Changers Book Three. T Cooper

started singing: “Into the woods, where nothing’s clear. Where witches, ghosts, and wolves appear. Into the woods and through the fear. You have to take the journey . . .”

      (Did the Changers Council write this stuff?)

      I strained to try to hear Audrey’s voice amidst the chorus, but I couldn’t. I did hear Kris, who didn’t even need his songbook and was leaning into the number as if his dog’s life depended on it. DJ was also killing it from the rear, his voice deep and smooth with that emcee cadence that made the lyrics even more powerful somehow. Not that they needed the assist. The words and music were kind of devastating, once I let them seep in. I can’t believe I ever teared up listening to Katy Perry. (Well, just that once.)

      “Okay, let’s stop there!” Mr. Wood hollered, signaling the accompanist on piano and clapping his hands as everybody quieted. “Promising, promising. Yes, yes. Now, let’s hear some solos, please. You in the red, you first. Name?”

      “Me? I’m Kris. Kris Arnold. I’ll be singing the scene four witch’s solo to her daughter Rapunzel.”

      “Let’s hear it,” Mr. Wood said.

      Kris cleared his throat, and several of the other students gave him some space. Chloe looked positively destroyed that she wasn’t selected to sing first, while Audrey sucked at her cheek and gave Kris her full attention center stage. As Kris gazed up into the lights and inhaled, I was seized with nerves on his behalf. You can do this, I whispered under my breath. He let it out, coughed again, took another deep breath, and then started, slowly . . .

       “Don’t you know what’s out there in the world? Someone has to shield you from the world. Stay with me.”

      His voice was imploring, tinged with desperation. He wasn’t just singing, he was defining the moment.

      “Princes wait there in the world, it’s true. Princes yes, but wolves and humans too.”