I removed my costume and stage makeup and came out from backstage and into the lobby of the school auditorium, immediately spotting my parents. My dad was beaming proudly, talking with the family standing next to him. He saw me midconversation and stuck out both of his arms to greet me.

“You were wonderful!” Mom said, hugging me. I buried my head into her chest and was enveloped in warmth. “My baby out there acting like Diana Ross. Like she’s been doing this all her life! Maybe we should get you an agent!”

“I agree!” Dad said. “I still can’t believe you didn’t think I’d support you in this. You belong on the stage!”

I looked at my dad. “Does that mean I don’t have to go out and get a real job?”

“Well, no, but I should stop saying that acting isn’t a real job. Anything can be a real job if you excel at it and get paid for your skills. And if you want to pursue acting, of course I would support you. June, you were a star up there.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My dad, the lawyer, encouraging me to pursue the unpredictable career of an actress. Had my performance convinced him I had a real shot as an actress? Maybe The Wiz had stoked some creative fire in him? Could I move to Hollywood?

Just then, Blake and Olive came up beside me. “Whew! We did it!”

“You were awesome, June,” Blake said. The three of us gave each other a group hug.

“Thanks, Blake! I saw you dance by me in the ‘Brand New Day’ scene! You were great, too! And, Olive, the orchestra was fantastic! How did you learn those songs so fast?”

“Practiced, just like you did.”

“Right, duh!”

“We should celebrate all of our hard work,” Olive said.

“Yes! Sleepover? My place? After the final show?” I offered. My parents nodded, and Blake and Olive smiled in agreement.

I still hadn’t seen Nia, and at this point had to accept that she never came. “Have you seen Nia? Or heard from her?”

“No,” Olive said. My heart sank. “I’m sure she just got caught up in something,” Olive said. “Text her what’s up when you get home.”

“Right,” I said. I looked around. I recognized a lot of parents as I scanned the crowd. Carmen’s parents congratulated Carmen and chatted with Kevin’s parents. I saw Alvin’s parents next to Mrs. Stevens. And I saw Lee’s grandparents, who had found my parents in the crowd and come over to say hello.

“Hey.” I heard a familiar voice from behind me.

“Lee!” I said. “We did it, huh?”

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m happy the Oz Forest stayed standing during the whole play.”

“The set looked awesome,” I said.

“Thanks. You were a great Dorothy.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, really good.” He laughed awkwardly. We both stood in front of each other and shuffled our feet, not sure what to say next.

“You seen Nia?” he asked.

“Nope,” I said. “Not in a while.” Which, unfortunately, was true.

“Oh,” he said. “Was hoping we would all go out afterward. But that’s okay. Maybe we can hang out Sunday after the last performance? Maybe go to the park if the weather isn’t bad?”

Even though I was crazy jealous about Lee having an interest in Nia earlier, I missed them both. Between the fight, and studying for the play, I hadn’t had a good hang with all my friends since Christmas. “Yeah, cool, Lee. And if it’s too cold, we can all hang at my house.”

“Cool,” Lee said. “All right, I’m going to chat with my granny and gramps. I’ll see you.” I watched him walk off and smiled. In fact, I just smiled. I didn’t blush, or get flustered, or have that weird glittery feeling in my belly like I had in the past. Was this because I knew he had a thing for Nia? Was this because I didn’t have enough bandwidth in my brain for a crush and an utter obsession with my newfound creative work? Maybe I already had the glittery feeling inside me…except it was just joy over the musical instead of a crush on a boy.

As Lee made his way toward his grandparents, I saw Alvin talking with his parents and Mrs. Stevens. He caught my eye and gave me a nod, then dashed behind the adults, so I lost track of him for a moment. I saw him reappear with a bunch of the fake sunflowers from the forest set and walk toward me. “For you, Dorothy,” he said.

“Oh my gosh, Alvin!”

“What, they’re for congratulations! No big deal.”

I felt like they were a big deal. A nice gesture from Scarecrow. “Thank you, Alvin,” I said, smiling. “What’s next, the school talent show or something?”

“I dunno,” Alvin said. “Probably keep singing in church. Maybe I’ll write a song. Or just go back to humming under my breath as I code.”

I shifted from one leg to another. “Let me know if you ever want to watch The Wiz again for fun,” I said shyly, and blushed.

Did I smile like this with Lee?

“Okay,” Alvin said, also blushing.

Just then, Lee came back over to give Alvin a fist bump. “Nice work, bruh,” he said. “Told you my man was like a regular Leon Bridges.”

“Right,” I said. “He certainly is.”

Lee looked at me, unsure if he should stay. Alvin smiled and looked down at his shoes, and I didn’t know where to look, so I kept looking at the flowers he’d brought me. Lee looked at them, too. We all smiled to ourselves.

I sat down on the couch near the front of the newsroom and took out my phone. I felt a burning sensation in my belly, rising to my throat. I felt—gulp!—like I was no longer needed at the paper. Could that be possible?! I started to type before my mouth started talking.

CONFESSION #130:

Omg…omg…! I did it! I was Dorothy, onstage, in front of the entire school. The entire town, even! And it felt great! I didn’t fumble my lines. I felt so happy onstage. And all eyes were on me, singing along, dancing, having fun, everyone being entertained by my every move. I was, as the great Oscar-winning actors of our time have said, “giving the people what they wanted”! My dad was so impressed, he said I could be an actress in the future if I wanted. Could this be my new calling? Is it time to get an agent??? Maybe I should ask Ayanna who her agent is…would that be weird?

Mrs. Stevens was impressed with me, too. Which is amazing considering nothing really impresses her (except the color black, it seems, since she only wears black). I mean, I did carry the play—you know, because everyone was staring at me the whole time. And I noticed that Carmen messed up the dance steps like usual, but that’s okay. She’s not that great a dancer anyway, so people probably weren’t paying her any attention. And Kevin was okay as Tinman—he was supposed act stiff anyway.

I wonder when they’ll announce another play. I followed my true passion, and now I might become an actress. I told the truth and my family and friends were still there to support me. Lee even wanted to hang out with Nia and I said yes, because I know I shouldn’t keep my two friends apart if they really like each other.

SO…if I’ve lived my truth, told my friends about their crushes on each other, and told my dad about the musical, shouldn’t that be enough to get me out of this gosh-blessed spell? Victoria’s got to let me go now, right?