Lynn was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "Do you remember what your father used to tell you before every recital?"
Maya nodded. "Do not think about the people watching. Think only about the music."
"That is right," Lynn said. "And that is what you need to do now. All these reporters, all these offers, all these people wanting a piece of you—they are just noise. They are not the reason you play. You play because of the music. You play because of the promise you made to your father. Everything else is just extra."
Maya leaned her head on her mother's shoulder. "But how do I say no to all of them? How do I choose what to do?"
"You do not have to do it alone," Lynn said. "There are people who can help you: managers, agents, lawyers—people who understand this world and can guide you through it. The academy called yesterday. Dr. Holloway wants to meet with you. He said he knows people who can help."
Maya thought about Dr. Holloway, the stern man who had dismissed her, who had tried to humiliate her with a children's song. He had apologized; he had offered her a scholarship; but she still felt nervous about seeing him again.
"I do not know if I trust him," Maya said.
"Then trust yourself," Lynn said. "Go and listen to what he has to say. You do not have to agree to anything, but at least hear him out. He has been in this world for forty years. He might know things that can help you."
The next morning, Maya took the bus to the Harrison Academy. The building looked the same as it had on the day of her audition, but everything felt different now. When she walked through the doors, people stopped and stared: students whispered to each other; a security guard smiled at her and said, "Miss Chen, welcome back."
She was no longer an unknown girl in a thrift store dress. She was someone: someone people recognized, someone people talked about.
Dr. Holloway was waiting for her in his office. The room was large and filled with books about music history and theory. There was a beautiful grand piano in one corner, and the walls were covered with photographs of Dr. Holloway with famous musicians from around the world. He stood up when Maya came in and shook her hand.
"Miss Chen, thank you for coming."
"You can call me Maya," she said.