AN: Saturday has become official update day. I'm gonna try to get this story finished before I head off to College in September. Hope you guys enjoy. :) I will do what I can to have at least one chapter a week, but I know I'll feel more driven from seeing the hits this gets as well as reviews.

To Anon: That's a pretty cool idea. Send me a message so we can get in touch and talk about it.

~X~

~M~

~M~

Chapter Eleven

My mind took a second to take in what was happening before me, it all happened so fast. John had sent the fire at them, and Amara managed to counter by redirecting it back at the boys, causing the two to end up in a stalemate. Cecilia had duck in cover under the table we had been using for to keep their papers on. Longshot and the unrecognizable guy flanked John as Havok and Quicksilver circled around. Quicksilver came at them fast, and they could only feel the breeze of him running by him again and again, keeping them in a small circle. Alison shouted, to add to the noise level, and made the brightest light she could, blinding him just enough for him to turn too early and run right into Longshot, knocking them both to the ground. Jubilee stood firm to one side of Amara sparks flying from her fingers, and I stood to the side, staring in shock. The guy I didn't recognized stomped hard on the ground, causing the ground to shake, and four walls of earth shot up surrounding Jubilee, Alison and Amara.

John ceased throwing fire at them, and looked at the handy work with a grin. "Nice work Avalanche. They won't be getting out of that for awhile." His eyes then fell on me and my breath caught in my throat in surprise. I was shocked by their behaviour. It shouldn't have surprised me, these guys were nothing but mean to everyone, but I'd hoped they have some restraint, especially in a school and they could get in a lot of trouble.

"Let us out you buttheads!" Amara screamed.

"Don't let her get inside," Alex yelled pointing at me. My heart jumped as the guy called Avalanche, stomped his foot again. He sent up a barrier around me, but to my surprise, it didn't bother me. I managed to phase through the earth, and hurried toward where the other girls were trapped. Longshot had gotten back on his feet, and thrown what looked like a stone at me. I was prepared to phase it through, but Cecilia had come out, a look of fear plastered on her face, but managed to create a force field around us, deflecting the stone, causing her to flinch a little.

"Damn it," Longshot growled angrily. "I never miss! Never!"
"You should try with a little more power mate," John grinned, and shot fire at us. I heard Cecilia gasp, and the field instantly falter before the fire even hit the shield. I instinctively wrapped my arms around her and phased us through the flames. It may not have burned us, but it made me uncomfortably hot. I felt like I was being barbecued from the inside out.

I heard a scream, and the flames instantly stopped. Breathing heavily, I looked at the boys, who all but Alex were slowly backing away. The barrier that kept the others trapped was slowly being covered by lava that seeped up through the cracks of the Danger Room floor. My breath caught again, as I watched in frightened wonder. Amara... The screams were coming from inside. It was probably Jubilee and Alison, out of fear of being burned. Cecilia shivered in fright, clinging onto me tightly, and squeaked as the barriers crumbled from the heat of the lava, pooling around the three girls inside.

Alison and Jubilee were indeed clinging onto each other, staying as close to Amara as they could without distracting her. She had a determined look on her face, and looked really pissed off. "You wanna continue to play?" Her voice was firm, and harsh, with a tone that dared them to keep fighting.

Quicksilver, Avalanche and Longshot were ready to bolt out the door, John a little hesitant, and Alex just grinned with intrigue. "You learned to use your powers quickly," he commented, his eyes twinkling in amusement. "I guess you do have great potential."

"Don't wait to find out," Amara warned, her eyes filled with so much seriousness it scared me a little. "Now leave us alone."

"But we have prior-"

"What is going on in here?" A loud voice boomed, scaring us all but Alex and Amara. Professor Rasputin sat in the door way with Ms. Grey and Magneto flanking him. Their eyes went over the scene before them. The shivering Cecilia in my arms, the other girls surrounded by a mote of lava, and the boys, except Alex, looking guilty.

