Categories > Books > Phantom of the Opera > The Phantom Romance
"You're a moron."
I peered over my Biology notes to look Amy May in the eyes. "Do you think?"
"Let's see, Lizzy. You made the mistake of going out Sean Winters in your youth--"
"It was freshman year," I reminded her.
"Whatever. You made this... MISTAKE... once. Most normal people would laugh it off, chalk it up as an experience. But you? No. You go off and make out with him in broad daylight." She shook her head in disbelief.
"I did not MAKE OUT with him," I hissed, leaning over to smack her arm. "We just kissed a bit. It was very romantic."
"Really? Did his you-know-what get excited before or AFTER you started kissing?"
"Amy!" I growled. "Honestly."
We were both at callbacks for Guys and Dolls, and we were both more than a little bit nervous. I had been called back for the biggest of the big-- Sarah Brown. Amy was called back for Adelaide, though she didn't think she had much of a chance against Ashley Glaub. I didn't want to be mean, but I sort of agreed with her.
Fitz and Lazerth had stuck us in the back of the auditorium, so we were forced to watch every single callback. It wasn't so bad, I guess, except that some of the boys had ridiculously bad voices. It was pretty depressing, actually. I loved boys with good voices. For me, there was nothing-- absolutely NOTHING-- that was sexier than a good voice. I wasn't usually a lusty person, but after hearing Sean Winters sing, I would gladly kiss him for hours. Not that I ever have or anything.
Actually, Amy and I had almost fallen asleep when it happened. My head was drooping on her shoulder, and Jessica Klein was butchering "I'll Know". Sean winked at me across the auditorium, and then...
CRASH!
A huge stage light fell to the stage, only a few feet shy of Jessica. She screamed and practically leapt offstage, while the light burst into flame briefly before settling into a crackling, sizzling mess. I nearly leapt twenty feet in the air, and I wasn't the only one. It seemed that the whole auditorium was in chaos. Fitz looked as if he was ready to have a heart attack, and Lazerth looked as if she had just swallowed a lemon.
"God! What was that?" cried Amy, clutching onto my arm painfully.
"Okay, you need to get off," I replied irritably.
"Do you think Jessica is okay? Is the light still on fire, do you think? I can't believe this!" she squealed, now resorting to burying her entire face in my shoulder.
"Everyone! Quiet!" Miss Lazerth screeched over the roar of exclamations. "Please exit the auditorium as quickly and in as orderly a fashion as possible."
Mr. Fitzwilliam was comforting Jessica and leading her off the stage as the rest of us made our way towards the door like a bunch of singing, dancing cattle. Sean came up behind me to brush his fingers against my thigh, but I merely gave him a "not-right-now-can't-you-see-there's-a-crisis" look. I glanced back at Miss Lazerth, who was staring at the stage in a surprisingly expressionless manner for a teacher who had almost seen one of her students killed.
Once outside, the potential cast members buzzed with fantastical stories of sabotage by someone who hadn't wanted Jessica to get the part.
"But wasn't everyone who got called back for Sarah Brown already in the auditorium?" piped up a freshman who had been called back for Sky.
"Of course, you idiot, but obviously the person wasn't going to do it themselves," replied Sean, who was quite at home amidst the scandal and intrigue. "Jesus Christ, freshmen get more and more clueless every year."
"So you think she hired someone?" asked Amy, who, despite all her efforts to ignore Sean, found herself suddenly engaged.
"It's possible," said Sean mysteriously, stroking an imaginary beard.
I was staring off into the distance, considering all these possibilities when I realized I'd left my copy of Pride and Prejudice backstage. I'd normally just let it be, but it was a library book and my father had been known to ground me for weeks on end for even a ten cent overdue fine. Who knew when I'd be allowed back into the auditorium?
"Oh no!" I exclaimed suddenly.
"What's wrong?" Amy asked, staring at me curiously.
"I left my book backstage," I said unhappily. "I really need to get it."
"Is a Jane Austen book worth going past a flaming mass of metal?" Amy looked at me incredulously.
"If it means not having my father yell at me, then yes, it is worth it," I replied through gritted teeth. "I'm going back in."
