“and the soprano solo will be sung by Maddie Byrd.” My jaw dropped and I covered my mouth, tears forming in my eyes as I was smothered by hungs and a chorus of, “I didn’t know you could sing like that!”
Mr. Rosser grinned at me. “Ha! Now the choir knows you exist,” he said, and I laughed. That was what I had wanted. That was the day I started to talk again. I didn’t mind people as much, I even welcomed a bit of conversation. After I performed, I realized how I was more than a face, and the applause of the choir, and later a crowd, proved that. I could be whoever I wanted, I didn’t have to keep hiding behind myself because I had made mistakes. I think now that I might not have to end up in some dead-end job. I want to do something creative with my life, and music is the best way to do that. Something taught in choir is that the reason to sing is to make the world a better place, and that the choir’s job is to make beautiful music. I don’t want that to end with high school choir. Standing up in front of a crowd of my peers was one of the scariest things I had ever made myself do, but it gave me something to dream about in