make it through,
we'll make it through/
Dakota stepped towards his mic and took over.
/Hear me when I say, when I
say I believe
Nothing's gonna change,
nothing's gonna change destiny
Whatever's meant to be will
work out perfectly
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah/
They all slowed down and looked at the audience, singing together.
/La da da da
La da da da
La da da da
da da da da da/
The music got louder and they all smirked, finishing it together.
/Keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll
make it through,
we'll make it through
Just stay strong
'Cause you know I'm here for
you, I'm here for you
There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it
comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll
make it through,
we'll make it through/
Darcy stayed close to her mic as the others did the vocals.
/Keep holding on/
She strummed her guitar as the audience watched with wide eyes.
/Keep holding on/
Her and Beckys' ears twitched slightly and they all smiled.
/There's nothing you could say
Nothing you could do
There's no other way when it
comes to the truth
So keep holding on
'Cause you know we'll
make it through,
we'll make it through/
The music stopped and they all looked at each other, smiling like idiots. When they heard cheers and clapping, they looked back at the audience to see all of them standing and smiling.
The curtains closed and they quickly put their instruments down and hugged each other. "We did it! We did it!" Becky cheered, smiling.
"We haven't done anything yet, Becky! We still have to see who won," Dakota said, chuckling.
"Who cares about winning, we had fun and they loved it!" Cody yelled, tackling Darcy in a hug. "And you were great, D!"
She smiled at him and rubbed his head, making his tail sway. ""So were all of you," she said, looking at them.
"The judges have made a decision," they heard the principal say. "Third place goes to Ms. Jays' ballet class."
The ballet dancers smiled and gave each other a hug.
"Second place goes to Rodney for his fantastic magic tricks."
Rodney grinned and winked at Darcy who smiled nervously.
"And first place goes to..." There was silence for a minute before she finally spoke, breaking the tension. "Animal Innocence!"
"Oh my god!" Becky squealed.
They heard the audience cheer and Darcy smile.
[Later]
Darcy ran over to her family and grinned as they gave her high-fives. "That was awesome, Darc!" Luke cheered, grinning.
"Thanks! We had fun doing it!"
"That's all that counts," Lia, said, smiling.
She smiled and looked up at Harry. "What did you think, daddy?" she asked, her tail swaying behind her.
"You were amazing, kitten," he said, smiling and rubbing her head.
She smiled and nodded. She knew her family was proud of her so she didn't need to be told.