While the kids lined up for their snacks, he moved an extra adult-size chair to the front of the room. He unpacked his equipment and plugged in the amplifier. By the time everyone had taken a paper plate and napkin back to their desk, he was ready to go.

He sat in the chair and drew in a breath. The odd sensation in his stomach surprised him, until he identified it as nerves. Funny how he could walk onto a stage in front of fifteen thousand people and not feel anything but anticipation, but in front of a room full of eight-year-olds, he was tense.

“As Ms. Somerville said, I’m Micah Ruiz. You can call me Micah. I was lead singer in a rock band called Darryl John James. I’ve been playing guitar for a long time.” He reached for both guitars.

“Who knows the difference between these two?”

Noah’s hand shot up.

Micah smiled. “Anyone who isn’t the son of a famous drummer?”

A dark-haired girl tentatively raised her hand. “One’s acoustic and one’s electric?”

“That’s right.” He strummed a chord on the acoustic guitar. “Acoustic guitars have a different sound. They’re physically bigger overall, and the strings are heavier. Some people think they’re harder to learn on, but I think they’re worth the effort. In the band, we used electric guitars exclusively, but when I write songs, I use an acoustic guitar.”

He put it down and picked up the electric guitar and strummed. There wasn’t any sound. The students laughed.

“Who knows what’s wrong?”

“You have to plug it in,” one boy yelled.

“You’re right, I do. And then turn it on.” He touched the strings again and sound filled the room.

“Now, who knows what a chord is?”

He went through the basic parts of a guitar and demonstrated the major and minor chords, first on the acoustic guitar, then on the electric. He played “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” on both before answering questions.

One little girl raised her hand.

“I told my mommy you were here for career day, and she said she would have died to see you and that you’re going to be on TV soon. What’s the show?”

“I’m going to be on a live variety show close to Christmas.”

“From here?”

He smiled. “No. I’ll fly to Los Angeles. The show is being broadcast from there.”

“Do you get scared to be on TV?”

“I’ve done it lots of times, so it’s not scary anymore. Being live is different. If I make a mistake, everyone will know.”

The students laughed.

“To be honest,” he told them, “I was a lot more scared to come here and play for you.”

“For real?” a boy asked.

“Sure. I don’t know how to be a teacher. But Ms. Somerville said I could do it, and I believed her.”