Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
c h a p t e r t h i r t y
CARLY LISTENED FROM BACKSTAGE AS JULIE SANG EMOTIONALLY. EVIDENT PAIN WAS IN HER VOICE AND AND IT CAUSED UNWANTED FEELINGS TO RISE IS CARLY'S CHEST. SHE JUST WANTED TO MAKE THINGS BETTER.
She stared at the three boys surrounding her, trying to take in all of it. This would be the first and last time they ever performed with each other. Carly shook her head lightly and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, "No nerves," she whispered to herself, "No regrets."
The next time she looked up, her brother was gone and a drumbeat could be heard on stage, along with Julie's voice getting audibly lighter. A grin overtook her features as Reggie vanished as well.
Carly grabbed Luke's hand and dragged him along with her to the side of the stage, wanting to see everything going on. Luke nodded at her, squeezing her hand tightly, "You got this, C." The blonde smiled sweetly back at him as he vanished, almost completely the band. Carly's breath hitched in her throat as Luke glitched on the stage, the noise from the crowd switching from cheers to gasps.
"No!" Carly said desperately, scared that their time had already run out. She stood frozen, watching for Luke to appear steadily, her breathing hitched. Alex and Reggie were looking at the place he was standing their eyes expectant of him to return as Julie kept singing, her voice wavering with worry. "Now or never," Carly repeated to herself, "now or never."
She grabbed a mic that was sitting on a table backstage and switched it on, trying not to be distracted by the fact that she could even pick it up. She took a final deep breath and began to sing switching from her place backstage to behind the keyboard right beside Julie, expecting their voices to blend together, but instead, she sang along with a voice she knew all too well.
Luke smiled at her from across the stage, and Carly gave it her all to not drop the mic and go kiss him again. She thought that now since it happen everything was complete, but now nothing seemed like enough.
She brushed the thought away and kept singing along with Luke, spinning around on stage to look around at their small little family. Looking at them made her realize just how lucky she was, even if almost all of them were dead. She also realized that the moment she turned the mic on and appeared on stage all her nerves practically disappeared and were replaced by excitement.
This is what she was scared of, finally performing and realizing what she's been missing out on this whole time. But she tried not to think of that, right now all she wanted was to enjoy the magic all around her for as long as possible.
Julie traveled to the front of the stage, beckoning her head for Reggie and Carly to follow her, the three of them smiled and stood with their shoulders pressed against each other, Reggie shredding his fingers against the strings of his bass as the two girls beside him sang their hearts out, until they stopped to take a breath, their voices being replaced by a new, deeper one. Carly twirled around, her smile brighter than all the stars as she beamed at her brother who stood behind the drums with his mic held up to his lips. Still smiling, she nudged Reggie back towards his mic stand, encouraging him to share his voice like the rest of them had.
