The Voice

The week was a tough one, and as it rolled on, it only got tougher. I definitely couldn’t say it was the hardest week of my life, but it was a tough week. Tensions rose, and people began to quickly realize that half of us would be going home after just an hour long show. I remained the same, and I still tried to be nice and positive, but some people were just unnecessarily rude. It really was pointless to stress out because how would that help them succeed?

Jesse and I had our final practice before the show tonight, and I was beyond nervous. But, still, I was trying to relax and listen to my music to calm myself down.

That was when I saw Ella. She was sitting at the dining room table crying when I went down the stairs to head to the practice room. Seeing someone upset always made me upset because I had always naturally been a happy person. I was never one of those annoyingly happy people who are always perky and just . . . irritating—as far as I knew. I was just a happy person who smiles and does her best to make your day better but doesn’t overdo it . . . like said perky people.

I sat down next to her, despite the fact I only had a few minutes before practice started. “What’s wrong, Ella?”

I could see as her tiny body began to tremble as the tears continued to fall, but she was able to look up at me as she talked. Her already bright blue eyes were even brighter, amplified by the tears falling down her usually pale face. Seeing her like this, red faced and barely able to breathe, hurt me.

“My family is moving out of the country, and they’re taking me with them.”

My eyebrows furrowed. “What? Why? I mean, you could go really far, maybe even win! I’ve heard you sing. You’re really incredible. Why are they leaving?”

She sniffled. “Don’t tell anyone, but they never approved of me doing this. They’ve hated the celebrity lifestyle, and they’ve never wanted me to get into it. Why they lived in LA for so long, I’ll never know, but they did.” She began holding her breath for a few seconds to try and stop her crying, but it only made her body shudder more violently than before, so she just let it all out as she continued. “They’re moving, and I have to throw the competition. I could just leave the competition and try again later, but they want all chances of me going anywhere with this to disappear.”

Seeing her like this, hearing what they were making her do, made me cry as well. It broke my heart because in my life, I had come to realize that everyone deserved to live their dream. Everyone deserved a chance at happiness, and their dreams were just a part of their happiness.

For someone to have to destroy all chance of achieving true happiness . . . the thought alone made my heart tighten. To be honest, if I didn’t know better, I would worry that it was about to explode.

“Ella, no. You can’t! In ten years, you’re gonna look back and hate the decision you made.”

“I don’t have any choice!” she insisted. “I’m only sixteen. Trust me. I would stay if I could, but they’re my parents. Legally, they have authority over me, and I can’t do anything about it. I tried to say no, and I tried to tell them I was gonna see how far I could go, but they’re my parents. They’ll never support this, and they’ll never let me do anything like this again.”

This was awful, and I hated hearing it for her. But, right now, she needed hope. There was nothing she could do, and I realized that now, but she needed hope that her future wasn’t completely empty of her dream. “Look, this may sound crazy, but I’m being sincere. In two years, if I somehow make it in life, or even if I don’t, I’ll hunt you down, and I’ll kidnap you. We’ll be roommates, and you and I will work on your career. Your dreams can finally come true. And say somehow I’m making my own music, I’ll make it happen. Maybe we’ll do a duet? I don’t know, but somehow, you’ll get to follow your dream. I promise.”

Just like I had hoped, this small piece of hope I had just given her made her smile, and she quickly pulled me into a very tight hug. “Everit, you don’t have to do that. We barely even know each other.”

“I can’t sit back and watch your dreams be stolen from you like this,” I said. “I know you well enough to know that you’re a good person, and you deserve to live your dreams just like everyone else in the world. You’re also too talented to just throw your talent away like that away like that. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

She was still smiling, and finally, her tears began to stop. “You should get going. You’re late for rehearsals, but thank you so much, Everit. I can keep my head up now, knowing that you’ll be there for me when I need someone.”

I made sure to tightly hug her and wish her luck before standing up and running to the practice room. When I got in there, I found a very confused Niall and a very irritated Jesse, along with Josh Franceschi—the lead singer of You Me at Six. That surprised me, a lot, but it made me sad also because he was frowning at me.

“Where have you been?” Jesse practically barked at me. “We’re performing tonight. Does that not matter?”

I sighed. “It does. Look, I can’t tell you . . . exactly. But someone was . . . having a very serious problem, and she was crying, and I couldn’t just walk past her like that, leave her sitting there alone. She needed someone to talk to.”

A soft, gentle smile spread across Niall’s lips, and Josh actually smiled some too. Jesse, however, just narrowed his eyes a little. “She could’ve waited an hour, Everit.”

