Ali Stroker - The Chance to Fly

Excerpts from the compositions For Good and Defying Gravity

From the Broadway musical Wicked

Music and Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

Copyright 2003 Stephen Schwartz

All rights reserved. Used by permission of Grey Dog Music (ASCAP)

Excerpts from the book of the Broadway musical Wicked based on the novel by Gregory Maguire

By Winnie Holzman

Copyright 2008 Dooley & Company Productions, Inc.

All rights reserved. Used by permission of Dooley & Company Productions, Inc.

PUBLISHERS NOTE: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the authors imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for and may be obtained from the

Library of Congress.

ISBN 978-1-4197-4393-1
eISBN 978-1-68335-897-8

Text copyright 2021 Ali Stroker and Stacy Davidowitz

Book design by Marcie Lawrence

Published in 2021 by Amulet Books, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

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Amulet Books is a registered trademark of Harry N. Abrams, Inc.

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For every kid who has a dream, even if the odds are against you, dont ever stop finding ways to fly.

I FOUND OKLAHOMA! Nat screamed from the back seat of her familys Nissan Altima, jolting her dad awake from the passenger seat. She snapped a photo of the license plate.

Thats a point, Natty baby, her mom said, drumming on the steering wheel.

Are you sure? Nat replied, then burst into song. YOURE DOING FINE, OKLAHOMA

Her mom smirked at her through the rearview mirror. All right, hotshot.

The Beacon family was dominating the License Plate Game. Theyd been playing for six days straight, but with a twistspotting plates from states where famous musicals were set got double the points. Nats spotting of the Oklahoma plate had pushed her familys total score over thirty, and so, as theyd discussed, theyd reward themselves with dessert for dinner! Nat would definitely have to remind her parents about that.

Hon, youre drooling, Nats mom said.

Me or Warbucks? Nats dad asked groggily.

At the mention of his name, Warbucks leaped from Nats lap into her dads lap and back. Nat lowered the window so he could stick his big floppy head out, but the stench of manure filled the car. Warbucks wasnt the smartest of service dogshed flunked out when he couldnt retain commands past sit and getbut he was smart enough to hide from the smell of New Jersey meadowland. He plopped onto the floor, a Labradoodle fluff mountain beneath Nats feet, and chewed his California Raisin toy. Like Nat, he was forever loyal to his home state.

With the window back up, the Beach Boys played on full blast. Nat groaned as her dad broke into a shoulder shimmy. Oh, come on, Natty! What are you ashamed of? Its just us!

It wasnt that she was ashamed. It was that the song, California Girls, was flooding her with all the feels. It made her think of the summers shed spent back home, at the beach with her best friend and soul sister, Chloe, as they navigated the sand like action heroes. As they read juicy teen celebrity buzz in Popstar! magazine and took every love quiz under the sun. She knew the song was supposed to be about hot girls, the kind who splash around in the shallow water and attract random photoshoots, not misfits who attract unnecessary lifeguard rescues. But still. They were California girls. It was the start of summer. The lyrics made her homesick.

Hamilton, anyone? Nat piped up.

Now it was her mom who groaned.

Nat protested, How else am I going to prepare for my future groundbreaking performance as Eliza Schuyler Hamilton?

In their big cross-country move, theyd listened to the entire Broadway cast recording, and the Mixtape, and the deleted songstwice per day, every day. When Nat sang along, shed sink into Elizas shoes. Imagine Elizas problems were her own and that her own problems were gone. Time would melt into meters of music. And when the soundtrack was complete, Nat would snap back into herself, already craving another escape.

Like now.

Nats mom exhaled like a deflating balloon. Sweetie, can we just relax for a little? When you belt along, the energy becomes very... charged.

What if I dont belt? What if I use my head voice, and we listen to, like, Les Miz or Phantom?

Natalie, we dont have that much longer to go.

Pleeeease! I should practice. One day, the perfect show for me is going to come along.

Maaaybe, her mom said with so much doubt that she might as well have said Never. She tried to clarify, I just have no idea how theater works and how it would work for you...

When I was your age, I also had big dreams, her dad cut in. I was determined to be the next Michael Jordan!

Nat couldnt help but take that as an insult. I dont want to be the next anyone, she explained. I want people to want to be the next me.

Her dad forced a smile. Well, good news. Youve had years of racing training, and its just starting to pay off.

On the track, you shine, her mom added. Dont you think so, Jeff?

I know so. A star in the making.

Nat wasnt delusional. She understood why her dreams of becoming an actress made her parents shut downthey loved her and didnt want to see her get hurt. At the end of the day, who would give a kid like her a shot? With all the talented girls out there, who would look outside the box and choose her? So far, no one. But that was because Nat had never auditioned for a play before. Shed gotten to sing in her schools chorus concerts, but there she wasnt stepping into a characters shoes and making unique acting choices or anything. Her job was to blend.

Anyway, Im gonna close my eyes again, Nats dad went on. So if you must listen to musical theater, maybe use your headphones?

Nat would have agreed, but her mom had unknowingly put her headphones through the laundry. One ear sounded tinny, and the other sounded like the artist was singing underwater.

She hadnt told her parents yet. She didnt need them thinking she was more dependent than they already thought she was.

Why dont you look for a Maine license plate? Nats mom suggested. Or South Carolina? Isnt there a musical that takes place in the Carolinas?

Are you thinking of Caroline, or Change? Nat asked. Because that takes place in Louisiana.

Louisiana, then.

Nat sighed, then rested her temple on the car door. She gazed out the window at the blur of treesmaybe pine, definitely not palmas an NPR ad for Metamucil fiber supplements depressingly droned on the radio. She imagined the ad playing out like one of her favorite scenes from