Be Who You Want To Be

Kaylee had always struggled with an insecurity of her being overweight. Her parents didn’t approve of her, and to be honest, she wasn’t sure if anyone approved of her.

She’d been dealing with it her whole life. One time, a kid slipped a note into her locker, and when she went to open the note, a drawing slipped out. It was of a hippopotamus.

At first, Kaylee thought nothing of it. The hippo was kind of cute actually. She didn’t find out until she was older, that the hippo had a whole other meaning behind it. Kids, and even adults like her parents, thought she was fat.

Her parents especially. Why couldn’t they just see past her body to who she really was? She was done with people telling her she “needs to lose weight” or “try a diet” or “you could become skinny”. She was done! And she had a plan for proving all those people wrong.

She was going to enter the talent show. 

There was a talent show coming up in Los Angeles, California. She didn’t bother asking her parents about it first, because she knew what they would say.

Especially if she told them what she was going to perform in the talent show. She was going to dance AND sing.

Her father had always been fond of her singing actually. That was one thing that made him a better father. That at least he supported her for one of the many things she did. He had always come to her choir concerts for school, and seemed to enjoy each and every one of them. Why else would he keep coming back? Her mother, on the other hand, was not so fond of it. She thought that Kaylee should just stick with the signing. Kaylee was glad that her mom could approve of her singing, but hurt, and mad that she couldn’t approve of her dancing.

Once, Kaylee had a dance recital and her mom had to come watch her. Her dad was out of town on a work trip. Kaylee was kind of glad that her mom had no choice but to come and watch her, but the dance part didn’t go so well.

Kaylee started to dance to the classical music and follow the choreography that went along with their dance classes ballerina recital, when their dance coach, Coach May, raised her hands and told everyone to stop.

She glared daggers at Kaylee and her eyes narrowed on her. “Think you could try and lose some weight? You’ve ruined my choreography with those flabby arms and chunky legs.”

Kaylee sat on the ground and cried, in front of everyone. Some Mom’s pulled their kids out of dance, and some kids decided that they wanted to be pulled out because they didn’t want to dance with the fat kid.

Well, Kaylee was going to show all the haters that they were wrong. She has pure talent, and it doesn’t matter your size, or what you look like. You don’t have to be skinny as a stick, and look like a model to fit in. You can be whatever you want.

Kaylee took a deep breath in her nose and let it out her mouth. She shook out all the bad vibes and feelings and walked up to the stand where a tiny Asian lady was standing, checking everyone in for the talent show.

“Hi, I’m Kaylee René, checking in for singing and dancing.” Kaylee told the woman.

The woman was taken aback, and stared at Kaylee for a moment or so. She probably didn’t think Kaylee was taking this seriously. News alert, she was!

“Y-you are going to s-sing and d-dance? Both?” The woman stammered. 

“Yes,” Kaylee said confidently. “You have a problem with that?”

The woman looked down at her papers where she fumbled for her clipboard. “What did you say your name was again?” She asked.

“Kaylee René,” Kaylee restated.

She scanned her papers until she found my name. There was a twenty dollar fee to actually get into the competition. She found her name on the list and asked for cash or credit.

Kaylee handed her twenty dollars, something she had earned on her own because she knew Mom or Dad would pay for her to do something like this.

The Asian lady nodded to Kaylee. “You may head backstage. Your number is 67, please stand by when Jerry the Juggler goes on stage, because you are performing after him.”

Kaylee nodded and waited in line. Jerry the Juggler was in front of me and he was practicing his juggling skills. He took a peek at Kaylee, and scoffed.

“Got a problem?” She asked him.

He scoffed again. “What are you doing in this competition anyway?” He asked. 

“Dancing and singing. But it's really none of your business is it?” Kaylee didn’t mean for her temper to rise like that, but she was just done, with the people who couldn't accept her for who she was.

Jerry turned around in line and kept to himself. Eventually, he reached the front of the line and Kaylee was up next.

There are three judges for the competition. One was the brutal, Mrs. Chang, who starred in multiple moves that made her a billionaire, and multiple T.V. shows that have aired in 20 different languages all over the world. She was known for knocking people out of competitions she judged, fast. She did it for the drama, but sometimes it scared Kaylee.

The second was Mr. Roman, who was actually very nice. He is a comedian in multiple shows, and once, Kaylee got to see him perform live at a park in town. He was known for being a softie who loves everyone.

The last, was Mr. Tang. He could be quite secretive. He’s a man of not many words, so you normally can’t tell what he’s thinking. That’s what makes him such a great actor in all the movies he stars in.

As soon as Jerry walks off stage, Kaylee walks on with no fear. She stands as the spotlight shines down on her, with her head facing the ground.

Her music cues, and she starts to sing along with it, doing high scales and vibratos. It was an upbeat song, so she started to dance with it, hitting almost every single one of the fast tempo beats.

Suddenly, her music stops and she looks up to see that Mrs. Chang has pressed a button that makes everything stop. She’s seen enough.

“Sorry,” She looks down at her clipboard and finds my name. “Mrs. René, but if you lost more weight you'd be top of my list. You’re good, but not good enough if you eventually want to be the winner of this world wide talent show.”

Kaylee is mad at Mrs. Chang but do my best not to show it, and nod at her.

Mr. Roman looks taken aback. “Sorry, but I don’t agree with Mrs. Chang. I think you did amazing, and I hope to see you win this thing. I think you have what it takes. Great job!”

Kaylee smiles at Mr. Roman and waits for Mr. Tang to start speaking. As usual, his face is blank, unreadable.

He sighs. “I agree with Mr. Roman, but also agree with Mrs. Chang. If you could put off just a little weight, I guarantee you’d do amazing in this industry of talents. But you're too big. Sorry, it’s going to be a no for me.”

Kaylee nods, feeling shame, knowing I’ve just embarrassed myself to all of the people watching this show from home, and in the room.

“Thank you.” Kaylee says before leaving the stage.

She leaves with confidence though. Not defeat, or crying like some of the other contestants. She killed her audition and she knew it. She hopes everyone watching from home and in person that they can be whoever they want to be, and chase their dreams, shoot for the stars. She hopes she at least inspired people tonight.

And that’s all that matters. Tonight, Kaylee showed that you can be who you want to be. No matter where you’re from or what you look like.