I twirl around in my dress one more time. The bottom of it poofs up as I spin in a circle. A laugh erupts from my lips when I stop and feel a little dizzy. Hannah grabs my arm and drags me back to the chair to finish my makeup. I close my eyes to allow her to finish.

"Are you excited?" Hannah applies some mascara to my eyelashes.

"Yes! This is one of my favorite songs mostly because Olly Murs sang this for his song when he auditioned for the X Factor." I grin, trying not to bounce in my seat.

"I'm sure you will do amazing as always. I don't know what I would do if you got sent home." Hannah tells me, sincerely.

"Awh. I don't know what I would do either. I love it here so much. My life would be boring if I didn't get to see you or anyone else." I skim my fingers over my dress.

"By anyone else, you mean Louis." Hannah laughs. "Okay. Open your eyes."

I open my eyes slowly to see Hannah smiling at me. "What time is it?"

"Eight forty five. They should be coming for you soon." Hannah checks the time on her watch. "Do you remember your dance moves?"

I hop out of the chair, nodding. "I remember everything. It's pretty easy to remember."

The door pops open. "Time to go." Louis says.

"Louis?" I stare at him, shocked. "I thought a staff member would have came to get me."

Louis grins, walking toward me. "They were, but I told them I wanted to go get you."

"You know, this moment feels a lot like a mom saying goodbye to her daughter that is going to prom." Hannah gently pushes me towards Louis.

"I'm in the dress and everything." I glance down at my black strapless dress.

Hannah decided that I should wear a short, black poofy dress tonight because it's Halloween. I'm not a big fan of dresses so I told her the only way I would wear a dress was if I could wear converse with it. We picked out a pair of bright red high top converse to go with my dress. My hair is immensely teased to make it as poofy as possible.

"C'mon." Louis offers me his arm.

"Good luck! I'll be watching from backstage!" Hannah yells at the two of us as we head for the front stage.

"You look beautiful." Louis compliments me.

"Thank you." I blush. "You look pretty handsome yourself."

Neither of us say anything else on our way to the stage. Once we reach the main backstage area, someone comes up to me to hook the microphone on me. My arm falls down to my side when Louis steps away from me. Only a few minutes until I walk out on stage to sing. A few staff members lead me up the few stairs to the back of the doors that will slide open.

"Carter Shay!" The announcer says my name.

The back of the stage turns completely black as the doors slide open. Here we go. The music to Superstition by Stevie Wonder starts playing loudly. I walk out on the stage, dancing a little to the music. The audience screams when they see me. I honestly don't think I will ever get used to this feeling.

I grip the microphone in my hand that is in the microphone stand. "Very superstitious. Writing's on the wall." I sing.

Simon nods his head in approval. Cheryl breaks out into a huge grin while Louis and Danni keep a blank face. I look away from them immediately. I need to stay focused.

"Very superstitious. Ladders 'bout to fall. Thirteen month old baby, broke the lookin' glass. Seven years of bad luck, the good things in your past." I grab the microphone off of the stand and back up a few steps.

Dancers come from my left and right sides and start dancing with each other. Different lights start flashing down on the stage as I dance along with the dancers. Brian thought it would be a good idea for me to actually dance with the dancers. I learned the dance moves easily.

"When you believe in things that you don't understand then you suffer. Superstition ain't the way." I sing into the microphone when one of the male dancers come up to me.

He grabs my left hand like we practiced a million times before. He spins me in a circle before we do a quick dance next to each other. I continue singing the song as we dance. I'm so glad I'm dancing in converse instead of heels. I would never be able to dance this fast with heels on.

"When you believe in things that you don't understand then you suffer. Superstition ain't the way." I finish the song.

The crowd jumps up and cheers for me. I move out of my last pose to walk back to the front of the stage. I think that was my best performance I have ever done. Dermot walks over to me with his microphone in his hand. I try to catch my breath as he asks the judge's about my performance.

Danni frowns at me before speaking. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, but I didn't like that performance. It was sloppy. I don't know what Cheryl was thinking of when she let you move around so much on stage. You are an incredible singer and a wonderful dancer, but don't put those two together. Everything just becomes a huge mess when you do."

