The Voice

I couldn’t breathe right, could barely even stand. So many wonderful things were happening in one night, and I was nervous.

What if I didn’t win? What if I did?

What about afterwards, when we had a flight to catch headed straight back for Alabama? I would finish school and start recording an album. That much had already been set up.
Columbia had already called and set up a deal with me, and they already had a place in Alabama for me to work—just an hour away from home. It was kinda fun to be on the same label as the guys and Little Mix, but before signing, I set the record straight.

I was gonna do what I wanted with my music, and if they tried to stop me, I would leave. Simple as that.

Surprisingly, they agreed, so I was set to record, win or lose. As soon as the show was over, I was officially a professional.

Everything was falling into place.

For the opening part of the finale, where the lights were all dim and each of the coaches with their remaining contestant stood very far apart for dramatic purposes, I was dressed in ripped skinny jeans and a Paramore tank top that Niall barely let me walk away in. Apparently he couldn’t stand watching me like that while pretending to not even care.

“Welcome to the finale of this season of the Voice!” Carson exclaimed the moment cameras were rolling. “There are four teams, four contestants left in this competition. Unlike usual, we’re waiting until the very end to announce the order of the top four. We’ve got a night of final performances, bringing back the top twenty in one final collaboration. Now, to announce this year’s top four! On Team Blake, we have Jesse Hunters!”

The audience cheered for him, and you know what? So did I. It killed the “fierceness” I was supposed to be portraying, but I didn’t really care.

“For Team Christina, we have Ryan Dunn!”

People cheered, but not like they had for Jesse. I clapped, but I was mostly saving up for the next one.

“For Team Adam, we have Emma Nelson!”

Of course, I cheered. This girl was awesome, and hello? We were performing a song together with Kiley and Madi.

That was gonna be fun. So much fun.

“And for Team Niall, we have Everit Eberly!”

So many people cheered and screamed that I started tearing up. Instead of fiercely looking at the camera, I was smiling with tears running down my face. How could I believe this? This couldn’t be reality.

Couldn’t be . . . .

As soon as I could, I had to run back to the dressing room and change into my outfit. Hayley was in the room getting the final touches to her makeup done, but they had to speed get me ready.

I was performing Still Into You with Paramore, and I was so excited. This night was full of a ton of performances I was psyched for.

Luckily, my eye makeup was . . . relatively simple. They had a bright rainbow of colors of eye shadow with bright pink lipstick. That was it. My hair was put up in a quirky and curly ponytail, and I was wearing a white dress with rainbow colors splash dyed on it. To balance out the shortness, I had on black and white striped thigh high socks with neon hidden wedge sneakers.

Then, you know, there was the necklace and ring . . . .

“Singing with Paramore, here’s Everit Eberly performing Still Into You!”

During the crescendo at the beginning, Hayley and I were on platforms looking down at our feet. As soon as it picked up and the triangle hit, we looked up with smiles. Niall knew about this performance, and while Adam gawked at him, Niall just grinned and nodded.

“Yeah. She’s had so much fun with this one.”

Hayley came in first, so she jumped off the platform and started casually dancing towards her bright orange microphone stand sitting by my bright blue one.

Hayley was dressed in neon attire of her own, but it was a bit different than mine. Still, we looked good together—our outfits anyways.

“Can’t count the years on one hand
That we’ve been together
I need the other one to hold you
Make you feel, make you feel better.”

This was where I came in and danced over to my microphone stand, after jumping off my platform.

“It’s not a walk in the park
To love each other
But when our fingers interlock,
Can’t deny, can’t deny you’re worth it
Cause after all this time I’m still into you.”

And for the duet.

“I should be over all the butterflies
But I’m into you
I’m into you
And baby, even on our worst nights
I’m into you
I’m into you
Let ‘em wonder how we got this far
Cause I don’t really need to wonder at all
Yeah, after all this time I’m still into you.”

Hayley got the next part because I got to choose which parts I wanted to sing, and I chose the parts that fit better with Niall and me.

“Recount the night that
I first met your mother
And on the drive back to my house
I told you that, I told you that I loved ya.”

Before I came in, we both popped our hips to the clapping in the song that Jeremy and Taylor were doing. It was a lot of fun being up here, doing this with Paramore.
I would remember this always.