"Amara, you may calm down now," Magneto said firmly, stepping forward. Ms. Grey hovered, and I mean hovered, over to me and Cecilia, putting her hands on our foreheads.

"Are you both alright?" she asked, looking more worried for Cecilia, who was tearing up now. I nodded in response, still feeling a little overwhelmed with what had happened. I felt a calm sensation run through me, from head to toe, and my heart rate slowed down. Cecilia was looking a little better as well, but still frightened. I looked at Ms. Grey curious to what she had done, but her attention was caught by a screaming Amara, who still surrounded herself, as well as Jubilee and Alison, with lava.

"You have to punish them!"she screamed, glaring at Magneto. "No special treatment like they always get! They attacked us! We'll all tell you the exact same thing! They used their powers against us we had to defend ourselves!"

"They will be dealt with," Magneto said, looking steadily at her. "Now please Miss Aquilla. Calm yourself. You are keeping your friends in danger." She looked as if she had more to say, but she visibly relaxed, and the lava retreated, hardening over. Alison was quick to jump over the cooled magma and get away from Amara, and Jubilee was close behind her.

"All of you will come with us to the office," Magneto said firmly with authority. "You will all be questioned about this incident, and punishments will be handed out accordingly." His gaze fell on his boys. I couldn't tell how he was looking at them, but Avalanche and Quicksilver looked away in shame, and John, Alex and Longshot gave him looks of anger.

~X~

It took a long time to have everyone questioned. They kept us in separate rooms, the girls from the boys, and Ms. Munroe looked over us, to make sure we didn't talk to each other to try and coordinate lies to get us out of trouble. Professor X, Magneto, and Ms grey questioned each of us, asking a lot of questions. I was asked about who mad the first strike, what was said before anyone took action, and what I did after it started. I gave told them everything I could remember clearly. They were patient with me and weren't harsh with me.

When the last of us had been questioned, we were all called into the office and stood before Professor Xavier's desk. He sat there in his wheelchair, his elbows resting on the desk, his fingers kneaded together.

"I must say I am disappointed with the display this afternoon," he began, really showing his disapproval. "Nothing like this has every happened to this degree at this school in all my years."

"Perhaps you shouldn't have allowed girl here," John said crossly, earning a glare from Amara.

"Be quiet John," Professor X said strongly, but didn't snap. "From what I have gathered, it seems the ones to blame, are you boys, and Amara and Jubilee."

"What?" they shouted in unison, mouth hanging in disbelief. "You can't be serious!"

"Well, you may not have 'thrown the first punch'," Magneto carried on, his arms folded over his chest, "but you two showed the first sign of hostility."

"But they were tryin-"

"We know what they were doing." Professor Xavier had cut off Amara's protest, "and both parties are mostly at fault."

"B-but-"

"This is second time you have caused damage to school properties Miss Aquilla," Magento cut her off this time.

"That guy broke the floor!" she screamed, pointing at Avalanche, clearly not liking the blame she was given.

"Yes, indeed he did, but you both are to blame for the damage done," Professor X said, trying to keep the atmosphere as calm as possible. The Hellfire boys were getting annoyed and restless. "Kitty, Cecilia and Alison shall go without punishment. You three may leave now. The rest of you stay to receive the consequences of your actions." I wasn't sure why Alison was getting off easy. She actually stood with Jubilee before Amara even stepped forward. Perhaps it was because she didn't use her powers yet, like Jubilee and Amara had to show they meant business. I left without another word, with Cecilia walking close to me, and Alison behind us.

"Whew, for a second I thought I was gonna get in trouble too," Alison said, putting her hands behind her head. "Good thing I wasn't able to use my powers until after the commotion started."

"If you ask me, you should have been in trouble too," I found myself saying without even realizing it.

She stopped me in the hall, glaring at me. "Excuse me?"

I hesitated, not wanting to "You challenged them just as much as Jubilee and Amara. In fact you were the first."

"But I didn't 'show the first signs of hostility'," she snapped, using air quotes.

"If you could have you would have." My eyebrows were lowered in anger, and I even leaned a bit toward her. "You just said so."