I squeezed past the tittering group of Adelaides to get to the auditorium door, which was fortunately still slightly open. I pulled it open just enough to get myself through-- "just enough" was still quite a lot, I noticed disgruntledly-- and slipped into the cavernous space. Lazerth had already abandoned the place, and it was empty except for a strange-looking stagehand named Mr. Kellog who was examining the quietly sizzling light that lay smashed on the stage floor. He didn't even glance at me as I began to make my way up the stage steps.
Before our school was built (which was only about ten years ago, by the way), the property had been entirely dedicated to ECPAC, which stood for Essex County Performing Arts Center. Therefore, we had a huge, complex theater that no one really knew what to do with. The school still used it, but it was also often rented out to professional theater companies. To me, our stage was the most beautiful part of school. It was also the weirdest and creepiest, especially since the oddball hired stagehands always hung around in the auditorium.
When I took my first step onto the stage floor, the stagehand finally acknowledged me.
"It came from above," he said, as if the light was a sign from God.
"I'm aware," I replied coldly. "How did it fall?"
"No idea," he replied, leering at me. "Well, actually..." He paused. "You know the story of the Opera Ghost, I'm sure," he murmured.
"I don't believe in ghost stories, Mr. Kellog," I said firmly.
"This is one you might believe, sweetheart." His eyes glowed excitedly. "Only a few years ago, a boy came into this place, looking for so-called education. His education wasn't needed, though. He was a brilliant mathmetician-- An architecht, too, they said. But it wasn't only architechture and math he did... He was a musician!"
"Mr. Kellog, I really should--"
"He had an enchanting voice," he told me suddenly, as if he knew already that this would cause me to halt. It did. I had a great respect for "enchanting" voices. "More enchanting than anyone I'm sure you've ever heard. It could make anyone fall in love with him, I'm sure, had they given him a chance. But there was something wrong... Something terribly wrong... His face..."
"His face?" I echoed, looking about as intelligent as a wombat.
"He was deformed from birth. He was required to wear a mask so not to scare the other children. But I don't think they had to worry so much about the CHILDREN being scared as the children scaring HIM. He was teased relentlessly, of course. And one day, when he'd had enough, the class president was found dead on the stage and the ghost vanished. It was decided that he'd killed himself in his misery. But his spirit is still here... I feel it, every morning and every night... I hear him singing sometimes..."
"Mr. Kellog!" A voice rang out from the back of the auditorium. I realized that Miss Lazerth had re-entered the auditorium without my noticing. She began to storm towards the stage, her lined face even harder than usual. "You know you shouldn't be talking such nonsense, and especially not to such impressionable young people as Miss Mayers. I plan to have a word with the stage manager about you."
"Why not let them know?" Mr. Kellog stared out at all of us, looking but not seeing. "Why lie?"
Lazerth's heels clicked authoritatively as she stalked up onstage and in the direction of Mr. Kellog. It was then that Miss Lazerth did something I'd never seen her do before. She violently grabbed Mr. Kellog's sleeve and jerked him towards her. For a moment, I thought she was going to smack him across the face, but instead, she hissed something in his ear. When they broke apart, Mr. Kellog nodded slightly and quickly exited the stage. Miss Lazerth straightened up and stared out of me, shaken, but composed.
"Detention, Elizabeth," she said in a strange voice. "I'll see you tomorrow morning at 7:30."
"But Miss Lazerth!" I exclaimed, stunned. "I didn't do anything wrong! My book--"
"I will see you at 7:30," she repeated. "That is my final word."
"Does that mean I didn't get the part?" I whispered, my eyes beginning to tear.
"How can you possibly think about something like that right now?" she snapped suddenly. "Callbacks have been indefinitely postponed until the stage has been inspected to meet safety standards!"
Back at my locker, I thought I might cry, but I didn't. Amy was too caught up with her fan club, and no one else had really spoken to me otherwise. But it wasn't just that that had bothered me. It was the fact that I probably wouldn't get a part, not after I'd made Miss Lazerth so angry. Jessica Klein would probably get it instead.
People seemed to have realized this-- Well, one person, that is. Sean had been holding Jessica's hand on the way back from the auditorium. And the worst was, she didn't seem to mind at all.
