The Voice that changed their Life (Good Charlotte Fan Fiction)

Chapter 5

"This is 'The Voice'! Welcome to the Battle Rounds!"
The audience cheered and clapped their hands and the volume went up inside the big room.
Megan put her hands over her ears and closed her eyes for a second.
"Don't act like that.", Mrs. Maleficent hissed at her and pulled her hands back down.
Megan felt her little body tensing up again and she fought to keep the tears in her eyes that were threatening to fall. She wanted to be with Benji and Cameron now. But Benji was on his chair in front of the stage with Joel and the other coaches and Cameron, who had wanted to wait with her, had been sent away by Mrs. Maleficent. The old woman had said that Megan didn't need any more distraction than what she had already. Megan had been too scared to talk back to Mrs. Maleficent again and so Cameron had left them, but not after hugging Megan one last time.
The truth was Megan wanted to be distracted really badly. The fear of losing and the nervousness of singing in front of all those people were worse than ever. She had practiced her song over and over again and she was sure she could even sing the song backwards now, but her feelings almost let her go crazy. She wanted someone to hug her and tell her that everything was going to be okay, but all Mrs. Maleficent did was nagging about everything.
"Your hair is a mess again.", she said and pulled a comb out of her purse. "Stand still now."
Megan obeyed and the old woman started to comb the little girl's hair roughly. A small pain shot through Megan's head and she yelped lightly.
"Stop complaining. You want to look as pretty as you can, don't you? You know that you need to win this. We barely have another month of food and nobody got adopted during these last two weeks. The money will help us get back on track and when you are famous you will have a lot of fans and hopefully a lot of people will get to know our orphanage and come to adopt more children from then on."
Megan didn't really listen to what she said. She was still too afraid of what was about to come.
Right after Mrs. Maleficent put the comb away, Janine and Sam, Megan's group partners, joined them with their parents. Sam also seemed slightly nervous but Janine had a wide smile on her face.
"This is so exciting!", she whispered and Megan just looked at her blankly.
"Oh, come on.", Janine actually giggled and hugged Megan close to her for a second. Megan enjoyed the embrace and breathed in deeply to calm herself down.
"Let's all do our best.", Janine said and Sam nodded. "And most of all, let's have fun up there!"
And then they were called onto the stage. Megan froze in her movements and Sam and Janine had to grab her hands and pull her up on the big stage which now actually looked like a boxing ring. Just because this was called the Battle Rounds. Megan had to admit that it actually looked cool, but she was just too nervous to even think straight.
They took their places next to each other with a few feet between them and then the music started. Megan grabbed her microphone tight because she was scared to let it fall down on the floor. The lights blinded her once again but this time it didn't help her at all. She tried to make out Benji and when she saw him she let out a sigh of relief. Everything inside of her told her to run up to him and hold him tight but she knew that this would cause a lot of problems. The lights changed and then she could see his face clearly.
Both men were sitting in their chairs with their bodies moved forwards, as if they were trying to get closer to them to hear their voices even more. She caught Benji's eye and he winked at her and pointed his thumb up lightly, before he turned his gaze back to Sam who was singing now.
The chorus was about to start and Megan lifted up the microphone and sang with the other two kids. Then it was her time. Her heart beat so fast and she could hear the rushing of her blood in her ears as she closed her eyes again and sang for Benji, and for Benji only.
But she couldn't help it. She was nervous and she felt some of the words trembling lightly as she sang them. As her part was finished she wrapped her arms around herself and looked at Janine, whose turn was next.
After another chorus everything was over. The audience cheered and applause was rising up loudly through the big room.
"Wow", Joel said and shook his head in amazement. "You did a great job, all three of you. It's really hard to decide how to go on."
Benji nodded and looked each of the three in the eyes, staying a bit longer with Megan.
"Each of you did their best tonight. And it was a pleasure for us to coach you during this last week. But we have to make a decision."
"Janine, you were singing like this is what you've been doing all your life and we could see that you really enjoyed being up on that stage.", Joel said.
"Yes", Janine beamed and giggled lightly as the crowd cheered again.
"Sam", Benji went on and the boy tensed up lightly. "You were quite shy to begin with, but look at what you achieved today. You left all those people open mouthed because of your voice tonight."
The applause rose up again and Megan looked at Joel, who now turned towards her.
"Little Megan", he started and Megan felt like she would lose the ground under her feet. She just wanted to sit down in a quiet corner so badly right now.
"You are the youngest contestant on this show and it is really admirable how you have grown in this past week. You have a beautiful voice and I am sure it will grow even more as you gain more experiences in your life."
She could just stare at him, feeling his words filling her heart with a nice warm feeling, and nodded lightly. He gave her a reassuring smile. He looked so much like Benji, Megan thought. They had the same smile sometimes.
Now it was Benji's turn again: "We are so proud of the three of you and we wish you all the best for your future life. But now it's our time to decide."
They both turned to each other and put their hands over their microphones while they talked. Benji said something and Joel nodded. Then they both looked back at the three kids on the stage. Megan felt like she couldn't breathe anymore.
