“We are thinking about dancing to Thriller by Michael Jackson,” my friend Ally told me, “you should totally do it with us.” My whole elementary school was talking about the upcoming Lip Sync, where people make dance routines to a song. My friends would talk about it at every recess but I was never interested in the topic. I’ve never been someone who likes to perform in front of a crowd so this was also pretty new for me. I went home that day knowing my mom has probably already heard of it. Guess what, she did and she immediately signed me up. Great. I guess I had no choice, I had to face my fear.

I had practice once a week with my friends and a dozen more people, we had a big group. We were instructed by a high schooler who my family knew, so it was pretty low-key. I tried to ignore the fact that I had to perform in front of a crowd but the day of the concert came up quicker than I thought. The auditorium was full of parents and siblings which made my heart rate skyrocket. Our group went after intermission so we were in our positions behind the curtains for about five minutes. We were dressed as zombies from the Thriller music video and were crouched behind tombstones that we made out of cardboard. My heart was racing like crazy as my eyes explored the poor paint job on my tombstone.

The announcer’s voice boomed throughout the auditorium, I wasn’t ready. He announced our group name in an animated voice and the curtains slowly opened. I wasn’t prepared for the blinding stage lights, but my eyes soon adjusted right as the curtains fully settled. I looked around and remembered that all of my friends were on stage,--and they all seemed so excited to start dancing--so I just needed to enjoy myself. The music started and the show began.