“Jesse, back off,” Niall defended me. “Look, she was right to stop, and four minutes late isn’t the end of the world. Yes, you two are fighting against each other to stay in, but you’re gonna have to work together to make this good for either of you.”

Jesse sighed and nodded, and he rubbed his hands over his face. “You’re right. Sorry, Everit. I’m just . . . stressed.”

“Aren’t we all?” I said in a quiet voice, laughing a little to try and ease the tension. But, I couldn’t really think about much except Ella. It must be so hard on her to realize she has to personally throw away her dream. I mean, I wouldn’t be able to face my family without screaming and just . . . hating them for making me do that. And pursuing her career would always be hard as well, knowing they wouldn’t support her.

While I rehearsed, though, I managed to stay focused. Josh gave us some good tips, one of which was to forget everything but the song as we were going out there. He said that many times, he’s almost screwed it up because the music and lyrics just bring out the darkest things inside of you that just make you want scream and cry and just punch something.

But you can’t. You have to go on and sing, sing well.

That part felt a little bit directed towards me because Niall kept telling me that I wasn’t really on top of things today, so it felt like maybe he was talking to me when he said that. Jesse was doing fine, just like normal. His voice is incredible, so I really didn’t have high hopes for my future here. Sure, I was going to remain positive and give it my all, but Jesse was really talented. Really talented.

We actually ended up rehearsing a little over our time, but Niall was smart enough to know that it would happen, so he left a thirty minute interval between our rehearsal—the last rehearsal—and time to get ready for the show. Jesse was quick to get out so he could go and start getting ready and start getting in the zone.

I hesitated, though, and found myself looking around the awesome rehearsal room. It was actually a building all to itself, but it was so cool because it wasn’t huge or elaborate. It was simple, small, and old. Well, it was made to look old, but it really wasn’t. Still, it had a comfortable, homey feeling to it, so it was a relaxing place to be.

It was also the perfect place for me to clear my head and focus on what I needed to focus on . . . my performance.

Josh wished me luck and left because he had to get ready for tonight as well—considering he would be in the audience watching, along with the rest of his band. Niall, however, didn’t wish me luck, although he did talk to me.

“Whatever happened that caused you to be late, Evie, you can’t let that get to you,” he said so softly that it was almost a whisper. “I don’t know what it is, but I know it’s something big. It has to be because it’s bothering you, a lot.”

I nodded. “It is, and I can’t really talk about it. Not right now anyways. I just . . . wish I could make everything better for her.”

“You’re not God,” he reminded me. “You can’t just magically fix everyone’s problems. All you can do is support them and do everything in your power to help them face it and get through it. I really do respect what you did, and I woulda done the same thing. It’s gonna be hard to do, especially coming this close to the show, but you’ve gotta clear your head and get in the zone. I still believe that you can win this, but this may be the most important night of the entire show for you. Please just find a way to clear your head and sing like you know how. I’ve heard you do this with such passion and intensity that I just . . . couldn’t believe what I was hearing. It was incredible, the best thing I had ever heard from you, but today . . . it just hasn’t been there. I need you to focus and remind yourself that there’s nothing you can do right now except do everything you can to win this.”

I felt tears coming to my eyes, but I nodded again. “Okay. I’ll do my very best.”

He surprised me when he leaned over and pressed his lips softly against my forehead. “I’m rather fond of you, you know. I don’t wanna see you leave tonight.”

That left me speechless, mostly because I wasn’t sure what he was talking about or what to think about him kissing my forehead. Really, I couldn’t say anything because I had kissed his cheek the other day, but unlike his intentions with the kiss, it actually didn’t help clear my head at all because it just gave me more to ponder and think about as I left the practice room and rushed up to my room.

My head was spinning, but still, it didn’t take me long to figure out that I was falling for Niall. By falling, I mean falling in love with him. Maybe I wasn’t in love yet, but I didn’t see that coming too far down the road if I got through to the next round.

Oh way to go, Everit. You’re falling for your coach. Fan-freaking-tastic!

I had never been more grateful to be in this room with the door closed. Well, that was until I saw the outfit I had planned to wear had been trashed through mud and other things out in nature. That wasn’t what I needed to walk into, but I didn’t stay in my room long because I went storming into Brinley and Kiley’s room.

Really, I wasn’t surprised to see Brinley and Weston making out on the bed. We weren’t supposed to do that, but it wasn’t actually a rule. Mostly, it was just to try and make eliminations and living together easier—no babies.

She gasped as she jumped up off her bed. “Excuse you! Get out!”