"We choose...", Joel said and then both twins said simultaneously: "Janine!"
Megan just turned numb.
Janine couldn't trust her ears and just stared at Sam and at Megan. The little girl looked back at the taller one and smiled lightly.
"You earned it.", she whispered and hugged Janine lightly.
Sam also hugged the both of them and then it was Janine's turn to walk down to the Madden brothers and hug them and get her congratulations from them.
The audience also cheered for Megan and Sam once more and then they were guided down the stage towards their coaches, who came towards them. Joel reached her first and bent down to hug her.
"You do have a great voice. And if you feel like becoming a singer when you are older, I am pretty sure you can do it.", he said and she only stared at him.
She didn't want to become a singer. She just wanted to stay with them, especially with Benji. But that part of her life was over now and she just tried her hardest not to cry in front of everybody.
Benji reached her and she wrapped her arms around his waist before he had the chance to bend down to her. She buried her head in his stomach and just wished for the world to stop spinning now.
The tattooed man rubbed over her back lightly. His heart almost broke at the view of the little girl when they had congratulated Janine. He wondered if she really was so worried about not ever seeing him again or if there was something else. After all, she had told Cameron that she was forced to be on this show. Wasn't that what Cameron had said?
"You need to let go of him now.", the moderator spoke into Megan's ears and she nodded lightly and moved her arms down to her sides.
"Meggy", Benji sighed quietly and ruffled her hair gently.
She loved that feeling but she was sure Mrs. Maleficent would be furious when she saw what he did with her hair. Mrs. Maleficent... Megan didn't want to meet that woman just now.
The moderator gently shoved her towards the stairs that would lead them back into the backstage area and that was when Megan saw Cameron sitting in the crowd. She looked at Benji again, hoping this wasn't the last time she would see him, and then she ran off to Cameron. Like during the rehearsals she just jumped on the woman's lap and Cameron held her tight.
"You did a great job.", Cameron whispered into her ear. "I am so proud of you."
That's when Megan's strength broke down. Tears flooded her eyes in merely seconds and she buried her head in Cameron's shoulder and started crying heavily.
The woman noticed the girl's break down and just stood up with her in her arms and carried her into the backstage area.
"It's alright, Meggy.", Cameron said as she sat down on a chair with the little girl on her lap once again, now having some privacy.
"No", Megan whispered and shook her head. "I lost. I disappointed everyone."
"What? No, you did not.", Cameron said seriously and gently forced her to look at her. "We are proud of you and you did a great job. But you are too young for this business and you said yourself that you didn't want to keep on singing in front of so many people. Now you never have to do this again if you don't want to. But you did and you even went through with it tonight and you can be so proud of yourself now, Megan."
"Really?", Megan whispered and Cameron nodded with a smile on her face. "I am proud of you and Benji is proud of you. Even Joel is proud of you.", she said and with every word Megan felt a little better.
Suddenly the moderator, followed by Mrs. Maleficent, came up to them.
"It's over for you now.", he told Megan, but he wasn't being unfriendly. He just said how it was. "If you left anything, you can pick it up now and it is your time to go."
"No!", Megan said panic-stricken and shook her head. "I need to say goodbye to Benji first!"
"We don't have time for that." Mrs. Maleficent's strict voice made Megan hug Cameron close again.
Even if Mrs. Maleficent was a really stern person, she was also polite if she had to be. So she walked up to Cameron and reached her hand out to her.
"I hadn't had the chance to introduce myself. My name is Dolores Maleficent, I am head of the orphanage where Megan is living.", she said and Cameron took her hand.
"Cameron Diaz", she said. "Nice to meet you."
Mrs. Maleficent's eyes widened at Cameron's name, but she didn't say anything about it.
"Are you ready now, Megan?", the old woman asked and Megan shook her head again and held onto Cameron.
"No! Benji is not here yet." She started crying again.
"I am sure he will be here soon. Let's just wait a couple minutes?", Cameron suggested but Mrs. Maleficent shook her head.
"I am really sorry but we have to get going now. I have an appointment in a bit more than an hour and we still need to get back home."
Home? The orphanage was no home for Megan. She felt Mrs. Maleficent's cold hand on her shoulder and looked up at Cameron.
"Thank you for everything.", she told the woman, wiping away her tears and Cameron gave her a sad smile.
"You are very welcome. I love you, little Meggy.", she said and kissed Megan's forehead.
"I love you, too.", Megan said and kissed Cameron's cheek before she slowly climbed off her lap.
"Mrs. Maleficent?", Cameron spoke up and the old woman grabbed Megan's hand tightly as if she was afraid that Megan would run off and then she looked at the other woman.
"Could we come over to visit Megan some time?", Cameron asked and Megan's face lit up like a candle.
"And you bring Benji?", she asked quietly and Cameron nodded and winked at her.
Mrs. Maleficent looked from Megan to Cameron and then nodded lightly.
"Of course. The orphanage is always open for visitors. Just make sure you give us a call first."
And with that said the old woman pulled Megan out of the room and away from one of the only two persons Megan felt like she really belonged to.