Hey, Cherie!

This is going to sound like it is from a Disney Channel movie, but I swear that it is true. I am a 15-year-old guy and am a really good singer. I mean it. Anyone who hears me sing thinks that I should go on "American Idol" when I am older.

The thing is, I like to sing but don't love it. I am much more of a jock than I am a singer. I play all sports; I am on my school's basketball team in the winter and the baseball team in the spring.

None of my teammates know that I can sing because I hide my voice. What I mean is, even if we're singing the national anthem before a game, I make it sound like I am a terrible singer, even though I could probably blow everyone way. I do this is because I don't want the school drama coach to beg me to be in a play, or the chorus teacher to come, or something like that. It's just easier to fake it.

— Faking Voice of Death

Hey, Faking!

Repeat after me. No, thank you. No, thank you. No, thank you. Thank you for asking me, but it's not my thing. Thank you very much.

Get what I'm trying to do? That's all you have to say when the school drama coach comes and asks you to be in the school play. "No, thank you. Thank you for asking me, but it's not my thing." Say the same thing with the chorus teacher: "No, thank you. Thank you very much for asking me."

There's no reason to have to fake your skills, likes and talents when you're a teen. In fact, I would be one of those annoying adults who would tell you to try to take the time as a teen to explore each and every one of those talents, because you never know which way your life will go.

Want an example of that? Me.

Here's what I mean. When I was in middle school and high school, I was a pretty good writer. I don't mind saying that because there were so many things I was poor at, like basketball and baseball. When I was in high school, though, all I wanted to be was a performer. So when the writing teacher said to me, "You're a really good writer, you should work on your writing," I always would say, "Thank you very much, but what I want to be is a performer."

I did go to New York and become a performer. But take a look at me now. I'm a writer. Which doesn't mean that you are not going to be an athlete. With that voice, though? Say "No thank you," if you must, but I say, "Sing it out, sing it out!"

Hey, Cherie!

I'm a girl in seventh grade. My state has a standard reading list, so that all the seventh-grade kids across the state read the same books. We pretty much have to do the same work, too.

Cherie, I have a friend who lives about 100 miles away who is also reading "The Giver" and writing a four-page paper on it. It would be so easy for just one of us to write the paper and then share it. Why do schools do this?

— So Easy to Cheat

Hey, So!

I love how you pose your question. Not that you would do it, but why would schools or a state do it? Maybe they're counting on you not to cheat. Maybe they want kids to have at least a few things in common, like some books they've read. Maybe ... well, I don't make education policy. Sounds like you've learned one thing well already: Not to cheat, although it's easy to do.

Cherie Bennett is a best-selling author of books for teens and young adults. Visit her website at www.cheriebennett.com. To find out more about Cherie Bennett and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.