Saved By Music (Saved Series- Book 2)

Chapter 1

I immediately recognize the song as the piano intro starts playing. It's one of my favorites.

Everyday is so wonderful
Then suddenly
It's hard to breathe

The young, female singer's voice is a little shaky at first. Still, I smile. She definitely has some talent.

Now and then I get insecure
From all the pain
I'm so ashamed

Being a judge on this year's season of The Voice has been great so far. When I was asked to be a judge on this year's season of The Voice, I was hesitant. I had judged X Factor USA for two seasons a few years before, and I wasn't sure if I really wanted to judge another talent competition. But, one of my best friends, Matthew Scott, convinced me. Plus, Kelly Clarkson is a judge too, and I've always been a fan of her.

Today is the fifth day of the blind auditions, and no one has turned their chair for this girl yet. 

I am beautiful
No matter what they say
Words can't bring me down
I am beautiful

As her voice continues to get stronger, I hear clear talent shining through. Her voice is a little raspy, but the sound fits the song perfectly.

In every single way
Yes words can't bring me down
Oh no
So don't you bring me down today

I look over at Kelly and see that her hand is hovering, waiting to turn her chair around. That's when I know that I need this girl on my team. When I turn around, Kelly immediately follows.

I watch the girl performing. She has dirty-blonde hair and looks small on stage, but she still has presence. Her face lights up seeing two chairs turned.

'Cause we are beautiful
No matter what they say
Yes words won't bring us down
Oh no
We are beautiful
In every single way
Yes words can't bring us down
Oh no
So don't you bring me down today

Once the song is finished, Kelly and I stand up to applaud. I see that the rest of the judges are clapping too as their chairs turn around.

"What's your name?" Kelly asks the performer once we're sitting back down.

"My name is Samantha Baxter," she replies. "I'm 15 years old, and I'm from New York City."

"Well," Kelly starts, "I thought you were incredible, especially for your age, and I loved your song choice. Is that usually your genre?"

"Pretty much any type of ballad, especially pop and RnB," she says.

"I think we'd get along great," Kelly continues, trying to win Samantha over. "Your voice is so gorgeous, and you seem really sweet; I would love to have you on my team."

"What can I say to get you to join my team?" I ask jokingly. "It is hard to compete with Kelly, but I know I could take you far. Not only did you sing one of my favorite songs, but you sang it wonderfully. You are meant to be a part of this competition, and I would love it if you could be on my team."

"I love both of you so much," Samantha says. "It's a really hard choice, but I'm going to go with Demi."

I stand up and throw my arms into the air. 

"Thank you, Samantha," I say. "I can't wait to start working with you."

---

Although I enjoy work, I am grateful to go home in the evening. I am greeted by my dogs when I step into my house. Lately, all I've done is work and rest; I haven't seen my family in a few months. The people I see the most are everyone from The Voice and my team.

Ever since I almost relapsed last year, fired Phil, and Scooter became my manager, I thought things would get better. And some things, such as my eating disorder, have, but I'm still not totally happy.

As I get ready for bed, I think about Samantha, the only singer to join my team today. I'm excited to work with her more so than the others on my team so far. She sang "Beautiful" as though she's been through a lot in her life, and I want to get to know her. 

Once I'm in bed, I go on Instagram. I search for everyone who's already on my team to follow them. I don't know if I'm supposed to follow their accounts, but I want to get to know them.

It takes longer to find Samantha's account. Her account is private, so I request to follow it. Her profile picture is of a small girl figure skating that I assume is the younger version of her. I look her up on Google once I'm done on Instagram. A few videos of a girl who is definitely the same Samantha figure skating show up first. I watch a few of them, and I notice just how talented she is. I wonder if she quit figure skating. Then I see an article that reads: "Samantha Baxter, 15 year old figure skater, quits after being offered deal for the Olympics."

Why did she quit? I wonder.

---

The next morning, I receive a notification that Samantha accepted my follow request. I select her Instagram account and scroll through a few of her posts. There's a period of time with no posts at all. Before that time, everything is figure skating related, and after that time, everything is music related.

I wish that the blind auditions were over, so I could spend some time with my team already, but there's still a few days left before that happens.

I get in my car and head on my way to work. I'm glad I agreed to judge this season.

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Not the most interesting chapter, but here is the introduction to the sequel of "Saved By Demi Lovato." If you haven't read that story, you should first to make sense of this one. Any and all feedback is appreciated. I am not sure how often I'll be able to update this story, but I will try to as often as possible. Thanks for reading!

Timeline: This story starts in March 2019; it is The Voice season 16, just Demi is a judge in place of John Legend, and the singers are different. Demi did not relapse or overdose in 2018, but everything else from her life happened, including switching managers from Phil to Scooter.