"That was..." Alicia began, then shook her head, seemingly at a loss for words.
"That," Dell said firmly, "is what music is supposed to be."
Later that evening, in the privacy of Alicia's car parked outside his apartment building, Elijah listened to the recording for the first time. The sound quality was excellent, capturing every nuance of his playing with perfect clarity.
As the final notes faded, he sat in stunned silence. "That's really me?" he finally asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
Alicia nodded, a smile playing at the corners of her mouth. "That's all you, Elijah."
For the first time in years, Elijah smiled without fear, a genuine expression of joy that transformed his usually guarded face. "It's actually good," he said with wonder.
"It's more than good," Alicia replied earnestly. "It's extraordinary."
Unknown to either of them, their conversation was being observed. Principal Cartwright sat in his car across the street, having followed Alicia's vehicle out of curiosity after seeing her and Elijah leaving the school together. His face darkened as he watched the two students talking animatedly in the car.
"This could be trouble," he muttered to himself, pulling out his phone to make a call. "Lambert, it's Cartwright. We need to talk about Elijah Walker."
In his office the next morning, Cartwright paced as Lambert lounged in a chair, looking bored.
"Delacroix is filling the boy's head with ideas," Cartwright complained. "Getting him to play, recording him... it's irresponsible."
Lambert shrugged. "What's the problem? If the kid wants to embarrass himself, why not let him?"
"Because," Cartwright replied tersely, "it complicates things. Walker's mother was trouble enough. I don't need history repeating itself."
"His mother?" Lambert raised an eyebrow. "What's she got to do with anything?"
Cartwright waved dismissively. "Ancient history. Just trust me when I say we need to nip this in the bud." He stopped pacing and faced Lambert directly. "If that kid ends up on stage, we'll have a riot on our hands."
Lambert smirked. "Let him embarrass himself. It'll be fun. One performance and he'll crawl back into his shell for good."