Undercover Star

♪ Five ♪

I was excited and eager to see who Summer gathered for the choir. Rich had almost made me late by wanting to come with me, even though he didn't know where I was going. I guess my many "walks" were starting to get suspicious.

He complained for ten minutes about how I was leaving him alone in the empty hotel. I told him to make friends, repeating the words he said to me. Perhaps he would find some fellow bird watchers and I would never have I endure that pain again.

I ended up making him stay home without being late to the church. I told him that I needed some time to think, and this worked, since the whole reason I came was to change myself.

I practically skipped inside. When I saw who was standing in the front of the church, my stomach sank.

There was Nancy and William, and another older couple, a little boy, and a woman who looked like his mother. This was who she had gathered? Oh boy.

All eyes were on me as I made my way to the front. Summer smiled at me.

"Guys," she announced, "this is Jesse Daniels. He is our special guest."

They all clapped for me and I laughed and waved to them.

"Jesse, this is Nancy and William, my grandparents," she gestured towards the familiar couple who both smiled at me. "Vincent and Marie." The other older couple waved. "And that's Thomas and his mother, Carla."

"Nice to meet you guys," I told them, smiling. Although I was hoping for a different group of people, everyone here was nice enough.

"We already took a vote on the song. I hope you don't mind," Summer said, handing me a small stack of papers.

"No problem," I said, reading over the song titled 'You Raise Me Up'.

"Do you know how the song goes?"

I nodded to her. "Yeah. I've heard it around."

"Great," she said grinning. She then turned to Vincent. "Would you like to play the piano?"

"I'd love to," the man replied, rising and making his way to the small black piano. He stretched out his fingers and looked to Summer. "Ready when you are."

"Okay," she turned back to the rest of us. "Jesse is going to start and we can all follow him."

Everyone nodded. I looked down at the notes and practiced them in my head while Vincent played the long intro. I was a little nervous to sing. I hadn't sang in a while, plus the fact that I wasn't supposed to be singing. I was never usually bothered by breaking the rules, especially when it came to Rich. But I guess if someone found out, I would have to leave and never come back.

Was I never going to come back anyway? When I got home, I would have to make an announcement about what I was doing. Some people here might find out, and then I could never return as Jesse.

My thoughts almost made me miss the intro, but I hit it right away. "When I am down and, oh my soul, so weary," I started out a little shaky, but as I went on, I was singing like I always did, just the way Rich didn't want me to sing here. "When troubles come and my heart burdened be; Then, I am still and wait here in the silence, until you come and sit awhile with me."

I began the chorus, waiting for the other to join in. "You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains..." I trailed off when no one else was singing. I looked up to see everyone looking at me, shocked.

"He should just do a solo," Marie said, throwing her hands in the air.

Summer and I both laughed.