“You felt the weight of the world
Fall off your shoulder
And to your favorite song
We sang along to the start of forever
And after all this time I’m still into you.”

I think singing together with her was my favorite part, so I was excited when we reached the chorus.

“I should be over all the butterflies
But I’m into you
I’m into you
And baby even on our worst nights
I’m into you
I’m into you
Let ‘em wonder how we got this far
Cause I don’t really need to wonder at all
Yeah, after all this time I’m still into you.”

Sticking with the pattern, Hayley sang the first part of the bridge.

“Some things just, some things just make sense
And one of those is you and I
Oh, oh.”

I sang the second.

“Some things just, some things just make sense
And even after all this time
Oh, oh
I’m into you
Baby, not a day goes by
That I’m not into you!”

People started going crazy when I hit that note, even Hayley. She was singing, but she clapped for me while I recovered so I could join back in with her.

“I should be over all the butterflies
But I’m into you
I’m into you
And baby even on our worst nights
I’m into you
I’m into you
Let ‘em wonder how we got this far
Cause I don’t really need to wonder at all
Yeah, after all this time I’m still into you.”

Hayley sang one by herself.

“I’m still into you.”

And I finished it out.

“I’m still into you.”

While people went crazy, I ran over and squealed as I hugged Hayley, and to my delight, she hugged me back just as eagerly. Of course, I had to be brief with her because I had to hug Jeremy and Taylor just as happily, which was genuine.

They were all really awesome.

With all of my elaborate costumes, I didn’t get to hear anything except what I did. As soon as I was done with Still Into You, I had to go get dressed for my performance with Kiley, Madi, and Emma.

We were performing Salute by Little Mix, so, uh, we were pretty nervous. Because they were in the audience.

I was wearing pretty short leather shorts. Also, I had on a fairly loose Captain America tank top, and I pulled my hair out of the ponytail only to put it in a side ponytail that rested on my shoulder. My shoes were a pair of dark blue hidden wedge sneakers.

Emma had on a pair of blue camo cargo capris, a sexy leather studded tank, and a silver button up hoodie. Her hair was down and curly, and she had her hood up over her black flat bill. She had a pair of black hidden wedge converse.

Kiley had on a bright blue hoodie with a silver cami underneath, and she was wearing black camo shorts and bright blue hidden wedge sneakers. Her hair was braided into a single French braid.

Madi had a leather crop tank top and a grey camo jacket. To go with it, she had a pair of bright blue shorts and a pair of studded black hidden wedge sneakers. Her hair was braided underneath her ponytail, which was very neat and put up in a military like fashion.

We all had the same makeup—black eyeliner and mascara, soft amounts of blue eye shadow, and black war paint smeared underneath our eyes.

Hayley was in here, getting out of her Still Into You attire, and when she saw us, she gasped.
“Guys! You look hot! Damn!”

That made us all laugh, and we all hugged Hayley before someone came and told us it was time to take our places.

Madi took a deep breath and opened the door first. “Alright. We’ve got this. Let’s go out there and kick this song’s butt!”

“With the original singers chilling out watching us,” Kiley agreed, but that just made them all nervous.

I began pulling them behind me towards the stage, and I laughed a little as we got closer. My heart was pounding in my chest, and I felt a bit sick, but I kept a smile on for them.

“Come on, guys. Just like we practiced. I think it’ll be funny to see their faces. We can do this. Remember what Adam said? If we were a girl band, he’d definitely buy our albums.”

That worked to cheer them up. Carson announced that they were taking a commercial break, and a group of the finalists and some of the top twenty would perform after the break.

Niall nearly fell out of his chair when he turned and looked at the four of us coming onto the stage—particularly me. I could see Chris in the audience, grinning at the shirt I chose to wear, but Dad wore a deep frown. Clearly, he didn’t like the attire.

Niall loved it and hated it—I could see by the way he clenched his teeth and glared over at Adam. “What are they doing?”

Adam just laughed at him. “You’ll see, dude.”

While we were getting into position and making sure our head microphones were on—they were black and obvious since we were dancing—time passed quickly. Before I knew it, they were counting down until we were live again.

