Something in the Way - Finn Wolfhard

The Talent Show

It was the day of the talent show. In the school's auditorium, the parents and families were entering the gym to watch the students that were going to perform. The performers were backstage, preparing for their turn to go. There were a lot of kids going up to perform, either solo or in groups. It was mostly popular kids going, which made some minors of the school get intimidated.

When Finn entered the backstage area, he looked around. He could see the popular boys there, prepping up what they were going to do. When they noticed him, they glared at him in confusion. Normally, Finn would look down and try to not be seen, but this time, he kept his head high and pretended that they weren't there. He walked past them and looked around for Millie. When he saw her, he waved and came up to her.

"Hey Millie!" He greeted.

 Millie turned and looked at him. "Hey Finn! You look nice!" She complemented. He was wearing a blue shirt with blue decals on it, as well as blue jeans and black shoes. He also had a red beanie on his curly hair.

"Thanks! You look really pretty too," Finn said. Millie was wearing a long sleeved pink dress with a white collar and black buttons going down. She had her hair up in a tight bun as well and had pink sandals on her feet.

"Thank you!" Millie said. "You nervous?" She asked. Finn nodded in response. Yes, he was nervous because this was a new experience for him and he had never done anything like this before. He was worried and he had a bunch of different scenarios playing in his head, each being bad ones. What if everyone booed him and started making fun of him? He would die of nervousness just by thinking of these scenarios, but he couldn't help it. His anxiety was taking control of him.

Finn took a deep breath and tried to clear his head of the negative thoughts. "I am nervous, but I hope I'll be fine. I can fight my anxiety to prove myself," he said, more to himself than to Millie. She nodded and put a hand on his shoulder, telling him that he will be okay. Then they walked together to watch the first act.

It was the popular boys, Noah, Caleb, Gaten, Jaeden, Jack, Jeremy, Wyatt, and Chosen, up first, doing their cover version of Ultimate. Finn and Millie had to admit that they were good rappers. They had to censor every bad word in Ultimate, so it wasn't as good as the original version, but they were still good. The girls Millie had met earlier, Sophia, Maddie, and Grace, were doing a dance from Dance Moms. But Sophia accidentally tripped, messing up the whole dance. Millie couldn't help but laugh, since she was still mad at them for insulting Finn.

They continued watching the other kids do their performances sing, dance, or do some other kind of talent. The teacher then called Finn's name, telling him that it was his turn. Everyone looked surprised that his name being called since they all knew him for being the weird one. Finn took a few deep breaths, picked up the guitar, and slowly walked out onstage. Millie watched him with a smile, knowing that he was going to do great.

Finn went up to the microphone and put the guitar strap around him. He looked out to the audience with a nervous look. They were either snickering at him, glaring at him, or having confused looks on their faces. No one was cracking a smile. It was just like one of his bad scenarios in his head. He started to shake a bit and sweated from head to toe. He couldn't take it. His anxiety was coming back. He took of the guitar and ran offstage as fast as he could. The audience erupted in laughter as he ran off the stage.

Millie was watching the whole thing from backstage. When she heard the audience laughing, she immediately stormed on the stage and grabbed the microphone. "HEY! STOP YOUR LAUGHING! Everyone gets nervous!" She yelled into the microphone, causing everyone to shut up. Then she looked down to the teachers. "Do not skip his turn. I'll talk to him, but don't be surprised if he doesn't do this alone," she informed them. Then she put the microphone back and ran off to find her friend.

...

Finn was in the far back of the backstage area, crying silently into his hands. He wanted to perform badly, but he couldn't. He was too scared after seeing everyone staring and laughing at him. Why did he have to have anxiety? He needed to prove himself, but now he couldn't after being stared at.

That was how Millie found him. She sat down beside him and pulled him into a tight hug. Finn hugged back tight and cried into her. "Don't worry, it's okay. You don't gave to do this if you don't want to," she reassured him.

Finn looked up at her and wiped his tears away. "I want to do it. That's the problem. But I'm too scared to play. I can't do this alone," he said, looking down. Then he looked back up at her into her eyes. "Can you do it with me?" He asked.

Millie nodded at him and gave him a small smile. "Of course. But, what song are you playing?" She asked him.

"Something in the Way by Nirvana," Finn responded.

"I'm singing that song too!" Millie said with a smile. "Yes, we can definitely do it together!" Finn smiled back and took a deep breath.

"Lets do this."