HAZEL FINE SINGS ALONG (WATTYS 2022 Winner!)

Chapter 38: Didn't See That Coming

The next morning, Hazel woke early and clear headed.

Her mind was full of the same mantra as the night before. She'd done it. She'd made it.

She was in the final two. It was down to her and Benji now.

How had this even happened? Hazel didn't have the energy to think about it the night before. She'd just begged off the after party and gone to her room and dove into sleep like she was diving for pearls.

But now the sun was streaming in the windows because she'd forgotten to close the blackout blinds, and Checkers was hoping around and scratching, and her heart was racing.

She was terrified.

She could admit that now. All the feelings she'd pushed aside, the things she hadn't thought through. How she was never going to remain anonymous if she made it to the end. Someone somewhere would've dredged up her past and exposed it. If she was being honest, she never thought she'd get here. And if she did, then she supposed she would've had some insulation. In the moments she'd let herself think about it, she'd assumed that if it happened after her success, then it wouldn't be that bad. That she might even find a way to tell the story herself, like a controlled explosion used to bring down a building before it fell on its own.

What was she supposed to do now? The building was down, and she was standing in the rubble. It hadn't taken her out, but she was wounded. She still had enemies. People who wished her harm. When it came down to it, were they going to let her win?

Or had she already won? Coming in second was still a potential path to fulfilling her dreams, and that scared her too. Did that happen now a days, though? She couldn't think of the last runner-up on the Sing Along, or any other singing competition, that had gone on to make it big. It happened back in the heyday of American Idol, but that's when the whole concept was new and fresh. Now the attention and prize money went to the winner, and then the next season started up and everyone moved on.

To assure her future, she needed to win. For now, there was nothing she could do but wait it out. The final show was in two days, but today was an off-day before the final preparations began tomorrow.

She needed to get out of the hotel. Do something normal, something for herself that would take her mind off everything.

She rose and fed Checkers, then cleaned out his cage. Then she dressed in running clothes, shoved her hair into a baseball hat, and grabbed her phone and the earbuds that had been in the favor bags for the special guests a couple of weeks ago.

She left her room as she slipped the earbuds into her ears feeling the luxury of something she couldn't afford. She couldn't believe the things they gave away in the favor bags. Rich people didn't need favors, and that's why they left them behind week after week. The contestants were allowed to take them once the show was over, hence the perfect sonic quality that was now in her ears.

She cued up "Heat Wave" by the Glass Animals and loped her way out the back way that she used to get Checkers in and out of the hotel. She ran a few blocks and she felt free. Her feet on the pavement, the song repeating in her ears. This was what she needed.

And then she saw them. A huddle of cars up the road with a telephoto lens hanging out the side. Vultures. She wasn't surprised that she hadn't evaded them, but she was resentful. Couldn't she just go for a run in peace? She was only trying to get some peace.

"Hey, jump in." It was Nick, driving a black SUV. He reached across the passenger's seat and opened the door. "Don't worry, I won't bite."

Hazel looked up the street, then back again at Nick. This would get caught on camera too, but who cared? No one knew who Nick was, sad to say.