Yours Musically

65. No Easy Way Out

Chapter Sixty Five - No Easy Way Out

"Morgan."

The entire auditorium broke into a round of applause and cheers while I slowly released a long breath.

I lost.

"It's okay." Matt brought his mouth to my ear to whisper amidst the noise, "You gave it your best shot. That's what matters the most."

I nodded at him, holding back my tears. "I know."

"Becks," I heard Meera's voice, and my friends engulfed me in a big, group hug. "It's okay," Mack said, ruffling my hair. "It's not a big deal."

"And this was a stupid challenge anyway," Cheryl continued. "Not a grammy or something. You would totally win a grammy, by the way. Fuck all those who voted for your evil namesake. Maybe half of them got confused with your names and thought they were voting for you."

I let out a laugh, nodding. "Thanks, guys."

Everyone slowly began to move out of the auditorium while we stood in silence. I slowly gathered the courage to tell them I was fine or crack a lame joke so they'd stop looking so worried about me.

"Aw look at you!" My ears perked up at the voice and I turned around to find Rebecca walking up to us with a smirk. "I saw this coming months ago, Becks. Why did you have to take up that challenge when you knew you were no match against me? Why would you do that to yourself? Look at you now. I almost feel bad for you."

I swallowed. It was one thing to be defeated and a whole other thing to have the winner rub it in your face like that.

"Rebecca," Matt started with a frown. "Can you leave us alone?"

She smiled sweetly at him. "Anything for you, baby. You see now?" She tilted her head, an intense look flashing in her eyes as she took a step towards him and muttered in a husky voice, "I'm better than her. I'll always be better than her."

The scowl on his face morphed into half a smile like he pitied her. "You may be a better singer but you'll never be half the person she is, let alone a better one."

She swallowed, her face turning red as she shot me glare, her eyes sharp. "Whatever. I still defeated her. You can't possibly still want her—"

"Since I know you can't really tell when your presence is not required anymore even when it's clearly stated to you, I think we'll just leave. Come on, Becks." He took my hand and started pulling me away from her. My friends followed too and I could easily picture the smirk Meera must have thrown her way before walking away.

We made it to the parking lot and my friends said their goodbyes and patted my shoulder with silent reassurance before leaving. Once they were gone, I started looking around for my brother or Nick but they weren't there. Neither was their car. Did they leave already?

I got into Matt's car and we stayed quiet for the entire ride home. When he parked in front of my house, he finally said, "I know you feel really low right now but it's all gonna be okay. Soon you'll be laughing about this challenge because it means nothing, you understand?"

I nodded at him and stepped out of the car.

*****

A knock on my bedroom door in the evening interrupted my moping.

"Come in."

Blake pushed the door open, looking a little unsure as he stood in the doorway. "Hey!"

I smiled at him. That was the first conversation he'd initiated with me after the night he'd found out about Matt and me.