"I told you, I'm the teaching assistant. If you don't believe me, you can call Ms. Miller and ask," Cecilia Nathan said, gesturing to her phone. "Or should I call for you?"
With that, she dialed Aria Miller's number.
...
「At Korsyth's most famous café.」
Damian Hawthorne sat back lazily in his chair, looking at the man across from him with a soft scoff. "Remember how you asked me about giving a speech at the music academy?"
"If you're short on people, I can fill a spot."
Hugo Grant paused his typing. "Why the sudden interest in this kind of event? I remember you used to hate being in the spotlight."
"Serena wants me to go. It's a good chance to have the people at the academy look out for her."
His tone was casual, but it carried a hint of indulgence.
Hugo Grant was long used to it. "I'll make the arrangements. By the way, Cecilia Nathan is a teaching assistant at the school now. She'll be at the graduation ceremony, too."
Damian Hawthorne's hand, holding his coffee cup, paused. He lifted his gaze. "Did you do that on purpose?"
"No," Hugo Grant said with a slight smile. "My cousin arranged the TA job. I just asked Cecilia on a whim, and she agreed."
"Damian, she beat you to it."
The thought of seeing Cecilia Nathan at the graduation ceremony made Damian Hawthorne's chest tighten.
"Oh, and there's one more thing." Hugo Grant turned his laptop around and pointed at the screen. "Cecilia Nathan went to the hospital for a pregnancy test."
...
「In the dorm.」
The atmosphere was deathly silent.
Over the phone, Aria Miller's clear voice filled the entire room:
"From now on, Cecilia will be your teaching assistant. She was my junior at school, and her musical abilities are even stronger than mine. If you study hard with her, you'll definitely learn a lot."
After Aria Miller finished speaking, no one in the room said a word.
The color drained from Serena Hughes's face.
As for the other two, their expressions were even uglier.
'A teaching assistant... Cecilia is actually the teaching assistant!'
'What had they just done?'
'They'd insulted the TA?'
Thinking of Ms. Miller's temperament, both of them felt a little scared.
"Serena... d-didn't you say she didn't know anything? How did she end up as the TA?" Claire Hale stammered.
"Wh-what did I just do... I..." Tia Bennett was scared out of her wits.
'Oh god, oh lord, please save me!'
Claire Hale was so frightened she was on the verge of tears.
The two of them grabbed Serena Hughes's hands, their bodies trembling with anxiety.
Serena Hughes's hands hurt from their grip. Her eyes ached, and so did her head.
'Cecilia is actually the teaching assistant.'
'This is insane!'
"Cecilia Nathan... I-I'm sorry. We didn't know you were the TA. I'm sorry," Serena Hughes said, both ashamed and furious.
She had assumed Cecilia was a clueless amateur, but to her surprise, she had been approved by Ms. Miller.
'What kind of spell did Cecilia cast on Aria Miller?!'
"It's fine. I really haven't touched an instrument in a long time, so I expected this kind of reaction." Cecilia Nathan, however, wasn't angry.
'She had never considered her professional skills to be particularly strong.'
Hearing this, Serena Hughes suppressed her shock and asked tentatively, "Ms. Miller has very high standards. For her to say you're skilled, you must have passed her test, right?"
Aria Miller was known for setting tricky entrance exams for her students. Accepting a student was one thing; hiring a teaching assistant surely wouldn't be any simpler.
"I didn't take a test," Cecilia Nathan denied with a light chuckle.
'No test?'
The corners of Serena Hughes's mouth tightened.
'As expected, Ms. Miller miscalculated this time.'
'It also went to show just how busy Aria Miller really was.'
'If she had tested her, she definitely wouldn't have been impressed with Cecilia.'
Serena Hughes's worries subsided somewhat, but she didn't let her guard down.
She and Cecilia would be competing on the same stage. If Cecilia was truly as amazing as Ms. Miller claimed, she would be her strongest rival.
Claire Hale and Tia Bennett, however, were not so optimistic.
They came from ordinary families and had ordinary talent.
Although Cecilia said she didn't mind their attitude, they feared their earlier words had still offended her.
'If they've offended their own TA, their lives are probably going to be difficult from now on.'
Soon, they discovered they were wrong, because Cecilia truly didn't care.
When they practiced, a few casual pointers from Cecilia would lead to a moment of sudden enlightenment, as if a mental block had been removed and everything suddenly made sense.
As if they had discovered a hidden treasure, Claire Hale and Tia Bennett began to play with even more focus.
Seeing her two roommates' disdain for Cecilia gradually turn into admiration left a sour taste in Serena Hughes's mouth.
'Cecilia isn't that much older than her, and she hasn't touched an instrument in years. Can the difference between people really be this vast?'
Serena Hughes sat off to the side, fuming. She wanted to play her violin but couldn't think of a piece.
Just then, the memory of playing "Eye of Love" for Damian Hawthorne suddenly surfaced in her mind.
Subconsciously, she raised her violin, rested the bow on the strings, and with a flick of her fingers, music flowed out like cascading water...
Hearing the sound, the others stopped what they were doing.
Cecilia Nathan frowned slightly, her gaze falling on Serena Hughes.
Seeing that she had captured everyone's attention, Serena Hughes felt a touch of pride. She played to a certain point and then stopped at just the right moment.
Claire Hale gasped in amazement. "Serena, is this what a piece sounds like on a top-tier violin? The sound is so powerful, it feels like it's piercing my heart! And this piece, what's it called? Is it a new work by some master? It's beautiful!"
Serena Hughes smiled lightly. "This piece is my own original composition."
"Your original? When did you compose it? How come I've never heard it before?" Claire Hale was utterly astonished.
They were still studying their instruments; they hadn't reached the composition stage of their education yet.
Even though it was only the beginning of the piece, one could tell it was a quality composition, not something an ordinary person could create.
If Serena Hughes hadn't said anything, they would have assumed it was the work of some master.
"I composed it a long time ago. I only just recently remembered it. You all know I went through a period of memory loss." At this point, Serena Hughes trailed off.
Her two roommates knew she had lost her memory after being hit by a car, so her brief explanation was all they needed.
She hadn't intended to play the piece for anyone, but just now, for some reason, she had felt the urge to show off.
It was as if this was the only way to prove she was no worse than Cecilia.
She could compose. She was a genius, too.
However, when she finished and glanced at Cecilia out of the corner of her eye, she was met with a cool, detached expression.
A flicker of displeasure rose in Serena Hughes's heart.
On an impulse, she turned and asked Cecilia, "Cecilia, what do you think of my original work?"
'At her age, to be able to compose a piece like this... her creative talent alone already puts her leagues above ordinary people.'
'So what if Cecilia can give pointers? So what if she has strong technical skills?'
'I'm not just technically skilled, I'm a strong composer, too.'
'I'm younger than Cecilia. My future is limitless.'
But Cecilia's next words were a bucket of cold water.