The Voice

As soon as Niall and Brinley walked through the door, everything got a lot worse, and everyone immediately remembered the downside to staying here.

Niall surprised me while I was making lunch. Actually, I just put it in the oven and turned around to find him standing behind me wearing a smile with a box of green contacts in one hand and a bottle of contact solution in the other. I kissed him before I could think about it, but he really didn’t mind.

That reminded me of something, though, and my eyes widened. “Oh! I’m gonna, uh, need to keep a check on those cuts. Just in case.”

He nodded. “That’s fine. Really, don’t beat yourself up about it. I’ve worked through the stiffness. The only thing that really hurts too much is what I asked you to do.”

I sighed. “Well, thank you for getting these. It does make things a bit easier to be able to move around the house at night.”

“Wouldn’t want you to scare anyone,” he murmured, and to my surprise, he very abruptly pulled me so close to him that his lips were practically touching my forehead. “And we most certainly wouldn’t want them ta want you in the ways I do.”

I laughed softly and carefully pushed him away from me, only because I heard someone coming down the hallway. “Yeah, right. Anyways, no, Niall. I’m not telling you what’s in it. You’ll just have to wait and see.”

Niall quickly caught on and frowned at me, and before anyone got in here, he slid the box of contacts and contact solution into the bag and put the bag by my feet. “All I know is that like with the enchiladas, the cheese has to melt. Is that what it is?”

My lips pressed together, and I shook my head. “Nope.”

Noah came waltzing into the room. “Darn it! That was my question as well. Smells like them.”

“It’s Mexican food, but even if I told ya the name, you wouldn’t know what it is,” I assured them. “It’s called king ranch chicken.”

“Is there ranch dressing in it?” Noah asked, and he got a hopeful smile as his hazel eyes lit up. “I think I’m addicted to the stuff, really.”

Laughing, I shook my head, keeping my green eyes on the oven. “Really, I’m not sure why it’s called that. My dad makes it all the time. That’s where I learned to cook, although he’s much better than me.”

“I seriously doubt that,” Noah snorted. “But, hey. Is he coming up for the live performances Monday?”

I shrugged. “I don’t think so. Besides, Max would feel so left out if he came without him.”

Noah’s eyebrows rose as a devious smile spread across his lips, so devious that my eyes widened in fear. “Max? Who’s that?”

I knew my cheeks were on fire, mostly because that was the last thing Max would ever be—what he was implying, that is. Just the idea alone made me want to vomit.

“He’s practically my brother,” I said, quickly dismissing the “boyfriend” idea Noah had. “There is no way in hell that Max and I would be more than siblings . . . ever.”

Noah laughed at me, mostly because of how embarrassed I seem. “Seems to me like you’re trying to deny it so much because you want it to happen. Come on, Ev. Just admit it. You have feelings for your best friend. No one else is around. You can tell us. Trust me and Niall. He’ll never find out—from us.”

I shook my head. “No, no, no. Really. It is not like that with Max. He’s the first person I met here in America, but I’ve never had feelings like that for him.”

Niall was surprisingly quiet on the issue, and when I glanced over at him, his expression both surprised and confused me. He was purposely staring into the stove, but in his eyes, I could see jealousy burning bright. It surprised me, a lot, but more than just jealousy, he looked . . . sad.

I decided to ask him about it later when I was cleaning and re-bandaging his wounds. Really, I wanted to change the subject, but Noah wouldn’t let me.

“I think you realized over the month we’ve been apart that it’s more than just friendship,” he disagreed. “Either that, or you’ve met someone. I can tell by looking in your eyes that you’ve met someone. You look . . . happier. Honestly, you look like you’re in love.”

I knew I was smiling, though. It was something I couldn’t have stopped, even if I wanted to, and Noah grew this ear-to-ear grin. Of course, my cheeks were burning still, especially when he mentioned the word “love.” Was it true? Yes. Crazy? Absolutely.

“Okay, yes, there is someone.”

“I wanna meet him!” he insisted. “Tell your dad to bring him if he ever comes up here.”

I shook my head. “No can do. He’s, uh, busy right now.” I began thinking of a perfect cover story. “He’s in a band—the band at school, that is—and October is their busiest month of the year.”

Thank you, Max, for being in the band and giving me this knowledge.

Niall quickly found a way to change the subject, mostly because he could sense that I wasn’t that great at lying—to people I care about anyways—and knew we could be in trouble if he kept pressing. “It’s ready!”