“Welcome back to the finale of the Voice!” Carson exclaimed. “This has been quite the season. There is so much talent in the finals that honestly, I don’t know how you guys have managed to pick a winner. The next performance of tonight is a group of four girls—Everit and Emma, bringing back their friends Madi and Kiley from Team Niall. Give it up for them, everyone!”

When the alarms started, everyone was confused until the backup singers came in with the, “Hey, huh!” part. Then, anyone who was a fan of Little Mix that had heard the new album knew exactly who it was.

Jesy, Jade, Leigh-Anne, and Perrie all gaped at us while Eleanor bounced a little in her seat. I didn’t have time to get everyone’s reactions, though, because we were doing this really cool dance during the part everyone started to recognize it.

All of the music was kinda like slow dance music. Easy to dance to while singing. The first part we came in was the beginning, during a harmony.

“Ahh
Ahh
Ahh.”

Emma was the first to come in with a solo, and in her awesome way, she sang-rapped this part. That was what was so cool about Emma. She could do both at the same time.

I could rap, but not like her. She was different.

Emma and Kiley had solos before the first chorus, so they would do the same dance that would get them in a line a few feet ahead of Madi and me. Everyone was sort of twisting their hips to the beat while the other sang her solo, or we popped our heads a little and did some things with our arms.

Emma started it out flawlessly.

“Ladies all across the world
Listen up, we’re looking for recruits
If you’re with me, let me see your hands
Stand up and salute
Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps, or lace up your boots
Representing all the women, salute, salute.”

Then, it was time for Kiley to come in and rock it as well as Emma had. She wasn’t rap-singing like Emma, but she did really well herself.

“Ladies all across the world
Listen up, we’re looking for recruits
If you’re with me, let me see your hands
Stand up and salute
Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps, or lace up your boots
Representing all the women, salute, salute.”

For the pre-chorus and chorus, we were all singing, but we were doing it in a harmony, just like Little Mix did. I thought it was pretty awesome how well our voices blended together.

“It’s who we are
We don’t need no camouflage
It’s the female federal
And we’re taking off.”

Emma got the last line leading into the chorus this time.

“If you with me, women, lemme hear you say!”

For the chorus, our dancing got really fucking cool. We danced really hard while singing perfectly, but we had worked on this. We practiced all week so we would have enough air to dance and sing with strength in our voices.

“Ladies all across the world
Listen up, we’re looking for recruits
If you’re with me, let me see your hands
Stand up and salute
Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps, or lace up your boots
Representing all the women, salute, salute

Attention!
Salute
Attention!
Salute
Attention
Huh!
Representing all the women, salute, salute.”

Madi was the one to come in next because I didn’t wanna sing her last line. It wasn’t really a big deal, but that’s just what we agreed on.

Emma and Kiley were still ahead of us, so during our solos, we would dance the same dance they did during their solos, and by the end of mine, we would all four be in line again.

“Sisters, we are everywhere
Warriors, your country needs you
If you ready, ladies, better keep steady
Ready, aim, shoot
It don’t need ammunition
On a mission
And we’ll hit you with the truth
Divas, queens, we don’t need no man, salute!”

Singing the part that Perrie usually sang made me nervous, but I didn’t focus on it as I came in with my dance and solo.

“Sisters, we are everywhere
Warriors, your country needs you
If you ready, ladies, better keep steady
Ready, aim, shoot
It don’t need ammunition
On a mission
And we’ll hit you with the truth
Representing all the women, salute, salute!”

Once again, we harmonized the pre-chorus.

“It’s who we are
We don’t need no camouflage
It’s the female federal
And we’re taking off.”

This time, I got to sing the last line of the pre-chorus.

“If you with me, women, lemme hear you say!”

And, of course, we all came in for the chorus with our awesome dancing too.

“Ladies all across the world
Listen up, we’re looking for recruits
If you’re with me, let me see your hands
Stand up and salute
Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps, or lace up your boots
Representing all the women, salute, salute

Attention!
Salute
Attention!
Salute
Attention!
Huh!
Representing all the women, salute, salute!”

Kiley and Emma did a little duet for the start of the bridge, where we actually didn’t dance. If we were singing, we could move around like we felt the song was leading us, but we weren’t dancing and breaking our line.

Emma and Kiley were on both sides of me, and Madi was on the other side of Emma. They wanted us to be center since we were the finalists.

Anyways . . . Emma and Kiley, their little bit.