Her eyes narrowed and took a step closer to me, but I didn't back down. "You're twisting me words!"

"But not the meaning of them," I replied.

"You don't want to end up in the principal's office again do you?" The two of us stopped and looked down the hall to see Fred walking toward us. He had a concerned look on his face, and carried a backpack with him. "What happened? I heard you guys got into a fight with the Hellfire Club."

"Yeah, and we had them begging for mercy," Alison replied with attitude. She turned her back on me and walked away without another word to me. "Should have seen it Fred. We kicked butt."

"I bet you did." He grinned after her as she walked away, then turned and looked at me with a worried expression. "Is she right? Were you guys actually winning?"

I thought about it before answering. At first they had us trapped, but because of Amara, she managed to turn the tides some and made them stop. "Well, it was close," I replied, quickly adding to make him feel better, "but we stopped them in their tracks."

"Wow, that's great," he beamed. "Guess the Hellfire Club isn't all that after all huh?"

"Yeah guess not," I nodded in agreement.

"So who's getting in trouble?" He shifted his backpack anxiously. "I mean, someone had to have started it. And they would get in trouble right?"

"Well, try not to spread it," I requested, scratching my head, "but everyone got in trouble but me, Alison and Cecilia." It was then that I realized Cecilia had disappeared. That girl was so quiet, I didn't even notice her leave. She must have slipped away when Alison and I turned on each other.

"Oh, that's too bad," Fred said, blinking curiously. "I wonder if they'll be allowed to still participate in the Talent Show."

"Talent Show?" I repeated. I hadn't heard anything about a talent show. That'd be an interesting event.

"Yeah, it's the next event for the tournament," he nodded, excitedly clapping his hands. "If you have any sort of talent, they want you to sign up. A lot of people won't want to, but at least three people have to sign up from each team.."

"Really?" I blinked, scratching my arm. "I really don't have any talents...I mean, beside my powers. Powers don't count do they?"

"Nope," Fred chuckled. "If that were true, then everyone would have to join. Professor Xavier also said that for your talent, you're allowed to team up with someone from another team."

"Really," I nodded thoughtfully. I really didn't have any talents that would be entertaining enough to show the school. Or any talent that could be recognized at all. I didn't know what I was going to do, and I hoped my other teammates would be able to come up with something.

"I've already signed up," Fred stated proudly.

I smiled up at him, showing interest. "Really? What's your talent?"

"I'm going to keep it as a surprise," he winked, grinning widely. "I actually am off to go practice right now."

"Good luck," I waved, moving toward the girl's wing. "When is it by the way?"

"It's tomorrow." WHAT?

"You're talent must be your bottomless stomach," spoke up a snide voice. I glared down the hall, and saw Emma, flanked by Wanda and Irene.

Fred showed no sign of taking offence to what she said, and just continued to smile. "Did you guys sign up yet?"

"Of course, we did," Emma snapped, rolling her eyes. "I don't know why they're letting you in though. You got nothing worth while showing."

"I don't know, I'd like to see them roll him across stage," Wanda grinned.

"Really?" I huffed, folding my arms. "Don't you guys have to paint your nails or curl your hair?"

"Yes, teasing Fred isn't necessary," Irene nodded, holding onto Wanda's arm.

"Come on, he's a big boy," Wanda smiled, with amusement. "It'll take more than that to pierce his thick skin."

"Yeah, nothing can hurt me," Fred nodded. "That's part of my powers. I can't be cut or scratched." Emma blinked at him in disbelief.

I didn't need telepathy to know what she was thinking, so I quickly stepped up. "Think what you want, we don't wanna hear it. Just leave us alone."

"Not worth it anyways," Emma snapped, her hands now on her hips. "Just wanted to give you and your friends a warning. Don't mess with the Hellfire Club anymore."

"So I suppose you heard about what happened already huh?" I asked, making a face. "Well I can tell you that you guys should stop walking around like you own the place. We're all students, and we all have the same rights to the facilities. I don't like being bullied, and neither do my friends. Iif you heard the right version of what happened, you'll know how Amara feels."

