As the crowd gathered, I could feel my heart beating. I wondered if they could hear it. Against my will, I could feel my face turning hot and knew that I was blushing. Even if they cannot hear my heart thumping with every beat, I thought, they can surely see it in my eyes. My eyes are always a dead giveaway. They well up with fear, and often even hot with tears, every time I get nervous. That and my dumb old face turning a bright shade of red ... I knew that by now I probably looked like a sunburned tomato. They would never take me seriously.

I began to wish that I was more like my sister. She is always so confident and proud of herself. It seemed like she hardly ever gets nervous when it really counts. Either that or she hid it better than I. I wished I had never even thought of this stupid idea of running for student body president. That was a month ago, before I found out that I would have to speak in front of the entire school. It was too late to back out now; pretty soon the speeches would begin. It would only be a few hours before the embarrassing results would come out, and that wasn't even the worst of my worries. What would everyone say? What would my parents think when I told them that I lost the election? They were so proud of me; I would never be able to tell them. Everyone was counting on me, my teachers, my friends, even the principal. I was sure that I would fail miserably now that I had gotten myself into such a negative state of mind. I reread my speech. All the great hopes and ideas I had, all written on that lousy piece of paper. I realized why I had written those words and an air of anticipation ran through my body. Just in time, too.

I heard my name only seconds later. Those few feet to the podium felt like a mile. My knees were shaking, but somehow I managed to keep my ground. Although I knew that I probably wouldn't need it, I placed my well-rehearsed speech on the podium. Then, like a gymnast about to plunge into a tumbling pass, I looked up at the audience. And as I delivered that speech, a new and strange realization came to me. I had captured their attention and for a moment - they belonged to me. 1