After dinner, Alicia quickly tidied up the table.


    :


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    When she was out dumping the trash, Elliot looked at Gloria and said, “Mom, what’s going on in your head? There are tons of super–talented students dying to be yourst apprentice.


    “Why pick her? She doesn’t know the first thing about anything, always pretending she does. What makes her better than Tiffany?”


    Gloria was silent for a couple of seconds before replying, “It’s not a done deal yet. But yesterday, her answer in ss honestly blew me away.


    “Most students only care about practicing the instrument, learning sheet music, and cramming for exams- almost nobody actually digs into music history.


    “Every period’s music has its own twist, but she was the only one who noticed that. So, I’ll just see how she does. If she can’t handle it, I’ll go with Tiffany.”


    Elliot rolled his eyes. “Whatever, go ahead and see for yourself. But you’d better cross your fingers.


    “If she messes up while cleaning your instruments and breaks something, you’ll regret it big time. I bet she has no clue how precious those are.”


    Gloria felt a worry creeping in. Maybe she should just tell Alicia to forget about it and head home; maybe it wasn’t worth the risk.


    But she just couldn’t let it go. She’d spent all these years trying to restore traditional sheet music fragments.


    Two years ago, she’d been obsessed with one particr piece, but no matter what she did, her fixes never matched the real thing.


    She needed someone with fresh eyes, someone who could help her do it right.


    Now she’de across a student who actually cared about music history. She wanted to give Alicia a shot.


    All these years, she’d had loads of gifted students, kids with top scores in piano and violin, but none of them studied traditional music; none had the chops to help her fix those old fragments.


    Gloria looked over the music room, at the instruments she’d cherished and cared for. ‘Are these things just going to be forgotten, tossed out when I’m gone?‘ she wondered.


    After going back and forth, Gloria made up her mind; she’d let Alicia try.


    When Alicia came back in, Gloria and Elliot already had their gloves on and were holding suede cloths.


    Seeing Alicia enter, Elliot handed her a pair of gloves. “Time to get to work. Put these on.”


    Alicia took the gloves, and he passed her a suede cloth as well. “Let’s start wiping from this side together,” he said.


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    “Okay, Alicia replied. Without another word, she grabbed the cloth and walked over to one of the


    instruments.


    2906


    It was a harp, the kind with a pretty head. Alicia leaned in for a closer look. The craftsmanship was top–tier- the head looked almost alive.


    The strings had that vintage vibe, nothing like the modern stuff you see in stores.


    Gloria sure loved these traditional music relics; no doubt she’d shelled out a ton of money for them.


    Alicia grabbed the cloth and started in, carefully working her way over the harp, slow and patient.


    Once Alicia had wiped down the head and the soundbox, she spotted the tuning pegs–thick with dust, looking almost glued in ce.


    Clearly, this harp hadn’t seen a proper tune–up in ages. One of the pegs was jammed <b>tight</b><b>, </b><b>as </b>if <b>something </b>had wedged itself in there, making it nearly impossible to turn.


    Alicia picked up the dusting brush and carefully swept over the pegs. A little grime came off, but most of it clung stubbornly, and that stuck piece especially.


    It was wedged so deeply that it wouldn’t move, no matter how gently she brushed.


    ‘Maybe if I take it slow and steady, I can coax it out, Alicia thought, meticulously working at the peg.


    But before she could make much progress, Elliot suddenly exploded behind her, his voice ringing through the room. “Alicia, what the heck are you doing?”


    Alicia nced up at him. “I’m cleaning the harp; there’s a ton of dust on the tuning pegs.”


    Elliot snapped, “Who told you to mess with the strings and pegs? Do you realize messing with those could mess up the tuning?”


    Alicia replied, a bit helplessly, “I wasn’t messing with anything, just brushed it lightly with the dusting brush. That’s literally what it’s for; it won’t damage the instrument.”


    Elliot shot back coldly, “Just because you say it can’t hurt doesn’t make it true. Seriously, have you got any at all? You shouldn’t be messing with the strings and pegs if you don’t know what you’re doing.”


    Alicia was about to defend herself when Gloria hurried over, concern written all over her face. “What happened?”


    Elliot shot her a cold look. “Mom, she was messing with the tuning pegs on the harp.”


    Gloria nced at the harp’s tuning pegs and immediately noticed something wedged in one of them.


    Startled, she quickly picked up the dusting brush and tried to clean it, but no matter how carefully she brushed, the thing wouldn’te out.


    clue


    Regret flooded her. Gloria had been way too impatient, too obsessed with finding someone to pass her work


    down to.


    <b>19:13 </b><b>Wed</b><b>, </b><b>Oct </b>1


    …


    :


    punticivare


    That <b>was </b>why Gloria had ended up letting a total stranger help out, and now that string on the harp was probablypletely out of tune.


    Gloria didn’t exactly me Alicia, but deep down<b>, </b>she was seriously disappointed.


    Gloria really thought she’d found some fresh blood who could push things forward for her, but instead, everything had just gotten messier. This was all because she’d rushed it.


    Elliot was losing his cool. “Alicia, did you seriously just jam something in there? How could that even happen? No matter how much you brush<b>, </b><b>it’s </b>still stuck.


    “You realize we’ll have to loosen the peg to get it out, and then the whole harp’s going to lose its tune.


    Alicia shot back, her patience wearing thin. “Elliot, can you not just jump to conclusions?


    “I didn’t put anything there. I only saw it when I started cleaning. I grabbed the brush, hoping I could get it out, then you barged in and started freaking out.”


    “If you didn’t do it, then who did? It’s only the three of us here. Mom’s cleaning over there, and I’ve been right here–never even touched that harp.


    “You’re the only one working on it.” Elliot’s voice was tight with frustration. “You really think we’re just ming you out of nowhere?<b>” </b>


    Alicia hated being med for things she never did. She pointed at the stuck bit on the harp, frustration in her eyes. “Are you serious?


    “That thing’s been jammed in there for ages–just look at the pile–up of dust around it.”


    Elliot scoffed, his tone biting. “Oh, so now you’re saying Mom did it herself and is out to pin it on you? Give me a break. She treasures these instruments like gold. There’s no way she’d ever be that sloppy.”


    He red at Alicia. “Cut the excuses already. If you screwed up, just admit it.”


    Gloria rubbed her temples, feeling a headache from their bickering. She took a deep breath and said, “It’s okay, Alicia. Just head home for today. We’re done here.”


    When Gloria said that, Alicia instantly realized she’d been made the scapegoat.


    There was no way she was going to shoulder the me for something she hadn’t done. She’d been given a new lease on life, and she wasn’t about to let herself get bullied or wronged again.


    Alicia turned to Gloria and said, “Gloria, I can’t just leave. We have to figure out how this even got stuck in the harp.


    “I don’t want to get med for something I never did. Do you have any surveince cameras here? Let’s pull up the footage and check.”