Chapter 24

As always, our class will be singing on Main Street during the Jar Island holiday tree lighting next Tuesday, which means we have a week to get these numbers in tip-top shape. So let’s dive right in!”

He tinkles a few keys and we begin our standard warmups. It feels good to use my throat, to hear my voice blend into everyone else’s.

Afterward Mr. Mayurnik says, “Great. Now that we’re good and warm, we need to figure out who will be singing our solos. Can all the sopranos to come to the front of the room.”

I’m a soprano, so I stand up. As I squeeze through the rows, I get nervous. Instantly nervous. I do okay singing in the back of the class, but here, with everyone looking up at us, I feel my throat close up. My dad pops into my head, because he always says that I have a pretty voice. So pretty he makes me sing “Happy Birthday” twice before he’ll blow out his candles. He doesn’t even care that the cake gets covered in melted wax.

But that memory doesn’t make things better. It makes me