Page 21 of A Hard Sell

When his school announced they were holding a talent show, he signed up, scribbling his name down and scurrying off before anyone noticed. That night, he was doing his homework at the kitchen table when his mom joined him. She had just finished her lessons for the day. She sank down next to him, rubbing lotion into her hands.

“I signed up for the talent show,” he mentioned.

“Oh, Luka, that’s wonderful!” She reached over to squeeze his shoulder. “What will you play?”

“Uhhh…” He had no idea. Any song he chose would be wrong.

His mom gasped. “You should playSay Hi!”

“My own song?” He gaped at her. “No way!”

“Why not? It’s brilliant. They’ll be so impressed!”

Luka shook his head, but…it sounded like a good idea once he thought about it. Then he wouldn’t have to worry about choosing the wrong song, and there was no original version to compare him to.

Maybe that had been his mistake. Maybe if he had asked Yasmin what song to play instead, it would have been fine. His sister was already in senior high, pretty, popular, her limbs all the right size. He knew she ate her lunches after school once she got home. She would have known what song to play.

But he didn’t ask her. So that was how, at thirteen years old, he stood in front of the entire junior high, alone with his guitar, and played a song he had written. The crowd was a little restless by the time it was his turn. They’d already sat through three dance routines, girls gyrating their hips just a touch more than was probably appropriate. They’d seen rock bands and gymnasts and jugglers. Now, it was just Luka and his guitar.

Rehearsing in his living room, with his mom and dad cheering him on, he had felt like a rockstar. In the five seconds of silence before he struck the first chord, he summoned that feeling again. “This is calledSay Hi,” he said into the mic. His voice boomed around the gym, unsettling him. Then he started playing.

“I saw you across the way

Looking so good today

And I wanted to say

Now please don’t be shy

Come over and say hi.”

He could see the smirks appearing before he even finished the first chorus. Not from everyone, of course. Most of the students were bored or indifferent. A handful looked embarrassed for him. He didn’t know what else to do but go on. His voice shook.

“I saw you smiling down the hall

So cute with your brown eyes and all

I wanted to say

So please don’t be shy

Come on over and say hi.”

Now the smirks were turning into whispering, laughing. There was a hum in the gym. He soldiered on.

“’Cause it’s clear to see

That it won’t be me

I guess I’m way too shy

Please come over and say hi.”

Ghastly silence fell as the last chord faded. He stared at the crowd. They stared back at him. Most of them looked confused, but a few looked…eager. Predatory. The teachers began clapping, and some polite souls joined in. Luka all but ran off stage and out through the gym doors. He was supposed to stay to watch the rest, but he sensed he had to get far, far away.

It didn’t matter. After school that day, he passed by a group of kids who burst out laughing when they saw him. “Hey, Luka!” one of them called after him. “Come over and say hi!” Luka put his head down and hurried to the bus, a rock in his stomach.

“How did it go?” his mother asked not long after he got home, sticking her head through his bedroom doorway.

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