"Yeah, we heard how she went crazy," Wanda scowled. "She thinks she's all that, just because she can control fire. John can too."

"She controls lava," Fred grinned, clasping his hands together. "Bet he can't do that."

"I'll believe that when I see it," Emma said doubtfully.

"Well believe it because your boyfriend saw it." Fred stuck his tongue out at her immaturely.

"Look, I don't want to argue with you," I sighed, stopping him.

"Yeah, keep your whale in line," Emma grimaced. "Come on, let's go down another hallway." Emma and Wanda turned to leave, as much as I didn't want to, I heard Emma mutter something that had the words 'stupid' and 'lump'. Irene let go of Wanda and walked toward Fred and I, tapping walking stick on the floor. She came right up to me, and whispered into my ear, as if she knew where it was.

"I know what Amara can do," Irene said quietly. "You should watch out for her. Make sure she doesn't...lose herself."

"Um..." I was a little surprised by what she said, and she didn't elaborate. She quickly turned around and followed her fellow club members.

"What'd she say?" Fred asked, looking at me curiously.

"Oh, um, just something...," I shrugged, not wanting to explain.

~X~

"I call this emergency team meeting to order," Ray announced. For a dramatic effect, Mercury turned her hand into a gavel and hit the floor. It was the day of the talent show, and I still didn't know if I was going to be doing anything. My group had assembled in the kitchen, at the request of Ray and I. It was lunchtime, so we sat in a circle on the floor, eating our lunches. "First order of business," Ray continued while chewing on a sandwich. "Have they still not gotten to the bottom of that wolf in your room Mercury?"

"No they haven't," she replied, her hand resting on her knees. "I've been spooked ever since, and have been staying in Rogue's room."

"That's awful nice of her," Remy commented, leaning back on his hands. "Nice to see she's kind to some people at least."

"Which brings up our next report," Ray nodded, pointing at Remy. "How goes the wooing process?"

Bobby rolled his eyes and flicked Ray in the ear. "This isn't supposed to be some big formal meeting. We just need to figure out what acts we're doing for the talent show."

"Alright, alright," Ray glared, shrugging. "Then I guess asking how your relationship with Kitty is going is out of the question?"

"You can ask later," Bobby replied, looking to the rest of us. I smiled, kind of interested in what Bobby was gonna say, but knew it'd be good things. "So what are we gonna do? At least three of us have to sign up."

"I'm already signed up to play drums," Mercury replied. She grew drum sticks in her hands as if to demonstrate and began to tap away at the floor.

"And I have signed up to demonstrate my creative cooking abilities," Remy added. "I shall make something out of random items the judges give me, and within five minutes."

"Just five?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. "Is that possible?"

Remy grinned widely. "I don't mean to sound cocky Chaton, but I have yet to make something random that took me more than five minutes."

"So that leaves the three of us," Bobby said, looking at Ray and I. "At least one more of us has to sign up."

"I...don't have any talents," I admitted, making a face. "I mean, I have nothing show worthy."

"There must be some little thing you can do that others cant," Mercury said. "Well, besides walking through walls." I shook my head, trying to wrack my brain, even though I knew I'd come up short.

"Can you lick your elbow?" Remy suggested. "Or how about your nose?"

"No," I giggled, but it did remind me of something. "I can wiggle my ears though."

"No way!" Ray shouted, looking surprised. "Do it! Do it!" I smiled, and pulled back my hair to show my ears. The others came closer to see, and I moved them. "No way!" Ray said again. "That's so cool!"

"But how is everyone going to see it?" I asked, letting my hair go. "It's not like we have a giant magnifying glass."

"No, but we do have a giant TV screen," Bobby replied. "I'm sure we can hook up a camera to it and point it at you while you move your ears.

"Great, I'm gonna be on the big screen," I giggled, mostly at how lame the joke was.

