Mrs. Cyprus chuckles and pats my arm. “I’d give you the age-old advice to just pretend everyone is in their underwear, but that would be kind of weird, wouldn’t it?”

That pulls another laugh out of me, and when she smiles again, I realize what she’s up to with all the joking because I feel way more comfortable now.

“Alright. Let’s go knock their socks off,” she says with a wink.

She leads me through the school and into the auditorium where hundreds of students are already packed into the theater-style seats. The school must be well resourced because everything looks new and well maintained, which is saying something when a bunch of teenagers are using the equipment.

A hush ripples through the audience when they see me walk in and start striding down the aisle toward the stage, no doubt because they all recognize me, but it only makes the nerves I thought I’d gotten rid of come rushing back.

Because this is real now. This is happening. Now that I’m in the auditorium, I can’t leave until I’ve gotten through my speech or dashed off the stage in embarrassment. But Mrs. Cyprus was right—there’s nothing quite as terrifying as having hundreds of students’ eyes on you at once. Not even the most packed hockey game I’ve played with the Aces comes close.

Just be yourself, Murray. That’s what they wanted when they asked you to come here. Everything else will fall into place.

Despite the way my heart is lodged in my throat, making it difficult to breathe and swallow, I take a few quick, deep breaths to steady myself and run through some of my lines one more time in my head. When I glance over at Mrs. Cyprus, she’s smiling slightly, and she nods at me.

“You’ve got this,” she mouths as she gestures toward the stage.

My eyes follow her hand, but I can’t seem to make my feet move. I just stand there, frozen, knowing that everyone in the auditorium is watching me and waiting for me to get up there and say something. I blink a few times, then imagine Hannah standing on the stage steps, beckoning me up toward her.

That’s all it takes. With a new sense of confidence, I stride forward with my head held high and my shoulders back. I’m not just going to give this speech, I’m going to crush it to make Hannah proud. And to hopefully show Dunaway and the rest of the world that there’s so much more to me than just my skills on the ice.