“You think we’re just pretty things
You couldn’t be more wrong.”

I got a solo line before coming in with Madi. When I came in, Kiley and Emma froze.

“We’re standing strong, we carry on.”

“Knock us but we keep moving, moving up yeah
Can’t stop a hurricane
Ladies, it’s time to awake.”

Then, it was back to harmonizing.

“Attention!
Attention!
Individuals!
Originals!
Huh!
Let me hear you say!

Ladies all across the world
Listen up, we’re looking for recruits
If you’re with me, let me see your hands
Stand up and salute
Get your killer heels, sneakers, pumps, or lace up your boots
Representing all the women, salute, salute

Attention!
Salute
Attention!
Salute
Attention!
Huh!
Representing all the women, salute, salute.”

The part at the end where Leigh-Anne spoke in an announcer-like manner was something Emma did, and she broke away from the line during it. She would move around a little and end up right back where she was when she finished.

“Ladies, the time has come
The war has begun
Let us stand together and remember
Men fight great
But women are greater fighters.”

Then, we all had one last line to harmonize.

“Representing all the women, salute, salute!”

To say that people went crazy was an understatement. We were all four breathless and sweaty, and before we even finished, everyone was on their feet. The judges, One Direction, Little Mix, Maroon 5, the entire audience . . . .

“Wow,” Emma breathed, and she squealed a little. They had turned our microphones off as soon as we finished, so no one heard her.

Like we were supposed to, we ran off stage. I had some time to relax—enough time that I got to take a quick shower. Since my hair dried quickly, they weren’t even through with my makeup before it was dry in the perfect ringlets.

My next performance was another equally exciting one. I was singing a song with Niall, who actually had to come back after a couple more performances and change. My dress was a white lace one that was the simplest dress I had worn to date, but it was absolutely beautiful. He was wearing a tux, so that would be interesting.

They surprised me when they pulled all of my hair to one side and put a pearl and gold barrette that matched my beautiful gold flats. It wasn’t the plan, but it looked better that way, in my opinion.

They got my makeup ready for the finale—black eye liner, black volumizing mascara, silver sparkly eye shadow, and then an explosion of silver glitter at the corner of my eyes, around my temples.

So pretty.

There was a soft knock on the door, different from the usual knock of the stage manager telling me it was time to go on. This one was softer, so I wasn’t expecting to see a stage manager standing there.

Sure enough, it was Niall, looking beyond incredible in his tux. He had a smile on his face that made my heart swell up in my chest.

“You ready? We have to go on.”

“Ready,” I said, and to my surprise, in front of everyone, he took my hand and softly kissed it.

The way it made my heart flutter caught me off guard. Really, it was a bittersweet moment.

I was only a couple of hours away from saying goodbye . . . .

It was hard not to let that into my mind, and I know he saw it. Surely he knew that, but he blocked it out and smiled. He focused on the positive and led me out of the dressing room.
Before going on, he pulled me to a place where no one could see, and he kissed me.

He did it to settle my emotions, and in a way, it worked. Of course, the kiss was as bittersweet as the hand kiss, but it was intense. It was incredible.

One day, there would be no goodbye. There would be no hiding behind a curtain. We would be public, and we’d be stuck together.

I couldn’t wait for that, but right now, we had to go sing a duet together.

We walked out to the microphone stands waiting for us, and when people saw us—even in the middle of Carson talking—they began cheering. Carson must’ve known it was coming because he just laughed and carried on a bit louder so that the TV audience could hear him.

“The final coach and team member performance is Niall Horan singing with his finalist, Everit Eberly,” he said. “Singing Strong from the One Direction album releasing in stores tomorrow, here is Niall and Everit!”

People cheered, but as soon as they heard the music start, they got silent. Aside from One Direction themselves, people had never heard this song. This was a weird way to showcase a song—one member sing it with someone who isn’t a member.

I started it out. This was my first performance in a while where I didn’t move around or dance.
This time, I was standing by the microphone singing my heart out. I wasn’t rigid, but I wasn’t dancing around.

“My hands, your hands tied up like two ships.
Drifting, weightless, waves try to break it.
I’d do anything to save it.
Why is it so hard to say it?”

