Metanoia [H.S.] Harry Styles.

3

My heart sank through my chest as soon as the beginning riff started. I already knew they had improved from the last performance.

"Here to take my Medicine
Take my Medicine
Treat you like a gentleman.."

I looked over at Jack. We both exchanged a "we're screwed" kind of look as the song continued on.

"Give me that adrenaline
That adrenaline
Think I'm gonna stick with it"

I began to shift in my seat, trying to hide my shakiness. The worst thing I could do right now is show that I'm worried and boost their ego even more.

"Here to take my Medicine
Take my Medicine
Rest it on your fingertips
Up to your mouth
Feeling it out,
Feeling it out..."

We're not even performing an original song tonight, I thought to myself. I watched as Harry put all of his energy into the song, even moving his hands into motions along with the words. The showmanship they had was through the roof.

"I had a few got drunk on you and now I'm wasted
And when I sleep I'm gonna dream of how you..."

It was pretty much impossible to hide the fact that I was terrified now. I glanced over to see Ava in absolute awe. This was her first time seeing Meraki live.

"If you go out tonight I'm going out 'Cause I know you're persuasive
You got that something I got me an appetite now I can taste it
I'm getting dizzy, oh
I'm getting dizzy, oh
La la la la la
I'm getting dizzy, oh I'm getting dizzy oh"

He threw his head back, mocking the moan of a woman as the stage lights flashed to the music.

All of a sudden, security came up to us motioning the band to come backstage. We were up next.

The 4 of us stood up from our seats and followed the security man behind the stage curtain as the chorus began blasting again. The crowd had picked up on the lyrics and were now singing along with Harry.

"We're fucked," Jack said to the group as security left.

"Just give it your best. We can beat them if we try hard enough. If we've won against them in the past, we can do it again." I told him while grabbing my guitar and amp.

"I didn't know they were that good..." Ava said.

"We're just as good as they are." Chelsea said.

"Just remember to put energy into the performance. "We have no time for being shy or anxious." I told the both of them.

The song finally ended with a final few chords, and the crowd began to roar. The yells seeped through the curtains. I sighed and rushed the rest of the band out of the room before Meraki came backstage.

I handed security my guitar as he and 3 others began setting up the stage for us. We stood behind the curtain by the stage anticipating to be called on.

Chelsea pulled us into a circle, ready to pep the group up.

"No matter if we win or not tonight, the only reason to be disappointed is if you didn't give it your all." She said while shooting her eyes around the circle.

"Enough with the cheesy shit Chels," Jack said to her.

"Did everyone warm up?" I asked, dismissing Jack's comment. Everyone nodded back. "Good. Let's make this a good show. It's Ava's first time after all."

The security turned to us and nodded, giving us the O.K. to come on stage. We climbed up the steps and walked to face the crowd, preparing to give them the performance of a lifetime. It would be particularly harder since Meraki's song was rather more impressive than usual, leaving the crowd expecting just as good of a performance from us.

I watched as Harry and the others filed into the front seats, glaring their eyes across everyone on the stage. I smiled at the crowd and pulled the microphone down to adjust to my height, preparing to outperform the five idiots staring me down in attempts to intimidate me in the front row.