I peered over my Biology notes to look Amy May in the eyes. "Do you think?"
"Let's see, Lizzy. You made the mistake of going out Sean Winters in your youth--"
"It was freshman year," I reminded her.
"Whatever. You made this... MISTAKE... once. Most normal people would laugh it off, chalk it up as an experience. But you? No. You go off and make out with him in broad daylight." She shook her head in disbelief.
"I did not MAKE OUT with him," I hissed, leaning over to smack her arm. "We just kissed a bit. It was very romantic."
"Really? Did his you-know-what get excited before or AFTER you started kissing?"
"Amy!" I growled. "Honestly."
We were both at callbacks for Guys and Dolls, and we were both more than a little bit nervous. I had been called back for the biggest of the big-- Sarah Brown. Amy was called back for Adelaide, though she didn't think she had much of a chance against Ashley Glaub. I didn't want to be mean, but I sort of agreed with her.
Fitz and Lazerth had stuck us in the back of the auditorium, so we were forced to watch every single callback. It wasn't so bad, I guess, except that some of the boys had ridiculously bad voices. It was pretty depressing, actually. I loved boys with good voices. For me, there was nothing-- absolutely NOTHING-- that was sexier than a good voice. I wasn't usually a lusty person, but after hearing Sean Winters sing, I would gladly kiss him for hours. Not that I ever have or anything.
Actually, Amy and I had almost fallen asleep when it happened. My head was drooping on her shoulder, and Jessica Klein was butchering "I'll Know". Sean winked at me across the auditorium, and then...
CRASH!
A huge stage light fell to the stage, only a few feet shy of Jessica. She screamed and practically leapt offstage, while the light burst into flame briefly before settling into a crackling, sizzling mess. I nearly leapt twenty feet in the air, and I wasn't the only one. It seemed that the whole auditorium was in chaos. Fitz looked as if he was ready to have a heart attack, and Lazerth looked as if she had just swallowed a lemon.
"God! What was that?" cried Amy, clutching onto my arm painfully.
"Okay, you need to get off," I replied irritably.
"Do you think Jessica is okay? Is the light still on fire, do you think? I can't believe this!" she squealed, now resorting to burying her entire face in my shoulder.
"Everyone! Quiet!" Miss Lazerth screeched over the roar of exclamations. "Please exit the auditorium as quickly and in as orderly a fashion as possible."
Mr. Fitzwilliam was comforting Jessica and leading her off the stage as the rest of us made our way towards the door like a bunch of singing, dancing cattle. Sean came up behind me to brush his fingers against my thigh, but I merely gave him a "not-right-now-can't-you-see-there's-a-crisis" look. I glanced back at Miss Lazerth, who was staring at the stage in a surprisingly expressionless manner for a teacher who had almost seen one of her students killed.
Once outside, the potential cast members buzzed with fantastical stories of sabotage by someone who hadn't wanted Jessica to get the part.
"But wasn't everyone who got called back for Sarah Brown already in the auditorium?" piped up a freshman who had been called back for Sky.
"Of course, you idiot, but obviously the person wasn't going to do it themselves," replied Sean, who was quite at home amidst the scandal and intrigue. "Jesus Christ, freshmen get more and more clueless every year."
"So you think she hired someone?" asked Amy, who, despite all her efforts to ignore Sean, found herself suddenly engaged.
"It's possible," said Sean mysteriously, stroking an imaginary beard.
I was staring off into the distance, considering all these possibilities when I realized I'd left my copy of Pride and Prejudice backstage. I'd normally just let it be, but it was a library book and my father had been known to ground me for weeks on end for even a ten cent overdue fine. Who knew when I'd be allowed back into the auditorium?
"Oh no!" I exclaimed suddenly.
"What's wrong?" Amy asked, staring at me curiously.
"I left my book backstage," I said unhappily. "I really need to get it."
"Is a Jane Austen book worth going past a flaming mass of metal?" Amy looked at me incredulously.
"If it means not having my father yell at me, then yes, it is worth it," I replied through gritted teeth. "I'm going back in."