Niall smiled over at me before coming in with his part. It was a smile that could be taken different ways. He was smiling because he enjoyed singing with me, or he was smiling because he loved me and this was a wonderful song to sing with me and to me.

“My heart, your heart sit tight like book ends.
Pages between us, written with no end.
So many words we’re not saying.
Don’t wanna wait ‘til it’s gone.
You make me strong.”

I think I was too excited for the chorus, where we came in together . . . .

“I’m sorry if I say I need you.
But I don’t care,
I’m not scared of love.
Cause when I’m not with you I’m weaker.
Is that so wrong?
Is it so wrong
That you make me strong?”

There was only one solo in the next verse, and Niall gave it to me.

“Think of how much love that’s been wasted.
People always trying to escape it.
Move on to stop their heart breaking.
But there’s nothing I’m running from.
You make me strong.”

“I’m sorry if I say I need you.
But I don’t care,
I’m not scared of love.
‘Cause when I’m not with you I’m weaker.
Is that so wrong?
Is it so wrong?”

For the bridge, I started it again. I insisted that Niall do it, but there were two solid reasons he gave me why I should get more than him.

One, I was the contestant, not him. People needed to hear me sing.

Two, the end of the bridge is a part he actually sings in the song, so, I mean, it made sense for him to get it.

“So, baby, hold on to my heart, oh, oh.
Need you to keep me from falling apart.
I’ll always hold on.
Cause you make me strong.”

Niall’s part broke my heart. Once again, he was looking at me, and there was so much love, so much pain, dancing in his eyes that I felt tears forming. It was only a matter of seconds before one slid down my cheek.

“I’m sorry if I say I need you.
But I don’t care.
I’m not scared of love.”

I came in for just a couple of lines before coming back out to give him one more line alone.

“‘Cause when I’m not with you I’m weaker.
Is that so wrong?”

“Is it so wrong?”

For the last part, it was both of us together.

“I’m sorry if I say I need you.
But I don’t care,
I’m not scared of love.
‘Cause when I’m not with you I’m weaker.
Is that so wrong?
Is it so wrong
That you make me strong?

I’m sorry if I say I need you.
But I don’t care,
I’m not scared of love.
‘Cause when I’m not with you I’m weaker.
Is that so wrong?
Is it so wrong
That you make me strong?”

The reaction made my heart swell, and even more tears spilt down my cheeks. Everyone, on their feet like before, screaming, cheering, as if we were at a concert. As if they were all avid fans of us, this.

Niall hugged me tightly and breathed into my ear. “We did it, Evie.”

I laughed and let him go, giving him a tiny smile. “Yeah . . . we did.”

I was immediately rushed backstage for one final change of clothes. While Carson announced that they would take one last commercial break, I was scurrying back into the dressing room to change into my “finale” dress. Changing into the silver rhinestone flats was easy, but the dress was something I had to do super fast.

It was so beautiful . . . .

It was royal blue and had one strap, which I was normally against completely. This dress made it work, however, and I was in love with the delicate and vine-like design the silver glittery part made. Also, for another awesome effect, they took my hair down and did a waterfall braid that went all the way around my hair.

And I made it back on stage in time. Commercials came to an end, and all of the top twenty—aside from Brinley, who never showed back up—were out there. Together, we were all singing a song that I mixed.

I called it “Love One Thing Over Your Body” because . . . well . . . .

“We’re bringing back the top twenty to sing a collaboration mixed by Everit Eberly herself!” Carson announced. “And here it is!”

Somehow, I got voted to start. The finalists got to decide who sang what, and they decided that I start it. It was a bit different, but somehow, the music to these songs flowed together.

“(Everit) I know you’re inside, you’re feeling so hollow.
(Emma) And it’s a hard pill for you to swallow.
(Jesse) But if I fall for you, I’ll never recover.
(Ryan) If I fall for you, I’ll never be the same.

(All) I really wanna love somebody
I really wanna dance the night away
I know we’re only halfway there
But you can take me all the way.
(Emma) You can take me all the way.”

“(Ryan) I’ve tried playing it cool.
(Jesse) But when I’m looking at you.
(Ryan) I can’t ever be brave.
(Jesse and Ryan) ‘Cause you make my heart race.

(Emma) Shot me out of the sky.
(Everit) You’re my kryptonite.
(Emma) You keep making me weak.
(Everit and Emma) Yeah, frozen and can’t breathe.

