“It’s kind of crazy to be up here, honestly,” I start. “If anyone had asked me even a year ago if I thought I’d be doing something like this, I would’ve said, ‘absolutely not.’ But here I am.” I unfold the paper containing my speech, and the mic picks up the crinkling as I smooth it out, carrying it through the entire auditorium. But I might as well have skipped bringing the notes because just like I feared might happen, the letters are swimming all over the page in front of me—and everything I thought I’d memorized runs right out of my ears as panic pools inside me.

“I—I started my journey into hockey many years ago, and pretty much everyone around me thought I was crazy for daring to think I’d make it to the NHL someday. It wasn’t easy but…” I trail off as I try to focus on the words, but it’s like the letters on the page don’t want to be seen. They hide behind each other or run from my gaze, turning into an indecipherable alphabet soup.

Shit, this is a trainwreck. Snap out of it!

I clear my throat again. “Sorry, my notes got a little messed up so it’s hard to read.”

It’s not the full truth of why I’m having such a hard time reading my own writing, but it’s close enough. When I glance back up at the crowd and see everyone staring blankly at me, some of them whispering to each other, my heart hammers so hard in my chest that I’m afraid I’m going to pass out right here at the podium.

But then, impossibly, I see Hannah in the crowd.

At first I think I’m imagining things or having some kind of anxiety-induced hallucination, but when she smiles at me, I realize she’s actually here. I don’t know how she got here—she said she was going to be busy with school stuff today—but it doesn’t matter. All that matters is she’s really here and somehow that gives me the courage to say what I really want to say.

“You know what? Forget this,” I say, tearing the piece of paper into several shreds, eliciting confused laughter from the audience. “I was going to get up here and talk about all my struggles and the journey to this point, but it’s not authentic. Here’s the deal: I’m dyslexic. And that’s exactly why I’m having a hard time reading this speech.”