there is so much to tell you

Julie glances up at him, musters up a shaky smile, and takes the remote to switch on Mulan. There are any number of things she could say to him, or to Alex and Reggie—thank them for the honor of choosing the movie, tell them why she thinks they’ll like this one in particular, invite the other boys to join her and Luke on the couch before he gets the idea to stretch his gangly legs all over everything. But she feels like her heart is in her throat, like her voice box isn’t working, like she’s back in Ms. Harrison’s music class staring down at her own hands on the piano but physically unable to sing.She can’t talk. She doesn’t know why. She just… can’t.—Or, the boys are a lot. Julie's trying her best, but she can't quite figure out what's bothering her. Can be read as a standalone.