Grant took a sharp breath in, held it for five seconds, and then exhaled. He attempted to follow the breathing patter his therapist had spoken about, yet his heart pounded against his rib cage sreaming for him to get out of the school gym. Like a bird trapped in a cage, his heart seemed to almost escape from his chest. The entire school sat on the stand waiting for him to open his mouth. Just one word. He needed to say something, anything. Everyone was watching. He had practiced this for weeks, he was prepared, but he felt like everything around him was crashing to the ground. He silently hoped that the entire school would come crashing to the ground and in the rubble a large piece of the ceiling would crash on him. For a moment he was transported away, to a far away place. He stood on a board, high in the sky, above an angry ocean. He knew the moment he started speaking he would be jumping off of the board in to the choppy waters. Deep. The water was deep, and looked incredibly cold. Then, as though somone had wound him up like a windup toy, words started to spew from his mouth. One sentance after another.

“And if you elect me as your student body president I will…” Each sentance escaped his mouth like a cool river on a summer day. Each word carefully chosen for his speech. He smiled. He didn’t even register half of the words he had memorized. The words had become second nature to him now, they were almost a part of who he was. The blank stares of the students gave him even more confidence as he spoke, not a single one reacted. Each was as still as a rock and emotionless as a mannequin.

Grant was the quitest kid that Ella had ever met, so this was the most impressive thing she had ever seen. It was even hard to get him to share his thoughts about his day when she asked. His soft spoken nature was cute to her. She loved the gentle way he spoke, each word like a whisp of smoke, leaving his body, floating in the air around him, and then disappearing before anyone could hardly detect it. Today was different however, each word was sharp, forceful, and strong. The two had entered Grant in to the race, not to win, but to start an adventure, something they had never done before. Ella always seemed to know what to say, and when to say it, so when the question of class president was brought up she was the obvious candidate. It took weeks of convincing Grant to throw his hat in the ring.

“Vote Grant Thompson for class president.” Grant smiled, and as a gut reaction walked to the bleachers as quickly as possible putting his hand on his chest. He breathed in and out feeling his chest rise and fall under his hand. Just feeling himself physically breath brought him a sense of comfort and control. He had done it. Ella elbowed him and gave him a thumbs up. He smiled. To him it didn’t matter if he won, he had simply given a public speech which was a win itself. He didn’t even notice the clapping after his speech.

“That was so good Grant.” Ella congradulated him. The speech was completely written by her so it was a sort of self congratulatory compliment as well.