HAZEL FINE SINGS ALONG (WATTYS 2022 Winner!)

Chapter 28: Secrets, Secrets

A few hours later, Hazel was in a familiar position, standing on the stage, facing the judges, waiting to learn her fate.

Dave, Benji, Bella and Zoey had all been put through. Sarah was out in a flood of tears, and now it was down to her and Cole. They'd been called up the stage together and were standing, as protocol demanded, with their hands intertwined. Cole's hand was cold and clammy, and he was staring at his mom in the front row, who was wearing one of her signature T-shirts and holding a big sign with his face on it.

Cole's performance had been great, if a little uninspired, but he was clearly nervous. Hazel was nervous too, but she was always nervous these days.

Keshawn went through his usual spiel, but when he got to the judges, things started to go awry. Georgia had been increasingly boisterous all night, and Hazel had seen her topple on her heels during a commercial when she'd taken a bathroom break. She'd barely made it back to her seat on time and had tripped into Martin's lap. Where she would normally have laughed it off, this time Georgia took a swat at him and then a phalanx of assistants swept in. When they parted, Georgia was back in her seat, a steaming cup of hot coffee in front of her.

Hazel felt sorry for Georgia, but she was low on her order of priorities. Besides, she was Zoey's mentor, and probably not on her side now, though her comments about Hazel's performance had been positive.

Hazel kicked herself. Not everyone was like Martin, taking things out on other people when they didn't get what they wanted.

"Hazel, Cole, are you ready?" Keshawn said. Even he looked discomfited by the turn of events, though his suit was perfectly pressed as always.

Hazel squeezed Cole's hand. She could go out with dignity. "Ready."

Keshawn ripped open the envelope and read the contents. His eyebrows rose in surprise. "Well, folks, this is something I've never seen before. Cole, Hazel, you both got an equal number of votes. So, you're both through to the next round. Congratulations!"

Hazel's heart skipped a beat, and she reached to hug Cole. "We made it," she said into his ear. "Congratulations."

"Mama's never wrong."

"You're right. She isn't."

"We shouldn't have the same number of votes," Cole said in a petulant tone.

Hazel pulled away. The audience was still applauding and probably no one heard Cole's comment, but she didn't want to take the risk. She raised her hand to the audience, took Cole by the elbow and almost dragged him off the stage.

"Hey, what are you doing?" he said.

Hazel got him into the wings and pulled out his mic from the mic pack. "You're still mic-ed up. You don't want to say something like that on stage."

He pouted. "Well, it's true."

"Look, your mom is great, but she's not magical. She couldn't have known what the exact vote count would be. You're still here. What's the problem?"

Cole jutted out his chin. "Don't talk shit about my mom."

"I wasn't."

"She knows things. She's always right."

"She's human. Mistakes happen. You should be celebrating."

"Nuh-uh. We were tied. That means I'm in trouble. One vote either way, and I was going home."

"Same stands for me."

"Yeah, but..."

"...you're supposed to win," Hazel completed for him.