Song of the chapter- 'She Wolf' by Shakira

'There's a she wolf in the closet,
Open up and set it free,
There's a she wolf in the closet,
Let it out so it can breathe.'

"Valerie, c'mon, wake up!" someone's persistent shaking of my shoulder pulls me out of the haze swarming my head but only a little.

"For heaven's sake, don't do that!" someone else yells and the shaking ceases.

"Everyone, move back and give her some space, for heaven's sake!" the second voice sternly informs everyone.

I slowly drift back to consciousness, an acute pain in my ankle and a dull ache in my chest dragging me further awake. I become aware of gusts of air blowing my way and someone running their hand in soothing motions on my head. I try to open my eyes or move my limbs but my body fiercely fights against any movement.

"I told you we should've taken her to a hospital right away!" a shrill voice sounds about the room, the voice further adding to my fight as I fight back my body until I'm able to flutter open my eyelids, even if only a bit.

"Oh, thank goodness!" someone sighs in relief, their joy that I responded prominent in their voice.

I slowly open my eyes completely, taking in all the worried faces surrounding me. I open my mouth to say something but a coughing fit interrupts me, someone rubbing my back calmingly till it subsides.

I slowly sit up properly, taking in deep breaths until the feeling of utter hopelessness that overwhelmed me earlier dissipates.

"How do you feel?" someone asks me.

"Okay, I'm good," I say and leap up to my feet, which turns out to be a terrible decision because black spots dance around in my vision and I feel a little dizzy.

"Whoa, whoa, cool down, Valerie!" Josh steadies me by latching on to my arm until I'm fine. After the spots fade away, I slip my feet into my boots. I'm not sure I know when and how they came off though.

"Erm, Valerie? Are you suiting up to perform?" Josh asks me. When I nod in response, he reminds me I was unconscious merely five minutes ago.

"So what? Really, Josh, I'm fine. Look!" I pick up my violin and play a couple of notes while hopping around. Josh stares at me, probably bewildered by my bizarre behaviour, as do nearly all the people in the room. A laugh rings around the room, making me turn to the source.

"Oh, I knew you'd be fine, thank goodness!" she runs to me and hugs me.

"Oh, I'm invincible, Stacie!" I say and pretend to show off my bulging biceps, earning more laughter.

"What do you say I sing now?" I turn to the judges.

"Sure! If you're ready?"

"Leggo!" I reenter the stage from the sidewings as the judges return to their spots and the many many people disperse. I take in a deep breath and introduce myself once everyone's in their places and tell the judges they haven't heard anything like this before, earning many chuckles from the audience.

I'm given my cue to begin and, this time around, I finish it off in one go, my hands seemingly flying at the rate at which they're playing. Good then, it's exactly how I wanted it to be...

The judges and audience applaud as I finish and the former give their feedback, one even going so far as to say he's never heard She Wolf sung in such a way.

Overall, there are mostly positive responses and I'm informed that I have enough votes to move on to the next round. Stacie engulfs me in a huge hug when I scurry off stage and congratulates me.

Many people greet me and congratulate me but my eyes are peeled open for Josh, who'd told me he'd be performing as the second act after me. I finally spot him standing nervously in the sidewings.

"Say, Stacie, do you mind if I stay back here for a little while?" I say, eyeing Josh. Stacie follows my line of vision and nods.

"Sure, go 'head. I'll be sitting in the sixth row in case you need anything, alright?" she says and walks away. Making my way over to Josh, I tap on his shoulder and ask him if he's nervous.

"Kinda yeah," he admits.

"I have no doubt that you're going to kick rear!" I tell him, causing him to laugh endlessly until his eyes start leaking.

"Oh my, that's hilarious! Seriously, I doubt you've heard me sing before."

"Well, I haven't but I will tonight. And it'll be a travesty if you can't sing because then you wouldn't have made it till here, okay?" I reassure him.

"Okay! But for the full effect, I suggest you watch from the audience," he suggests.

"Alrighty then, I'll watch from there and-"

"Meet me in the sidewings afterward?" he finishes for me.

"Sure!" I add and walk out after patting his back. After scouting out the sixth row, I locate Stacie. When I get closer, Vanessa notices me and pulls Violet out of her seat and motions me to sit.

"Vallie!" the younger squeals when she sees me, prompting me to shush her. She nods and sits on my lap and gives me a peck on the cheek, telling me I was awesome. She goes to sit with Tracie before turning her attention back to the stage where the next contestant is being introduced.

I remember that I left my case in the sidewings. I tell Van I'll go get Electra's case and have reached the sidewings when I notice that the girl on stage has unfortunately forgotten her words.

She looks around in panic, the playback music still playing but she's left silent. I rack my brain hard to recognize the song. Ugh, why is this so hard to remember?

The judges are about to stop the music when her eyes meet mine and a pleading look overtakes her face. At that moment, the song clicks in my head and I can't believe I didn't recognize it earlier. Smacking my head, I sing loud enough for her to hear as her expression softens and she smiles.

'Let's go all the way tonight
No regrets, just love'

She picks up the words and begins to sing, keeping her eyes trained on me.

'We can dance until we die
You and I, will be young forever

You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream
The way you turn me on, I can't sleep
Let's run away and don't ever look back
Don't ever look back'

She seems to have remembered the words and continues singing, flashing me a thumbs up. I smile at her and stop mouthing the words, her continuing on effortlessly.

She finishes on a crisp note, bringing the audience to applaud. She finds me and mouths a 'thank you so much' to me and blows a kiss my way.

"My pleasure!" I mouth back, bringing her to smile as she turns back to the judges. The judges laud her recovery and remind her to be better prepared the next time.

I hurriedly pick up my case and return back to the seat next to Vanessa, eager to listen to Josh and happy for - by Thor, I don't know her name!

The next person to perform is Josh and he does the usual introductory spiel and begins. His voice is like nothing I've ever heard before, its beauty making my heart skip several beats.

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Hey, y'all! Here's the next chapter, and be sure to let me know what you think of the story so far...

Oh, and, in case you're confused, Valerie experienced an anxiety attack and had low blood pressure because she hadn't eaten anything in over eight hours so she collapsed.

In other news, tazell made this amazing cover for the book and I love it! 😍

Also, now for some shameless self promotion, my book Short Gems has been nominated in the Gold Ivory awards held by GoldIvoryAwards alongside several other great books so go and vote ASAP for your favourite (nominated) books...

That's all for now, see ya soon with the next chapter!

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