"Yo, Valentino! Did you hear about the Talent show?"

"What? Huh?" Valentino questioned, snapping out of his daydream about *cough* James *cough*

"The Talent show." Mikayla repeated, emphasizing the words so Valentino could hear her in the noisy cafeteria.

"Oh! No, I haven't!" Valentino responded.

"What?! Seriously? Well, the auditions are next Tuesday afterschool. I'm gonna try out, and I think you should too! I asked Deserea, but she said no, she's too scared." The sunny girl teased.

"What! I'm not scared! I just have no talent!"

"You do have talent! You just don't wanna admit it!"

"What is there to admit?"

"That you have a better singing voice than anyone in this school, you're just too shy!"

"What?! Na-uh!"

"Ya-huh!"

"Girls, girls you're both pretty. Can I go home now?" Valentino said in order to stop his friends from fighting. Mikayla's eyes lit up. 

"MEGAMIND?!"

Valentino nodded. "Yup."

The bell interrupted the group's discussion. 

"Welp, see you guys later." Deserea called to them as she quickly packed up her stuff and rushed to her classroom. Soon enough Mikayla was also running off, bidding adú to Valentino. Leaving him to walk back to class alone, not that that's new.

Hmm. A talent show, eh?

~Le time skip~

It was after school on Tuesday, meaning a good portion of the school was packed into the auditorium, some auditioning, others there for support. Mikayla, Valentino, and Deserae sat near the back of the auditorium so they wouldn't be in the way of the younger kids who wanted to watch their friends audition. Mikayla was going over the lyrics to the song she was going to sing while Valentino just sat, trying to calm down. Deserea was finishing up her homework and occasionally tried to encourage them, which was obviously not her strong suit. Soon enough the auditions started. 

Only 25 acts would make the cut, so everyone was trying their best. Some were defiantly better than others. And then it was Mikayla's turn. Her two friends wished her good luck and she walked towards the stage. Even from the back, Valentino could tell she was scared. He gave her a thumbs up and she nodded towards him. Then he saw her eyes shift to a girl a couple rows in front of the pair, Samara. Samara did the same thing as Valentino and he could've sworn Mikayla blushed. 

Mikayla took a deep breath and sang.  

When it rain it pours but you didn't even notice

It ain't rainin' anymore, it's hard to breathe when all we know is

The struggle of staying above, the rising water line

Well the sky is finally open, the rain and wind stopped blowin'

But you're stuck out in the same old storm again

You hold tight to your umbrella, darlin' I'm just tryin' to tell ya

That there's always been a rainbow hangin' over your head

If you could see what I see, you'd be blinded by the colours

Yellow, red and orange and green, and at least a million others

So tie up your bow, take off your coat and take a look around

'Cause the sky is finally open, the rain and wind stopped blown'

But you're stuck out in the same old storm again

You hold tight to your umbrella, darlin' I'm just tryin' to tell ya

That there's always been a rainbow hangin' over your head

Oh tie up your bow, take off your coat and take a look around

Everything is alright now

'Cause the sky is finally open, the rain and wind stopped blowin'

But you're stuck out in the same old storm again

Let go of your umbrella, darlin' I'm just tryin' to tell ya

That there's always been a rainbow hangin' over your head

Yeah there's always been a rainbow hangin' over your head

It all be alright

Claps! Claps all around! Most violently from the back, where Valentino was! Mikayla flushed a deep red and hurried off stage. She threw herself into the seat next to Valentino, hunched over and hugged her knees, as if she could hide herself from the embarrassment she felt. Her two friends giggled and ensured her that she did fine. 

"Valentino, 5th grade." 

"Oh god..." The said boy whispered.

"You got this!" Mikayla exclaimed enthusiastically, springing out of her position in support.

"You're not that bad, you'll survive." Desirae droned, not even looking up from her paper on science that was due in two weeks.

"Gee, thanks." Valentino snarked, standing up and and walking towards the microphone on the stage. 

This is when the nerves really get to you, right before you go on stage. Hands shaking, legs wobbling, breath quickening, he walked up the dreaded stage steps, where it would be so easy to trip and fall, to center stage. Feeling all the eyes on you, all the pressure, all the tension building up rising, higher and higher, and when will it stop, and everyone hates you, and why did you do this-

And then the music starts. And it all comes crashing down. Channeling his emotions into the words and his voice, he sang. Sang his heart out. Anger and acceptance! That's what this song was about, acceptance. Accepting your flaws and quirks and acknowledging your good attributes! Knowing that it's okay to be you! Finally, Valentino understood! Understood not to be ashamed of his dark skin, or of his girly voice, or of his crush on a guy, or being gay in general! The final lyric was coming, and he had to make it count! 

"This is me."