My shoulders slump down when I hear Danni's opinion. Was I really that bad? I thought I did really good. The audience boos loudly at Danni.

"I disagree with you." Cheryl sticks up for me. "I think Carter did an amazing job tonight." The venue fills up with screams. "Carter was able to dance and sing at the same time without messing up. Not many professional singers can do that. She deserves to be on this show."

I clutch the microphone in both of my hands. For once, I have no idea what to say. I practiced so hard this week. How did I screw up? Brian helped me with my dance moves until I could do them perfectly. Savan, my vocal coach, made sure that I could hit all of my notes while I was dancing.

"I hate to say this, but I agree with Danni." Louis Walsh breaks me from my thoughts. "I felt like this whole performance was a bit to much for you. A professional singer should have a performance like this."

"Carter will be a professional singer one day!" Cheryl cuts him off. "She sang this song like she was a professional singer."

Louis shakes his head at her. "No, she didn't. This performance was way too big for her. Carter isn't ready for this yet."

"Simon, what do you think about Carter's performance?" Dermot sets his arm around my shoulders, comfortingly.

Simon is leaning back on his leather chair with a blank expression on his face. Oh no. He doesn't like it. Everyone knows that Simon's opinion counts the most. If he doesn't like what you did then you are most like going home.

"I think that you did a brilliant job tonight." Simon smiles at me. The venue fills up with loud screams and cheers. "I don't know what Danni and Louis are thinking. Not many singers can sing Stevie Wonder, but I think you did incredible. I still believe that you have a very good chance of winning this show."

"Thank you." I whisper into the microphone.

Danni shakes her head. "Yes, she sang the song well, but it was sloppy. Carter, there is a good chance that you could be in the bottom two tomorrow."

"If you want Carter to stay tomorrow than make sure you vote for her." Dermot turns us to face a different camera.

I block out Dermot's voice as I stare out at the crowd. There is a good chance that I could be going home tomorrow. Two out of four judges thought I did an amazing job. The other two thought my performance was sloppy and that I'm going to be in the bottom two tomorrow night. I'm not ready to leave. What about the deal I made with Louis?

Dermot pushes me gently to walk off of the stage. I hand my microphone to a staff member and walk down the few steps to get backstage. Two arms immediately fling around me, pulling me into a hug. I hug the person, not caring who it is, tightly.

"I can't believe Danni and Louis said that. Everyone backstage thought you did an incredible job. Even the dancers thought your performance was phenomenal." I recognise the person's voice as Cher's.

"I don't want to go home yet." I choke, realising I've been crying this entire time. "I love it here and I made that deal with Louis."

"What deal?"

"I told Louis that if both of us stayed through this week than I would forgive him. I really like him, Cher. I don't want to go home." I cry into her shoulder.

Cher rubs my back to calm me down. "It's okay. Everything will work out."

•

•

"Carter? Carter? Are you listening?" A hand comes into my vision and their fingers snap repeatedly.

I jerk my head back away from their fingers. "What?" I snap.

Cher places her hands on her hips. "Would you stop zoning out? You are going to be fine."

I roll my eyes at her. "Are you kidding me? I'm in the bottom two. How am I going to be fine?!" I realise how harsh that sounded and immediately feel guilty. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap. I'm just nervous."

Cher half smiles. "It's okay. I understand. Did you talk to Louis last night?"

I sit down on the first step of the stairs to the main stage. "If you consider crying in his arms about not wanting to leave, talking. Then yes, we did talk."

Belle Amie finishes singing their survival song on the main stage. About an hour ago, the bottom two we're revealed. Danni was right last night. I was placed in the bottom two. I was hoping it wouldn't happen, but it did. Belle Amie is also in the bottom two with me. I hate knowing that one of us will be leaving tonight.

"Carter, you are about to go on stage." A short, blonde girl steps up to me.

I stand up and take a deep breath. "Okay."

She hooks a microphone onto my dress. "Belle Amie is about to walk up and then you will go up."

I nod my head, understanding. Now it's my turn to sing for survival. I picked a song that I thought fit me pretty well. Well, it actually fits Louis and me pretty well. This song is just a way for me to say that if I go home tonight that I'm not giving up on us.

I walk onto the stage when the staff member tells me to. The crowd cheers for me and I smile at them. I stand in the middle of the stage with my microphone in my hands, waiting for my cue to start singing.

