Offlimits, Professor! - Chapter 7

ZOE'S POV My hands were shaking as I stood backstage, and I couldn't tell if it was from excitement or pure terror. My first recital. The first time I'd be performing solo in front of the entire music faculty and half the student body. "Breathe, Zoe," I whispered to myself, smoothing down my black dress for the hundredth time. "You've got this." But I didn't feel like I had it. I felt like I was about to throw up. I looked around the backstage area, hoping to catch a glimpse of Professor Mercer. He'd been working with me on this piece for weeks, pushing me harder than any teacher ever had.

I needed to see his face before I went on stage, needed some kind of reassurance that I wasn't about to make a complete fool of myself. But he was nowhere to be found. Other students were warming up around me, running through scales and practicing difficult passages. The sound of so many instruments at once should have been comforting, but it just made my anxiety worse. "Maybe he's in his office," I muttered, checking my watch. I had twenty minutes before I was supposed to perform. That was enough time to find him and maybe get some last-minute advice.

I hurried down the hallway toward the faculty offices, my heels clicking against the linoleum. The building felt different at night, quieter and more intimidating. Most of the offices were dark, but I could see a light under Professor Mercer's door. I was about to knock when someone grabbed my hand. "Zoe!" Marcus's voice made me jump. "There you are. I've been looking everywhere for you." "Uncle Marcus," I said, trying to catch my breath. "You scared me to death." He pulled me away from Professor Mercer's door and down the hallway, his grip firm on my wrist.

"We need to talk before your performance." "I was just trying to find Professor Mercer-" "Forget about him. I want to go over your piece one more time." Marcus dragged me into an empty classroom and closed the door behind us. Under the fluorescent lights, his face looked tense and serious. "I've been thinking about your repertoire choice," he said. "And I think you should change it." "Change it? Marcus, I go on in fifteen minutes. I can't change my piece now." "You can play the Chopin nocturne instead. The one I taught you when you were sixteen. It's safer, more traditional.

The faculty will respond better to it." I stared at him. "Are you insane? I haven't played that piece in years. And it's not even what I prepared." "It's what you should have prepared. This experimental jazz-classical fusion thing you've been working on with him is too risky." "Him?" I felt anger starting to bubble up in my chest. "You mean my professor? The one who's actually been helping me develop my own voice?" "Your own voice doesn't matter if it doesn't get you opportunities, Zoe. I've lined up some important people in the audience tonight.