Tyler and the Valaholics: The Beginning

Chapter 22

Song of the chapter- 'Can't Hold Us' by Pentatonix (originally by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis)

'It's so hard when people knock you down and tell you that you're never gonna get a shot at glory,
But that's when you rise to the challenge, 'cause it's your time, your moment, and nothing can stop us now!'

"Ready?" I whisper at Josh from behind his back, managing to startle him into jumping.

"Why the heck would you almost give me a heart attack like that?" he whisper-yells at me, clearly annoyed.

"Geez, excuse me," I apologize and walk back, his footsteps following me as he apologizes several times.

"It's fine, Josh, get over it and go take your place! You're performing in a couple of minutes and you're still in your jammies," I half-heartedly poke his stomach.

"Holy ox excreta, I forgot!" he swears and runs to get dressed while I try to stifle my laughter.

He returns when one of the stage hands asks me if I've seen him, panting as he probably ran all the way. He's informed that he has two minutes as he gasps even more. I soothingly rub his back and help him normalize his breathing- there's no point of singing when he's so out of breath.

Once he's calmer, we head out to the sidewings with Electra and 'Falcon', as he named his guitar earlier today.

"You ready, Josh?" I whisper as they begin to introduce him.

"Ready as I'll ever be!" he whispers back confidently.

A round of clapping sounds, cueing him to enter as I pull on my mask. He looks questioningly and asks me if I can remove it.

"Josh, this is your performance, I can't wreck it by having people watching me too. This is your moment and you shouldn't share it with me, for real. Besides, someone handsome like you should be whom all the focus is on," I rapidly tell him.

"Valerie, I asked you to perform with me, which means I don't care if it's only me or not only me under that spotlight. Besides, more guys will watch for you," he winks at me and takes off the mask, tossing it backstage as he enters the stage.

Smiling at him, I smooth the part of my hair he ruffled and follow him, Electra in tow. Once we're set to go, he counts down from five and we begin performing his selection 'Payphone', him strumming Falcon and doing the lead vocals while I give him backdrop vocals at a lower volume so as to not take away from his lead as I play Electra.

I make the mistake of looking at the audience near the end and spot several people throwing me dirty looks. Uh oh, should I have stuck to the mask? Am I ruining his pristine performance? This could certainly have not been a good decision! I subconsciously inch a little closer to the backstage, ready to make a sprint for it when we finish.

Josh ends on a crisp staccato note and I make to exit the stage when he pulls me back towards him.

"Josh, the judges are giving your feedback!" I whisper at him.

"Then I'm pretty sure you can hear it too," he tells me reassuringly and turns to the judges who are already babbling something about presentation and good instrumentals.

I manage to pry myself from his grip and exit the stage when he's distracted. I know I shouldn't let people's opinions and behaviour define or affect what I do because there are always going to be haters but I feel pretty guilty about stealing Josh's spotlight. He did ask me but I could've refused, I let him spoil his performance, his once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I'm absolutely mortified!

"What the hell was that?" his angry voice pulls me out of my daze as he frowns at me.

"Josh, I shouldn't have done it! Now I've spoiled your golden boy record and I deserve the worst torture to make up for spoiling your performance and--"

Josh cuts off my hysterical rambling by hugging me and telling me in my ear, "Hey, hey, relax, you did not spoil my performance, you made it better. In fact, you were amazing and I even sounded better with your sorcery! If anything, that showed the judges that I can collaborate well. I just asked why you ran away, I mean, you were free to leave but I wish you could've stayed and heard the judges praise me, you and us as a team. Apparently, we're great!"

I gasp in surprise. I thought he was going to yell at me or something but he's here comforting me?

He continues, "Erie, calm down, I'm fine, excited even that it was so great! You didn't mess up and, even if you had, you don't deserve any punishments. You probably don't see how much of an amazing person you are, but you most certainly are, without any doubt. You only deserve the best."

I must look like a clown with a gaping mouth and wide eyes now staring at him. What if he has coulrophobia then, and hates and is scared of clowns? What if he grows past me and realizes I spoke the truth?

"Erie, listen up tight, sweetie. You are insanely talented and no one can take that away from you. I'm telling you the truth, I am. Why do you put yourself down so much though?" he asks, curiosity and concern lining his voice.

"So, wait, you're not mad at me?" I ask him in disbelief.

"Absolutely not! I'm happy, I'm proud of you! That was quite the show!" he exclaims.

"But--"

"No ifs and buts, Val, c'mon, all the contestants are supposed to gather on stage now," he says and pulls me towards the stage, nearly every other participant already on stage.

"Contestants, settle down! We have the results in this envelope right here," the announcement pulls me out of the moment I was having like a bucket of cold water was dumped on me.

Josh wishes me luck as he squeezes my hand, apparently extremely nervous. For some reason, I don't feel nervous even though I know I should be. Probably it's because I know I did well, but that doesn't guarantee a good result.

"Two of you will be eliminated today, and let's find out now who those unfortunate two are. First, though, let's find out the first three who are safe."

Two groups of three are called up to the front, Josh in one group and me in the other. I wish him luck and stand with my group as the announcement is made that one of the groups is safe, leading Josh's face to fall. No, he believes the group with me is safe! Damn, I messed up his performance and now he's lost his opportunity.

"And the group that is safe is, well, let's find out after a small break!" the announcer giggles while we shoot him dirty looks.

"Just kidding, the people who are safe are--"

He pauses for dramatic effect and I hear my heartbeat in my head really loudly as I try to breathe deeply to calm down and the result is announced, leading the two beside me to gasp.

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Sorry, not sorry! In case you're wondering why she's behaving the way she is, there's a reason for everything she does and says that isn't revealed right away because, honestly, what is the point of that?

Who do you think is going to be safe now? Do you think she really messed up his performance?

As usual, let me know what you think, and if you have any songs that you absolutely love and want her to sing, feel free to comment or PM me the title and artist. Ensure that it was released in or before 2012 for her to sing it on the show. If it's later than that, then she'll sing it later on, anyways.

Thank you for reading!

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