Tyler and the Valaholics: The Beginning

Chapter 42

Song of the chapter- 'It Ain't Me' by Kygo ft. Selena Gomez

'Never growing up,
I'll take with me the Polaroids and the memories,
But you know I'm gonna leave behind the worst of us.'

"Jessica and Cormac are certainly not the pair that is safe first, having received the fewest votes," the announcer's voice sounds after a dramatic pause.

The members of the audience burst out into loud  conversations and Josh, who's been holding his breath since their names were announced, breathes a sigh of relief. Neither of us is already in the safe for tonight but it honestly can't hurt to be closer.

Jessica's voice rises as she yells at Cormac, claiming he purposefully messed up her performance. When he just ignores her and moves away from her, her frustrated self notices me and she begins to hurl insult after insult at me about how I, in her words, 'influenced my way to the top and pulled Josh away from performing with her, thus messing up both her and Josh's chances'. I can feel Josh's temper mere seconds from flaring up so I attempt to put a stop to Generica's ramblings, my attempt halted when she holds onto my upper arm and squeezes the wound hard. For someone who seems like she is up to nothing other than destroying everyone else, she's plenty clever and resourceful as she chose my one weak point tonight to start her offensive attack, leaving me gritting my teeth and blinking back my tears.

In my peripheral vision, I sense Josh about to launch a full-fledged attack so I decide to take matters into my own hands. Not wanting to let myself be manipulated by her expressions, my gaze fixates unflickeringly on the announcers, whose wide eyes are glued on her, and I push the base of my other palm into her forearm, effectively causing her to loosen her grasp as her hand winds up swinging slightly by her side, held in place by her glenohumeral joint. Still gritting my teeth to keep the sobs threatening to escape me from exiting my laryngo-buccal cavity, I don't even bother to object as Josh gingerly moves me to my left and further away from her and stands in between us, Cormac moving to stand on his other side to further distance the two of us.

"Right, so as we were announcing earlier, the bottom pair with the least votes this week are Jessica and Cormac. In just a moment, we will be announcing which of the remaining two pairs is safe and which one is in danger."

I nearly jump out of my skin as a hand intertwines with my left hand for a brief moment before letting go. Turning to my side, I recognize Kyah flashing me a thumbs up and a small smile  and Maddie assuring me that it's going to be okay as she asks me if I'm fine with holding her hand. When I nod in agreement, a smile graces her features and she takes my hand and gives my palm what I think is meant to be a reassuring squeeze. My arm still aching like it's being attacked again, I smile back at her and turn to the final announcement.

"The pair that is safe and moving on to the final four directly is Valerie and Joshua!"

I can barely believe the booming voice and it seems like Joshua can't either as he looks around, bewildered. The audience and judges erupt into applause, Maddie letting go of my hand to join Kyah and Cormac in applauding for us as Generica sulks and glares daggers at me, her arms crossed in a defensive stance.

I barely remember thanking the judges and wishing Kyah, Maddie and Cormac the best of luck before heading off stage, my hand still linked with Josh's as the next thing I remember is not knowing what to do as I stand awkwardly. I feel a little dizzy, as I've been experiencing quite a few times from as far back as I can remember, but all I can think of is how much my arm is still hurting as I free my palm from Josh's clammy grasp.

No more performing until Friday so, hopefully, I can rest and- oh wait, I've got my final exam on Wednesday! Well, after that, I'll still have a day in which I can cool off. Who knows what's coming after this show, though?

"Miss Tyler, that wasn't half bad," a familiar voice sounds behind me, bringing me to jump back into reality and turn around to recognize the person, whose voice I've been hearing so often for the past three years.

"Why, thank you, Mr. Ertiga!"

Mr. Ertiga is the last person I would've expected to watch me perform, let alone compliment me considering the sheer overload of the times he's suggested I take my studies as seriously as, if not more than, my music and all the plays I've directed, written for and/or acted in. He's always claimed I have far too much cranial capacity to turn to a profession that involves anything that doesn't revolve primarily around intellectual pursuits.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I said the other day. I realize I may have come off as too harsh and that, in all honesty, you're only a twelve-year-old but, in my defense, it's plenty easy to forget that because of all the work you do. I apologize for any regret I may have caused and I trust you will do well in your final exam and go far in whatever field you like whether or not you're intelligent enough to do something else."

His tone sounds genuine enough and he pats my shoulder before wishing me and 'son', as he addresses Josh, the best of luck and exits the green room. Well, that's certainly not what I expected to happen!

"So, about that hag, I'm never going to let her anywhere near you ever again," Josh fumes seconds later.

"Josh, I-"

I forget what I was about to say and begin to say something else when I hear 'Jessica and Cormac' being announced. Either they both are continuing or are both eliminated, but which one? Moments later, all four of them enter backstage, Generica looking smug, Cormac relieved and Maddie and Kyah don indecipherable expressions.

Kyah catches my eye seconds later and tells me what happened, "Jessica and Cormac are both in the final four with the two of you."

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Hey there! Thank you for reading and I'm trying to update as fast as I can so please bear with me as I attempt to juggle many things at once...

Generica is pure evil and I love that! I'm usually all about the villains but I don't particularly like Generica's character, and if you feel the same way, then mission accomplished for me!

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