"There you are!" the old teacher exclaimed. "Have you checked your school email today?"
Elijah shook his head. "I don't, usually."
"Well, you should. The school received a rather interesting letter this morning." Dell handed him a printed email. "Read it."
The letter was from someone identifying themselves only as an "advocate for arts education." It proposed funding a school-wide talent showcase with professional equipment, judges from local music schools, and a $20,000 music scholarship for the winner.
"Twenty thousand dollars," Elijah whispered, scarcely believing the figure.
"For college," Dell confirmed. "The donor is anonymous, but the offer is legitimate. The board has already approved it."
"But why?"
"I don't know," Dell admitted. "But I have my suspicions." He smiled cryptically. "Perhaps someone saw a certain video and recognized real talent."
The news of the scholarship spread through Lincoln Heights like wildfire. Suddenly, the annual talent show, usually a minor event with minimal attendance, was the talk of the school. Auditions were announced for the following week, with the showcase itself scheduled for the month after.
Signup sheets appeared on bulletin boards throughout the school, quickly filling with names of hopeful students. Elijah passed by one such sheet daily, stopping to look, but never adding his name.
"You have to sign up," Alicia urged him after a particularly good practice session. "This is your chance."
"I don't know," Elijah hedged. "What if I freeze up again? What if—"
"What if you win and get to go to any music school you want?" Alicia countered. "What if this changes everything?"
Her words haunted him for days. On the final afternoon before the signup deadline, Elijah stood before the sheet, pen in hand. After a long moment of internal debate, he quickly scrawled his name at the bottom of the list and walked away before he could change his mind.
What he didn't know was that Principal Cartwright had been watching from his office doorway. As soon as Elijah disappeared down the hallway, Cartwright approached the signup sheet and examined it with narrowed eyes. Then, pulling out a pen, he crossed out Elijah's name and rewrote it at the very top of the list.