By the next morning, when Maya woke up and checked her phone, she had forty-three missed calls, two hundred text messages, and the video had been viewed more than two million times.
Maya stared at her phone, not understanding. She had not given her number to anyone at the audition; how did all these people have it? She opened one of the text messages. It was from a name she did not recognize: "Hi, Maya. I'm a producer at ABC News. We'd love to interview you about your audition video. Please call me at your earliest convenience."
Maya's hands started shaking. She opened another message: "Ms. Chen, I represent the Curtis Institute of Music. We saw your performance and would like to discuss scholarship opportunities. Please contact us immediately."
And another: "Maya, this is David Garrett's management team. Mr. Garrett was deeply moved by your video and would like to speak with you about potential collaboration."
Maya dropped her phone on the bed. She could not breathe; she did not understand what was happening.
Her mother appeared in the doorway, still in her nightgown. Her face was pale. "Maya," she said, "your phone has been ringing all night. What is going on?"
"I do not know," Maya said. Her voice came out in a whisper. "I do not know what is happening."
Lynn picked up Maya's phone and looked at the screen. Her eyes went wide. "Two million views?" she said. "Maya, what video? What is this?"
Maya finally found the YouTube link in one of the messages. She clicked on it, and there it was: herself, sitting at the grand piano in the audition room, playing the piece she had kept secret for three years. The video was titled, Girl told to keep it simple turns piano into magic.
She watched herself play. She watched the judges' faces change from dismissive to stunned. She watched Dr. Holloway stand frozen near the piano, his cold expression melting into wonder.
And then she read the comments. There were thousands of them, tens of thousands:
"I'm sitting here crying at my desk at work. This is the most beautiful thing I've ever heard."
"She took a children's song and turned it into a masterpiece in four minutes without any formal training. I have no words."