Chad helped me rewrite the song. Instead of yelling at me for doing something wrong, he patiently explained what I should do and which part I should improve. His support helped dissolve the worries stemming from my bad experiences.

Eventually, I found ease in writing the lyrics. I did my best to focus on the people who kept supporting me. My family, whose craziness and eccentricity always made me smile. Even though I was always stubborn around them, they loved me nonetheless.

I thought about Lily, the first person who became my real best friend. She was the total opposite of me, but she still accepted me for who I was. She was always the one who lifted me when I felt down. She always believed in me. Right now, she was doing her best together with the other members for the pop-dance competition. I should do my best, too.

Lastly, I thought about Chad Harper. Even though we had met just a few days ago, he had already become a huge part of my life. He was the kind of mentor I'd always wanted—easy-going, understanding, and nice.

The day of the recording came, and Lily came by to listen. She confirmed that she and Chad were indeed cousins. Fear and excitement filled me when I introduced myself to the other members of his band called Haste. They didn't treat me as if I were beneath them. In fact, they seemed to respect me as the school's songwriter.

Lily was in the audience's seat, clapping fervently as if she was my number one fan. I smiled at her, silently thanking her for all the good things she had done for me.

"Do your best for this recording," Chad said behind me. He was the lead guitarist, and he looked cool with his electric guitar strapped to his body.

The moment I put the headset on, I knew I was in this moment. I was about to sing my song. I was finally letting my voice out.

As I sang the lyrics, my lyrics, I felt free. With each strum of the guitar, all those people who had pulled me down disappeared. With each beat of the drums, my energy increased. With each hit on the piano keys, all the pain from the past melted away.

When the last note faded into the air, I was smiling widely and gasping for breath. Everyone gathered around and listened to recorded music. My voice sounded different. It wasn't incredibly high or beautiful enough to break glass, but it sounded just right for mellow rock music.

"I love it!" Lily squealed, jumping around and hugging me. "It's my favorite song now."

I laughed. "Wow. Thanks, Lee."

"That was awesome," Chad said. "But let's try to do another one with a little alteration."

I nodded. My throat was aching a bit because of the high note in the second chorus, but I was excited to sing again.

We spent more days and nights practicing everything: my posture and actions when singing on stage, eye contact with the judges and the audience, timing, and all.

After our very last practice, Chad told me, "You're finally blooming." He might have said this jokingly, but he didn't know how much it meant to me.