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Friday had finally rolled around, and Sandy awoke that morning feeling like he was going to throw up. He knew that he wasn't coming down with anything but stage fright. Try as he might to calm his nerves, the squirrel couldn't help it. He hadn't even been awake five minutes before he had to run to the bathroom to get sick. Sandy clung to the toilet bowl, looking like he was ready to jump off of a roof. Taking some bathroom tissue, he wiped his mouth off before getting up, flushing the toilet and standing up in front of the mirror.

"I hope I can make it through today," he said to himself, his stomach still not fully stable. Sandy, having just thrown up, had a horrible taste in his mouth. Wanting to get rid of it, he put a monstrous portion of toothpaste on his toothbrush and went to work brushing vigorously. Even after he'd spat out the toothpaste, he still wasn't satisfied, so he spent the text two minutes gargling mouthwash that possessed a strong mint flavor to fully remove the taste of vomit from his mouth. Satisfied that he was fully ridden of the foul taste, he went back to his room. There, on top of his dresser was the t-shirt that he'd be wearing that day. Ethan's father Randy had the shirts with all five members and their logo printed only the day before. Sandy slipped on the t shirt, and the camouflage shorts he would be wearing along with the rest of the band. Taking a deep breath, he went downstairs to wait on the bus.

With some time to spare, the squirrel made some plain toast and nibbled on it slightly. He knew that he would be far worse off if he went to school on an empty stomach, and thought it best to try to eat something, even if it was toasted bread with no butter or jelly on it.

He looked around for his parents, but instead found a note pinned to the refrigerator from his father, telling him that he had to take Sonya to the hospital very early in the morning because she was having contractions. Sandy knew that it wouldn't be that much longer before he would finally get to see his two baby brothers enter the world, but as excited as he was, he still worried about his mother's health. He remembered how his mother had suffered a very bad miscarriage years ago, and that it had sent her into a deep depression. He couldn't bare the thought of anything bad happening ot his mother, his two little brothers, or how either of those might affect his father. Somehow, he managed to summon up the courage not to get sick again. Seeing that it was almost time for the bus to arrive, he went outside, locked the door and waited, wondering how he would ever make it through the day.

Seeing Robbie on the bus had helped calm Sandy's nerves. Though Robbie showed no signs of nervousness or stage fright, being his usual confident self, the raccoon was unusually concerned about his boyfriend and about Sonya, who was more than likely going to give birth that day. Sandy thanked the raccoon since he was not in the mood that day to trade insults with him.

"You left your bass at Ethan's house, right?" asked Robbie.

"Yeah," said Sandy, seeing that the bus was nearing the school. "Don't worry, Randy and Alan have the complete list of everything we'll need today. I'm sure Ethan won't let them forget either."

"I'm sure he won't," said Robbie. Ethan's father and his father's husband would be bringing all the band's equipment via a Ryder truck they had rented. All five band members had gone over the list of things they would need that day, making sure they had not forgotten anything, going so far as to make sure that both Felix and Ethan had enough guitar picks with them. Randy would make sure that all the stringed instruments were properly tuned, while Alan took it upon himself to make sure Robbie's drums were tuned and sounding their best. He even went so far as to polish the raccoon's cymbals, making them bright and shiny; perfect for the performance later that day.

Sandy could see the front of Westwood Middle School quickly approaching. He could feel his stomach rumbling again, but being around the always confident to the point of arrogance Robbie instilled within him the courage to keep going on and not get sick again, though his knees wobbled as he stepped off the bus and headed into the school.

Sandy would have to wait until lunch before he would see any of his band mates again, as he did not have any classes with them until after that. Worried and nauseous as he was, his confidence was boosted when several of the other kids he did have classes with complimented him on his t-shirt and told him that they were looking forward to hearing his band. Sandy thanked them for their compliments and soon realized something that had changed about him over the past year. At his previous school, he'd been shy, so shy that his parents often worried about how he was developing socially. When he had made a friend and that friend had discovered that the squirrel had to wear diapers at night due to a medical condition, the aftermath had almost killed him. Everyone in the school found out about his secret and his parents thought it best to relocate to another state. Sandy was amazed that since he had moved out here, his social anxiety and depression had slowly gone away. Though he really didn't hang out with any kids other than those in his band, he had no problems being around other students and interacting with them. The difference between the before and after was like night and day for him.

Not only was it a Friday, and the Friday before summer vacation, but classes had been shortened that day to accommodate the talent show that would take place later that day. At lunch, Sandy sat at his usual table with Robbie, Ethan, Felix, and Leon. The squirrel noticed the cafeteria, which had been called the cafetorium, due to its duel purpose as both a lunchroom and auditorium, was already being set up for the talent show which would take place in just over an hour.

"Feeling any better, Sandy?" asked Robbie as he the squirrel sat down with his lunch tray.

"Much," said Sandy, finally able to eat proper food. "I thought I was going to lose it this morning."

"Robbie said you weren't feeling well," said Ethan. "Glad to see you're better."

"I'm still worried about my Mom," said the squirrel. "My Dad had to take her to the hospital before I got up this morning."