"So we have cooking, drumming, and an ear wiggler," Ray announced. "The main purpose of our gathering is now solved, meeting adjourned!"

Smiling, Mercury hit her gavel-hand on the floor, then got up to leave. "I have to meet Bishop. We're actually doing a drum battle for the show."

"Nice idea, I'm sure you're going to kick his butt," Ray grinned.

"I actually have to get going too," I said, picking up what was left of my apple. "I have to go give Fred some notes. He missed class this morning."

"Alright, I'll see you later then?" Bobby smiled.

"Of course." I quickly kissed him, then headed out to the hallway.

I wasn't sure where to find Fred, I knew he had a class with Magneto next, but I doubted he'd be there yet, so I walked down random halls looking for him. I found a hallway I hadn't really used before, and it didn't seem like anyone else did either. I could hear a piano coming from one of the rooms. It wasn't an actual piece, more like two notes that didn't sound all that great together. Curiously, I went over and looked through the window in the door, and saw Fred. He looked very frustrated, and kept hitting the same two notes over and over again on the piano. I opened the door slowly, but he heard me and looked over.

"Oh! Kitty!' He looked a mix of surprised and embarrassed. "W-what are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you. I have notes from this morning's class," I smiling curiously. "What are you doing?"

"Well..." He hesitated, staring down at his shoes.

"Is it for the show tonight?" I asked, sitting down in a close chair. "Are you...playing piano?"

"Are you kidding?" he said, his voice sounding amused and doubtful. "With these big sausages?" he held out his hands, and looked over them.

"Fred..."

"I know what people say," he said, sitting down on the piano bench. "About my weight, and and size. It doesn't bother me...much. It has to do with my powers, you know? And I'm just so hungry all the time."

"Hey, if you want to play the piano, you play the piano," I said encouragingly.

"Oh no, that's not what I'm doing," Fred replied, shaking his head. "I was just trying to play my starting note."

I blinked at him in surprise, placing the notes down beside me. "You sing?"

"At my old school, in music class I couldn't do much else," he shrugged. "As you can see, I can't play piano, or any other instrument really. Not even in the percussion section. I used to break everything. I'm not as stupid as people think either. I know how...inconvenient my size and powers are."

"No Fred-" I felt so bad for him. I didn't think of him as inconvenient, or destructive. I actually thought of him as a friendly giant, or a big teddy bear, but I guess not everyone thought like I did. My mind flashed to how John had treated him on the bus to New York last year. Amara liked him, and I knew the others did too. I hated him thinking this way.

"But it's okay, I let people think what they want," he smiled, looking up at me. "I don't need to explain myself to people. If they want to judge me before they know me, that's okay. There's more of me for the people who do care." I grinned, liking how he thought of it. "And my music teacher worked with me, and yes, I sing. Opera to be exact. My music teacher says I'm a great baritone. That's a singer who's above bass, but below tenor."

"Thanks, because I wouldn't have known," I laughed. "But hey, if you need someone to give you your start note, I'd be happy to help."

Fred's face lit up, and he grinned from ear to ear. "That would be great." He stood up, adjusting his jacket, and headed over to a stand with papers on it. "Could you hit middle C for me?"

I walked over to the piano and stared down at the piano with a blank face. "Um..."

"Oh," Fred chuckled. "It's the white key before the group of two black keys, and its toward the middle of the piano."

I looked carefully, still not exactly sure which one it was, but I did notice how the black keys were grouped in twos and threes, and pressed the key I thought was right. "Is that it?" Fred looked over and nodded happily. I smiled, and pressed it again.

~X~

"Don't you chicken out on me now!" Amara shouted, pounding hard on a door. I was helping Jubilee spike her hair for the show tonight, but stopped when we heard her shouting. Jubilee and Amara hadn't been banned from the talent show, but were sentenced to cleaning the cafeteria for a week, along with assisting Magneto with filing when he asked for a month. The Hellfire Boys got punished worse surprisingly. They had a 9 o'clock curfew, for a month, as well as banned from the Danger Room and helping out Ms. Grey with anything she asked for the rest of the semester, which there was a couple months left in.

