Then she switched to the "Revolutionary Etude". Playing it silently on her broken keyboard was almost funny: such dramatic music coming from fingers that made no sound at all. But Sarah could hear every note in her mind, could feel the power and emotion that would pour out of a real piano.
She had been practicing both pieces obsessively for the past week, but tonight she realized that her heart had already made the choice. Every time she played "Für Elise", it felt like putting on clothes that were too small. The music couldn't contain everything she had learned about herself in that storage room with the grand piano. But choosing the "Revolutionary Etude" meant risking everything. Not just failing the audition, but revealing that she had been hiding her true abilities all along. It meant admitting that she was tired of being underestimated. Tired of being called adequate. Tired of sitting in the back row.
At 1:30 a.m., Sarah's phone buzzed with a text message from Amy Rodriguez: Good luck tomorrow. You're going to do great.
Sarah smiled in the darkness. Amy was one of the few people who believed in her without knowing anything about her secret practice sessions or her hidden abilities. Maybe that was a sign.
Sarah finally fell asleep around 2:00 a.m., but her dreams were filled with piano music. Sometimes she dreamed she was playing "Für Elise" for an audience that looked bored and distracted. Other times she dreamed she was playing the "Revolutionary Etude", but her fingers couldn't find the right keys and the music turned into a horrible mess.
Her alarm went off at 6:30 a.m., but Sarah was already awake. She had been lying in bed for twenty minutes watching the sunrise paint her bedroom walls with golden light. Today was the day that would change everything, one way or another.
Sarah's grandmother was already in the kitchen when she stumbled out of her bedroom. The smell of congee and green tea filled their small apartment.
"You look tired, little bird," her grandmother said, studying Sarah's face with concern. "Did you sleep?"
"A little," Sarah said, sitting down at their tiny kitchen table. "Grandmother, can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"When you were young in China, did you ever have to make a choice between being safe and being brave?"