"She having contractions?" asked Felix, whose voice, though still weak, was sounding better than it had the past Saturday.

"Yeah," said Sandy. "I'm just worried she'll be okay, and that my two brothers will be born nice and healthy."

"They'll be fine," said the booming voice of Leon, their new lead singer. "Just you watch, by the end of the day, we'll have won the talent show and you'll have two little brothers to show it too. Trust me."

"Thanks," said Sandy, encouraged by the lion's confidence.

"Will your Dad and Alan be here soon?" asked Robbie. "I don't want to have to go on stage without any equipment. That would suck."

"Don't worry, Robbie," said Ethan. "I made sure my Dad and Alan had everything packed away in the truck before I left for school. Believe me, I only checked the list about a hundred times."

"You could have checked it one hundred and one times, you know," said Robbie.

"Shut up, bandit," said Sandy. "Everything will be here on time and in perfect working order."

"Hopefully you'll be in perfect working order, acorn breath," Robbie snapped back.

"I've never eaten an acorn in my life," said Sandy. "So quit calling me that or I'm gonna break both your arms."

"Chill guys," said Leon. "Jesus, they act just like they're married, don't they?"

"That they do," said Ethan, unable to keep from laughing. "You'll get used to it after awhile."

"I hope so," said Leon. "Now, how about we save all that energy for onstage, okay? By the time we're done playing, everyone in the audience will have died of fright."

"Huh," said Ethan. "That would certainly make the headline of the last edition of this year's school paper, wouldn't it?"

"Damn right," said Robbie. "Everybody ready to show them some real music?"

The five boys put their paws on top of each other. They were ready to show their classmates, faculty and administration a real band.

Sandy, though more confident than ever, was still dismayed when he learned that Death Roar would be the last act to perform that day, and there were eleven other acts before them, which was far more than most years at Westwood Middle School. He felt better when he saw Randy and Alan enter the backstage with some of their equipment. Not wanting to waste time, all five boys went outside to help them haul in the rest of it. Luckily for them, the school had a new, high-quality PA system, so they didn't have to be bothered with bringing any of that type of equipment with them. It was just when they had started bringing things in from the truck that they heard the voice of the school principal addressing everyone in attendance.

"Good afternoon, everyone," said Principal Daniel Chadwick, a cheetah in his mid-forties. "I'd like to welcome you all to our annual spring talent show. Make sure that you have your ballot slips with you so you can vote on who will be this year's winner."

Sandy waited and waited as the show seemed to drag on. He could feel his stomach churning again, but he fought back, determined not to let the jitters get the best of him. He was glad that in between each act that the main curtain closed, that way no one could see any of the band members setting up their equipment.

"Doing okay, Sandy?" asked Robbie, putting his paw on the squirrel's shoulder.

"I'll be okay," said Sandy, turning around and giving the raccoon a slight smile. Sandy had already put the strap on his bass and made sure that it was in tune. To pass the time, the jittery raccoon practiced several bass lines on his instrument, which also served to get him good and warmed up for the song Death Roar would perform.

Finally, it happened, all the previous acts had finished their songs, with Sandy noticing that they would certainly have some good competition, much better than he'd thought. Rather than let this upset him, it only made him more determined than ever to play his ass off for his fellow students. As the curtain closed, he and the other four members of Death Roar quickly assembled their equipment. Sandy, Ethan and Felix were lucky that they didn't have to worry about tripping over cords because they were all using wireless systems on their instruments. In what seemed like no time at all, they had set up, performed a quick sound check, and had given the nod to the stage manager, who was the assistant principal that they were ready. Principal Chadwick introduced them to the entire student body.

"And now everyone," he said, reading from the card that contained the names of all the bands. "Our final act for this afternoon will be Death Roar." The cheetah couldn't help but feel a little nervous at hearing such a band name, wondering what in the world they might be singing about. The five boys watched as the curtain was drawn and they were shown for the first time as a band to all of Westwood Middle School. Leon, ever the front man, grabbed hold of the microphone and addressed the audience.

"Good afternoon, Westwood Middle School. We are Death Roar! I'm Leon Lubowitz on vocals, and we've got Felix Maratti and Ethan Elsswoth on guitars, Sandy Evans on bass guitar and way in the back there we have Robbie Atkins on drums. Let me ask you guys, any of you fans of metal."

A few voices shouted back to him, but he wasn't satisfied with the answer.

"Man, I gotta ask again. We got any fans of metal out their today?"

More voices shouted than the first time, and they sounded more enthusiastic too.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that, because we're about to lay down the brutality on everyone in the audience with this song." The lion took a deep breath, and as loudly and deeply as possible yelled out the song title in his most viscous death growl.

"HAMMER . . . SMASHED . . . FACE!!!"

While Leon was still yelling, the band begin to play. Many of the students had never heard anything so heavy, so brutal as they were hearing now. The sound of down-tuned, heavily distorted twin guitars from Felix and Ethan were matched with the sound of Robbie's blast-beat double bass style and Sandy's bass guitar. With all the stage fright out of him, Sandy nailed the bass solo during the break in the song right before the vocals kicked in. All the while Leon had been spinning his head, making his mane look like a windmill before he sang.