"I said open up now!" Amara shouted again. "I will knock this door down, and you know I will."

"Calm down Suga," Rogue sighed, coming out of her room.

"Wonder what she's trippin' out about now," Jubilee grinned, hurrying to her door to watch. I chased after her with her hair gel, still not done.

"Cecilia and I are signed up to sing a duet, and she's totally chickening out on me!" Amara growled, her fists on her hips. "I can't believe she's doing this!"

"You have to be nicer to her," Rogue said, patting her shoulder. "You know how scared easily she is. I'm sure she's just getting anxious about all the people looking at her. You just have to talk with her, calmly."

"If it'll make her any less nervous, you guys can go up with me and Alison," Jubilee grinned. I was still trying to spike her hair, but she was taller than me, so I couldn't really see if I was doing a good job or not.

"But we're shredding," Alison protested, lowering her eyebrows in disapproval. She was sitting on the couch with her feet up onthe coffee table. She was dressed in an imaginative rock outfit, with dark make-up on, and her hair in ponytails on her head. She was fingering an orange electric guitar. Or was it a bass? I couldn't tell the difference.

"No, we'll do it ourselves," Amara nodded. She was dressed in a short pink dress, and her hair was cured. "Okay Cecilia, I'm coming in to negotiate."

"Okay Jubilee, you gotta duck down so I can finish," I insisted, lightly pushing down on her head, hoping she'd follow.

"Oh right, right, sorry," she chuckled, squatting down. She watched intently as Amara managed to get inside Cecilia's room. "You think she'll persuade her to get up on stage."

"Well, I honestly see it going two ways," I replied, fixing up the mess I was starting to make of her hair. "Either she doesn't succeed and neither of them go up, or Amara gets her up there, and Cecilia freezes."

"You really don't think she'll be able to sing?" Jubilee asked, giving me a curious look.

"I know she can sing. Kurt and Amara told me she can. It's just in front of so many people I think she'll freeze. She just seems like that kind of person." I didn't meant to sound mean if I was, that's just what I thought was going to happen. I hoped I was wrong. I'd like to hear both of them sing together.

"You doing anything Rogue?" Alison asked, strumming at her instrument.

"Nah, I'm gonna sit this one out," she answered, sitting down in a chair. "My teammates are all involved, so I figured I'd just watch."

"You have any talents?" I wondered. "I mean, since your not showing the school, you could at least show us."

"I don't have none I can do outside of a farm," Rogue laughed. "But it's alright. I don't like showcasing much anyhow."

"You fly around all the time," Alison said. "I call that showing off."

"Everyone uses there powers everyday," I spoke up. "It's not showing off."

The door to Cecilia's room flew open and Amara slid out, her fists in the air out of triumph. "Success! I have a singing partner! Now she needs to be show ready! I need help!"

"Sure thing Suga," Rogue grinned jumping off her seat. "I don't have many fancy clothes she could wear, but I can help with her hair."

"I got the clothes part down," Amara smiled, hurrying to her room.

There was a loud pop, and a swirl of black smoke that caused Jubilee and I to jump back. Kurt grinned down at us, looking amused. "Sorry to scare you. I just came to see if you girls are done prettying yourselves up yet. They are asking everyone to assemble in the auditorium now."

"I need another ten minutes!" Amara announced, running from her room to Cecilia's. Rogue hurried after her and shut the door.

"Jubilee's ready to go," I announced triumphantly, admiring my handy work. "I hope it's alright."

"Oh it's great!" She only patted her head, but she seemed pleased with the result. "Alright! Time to rock this school inside out!"

"Are you doing anything Kurt?" I asked as Jubilee hurried to her room with Alison to find her guitar. I wiped my hands on my pants. I didn't really bother dressing up for the show, just wore ordinary clothes, but I had a fancy clip in my hair.

"Ja. I, the Magnificent Nightcrawler, shall walk across the auditorium on a tightrope." He made a little bow, and I then noticed his clothes.