I quickly turned away from Noah and actually let out a sigh of relief. Saved by the melted cheese.

Just like with every other meal I made, people began pouring in the instant they smelled the food. This time, instead of getting mine first, I just carefully put out some silverware and plates and began sneaking out to try and put the contacts and contact solution in my room.

Noah and Niall surprised me. When I got back in there, they were both waiting for me, and I actually smiled at them.

“You guys didn’t have to do that,” I told them.

Brinley made her way over to my attention with her eyes dark. “Do you think for once you could think of someone other than yourself and ask what people want? I’m not eating that. It looks disgusting.”

“Well, looks are certainly deceiving!” Eleanor exclaimed from the table. “Everit, this is fantastic! Brinley, hate her all you want, but you really don’t want to miss out on this.”

Niall and Noah couldn’t wait anymore, and they began fighting each other to get some. Niall ending up winning because he flicked some sour cream onto Noah’s face, so he was able to get his food and rush off while Noah just laughed and started getting his.

I slowly shook my head at the two as a huge smile came to my face. “One of these days, I will be in the best food fight ever. Maybe at my wedding reception.”

Niall’s eyes widened in excitement, and he suddenly jumped up in his chair so that he was towering over all of us. “Everit, that’s a fantastic idea! My wedding reception will have the biggest and best food fight ever! You’re a genius!”

I laughed. “Well, I don’t hear that one often, but thank you. It’ll be tough to find someone who’ll actually let me do that, but I’m gonna do it.”

“Same here,” he said, and he smiled. In his eyes, I could practically hear what he was thinking by the emotions burning in the beautiful cyan orbs. See? I told you. What could go wrong? Our wedding reception will be fantastic.

It was so hard not to smile back, so instead of even looking at him anymore, I got a plateful for myself while Brinley tried to get food of her own without anyone noticing.

The lunch was full of laughter, just like usual. Even if there were certain people that didn’t get along or no one really liked here, we were able to just have fun at the table. No one was mean, and no one wanted to kill each other.

Food has a mysterious way of bringing people together, even if just for a short while.

When people started to finish up, Madi and Noah both picked up everyone’s dishes and raced to see who could get the most in the dishwasher the fastest. It was kind of cute, actually, the way they were both carrying on.

I think Niall noticed, too, but he had to force himself to keep back a grin in case Noah noticed. I kept looking in-between Niall and the two, and finally, I remembered something.

“Cleveland and Charleston are about twenty minutes apart,” I told him.

His eyebrows rose as a smile came to his face. “Well, we’ll just have to see what happens with that, now won’t we?”

I smiled and nodded right about the time Kiley tapped on my shoulder. “Yes?”

She pointed under the table with her happy face, her bottom lip poking out. “Your dog is asleep on my foot. So cute.”

I laughed. “Yeah. He’s adorable. He loves to sleep on feet.”

Brinley suddenly pushed away from the table so quickly that her chair fell back and hit the floor. It hit so loud that it scared everyone, including Harley. As usual when Harley got scared, he ran to the source of the loud noise and started barking.

“Dog?! Are you crazy?!”

My eyebrows rose as I stared at her, but I didn’t say anything until I had Harley in my arms and had him calm. “Uh, I believe I am, but having Harley here has nothing to do with that.”

“I told her to bring him,” Niall said. “It’s alright.”

“It’s not alright!” she exclaimed. “I’m very allergic to dogs! They mess up my allergies and make my throat swell up!” Her eyes were now on fire. “This is payback for trashing your outfit, isn’t it? You’re trying to make me lose!”

I scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself! I don’t care enough about you to know that you’re allergic to dogs. You can relax, though, princess. He’s hypoallergenic.”

She snorted. “There is no such thing when it comes to dogs.”

“Actually, there is,” Madi input. “Dogs with hair are hypoallergenic because they don’t have the fur dander that dogs with fur have, so they don’t cause you to react. They don’t shed either.”

“Oh, what do you know?” Brinley snapped. “Every dog I’ve come across messes me up!”

“You apparently haven’t come across any with hair then,” Madi said. “My mom’s a vet, genius. I think I would know a little bit about this. I have spent many weekends helping her in the clinic, learning about animals.” She surprised me when she carefully took him from my hands. “Yeah. Poodles are definitely a hypoallergenic dog. You can just feel the difference in hair and fur. Hi there, darling.”

Harley was happy to have someone calmly talking to him like this, so he started trying to lick her face. Madi laughed and petted him, which just made his tail wag faster than it already was.