"There's something inside me It's, it's coming out I feel like killing you Let loose the anger, held back too long My blood runs cold Through my anatomy, dwells another being Rooted in my cortex, a servant to its bidding Brutality now becomes my appetite Violence is now a way of life The sledge my tool to torture As it pounds down on your forehead Eyes bulging from their sockets With every swing of my mallet I smash your fucking head in, until brains seep in through the cracks, blood does leak distorted beauty, catastrophe Steaming slop, splattered all over me"

As Sandy played, he couldn't believe what he was seeing. Several of the kids in the audience were getting out of their chairs and jumping up and down, and it almost looked like they were going to start a mosh pit, but decided against it, which certainly would have led to the power on stage being shut off by the principal. He had peaked his head out earlier to see the other acts, but none of them were getting the response that Death Roar was. He could feel the energy surge through his entire body. Never before had the band sounded so tight and well-rehearsed. Robbie was beating the shit out of his drums, which never failed in making him happy, while Felix and Ethan's guitars were perfectly in sync with each other and Sandy was locked in perfectly with Robbie's drumming. Sandy didn't want the four minute song to end, but when it did, the band stopped on a dime, sounding like a professional act that had been touring around the world for decades. Sandy still couldn't believe it as he heard wild cheers coming from the crowd, with shouts of "Encore!" being heard everywhere. All five members went to the front of the stage and locked arms, bowing from the left, right and center to show their appreciation. The curtain closed for the final time that day and Sandy was certain they had it in the bag.

Three o'clock came, but before then, the five members of Death Roar had been presented as the winner of the that year's talent show. Each of them were given a trophy with their names on it. Though the five boys were happy to have won, it still seemed so unreal to them. All the practicing, hard work and staying up late had paid off. Tons of kids thanked them as they walked out of the building at the end of the day, but they would not be riding the buses home. The five had agreed to help Randy and Alan pack up the Ryder truck to take their gear back to the Ellsworth Estate.

"I still can't believe it," said Sandy, looking at the trophy in his paws with his name in it. "We won. We actually won."

"I told you we would," said Robbie, grabbing one of his bass drums. "Now put that thing down and help the rest of us carry out the gear."

"Yeah, yeah," said Sandy. The squirrel was just about ready to head back inside when he noticed a familiar car pulling into the school's side parking lot.

"Hey," said Sandy. "That's your Dad's car, isn't it?"

"Sure is," said Robbie. "Wonder what's going on?"

Richard Atkins pulled up to the Ryder truck and rolled down the window. "Sandy, Robbie, sorry to take you boys away from helping with the gear, but we've got to get to the county hospital."

"Is my Mom okay?" asked Sandy, feeling his stomach turning again.

"She's in labor right now," said Richard. "I already called Rand and told him what's going on, so hop in, quick."

Sandy and Robbie got in Richard's car and headed off to the county hospital. The twenty minute drive felt like an eternity to Sandy, who worried something bad might have happened.

Sandy, Robbie and Richard arrived in the waiting room at the hossital. Sandy looked around for his father, but couldn't find him anywhere. He went up to the front desk and asked one of the nurses what was going on.

"My Mom Sonya Evans is having twins today. Do you know how she's doing?"

No sooner had Sandy uttered those words when he saw his father, dressed in scrubs, coming out to greet the three. "Sandy, there you are."

"Dad," said Sandy, running up to his father. "How's Mom?"

"She's fine," said Simon, patting his son on the head. "She just gave birth to two healthy baby boys about half an hour ago."

"Can I see them?" asked Sandy, barely able to speak from the excitement.

"Sure," said Simon. "You and Robbie can come back here for awhile."

"I'll wait out here," said Richard, sitting down and grabbing some random magazine.

Sandy followed his father into his mother's room. Opening the door slowly, he saw Sonya holding two little bundles. His heart melted as he caught sight of his two little brothers all bundled up.

"Hi, Mom," he said. "You okay?"

"I'll be fine, sweetie," said Sonya, sounding understandably tired.

"We won the talent show today," said Sandy.

"Glad to hear that," said Sonya. "We've picked out names for these two if you'd like to hear them."

"Of course I would," said Sandy.

Simon picked up the first one and let Sandy hold him. "This is Cedric Matthe Evans. He's the elder twin."

"Can I hold the other one?" asked Robbie.

Simon saw his wife nodding that it was okay. "And this little guy is Cecil Robert Evans."

Robbie took hold of the second baby and held him carefully. It was then that he noticed his boyfriend had tears streaming down his eyes. "You okay, Sandy."

"Yeah," said Sandy. "I always wanted to have a little brother to play with, and now I've got two."

"You've just got one," said Robbie, holding Cecil close to him. "I'm taking his one home. He can be my little brother."

"I don't think so," said Simon. "You're over at our house enough that he'll think of you as his older brother anyway."

Everyone laughed. A nurse came in and offered to take a picture of all of them together. Sandy was on cloud nine. He'd overcame his stage fright, won the talent show, and had two new brothers, all in one day . . . the best day of his life.