Chapter Five
OUT OF THE COMFORT ZONE
The Monday after the meet, Jenny went to talk to Coach Turner before practice. She’d spent all weekend reliving her terrible performance and had come up with only one solution — she had to quit the team.
“I just can’t do it,” Jenny told Coach. “I wasn’t sure about trying out in the first place, and after what happened at the meet … It was a mistake joining the team. I’ll only bring everyone down.”
Coach Turner put her arm around Jenny, who had started crying. “Jenny,” she said, “you are an amazing swimmer. You’re one of our strongest during practice. I know you feel badly about the meet, but you do belong on this team. You just had a little stage fright, that’s all. We can work on that.”
“Really?” Jenny sniffed. “I don’t know, Coach. It was so awful.”
“You just need to get used to the idea of being in the spotlight,” Coach said. “Try doing something out of your comfort zone, and work on not paying attention to the people around you. Like … maybe you could volunteer to do the morning announcements! That’d be a good start — nobody can even see you. Then we can see how this Friday’s meet goes.”
Jenny thought it over. “I guess I could do that,” she said, wiping her eyes. “I don’t know if it will help, but I’ll give it a try.”
* * *
On Wednesday morning, Jenny’s mom pulled up to school earlier than normal. She leaned over and gave Jenny a hug. “I’m really proud of you for giving the swim team another chance, honey,” she said. “Good luck today!”
“Thanks, Mom,” Jenny replied, hugging her back tightly before climbing out of the car.
Jenny waved as her mom pulled away, then walked into school. But instead of going to homeroom, she went to the front office. The principal gave her a piece of paper with the morning announcements and showed her how the intercom worked.
This isn’t too bad, Jenny thought. I can do this.
When the time came, Jenny pushed the button. It was strange at first, thinking about everyone in the school hearing her speak. But the feeling passed quickly, and soon she was reading the school news in a strong, clear voice. After she was done, she headed to class feeling proud.
At lunch, Jenny sat down next to Maya and told her friend how the morning announcements had gone. “I hardly felt nervous at all!” she admitted.
“That’s awesome,” Maya said. “Now you should try something bigger. Like … karaoke!”
“What?” Jenny said, trying not to laugh. “No way!”
“Yes way!” Maya said. “They have it every Thursday at a pizza place near my house. We are so going. But don’t worry, I’ll do it with you! Ask your mom.”
“Okay …” Jenny said. “Whatever it takes, I guess!”
* * *
Thursday evening, Jenny ate dinner with Maya’s family. When they were finished, the two girls walked with Maya’s mom to the nearby restaurant for karaoke.
Jenny looked around the small pizza place. A few people were there eating and drinking. In the corner, an older girl was setting up the karaoke machine. There was already a man flipping through the book of songs. When the book was free, Jenny and Maya looked through it for a song to sing together.
The man was up first, singing a loud and slightly off-key version of “Sweet Home Alabama.” When he was done, the scattered crowd clapped and then went back to their pizzas.
Maya nudged Jenny with her elbow, making Jenny jump. She swallowed, took a deep breath, and went up to the girl running the machine. “‘Shake It Off,’ please,” she said.
“Awesome,” the girl replied, pulling the song up on the screen. She handed microphones to Jenny and Maya as the music started.
“I stay up too late …” the two friends sang together, giggling. They both were a little nervous at first, but by the end of the song they were singing loudly and even dancing around a little.
When the girls finished, the crowd clapped enthusiastically. Jenny took a little bow. Maya bounded back to the book to look for another song.
“That was great! Let’s do another one!” Maya said.
Jenny smiled and nodded. “Okay,” she agreed. It had been fun, and she’d hardly felt nervous. Maybe this plan was actually working! She would find out for sure at tomorrow’s meet.