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“Do you know how valuable it would be to your future career to have studied with a Sazuki? Doors will fly open for you, Miss Williams. You put the Sazuki name on your resume and you become unstoppable. This is a golden opportunity that any other student would die for.”
“Then give it to them!”
The dean purses his lips. “Are you saying you will not accept the internship?”
“Yes. That.” I point to him. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
He rubs his temple and sighs. “Well, this is unexpected.”
“The best things in life are,” I mumble.
The dean reaches for his glasses, slowly fixes it on his nose and looks at me. “I apologize, Miss Williams, but this path is non-negotiable. You either study under Mr. Sazuki or you will not be graduating this year.”
My heart bursts like a balloon. “What?”
“Naturally, your scholarship will be revoked due to failure to meet your academic minimum and the penalty fee will be double that of the scholarship.”
“Failure to meet… you’d be the one blocking me from meeting it!”
“That is one way to look at it.”
“You’rethreateningme with my own education. Do you know how twisted that is?”
“Perhaps, but…”
I curl my fingers into fists. “What did he promise you? Money? A new school wing?”
“Mr. Sazuki will introduce us to the International Music Board. It’s a highly exclusive membership group that will allow us to raise our music accreditation. We’ll be able to offer a Masters or Doctorate degree in music. It’s a very prestigious opportunity.”
“But you have to sacrificemeto get it.”
“I wouldn’t think of it as a sacrifice.” He taps his fingers together. “Miss Williams, I would not have agreed if I didn’t think it would be a win for everyone involved. There is no downside to working with Mr. Sazuki.”
“That’s not your decision to make,” I snap.
“Either way, it’s been made. These are your choices.”
Sazuki’s words from earlier echo back to me.‘You do have a choice, but all those choices lead to one place.’
I’m trapped. If I go home without a degree, everything I worked so hard for will be for nothing. All the long hours of practicing the piano, the late nights studying, the extra shifts at the café to pay my bills, it’ll all go down the drain.
“Fine,” I spit out harshly.
The dean brightens. “You’re making the best choice, Miss Williams. Truly.”
“But I want it in writing that the school is the one who came up with this idea. And I’d like an opportunity to participate in the showcase if my agreement with Mr. Sazuki falls apart.”
“I can do that.”
When I leave the dean’s office, I stick my face into my backpack and scream my head off.
Normally, I can go weeks or months without getting angry. There’s not a lot that ruffles my feathers. I grew up with a sister who never let her limitations stop her from doing what she wanted. Yaya taught me not to take myself too seriously and to roll with the punches. But this punch is determined to keep me on the ground.
I leave the admin building and try my best to forget that Sazuki exists. Unfortunately, word has spread around the school and random people keep approaching me.
By the time I’m finished with my last class, I’m eager to get to Sunny and Darrel Hastings’ farmhouse and pretend today never happened.
I pick up a box of chocolates at a grocery store and then catch a taxi to the farmhouse. My mother taught me to never visit someone’s house empty-handed, but I’m a poor college student so chocolates are the best I can do.