(All) Something’s gotta give now
‘Cause I’m dying just to make you see
That I need you here with me now.
(Everit) ‘Cause you’ve got that one thing.”

“(Jesse) I came here tonight to get you out of my mind,
(Everit) I’m gonna take what I find.
Uh oh, yeah.
(Emma) So open the box
Don’t need no key, I’m unlocked.
(Ryan) And I won’t tell you to stop.
(Emma) Uh oh, yeah.

(Everit and Emma) Hey boy.
(Jesse) I don’t need to know where you’ve been.
(Ryan) All I need to know is you and no need for talking.
(Everit and Emma) Hey boy.
(All) So don’t even tell me your name.
All I need to know is whose place.
(Ryan) And let’s get walkin’.”

“(Emma) If I could
I would dare feed your dreams and starve your fears.
(Ryan) If I could light the world.
(Jesse) We could sit and watch it burn.
(Everit) We could fall asleep inside the glow.

(All) So tell me what I gotta do to win you over
You’ll never have to wonder if you need another
You’ll never have to wonder if I understand
And every time you reach for me you’ll find a hand.
(Jesse) Ohhh.”

This part was gonna be cool. Jesse, Emma, Ryan, and I all sang one line at the same time, but
it blended really well. You could distinctly hear all of us.

Trust me. We worked it out.

“(Everit) Get out, get out, get out of my head.
(Emma) Love me today, don’t leave me tomorrow.
(Jesse) So tell me what I gotta do to win you over.
(Ryan) Tonight’s your lucky night, I know you want me.”

The music that I mixed from the notes from the four songs played for a second before suddenly stopping, where there was no music at all.

“(Jesse) If I could.
(Emma) I really wanna love somebody.
(Ryan) I don’t need to know where you’ve been.
(Everit) ‘Cause you’ve got that one thing.”

The judges were on their feet, cheering for us and screaming, and I felt tears coming to my eyes because this was something I created. I didn’t write the songs that I mixed together, but I mixed them together in a way that we could perform. In a way that flowed and went awesomely.

I had done this.

“Alright, the moment you’ve all been waiting for!” Carson announced, and the audience cheered louder than ever. “Would the top four contestants please step forward?”

Truth be told, I could barely breathe. The four of us stepped forward, and four different colored spotlights shone down on us. Yes, I was excited that mine was blue, and Emma danced around when hers was purple.

Carson cleared his throat. “Well, as much as I love dragging it out, I’m limited on time. We have four finalists who have fought hard to make it where they are, and as much as I hate doing this, it’s time to announce the person in fourth place. Everyone goes home tonight, but one will go home the Voice champion.” He cleared his throat and looked at the card in his hand.

Emma surprised me by locking her arm in mine, and Jesse did the same. On the other side of him, he had Ryan so he didn’t look awkward all by himself.

It didn’t really matter much, though.

“In fourth place, we have Ryan Dunn from Team Christina!”

Admittedly, I wasn’t that surprised. If Mary had stayed, I think it would’ve been a bit more competitive, but no one wanted him to stay. He was good and all, but I didn’t really see him standing out much.

Then it was the hard part—which of the three of us were next?

Ryan and Jesse exchanged hugs, and you know, I hugged him, too. It was a goodbye, and why not? It was kinda rude not to.

Ryan waved, and Christina sadly watched him walk off the stage while she clapped for him. All the judges were clapping, but each of the three with the contestant remaining looked nervous.

When Ryan left the stage, the three of us huddled closer. I could feel my heart pounding against my rib cage, feel the sensation and the nerves take over my entire body. Truth be told, I could feel it in my toes.

“In third place, by such a tiny margin, we have Jesse Hunters from Team Blake!” Carson announced.

Emma and I immediately started crying as we took the time to individually hug him. He said something to Emma, and she nodded. Then, it was my turn to hug him, and he sighed in my ear. “Good luck, Ev. I’m glad it was you.”

My eyes widened, and Jesse just smiled at the crowd and cameras and started walking off the stage. I couldn’t breathe as Emma grabbed my hand and pulled me right next to her. Together, we were breathing quickly, and I even squeezed my eyes closed.

“The runner-up on this season of the Voice, from Team Adam, Emma Nelson!”