I squeezed past the tittering group of Adelaides to get to the auditorium door, which was fortunately still slightly open. I pulled it open just enough to get myself through-- "just enough" was still quite a lot, I noticed disgruntledly-- and slipped into the cavernous space. Lazerth had already abandoned the place, and it was empty except for a strange-looking stagehand named Mr. Kellog who was examining the quietly sizzling light that lay smashed on the stage floor. He didn't even glance at me as I began to make my way up the stage steps.
Before our school was built (which was only about ten years ago, by the way), the property had been entirely dedicated to ECPAC, which stood for Essex County Performing Arts Center. Therefore, we had a huge, complex theater that no one really knew what to do with. The school still used it, but it was also often rented out to professional theater companies. To me, our stage was the most beautiful part of school. It was also the weirdest and creepiest, especially since the oddball hired stagehands always hung around in the auditorium.
When I took my first step onto the stage floor, the stagehand finally acknowledged me.
"It came from above," he said, as if the light was a sign from God.
"I'm aware," I replied coldly. "How did it fall?"
"No idea," he replied, leering at me. "Well, actually..." He paused. "You know the story of the Opera Ghost, I'm sure," he murmured.
"I don't believe in ghost stories, Mr. Kellog," I said firmly.
"This is one you might believe, sweetheart." His eyes glowed excitedly. "Only a few years ago, a boy came into this place, looking for so-called education. His education wasn't needed, though. He was a brilliant mathmetician-- An architecht, too, they said. But it wasn't only architechture and math he did... He was a musician!"
"Mr. Kellog, I really should--"
"He had an enchanting voice," he told me suddenly, as if he knew already that this would cause me to halt. It did. I had a great respect for "enchanting" voices. "More enchanting than anyone I'm sure you've ever heard. It could make anyone fall in love with him, I'm sure, had they given him a chance. But there was something wrong... Something terribly wrong... His face..."
"His face?" I echoed, looking about as intelligent as a wombat.
"He was deformed from birth. He was required to wear a mask so not to scare the other children. But I don't think they had to worry so much about the CHILDREN being scared as the children scaring HIM. He was teased relentlessly, of course. And one day, when he'd had enough, the class president was found dead on the stage and the ghost vanished. It was decided that he'd killed himself in his misery. But his spirit is still here... I feel it, every morning and every night... I hear him singing sometimes..."
"Mr. Kellog!" A voice rang out from the back of the auditorium. I realized that Miss Lazerth had re-entered the auditorium without my noticing. She began to storm towards the stage, her lined face even harder than usual. "You know you shouldn't be talking such nonsense, and especially not to such impressionable young people as Miss Mayers. I plan to have a word with the stage manager about you."
"Why not let them know?" Mr. Kellog stared out at all of us, looking but not seeing. "Why lie?"
Lazerth's heels clicked authoritatively as she stalked up onstage and in the direction of Mr. Kellog. It was then that Miss Lazerth did something I'd never seen her do before. She violently grabbed Mr. Kellog's sleeve and jerked him towards her. For a moment, I thought she was going to smack him across the face, but instead, she hissed something in his ear. When they broke apart, Mr. Kellog nodded slightly and quickly exited the stage. Miss Lazerth straightened up and stared out of me, shaken, but composed.
"Detention, Elizabeth," she said in a strange voice. "I'll see you tomorrow morning at 7:30."
"But Miss Lazerth!" I exclaimed, stunned. "I didn't do anything wrong! My book--"
"I will see you at 7:30," she repeated. "That is my final word."
"Does that mean I didn't get the part?" I whispered, my eyes beginning to tear.
"How can you possibly think about something like that right now?" she snapped suddenly. "Callbacks have been indefinitely postponed until the stage has been inspected to meet safety standards!"
Back at my locker, I thought I might cry, but I didn't. Amy was too caught up with her fan club, and no one else had really spoken to me otherwise. But it wasn't just that that had bothered me. It was the fact that I probably wouldn't get a part, not after I'd made Miss Lazerth so angry. Jessica Klein would probably get it instead.
People seemed to have realized this-- Well, one person, that is. Sean had been holding Jessica's hand on the way back from the auditorium. And the worst was, she didn't seem to mind at all.
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