"Okay. Here is Carter Shay singing for survival. Best of luck to you." Cheryl introduces me.

"When I look into your eyes, it's like watching the night sky or a beautiful sunrise. There's so much they hold and just like them old stars. I see that you've come so far to be right where you are.

How old is your soul?" I sing along to the music.

"Cause I won't give up on us. Even if the stars get rough. I'm giving you all my love. I'm still looking up" I walk around the stage to the part that is behind the judges.

If this is my last day here than I want to remember this feeling. All of my fans near my feet reach up to me. I smile at them as I continue to sing this song.

"'Cause even the stars they burn. Some even fall to the earth. We've got a lot to learn. God knows we're worth it." I walk past the judge's table to the end where Simon is sitting.

All of the judge's are smiling at me. I hope they like my performance. I'm not ready to leave yet.

"I don't wanna be someone who walks away so easily. I'm here to stay and make the difference that I can make. I had to learn what I've got, and what I'm not, and who I am." I sing my heart out. "I won't give up on us. Even if the stars get rough. I'm giving you all my love. I'm still looking up, still looking up."

I walk back to the main stage. "I won't give up on us. God knows I'm tough enough. We've got a lot to learn. God knows we're worth it. I won't give up." I carry out the last note as long as I can.

When I finish, everyone starts to clap and cheer. I drop my right arm to my side. I truly hope this wasn't my last performance on this show.

Cheryl waits for the crowd to stop before speaking. "Wow. Just wow. That was absolutely amazing. You did an amazing job at singing that song. I still don't understand why you were in the bottom two, but I think that performance just proved that you belong here."

Dermot and Belle Amie walk out on the stage together. Dermot stands in the middle between us. I cast a quick smile to Belle Amie. They smile back and grab each other's hand. I wish I could hold someone's hand while I waited. I glance to my left to see everyone waiting behind the curtain where the audience can't see them. Louis gives me two thumbs up in encouragement.

"We have Belle Amie and Carter Shay in the bottom two. The judge's get to decide who gets sent home and who gets to stay. Louis?" Dermot speaks into the microphone in his hand.

Louis Walsh leans forward on the table. "Both of you were incredible tonight, but the person I choose to stay is Carter Shay."

I gasp in shock. I didn't expect him to want me to stay. Tears gather in my eyes as I wait for the other three judges to state who they want to stay.

"I adore both of you, but I am going to back up my girl, Carter Shay. She has proved many times that she wants to be here and that she deserves to be here." Cheryl smiles at me from the judge's table.

Danni looks at Belle Amie and me. "I just want you girls to know that this decision was very hard for me. You are both amazing singers, but only one deserves to stay and that is Belle Amie."

My shoulders slump in disappointment. I should have known that she was going to say that. Danni has a soft spot for Belle Amie.

"Carter and Belle Amie, you are both very talented. The one that I think deserves to stay on this show has never ceased to disappoint me. I have liked them from the very beginning. To be quite honest, they are one of my favorites this season and that is Carter Shay." Simon says.

My hands come up to my mouth in shock. Simon backed me up instead of Belle Amie. I would have thought he would have picked Belle Amie because he mentors them. The girl's from Belle Amie pull me into a hug.

"Good luck, Carter." Sophia whispers in my ear.

"Thank you!" I cry, hugging her tightly. "I'll miss you."

Dermot motions for me to leave the stage. I wave goodbye to Belle Amie before practically skipping off of the stage. I run down the few stairs to the backstage area. Louis is waiting a few feet away from me and I run towards him. I throw myself into his arms, hugging him as tightly as possible.

I'm so glad I don't have to leave him.

•••••••

Author's Note:

Did you like it? 'Cause I did. I almost made this into two chapters, but I didn't want to make you wait. I'm a good person.

Oh, I know that I Won't Give Up wasn't written in 2010, but I felt like it fit this story well. So, let's just pretend that it was. I try to have Carter only song songs that was before 2010 because this X Factor was in 2010. So, yeah.

Question...What was your favorite cartoon as a kid?

I really liked Rocket Power, Kim Possible, The Wild Thornberries, and many more.

So, yeah!

Comment!