"A-are you wearing a unitard?" It was a red colour.

"Save all your jokes. I wear this because it is the best for the aerodynamic stunts I shall be performing today," he explained, retying his ponytail.

"Oh, I wasn't going to make fun," I insisted. "I just havn't seen someone wear one before...Especially not a boy."

"Well, tightrope walkers wear them all the time in the circus," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Along with trapeze acrobats."

"Ready to go," Alison smiled, coming out of Jubilee's room.

"You guys both look great," Kurt complimented.

"Takes us back to our days on the street," Alison sighed, sounding slightly proud. "Time to show these guys how to really put on a show."

"Five minutes!" Amara's voice could be heard though the door.

"Take your time, we'll meet you down there," Jubilee shouted, strapping her green instrument on her back.

"Show time," I smiled, following them.

~X~

I felt downright ridiculous. Everyone's talents were so amazing. Mostly music related, but along with Kurt's tightrope walking, Gambit's cooking, Jamie's amazing juggling with multiple copies of himself, my ear-wiggling seemed stupid. I had yet to go, and I didn't want to. I was just going to embarrass myself. What these people were doing were real talent. Mine was just a quirk I found one boring day.

"I'm gonna be sick...," Cecilia stood beside me, looking a bit pale.

"No, you can't! We're next!" Amara panicked, fanning her with a folded piece of paper. "Stay with me girl!" Right now Quicksilver was tap dancing, and it was kind of hard to see what he was doing because he was moving so fast.

"You ready?" Bobby put an encouraging hand on my shoulder.

"Not really," I admitted. "I think I'm just gonna embarrass myself out there."

"Hey, not a lot of people can wiggle there ears, and people don't see it everyday, so I'm sure they'll like it."

"Thanks," I smiled.

"We're on!" Amara announced, grabbing Cecilia's frail looking arm.

"I...can't breathe..." Cecilia eyes were filled with fear, and I began to think she was actually gonna freeze up there. I hoped I was wrong.

"You can do it, I promise you can," Amara begged. "Just imagine them in their underwear!"

"Th-then I can't go out there!" she protested, pulling on her arm.

"Or how about you go up there with your eyes closed?" I suggested, hurrying over to them.

"What?"

"Go out there, and keep your eyes closed," I repeated. "Just imagine you're in your room, studying with Amara and Kurt, and you're singing. Just like last time."

"I-I'm not very good with imagining things..." Cecilia hesitated, staring down at the ground.

"Well it's too late to turn back now!" Amara panicked. "You can't leave me alone out there!"

"Are you ladies ready?" Ms. Munroe asked, ready to usher them onto the stage. We both looked at Cecilia, who stared at us with her wide fearful eyes.

"...I guess...," she managed to get out.

"Don't worry, if you blank, I'll come in to help," Amara smiled, pulling her out onto the stage. I smiled, as I watched them, feeling nervous for them.

"You ever hear Cecilia sing before?" Bobby asked, standing beside me.

"No, but I know she sounds good...let's hope she can do it though."

We watched, as Amara handed Cecilia her microphone, and she nearly dropped it. Amara waved out at the crowd as they clapped, and the music began. Amara began singing first, and she sounded great. I couldn't see Cecilia's face fully, but I knew she was still scared. Amara looked as if she waas gonna stop singing, but continued. I guess that Cecilia was supposed to take over, but she just stood there, awkwardly holding the microphone. Come on Cecilia, I thought. You can do it... Amara continued to sing, but slowly she raised her microphone, and just held it to her lips.

"Amara sounds great." I looked behind us to see Fred standing there in a nice looking suit.

"Yeah she does. You look great yourself." I smiled.

"Hehe, thanks," he grinned. "Come on Cecilia! You can do it!" I could see the girl visible flinch at Fred's shout, but she had her eyes squeezed shut tight, and opened her mouth as she took in a breath.

She didn't manage to make a sound before the sound and light systems shut down, and began to flicker and make horrible noises.