AMAEHSMT (The Menkies)

Best In Show

"East High School Musical Theatre Group, head on the stage." This was the moment they'd all been waiting for. Their performance of "Beauty and the Beast" was going to have to be something for the history books for them to win the Best Group Song or Best Overall Performance. Even though only six of the fourteen other high schools had gone, North High was one of the six. They performed "If I Can't Love Her" amazingly. It was the second standing ovation—the first being Ricky's performance of "Let You Go".

"Coming onto the stage: East High School from Salt Lake City, Utah." They couldn't believe the time to perform was already here. The eight of them walked on stage, standing perfectly equidistant from each other. One deep breath later, the music started.

"Tale as old as time, true as it can be," Kourtney sang as soon as she heard her cue to start. Nini joined in for the second half of the phrase, harmonizing perfectly. So far, so good. It was starting out just like their only mostly-perfect practice run.

"Barely even friends, then somebody bends unexpectedly," EJ and Ricky did the same as Kourtney and Nini.

"Just a little change, small to say the least." Gina started, then Ashlyn joined in and they sang together, their voices blending beautifully.

"Both a little scared. Neither one prepared." Carlos sang the first half and Seb the second, preparing for the titular line.

"Beauty and the Beast," If they could, they would've cheered just because they managed to all sing together and harmonize. Before this, they'd only managed to do it once. And that didn't even happen in their mostly-perfect run.

"Ever just the same, ever a surprise." The men sang.

"Ever as before, ever just as sure," The ladies sang, their voices soaring above the men's as they sing small ooh's in the background.

"As the sun will rise," Their harmonies, though, left chills shivering down the spines of everyone listening.

"Tale as old as time, tune as old as song. Bittersweet and strange, finding you can change, learning you were wrong." The ladies took the lead, creating a four-part harmony.

"Certain as the sun rising in the east. Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme: Beauty and the Beast." The boys sang in their own four-part harmony.

"Tale as old as time, song as old as rhyme, Beauty and the Beast." Each pair sang the final lines staggered by a few bars to create an effect that left everyone in awe of their talent. There might have been no choreography, but standing still on the stage made a much bigger impact. It was difficult to do so and make it look flawless. Their singing was spectacular, every note hit perfectly.  It wasn't a standing ovation, but a lot of people clapped and cheered for their performance.

Once they walked off stage, it all started to set in. They had managed to finally do it perfectly. It only needed to happen once.

"We did it guys!" They all hugged and cheered once they got back to their green room.

"Hey, guys, can I have a, uh, senior moment here?" E.J. looked to his friends. He finally figured out something that had never been taught to him in eighteen and a half years of life. "I've won a bunch of trophies over the years. Too many to count, really. And there's not a lot I would trade it for. Except for this group right here. We don't need to prove ourselves to a bunch of strangers. They don't know us and how passionate we are."

"E.J., that's so sweet." Ashlyn smiled, realizing that he was right. No trophy or award could truly showcase the friendship they had built during their time practicing the musical.