Page 31 of Sweetheart

"I loved it," Theresa said with a sigh. "I always love yourcompositions. You know this."

I opened my mouth, but she lifted a hand.

"That's not the point. What about the pieces I gave you to practice?"

"Oh, I practiced the sheet music you gave me too.The songs, they'reamazing. Ireally like them.They challenge me technically, but…"

Theresa raised a brow. "Go on."

I shook my head. "Well, Ifeel like they've been done before. I've heard themplayed a million times by a million different violinists."

"There's a reason for that," she said softly.

"I know," I said, "and I respect the classics. Really I do. I draw so much inspiration from Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, Vivaldi. I just want to play my own compositions too."

Theresa sighed. "Scarlett, we've beenover this."

We had. It was a well-worn conversation we'd beenhaving for a while now, ever since I discovered my deep love for creating my own arrangements.

"When you audition," she went on, "whether it's for a college program or a professional orchestra, the people judging expect certain things."

I forced a laugh. "Maybe they'd appreciate something unexpected."

Theresa did not look amused. Her voice was deadly serious when she said, "Trust me, I wish thatwerethe case. Butthere's always at least one person on the panel who thinks the only valid string pieces were composed by men before the year 2000."

I shook my head. "That's not fair."

"You're right. It's not."

"But," I said before she could, "life isn't fair."

Theresa shot me a sad smile. "I hate that you know that already."

I sat backin one of the chairs with a shrug. "I learned that lesson early."

A brief image of my mother on the day she left flashed through my mind. She'd been smiling, her hair blowing in the breeze, ready to set off on a new adventure, a new life. My dad had begged her to stay while Charlotte and I cried.

"Anyway," I said, shaking it off, "it's not a big deal. I'll just play one of the classics."

"If you get a contract," she said then shook her head, "whenyou do, the music they play will be pieces like that.They want to make sure you have the technique."

I nodded. "Then I'll just have to show them."

Theresa grinned as she reached forward and patted my hand. "I know you'll wow anyone that hears you. You always do, Scarlett."

"Thanks, Miss T."

"Now, can I see what you've been working on?" she asked.

I lifted a brow.

"What?You're one of the most creative young people I know," she said. "Those judges might only want to hear the old stuff, but I'm always looking forward to what you'll come up with next."

Smiling, I handed her the sheet music I'd been working on. Theresa really was open-minded. She genuinely appreciated my compositions, and her feedback helped me shapethe music and make itbetter. Ialsoknew she was right.Theresa wanted to give me the best shot at landing a job, to fulfill my dream of playing violin professionally.

What I didn't tell her—though part of me thought she already knew—was that my dream wasn't only to play.

I wanted to compose.

---