I didn’t even say anything at first as I grabbed her and slammed her into the wall. “You touched my stuff again! I wouldn’t give a crap any other freaking day but today! You had no right to do that! I don’t know why you’re so out to get me or why you hate me so badly, but back off! If I have to, I will beat that ugly face of yours in if it means you’ll just leave me alone! You don’t scare me. You don’t intimidate me. Words don’t decide who wins this thing, and neither does your immature stunts to try and stop me or humiliate me. We’ll see who wins through music, through song, and that’s it. But I dare you. Try one more thing. I won’t hesitate to punch you. I’ll even break that fake nose of yours. Needs a little improvement anyways.”

She let out a crazed screech before pushing me off of her. “I hate you because you think you’re so much better than the rest of us!”

My eyebrows rose in disbelief, but before I could say anything, she slapped me really hard—not hard enough to do anything but piss me off. So, I roundhouse kicked her in the stomach, and as she fell to the floor, my eyes grew dark. “I don’t think I’m better than anyone. If you ask me, I’m the worst person here, but let me tell you something. I can be your worst nightmare, or we can simply exist together. It’s up to you, but I have one demand. Leave. Me. Alone.”

While she was clutching her stomach and coughing on the ground, I turned and slammed the door behind me. There were a lot of people in the hallway, eyes wide as they listened in, but as they saw the rage on my face, they quickly scurried away and into their rooms.

It didn’t help my stress and scattered thought process to frantically have to look for a new outfit as well as cover up my eyes—long story—but thankfully, I managed to find one that actually ended up being better than the one I originally had picked out.

That made me smile a little bit, despite the fact that my cheek was still red and I was still pissed. As I slipped into my black torn tights and short camouflage cargo shorts, I also moved over and began applying my makeup. I kept it light—skin colored glittery eye shadow and black eyeliner with black mascara—even though I knew that they would just cake onto what I already had. They told us to put on what we wanted the world to see, and they would add on to what we did.

Anyways, I also had on my Paramore t-shirt with Now lyrics on it and some studded combat boots that you rolled down to make ankle boots. It was pretty awesome, and I even wore my small diamond covered brass knuckles necklace and some medium sized diamond studs in my ears. My brown hair was straightened and left down because that just looked better with what I was wearing.

I wasn’t the last person ready, but I was one of the later ones. I knew by the way that my mouth was wet with a sickly sweet venom that it was night time. If I wanted to prove it to myself even more, I could’ve rubbed my razor sharp nails across some skin, but I didn’t have to do that. The venom was more than enough.

Mostly, it was just guys down here in the living room, so when they saw me—thankfully, I still looked normal—they cheered.

“Sexy!” Landon exclaimed before rushing over to spin me around quickly to get a full view. “I was told you had something else picked out, though.”

I rolled my eyes and opened my mouth to say something, but instead, I somehow found it in myself to calm down and not get mad about it. So, I just took a deep breath and shrugged my shoulders. “Changed my mind.”

Jesse lightly punched my shoulder, but as he got closer, he noticed the bright red mark on my face. “What happened to your face?”

Niall, who had been really focused on a piece of paper in his hands, suddenly snapped his attention right over to me, and I saw panic in his eyes. More than that, though, I saw something similar to what I saw in the eyes of the guys around me—desire. The difference was, his was more intense than theirs. I didn’t understand it, but I also wasn’t really sure if I was just imagining it. It seemed crazy to think that I just imagined something so intense, but I had imagined some seriously intense stuff before.

I bit my lip and shrugged. “Hit myself in the face with a door. Happens often, really. I’m quite the klutz.”

Niall put his stuff down on the arm of the chair and rushed over to my side. When he did, he took my face gently in my hands and got his so close to mine that I actually couldn’t breathe. More than that, my heart was racing in my chest, so my throbbing face? Yeah. I could feel my very rapid heart rate in my face, and I think Niall could too because he actually grinned down at me as he observed it.

“That’s one strange marking for a door,” he noted, but he seemed to enjoy the way he made my insides mess up. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

I nodded, but from the way my entire body heated up at least five heat octaves, I knew it wasn’t just the one cheek that was bright red. “It’s just red. I seriously doubt it’ll even bruise.”

He sighed but nodded, no longer in an arrogant mood. “Alright. If you’re sure.”

“I am.”

Notes

The lyrics in the description are actually from the song she and Jesse will be singing. :) Bite My Tongue by You Me At Six is fantastic. :)

If you wanna see Everit's outfit, it's here.

So I'm gonna wait to post more and see what you guys think. I hope you enjoy it. Comment and let me know? :)