Brinley looked furious. “I’ll just look that up. I don’t believe you.”

“You can do that after we talk,” Niall said with a shrug, and suddenly, everyone grew quiet. “Unfortunately, it’s time to get down to business. Tomorrow, camera crews will start coming in for the filming of the week for the elimination round episode. By then, we’ll hopefully have decided what song you’re gonna do, and I’ll hand out your official music then. I have suggestions for all of you, and I truly hope you listen, but of course, you know yourself better than I do, so if you don’t agree or don’t know what the song is, we’ll listen to it, talk about it individually, and we’ll figure something out. Don’t forget that you are allowed to take the song and make it your own. Actually, that’s highly encouraged. Right now, though, I’m gonna give you my base suggestions. I want you, even if you have heard the song, ta go up to your rooms, listen to it a few times, think about it and how ya might change it ta make it fit you, and I’ll come by to see each and every one of you individually so we can talk.”

That actually got my heart racing, although I knew it would be strictly business up there—except when I demanded that I bandage him up and such, mostly because he had to change into a black shirt to hide the fact that he was bleeding all over his chest and back. He did his own attempt at covering up the cuts, but really, I’m sure he struggled to do it alone.

Still, being alone with him was always exciting to think about. It got my heart racing violently in my chest while I struggled to appear like I was breathing normal. Butterflies in my stomach?Screw that. I think there was actually an entire flock of birds or something. Maybe even a few tigers and lions wrestling around.

He started with Brinley, who looked surprised that he was starting from her end. “You Oughta Know by Alanis Morisette. You have a rock edge to your voice that I have always loved and thought was really special. I think you can pull this off. Unless you just wanna stay and listen to everyone else’s songs, once I tell you yours, I suggest going on up and getting started. There’s a lot to do in a short time.”

It didn’t surprise anyone when she left right then, eyes dark as she glanced at me before making her way up the stairs and into her room, where we heard her slam the door from all the way in the dining room.

Niall rolled his eyes. “Okay. Zane? I’ve picked for you the song that I think could make or break you. It’s got some powerful lines, and your fiancée will melt when she hears you sing this. I picked Fall For You by Secondhand Serenade. It’s a well-known song, and if you nail it, people will love hearing your version. If not, it could be a disaster. So, have fun with that. I know you can find a way to make it incredible.”

Zane actually looked excited to go get started on that, so he stood up and hurried up to his room. From there, Niall looked at Caleb, who actually looked quite interested to hear what he had in mind.

Niall smirked a little at him. “It’s hard to figure your voice out. You’re definitely well rounded. That comes in handy. You could do just about anything, so I wanna try something new. Every Lie by My Darkest Days is a good way to start. Actually, I recommend watching the music video before ya do anything else. I don’t really understand why she thinks smashing a plate over his head will make him wanna stay, but she tries it.”

Caleb was intrigued by this, so he quickly stood up and bolted up to his room. From the way it looked, I wouldn’t be the last person, but I was definitely staying to hear what Kiley’s song was.

“Eleanor, I think you are a pop singer,” Niall said. “People sometimes like ta put pop down, but there’s nothing wrong with it. I think it’s one of the most fun genres out there. Imagine a heavy metal person dancing like crazy to their song.” Like he hoped, it made us all laugh, but he went on. “I think The Story of Us by Taylor Swift is a good choice for you.”

Her eyes lit up. “Oh my gosh. I love that song! I sang it in a school talent show and won with it!”

He laughed. “Well then! That’s awesome. I love how well that worked out. Glad you like it.”

She just squealed and eagerly rushed up to her room. Madi smiled after her, but she didn’t leave because she was next.

“Madi, you’re a country girl from Charleston, Tennessee,” Niall said. “Your voice, though you don’t realize it, would be incredible in country. You say it’s your favorite genre, but you never thought you could sing it. I disagree. I think you should sing Blown Away by Carrie Underwood.”

That actually made her smile, although she wasn’t nearly as excited as Eleanor. No one was quite that excited. Still, she said a quiet goodbye to Noah and made her way up the stairs to her room.

Niall smirked at Noah, who didn’t even notice because he was still looking in the direction she had left. “You can’t really say much to Everit.”

Noah scowled. “She’s just a friend.”

“Oh, no,” I disagreed. “You’re totally into her. Don’t even try to deny it.”

He rolled his eyes. “Fine. I am. It’s just . . . she’s really easy to talk to, ya know? And she understands. We’re from the same place, almost.”

