I stand here at the center of the wooden stage, the yellow glare of the spotlight shining brightly against my face. I’m shaking like a leaf; the microphone I hold in my hand now looks more like a black blur. The theater is a full house tonight. I can even see my parents’ grinning faces in the third row. Great.

I’m an excellent chorus member. I can pitch out a high C in an instant, but only if there’s a choir of voices to back me. I can tap-dance like Fosse himself, but only if I’m surrounded by a group of smiling girls in tights.

But being in the chorus gets boring after a while, you know? You start to yearn for your own chance at the spotlight. So when the school’s annual talent show rolled around, I was the first one to sign up. Unfortunately, I had forgotten what a wreck I am onstage alone.

So here I stand, my stomach doing flips, the piano introduction to my solo drawing to its end. As the final chord plays, I have no choice. The moment of truth.

I close my eyes tightly, and…