Roux Hayes stared around the empty music-room, and twisted her hands nervously in the hem of her school shirt. Even when no one was here, the thought of singing out-loud made her stomach churn with nerves.

But if she seriously wanted to get up on stage, at the end-of-year school talent show, then she needed to get over those nerves. Easier said than done.

Roux took a few tentative steps into the room. "You can do this," she told herself.

She'd already sung for a live audience when she auditioned for the show, but that had been in front of four people. Singing in front of the whole school was a very different matter. She needed to bolster her confidence, and get some practice in, but she couldn't bring herself to do it at home because then her parents would know she was trying out for the show. They'd be supportive, but Roux didn't want the extra scrutiny.

What song to choose? She had a few options in mind, but "I Will Always Love You" was a personal favourite – even though she didn't have Whitney's range, she was confident she could put her own spin on the song. The best cover versions always deviated from the original in some way.

Roux took several deep breaths, calming herself.

School wasn't easy for her. She'd never quite fit in – according to her bullies, she wasn't pretty enough, or fashionable enough; she didn't know how to do makeup; they didn't like her ponytail. Nothing she did or said ever made a difference, and her confidence was a trembling, fragile thing, stunted by years of relentless bullying.

But one thing she did know was that she could sing. She'd seen the looks of the faces of the older students she'd auditioned for – there was no mistaking that they'd been impressed. Maybe once she'd sung in the show, once her bullies realised that she wasn't useless, that she had a talent, they'd leave her alone.

Right?

Roux started to sing.

Her voice filled the room, and her lips curved in a smile, because no matter how bad things got, she still had her voice, and it never failed to make her happy. She could make this song her own.

She was on the last chorus, when the door suddenly swung open, and five other students spilled into the room, cackling with laughter.

Roux felt like she'd been dunked in ice water.

"Oh my god," cried one of the girls – Lisa. "Did you hear her?"

Her boyfriend, Shaun, started singing in a high-pitched, screechy voice, flinging his arms wide. "And Iiiiiiii-eee-iiiiih will always love youuuuuuu."

Lisa and the others joined in, screaming out the lyrics in a horribly exaggerated way, before falling all over each other, giggling.

"I don't sound like that," Roux said, her cheeks flushing hot with humiliation.

"You absolutely do," Lisa sniggered.

"Like a cat being strangled," said one of her friends.

Shaun started singing again, horribly off-key, and tears burned Roux's eyes.

She didn't sound like that . . . did she?

No, she wouldn't have landed a spot in the talent show if she couldn't sing.

Unless those older students just hadn't wanted to hurt her feelings. Maybe they knew she was that sad loser girl that no one liked, and they'd given her a spot in the show so they could pat themselves on the back for their own kindness.

Or maybe they knew she couldn't actually sing, and they'd given her that spot as a cruel trick, hoping to humiliate her on stage, in front of everyone.

Roux really didn't want to cry in front of these people, but the tears spilled out before she could stop them. It only made them laugh harder.

"Your parents must really hate you if they've never told you how shit you sound when you sing," said Lisa, her voice dripping with faux-concern.

There was nothing that Roux could say to defend herself – nothing that they wouldn't turn back on her.

So she ran, their laughter following her out of the room.

It took everything she had not to drop out of the talent show.

The laughter and the cruel words were always at the back of her mind, eating away at her, but she managed to gather the tattered shreds of her self-esteem and pull them around her like a shaky shield.

She could sing.

No one was taking that away from her.

When the day of the show finally dawned, Roux let her hair out of its ponytail and tried to brush it into a sleek style she'd seen in a magazine, but it refused to cooperate. Sometimes she thought about cutting it all off.

The talent show was on the last day of school, when no one had to wear their school uniform, so Roux selected her best jeans and her favourite T-shirt, smoothing her clothes down as she examined herself in the mirror.

She looked okay, didn't she?

Her stomach was like a nest of snakes, twisting and writhing, and the thought of breakfast made her feel faintly sick, but she was excited too. Today, everything would change. No more would she be that girl that everyone laughed at. When she got up on that stage and showed off her voice, she would prove that she was worth something.

The school hall was packed.

Roux stood in the stage wings, clasping her shaking hands together. On stage, three boys in her year group were performing some kind of rap battle; as soon as they finished, it was Roux's turn.

She still hadn't been able to eat anything, but her hunger pangs paled in comparison to her nerves.

Could she really do this?

"Yes, you can," she whispered to herself.

The rap battle finally ended, and the boys ran off-stage to loud cheers from the crowd. Now it was Roux's turn.

She peeked through the curtains, looking out at all those faces, and a chill rolled over her skin.

Shaun and Lisa and their little posse sat in the front row; Lisa caught Roux's eyes and nudged Shaun. He smirked and started miming Whitney Houston to her, his expressions exaggerated and mocking. Lisa and her friends laughed.

Roux heard someone call her onto the stage, but she couldn't move.

"You can do this," she whispered.

But she couldn't.

She'd gathered her confidence like a cloak around her, but it was tattered and frayed after years of bullying, and now it dissolved completely, leaving her teary-eyed and shaking.

If she went up on that stage, the bullies would tear her to shreds. The malice in their eyes . . . their eager grins . . . how could anyone relish hurting another person like this? Roux had never done anything to these people. She didn't deserve this.

A couple of tears escaped, and Shaun spotted them. He nudged Lisa, and balled his fists, pretending to wipe away tears. Lisa sniggered.

Roux couldn't go out there.

Even if her voice was good, she could not stand in front of those people and sing, knowing they'd laugh at her the whole time.

And maybe her voice wasn't good.

Maybe she was just fooling herself that she'd ever be anything but a loser.

Other people in the audience were starting to giggle now, noticing that Roux wasn't appearing on stage, even though she'd been called several times, and their laughter was like countless shards of glass.

Singing was the only thing that had ever made her feel good about herself, and now that had been taken from her too. It was as if the bullies had broken her open, found the very identity of her, and just ripped it out.

She had to get out of here.

Roux fled from the hall, hot tears pouring down her cheeks, and as she ran she swore to herself that she'd never sing in public again.

Okay, so this was only a very short story, which is why today is a double update day. Yay! The next story is going up now :)