As Emma threw her arms around me and I heard screams erupt from around the room, I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t see. Tears spilt down my face faster than my heart could pound in my chest. It pounded and fluttered, yet I was bawling my eyes out as hugs came from all around me. Jesse, Noah, Kiley, Madi, Emma . . . and the best hug of all, the one that got to hug me by himself, Niall.

“I’m so proud of you, Evie,” he breathed, and he released me as he turned towards the crowd and laughed happily. “Everit Eberly, everyone! The most talented person I believe I’ve ever met!”

I began sobbing again as the confetti started flying everywhere. There was no way this was real . . . no way I had just won.

But . . . I had.

“That makes Everit Eberly the winner with a record breaking number of votes!” Carson exclaimed, and once again, I was taken back.

Kiley squealed as she jumped up and down beside me, and once again, she threw her arms around me. “I told you, Ev! I told you! We all did! You did it!”

“Congratulations, Everit,” Carson said, and he put his arm around my shoulders. “I know this must be an exciting moment for you. Do you have anything to say before you perform your song?”

I took a deep breath, which was hard to do. “I do. I wanna say thank you to everyone who has ever voted for me. You’re the reason I’m here, the reason this happened. I also wanna thank my family, and I wanna thank Niall. He’s helped me in more ways than he knows, and I wouldn’t have made it this far without him. Without his help and support.”

Niall hugged me once again, but this time, he wasn’t alone. The guys all joined him up on stage to hug me themselves, which only made calming down for my first single that much harder.

Carson smiled at the cameras. “Singing her first original single titled Decode, here is Everit Eberly!”

As the guitars started, like I had always seen happen, I started crying. Through my tears, though, I sang when it was time to sing.

My voice was strong, and my heart was soaring. This was reality.

I had won.

“How can I decide what’s right
When you’re clouding up my mind?
I can’t win your losing fight all the time
How can I ever own what’s mine
When you’re always taking sides
But you won’t take away my pride
No, not this time
Not this time

How did we get here?
Well I used to know you so well
How did we get here?
Well I think I know

The truth is hiding in your eyes
And it’s hanging on your tongue
Just boiling in my blood
But you think that I can’t see
What kind of man that you are
If you’re a man at all
Well I will figure this one out on my own
I’m screaming “I love you so”
On my own
My thoughts you can’t decode

How did we get here?
Well I used to know you so well, yeah
How did we get here?
Well I think I know

Do you see what we’ve done?
We’ve gone and made such fools of ourselves
Do you see what we’ve done?
We’ve gone and made such fools of ourselves

Yeah!

How did we get here?
Well I used to know you so well, yeah, yeah
How did we get here?
Well I used to know you so well

I think I know
I think I know

Ooh, there is something
I see in you
It might kill me
I want it to be true.”

And as soon as it was done, I was swarmed all over again with the people I had grown to love.
The people who had stood behind me the entire time, through everything, were now hugging me and holding me. This was my reality.

I had won.

Notes

So, this chapter is probably hard to follow, mostly at Everit's mixed song. I tried to make it as easy to follow as possible, and hopefully, I succeeded. Let me know if it's hard to follow, and I'll try and fix it for future readers! (And anyone who wants to re-read it.:)

The songs mixed were Love Somebody by Maroon 5, One Thing by One Direction, Your Body by Christina Aguilera, and Over by Blake Shelton. :)

"Everit's" first single was actually Decode by Paramore. :P

Also, guys, I definitely should've done this, like, the first chapter I had her help me, but a special shoutout to my friend, Phenax! She's been doing awesome creating the outfits Everit wears on Polyvore. :) I would do it myself, but I'm really terrible at navigating Polyvore.

Anyways, special thanks to her! She's incredible. :D

If you wanna check out Everit's (and a few others') outfits, click the links below. :)
Opening Moment
Still Into You
Salute: Everit
Salute: Emma (pretend the hoodie is a button up x3)
Salute: Kiley
Salute: Madi
Strong
Decode

Oh, and in case you needed a reminder of how sexy Niall is in a tux/suit . . .

Just . . . so much sexy. And that's not even the best one out there.

:D This is it! The final chapter! I'll post the epilogue right after this, and I'll be able to say this story is complete. :)

My goodness, the epilogue breaks my heart.