Chapter 43

The Cafeteria Showcase

For months, Addie had kept her head down at her old local high school, blending into the background as just another student studying for finals. But after mastering the Rose Gold Flute, the secret was simply too spectacular to keep to herself. On a bright Thursday afternoon, she walked into the crowded school cafeteria, slid into her usual booth with her closest friends, and slammed the heavy, polished Swiss wooden chest onto the table right next to a tray of tater tots."Alright, you guys have to see this," Addie bragged, a massive, uncontainable grin spreading across her face as her friends looked up from their phones. "You know how I got that crazy scholarship? The absolute top master artisan in the world saw my viral video and mailed me this. It’s made of solid rose gold."Her friends gasped, leaning over their lunches as Addie popped the brass latches and revealed the shimmering, deep pink metal resting on its bed of black silk."No way," her friend Maya whispered, reaching out to touch the gleaming metal. "Is it actually real gold? Can I try it?""Go ahead, but you won't get a sound out," Addie bragged playfully, crossing her arms with a confident smirk. "Only ten percent of the world's elite musicians have the lung capacity to even make this specific metal vibrate. Watch."Right there in the middle of the noisy cafeteria, surrounded by the chatter of hundreds of students, Addie lifted the heavy Rose Gold Flute to her lips. She took a massive, monumental breath and unleashed a lightning-fast, dazzling pop-song melody, weaving her signature vocal harmonies effortlessly through the pink metal keys. The booming, rich resonance cut through the cafeteria noise instantly. The entire room fell into a dead, stunned silence as students from three rows over stood up on their chairs just to see the girl from their town commanding a literal masterpiece. For the first time, Addie wasn't just hiding her talent—she was proudly celebrating exactly how awesome she had become.