I smiled. “Just make sure I’m at the wedding?”

He rolled his eyes. “Definitely not that far yet.”

“I know, I know,” I assured him. “Still, if I’m not at your wedding, I will hunt you down and kill you. Don’t put your future wife through that misery, okay?”

“I could say the same for you,” he said. “I mean it. Of course, I better meet your groom before this.”

I could feel my heart racing again, but Niall came to my rescue again.

“Okay, you two,” he laughed, and in those beautiful cyan eyes, I saw joy dancing around. “Noah, for you, I picked a song that, honestly, is very important to the formation of One Direction. I’m sure he woulda done just fine no matter what he did, but still, he auditioned with this song. Cry Me a River by Michael Bublé. I think you could pull this off splendidly, and if you do, you’re as good as into the live shows.”

My mouth fell open. “I freaking love that song! Liam did incredible with it. Noah, you can take it, so take it and kill it—in a good way, of course. Make Michael proud!”

Noah looked nervous, very nervous. “B-B-But, I-I don’t know about this. Michael Bublé is an incredible singer! It’s insane, really. He’s so talented, and I just don’t think I could do it.”

“Trust me, Noah,” Niall said, and he even gave him an encouraging smile. “I wouldn’t give you something I didn’t think you could do.”

Noah, though still uneasy, nodded. “Okay.” Very slowly, he made his way up to his room to get started. Of course he was nervous, but just like Niall knew it, I knew he could do well with this song—thrive, even.

Niall smiled at me. “Yours is equally surprising, I think. Your performances have been very powerful and somewhat slow rock songs from the get go. I wanna try something different. I don’t need to remind you that you’ve got to prove yourself again to myself and America. Unfortunately, one performance can change everything, but you can also use that to your advantage. This will prove to me that I didn’t make a mistake by choosing you. Heard of the song Dirty Love by Cher Lloyd?”

That surprised me. A lot. It sounded familiar, but the title alone gave me a little insight as to what the song was about.

Really?

My cheeks burned at the thought of practicing a sexy song with Niall, but I pretended they weren’t as my lips pressed together. “I think so.”

He gave me a smile. “Well, that’s what I think you should do.”

I quirked my mouth to the side and nodded, and I stood up from the table, but I didn’t head upstairs. Instead, I went over to the kitchen, where I got a strawberry lemonade can, and then went over to the first aid cabinet.

“Kiley, you’ve been doing so well, and I really don’t wanna change what you’ve got,” he said. “You’re getting better and better with each performance, but this week, I really wanna see how well people adapt to change. That’s why I’ve chosen the song Lights by Ellie Goulding.”

Kiley gasped. “What?! Niall, I can’t sing that! She sings too high!”

“Remember, Kiley, that you can make the song your own,” he said, obviously prepared for this kind of reaction. “That means if you need to, you can take the music down an octave, change the tune . . . it’ll just take a little work and adjustment. You can do this, though. I believe in you. Just like I told Noah, I wouldn’t give you a song I didn’t think you could do.”

She looked doubtful still, so I knew Niall’s talk with her would help her out. Since she had a great deal of respect for him and trusted him enough to pick him, she nodded and quietly went on her way.

I then began getting out the necessary medical equipment to fix up Niall—all of it. It was hard to carry everything, but with the help of a handy grocery bag in here, I was able to get it all. “Sorry, Niall. This is gonna hurt.”

He let out a quiet laugh, but even when the laugh faded and a smile lingered, there was a sadness in his eyes I didn’t understand. “Can’t hurt as much as it does to just sit here.”

My eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?”

“Later,” he murmured. “Right now, just know that I’m gonna come to you last to try and delay the pain.”

I laughed. “Of course. That’s fine, though. I’ll be working on my idea for the song.”

“You already have an idea?” he mused. “Fascinating. So you don’t question it? You don’t have any song you think would be better?”

I shrugged. “Maybe this is different than anything I’m used to, but you know way more about this than I do.”

When I turned around, I was surprised to find Niall standing there with a soft smile. It actually made me jump in, which made something flicker brightly across his eyes, something very sexy and devious. “Did I scare you?”

“No one’s ever snuck up on me,” I breathed, eyes wide. “I can hear better than you would believe. How did you do that?”

He just shrugged. “I’ll see ya later.”

And just like that, he disappeared upstairs, off to start his first conversation.

Notes

The lyrics in the description are from the song Bind Your Love by Cher Lloyd. I really love that song. Really, anything I've heard from her new album is incredible. I love it. :)

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