Phantom

by Laura DeLuca

  Wendy made it through almost the entire audition without once faltering, a feat all the other girls had been unable to accomplish. But when she came to the end of the piece, she made a valiant effort but was unable to hit the full range of high soprano notes. Her voice cracked towards the end of the scale. She glared over at the orchestra as though they had penned the score themselves, instead of just following along with the music on the sheets in front of them. But when Miss King seemed unfazed, Wendy regained her momentary loss of composure. The director waved her hand in careless dismissal.

  “Don’t worry, dear. We can improvise if we have to. Those notes are next to impossible for anyone who hasn’t been professionally trained.”

  “She hasn’t heard you yet,” Debbie whispered with a conspirative grin.

  Rebecca swallowed hard. No, Miss King hadn’t heard her yet, and Rebecca wasn’t sure she ever would. Maybe it wasn’t too late to sneak out a side door. But even as she thought it, she knew her trembling legs would never be able to carry out the command. How was she ever going to go through with this? How could she think she would succeed where the perfect Wendy Wright had failed? She couldn’t! She couldn’t do it. And she didn’t have to. At least not yet.

  The next few girls were horrible. Yet, Rebecca found herself wishing their auditions would never end, because as the number of people in the seats dwindled, the closer she came to her own performance and possibly her humiliation.

  “Debbie O’Neil!”

  Rebecca knew she couldn’t leave now. She couldn’t fail to offer the same kind of unconditional support to Debbie that her friend had shown to her throughout the last few weeks. She had gone back and forth for weeks, trying to decide whether to stick with the orchestra or actually try out for a role. Carmen had been great too, but it was Debbie who had really boosted her confidence enough to give her the strength to write her name on the tryout list, right below Debbie’s.

  Oh God—Her name was right below Debbie’s. That meant that she was going to be called next! Even if she wanted to escape, she couldn’t be rude enough to walk out of the auditorium when Debbie was about to begin her performance. That would be unforgivable.

  Rebecca was almost relieved to see that Debbie also looked nervous as she carried her stocky frame up the steps to the stage. She was glad she wasn’t the only one who didn’t think it was second nature to face down a room full of smirking teenagers. Debbie struggled with her weight and her abnormal height, so she had always been a little shy. But her voice was almost as good as Wendy’s. She usually landed at least one of the smaller, secondary roles in the school’s productions.

  Debbie sang well—better than well, revealing a rich, firm voice. But she had no more luck than Wendy when it came time to reach the highest notes. Her voice faltered and cracked. When the song was over, she returned to her seat with a slight blush to her cheeks.

  “Don’t worry,” Rebecca told her encouragingly. “Even Miss King said she doesn’t expect any of us to hit those high notes.”

  Debbie smiled. “Why don’t you get up there and prove her wrong?”

  “Rebecca Hope!”

  When Miss King called her name, Rebecca felt her stomach do an unmistakable triple somersault. She wondered how she had ever thought a little coward like her would have the nerve to do something like this. She was the bookworm, the nerd, the invisible woman. She wasn’t an actress. She wasn’t good enough to play Christine. She wasn’t even good enough to be a chorus girl.

  “Is Rebecca Hope here?”

  Miss King called her name for the second time. When she still didn’t move, Carmen forcefully pushed her out of her seat and into the aisle. Rebecca wasn’t sure her legs were strong enough to carry her to the stage, which suddenly seemed a million miles away. So instead of walking she clung to the armrest of the corner seat.

  “You can do this,” Carmen insisted. “Have a little faith in yourself.”

  Rebecca took a deep breath and nodded, forcing her heavy legs to carry her down the walkway, up the three steps and onto the threatening stage front. And that was the easy part. Once she was there, looking down at the dotting of faces spread out along the rows of the auditorium, the real panic started to set in. She thought she might start to hyperventilate. She was gripping the base of the microphone so tightly her fingers had turned white.

  “Are you ready, Becca?”

  Rebecca didn’t answer. She couldn’t answer. Her tongue suddenly felt thick and heavy and she couldn’t quite remember how to make it work anymore. She tried to tell herself this was no different than singing along with her CD in the morning, but she knew that wasn’t true. Despite her better judgment her eyes scanned the crowd. She noticed Wendy’s smug smile, and Carmen and Debbie’s concerned frowns. A little further down, Jay was making obnoxious faces, and even Tom was rolling his eyes. No one seemed to have any faith that she could possibly succeed, including Rebecca herself.

  It was then she noticed a dark figure emerge in the very back rows of the auditorium. Justyn Patko watched from the shadows. He watched just as the phantom must have watched Christine at her début performance. Watched through eyes that held her entranced by their intensity, but at the same time filled her with strength and courage. Again, Rebecca had the surreal feeling that she had somehow stepped back into the past. She was Christine, and the figure watching her from the shadows was Erik, a dark angel of music, nodding his head in approval. Rebecca felt the stage fright melt away as though it had never been there at all.

  “I’m ready.”

  The orchestra, led by the delicate strokes of the piano, gradually stirred to life. Rebecca continued to focus on Justyn, until the music began to envelope her in its sweet melody. She merged with it, yielded to it, allowed it to possess her until her voice rung out strong and clear, matching the beauty of the instruments. She sang with the passion and the love she felt for the amazing work of art she performed.

  “When the time comes for us to part,

  Carry a piece of me within your heart.

  Let our memories carry you far.

  Think of me when you wish on a star.

  Our love will be a fond memory,

  Carried through all eternity.”

  Each operatic rhyme rang clearly and fluidly through the wings of the auditorium. Each note resonated in the perfect key and a rich fluid tone. Each word was filled with pure, heartfelt emotion. It almost seemed she was listening to someone else entirely as the song streamed from her lips.

  Finally, she approached the final verse of the aria—the part where all other voices had failed. She had managed the difficult scale a thousand times in the safety of her bathroom shower. But would she be able to do it here, in front of an audience of her peers? Not even Justyn’s still penetrating stare could help her face this challenge. Rebecca closed her eyes and with her voice soaring but unforced, she sang the final lines of the ballad.

  “Time may pass, the memories grow dim.

  But I’ll be in your thoughts in a passing whim.

  You will never be completely free.

  You can never let go of meeeeeeeeeeeee.”

  She had delivered the complete aria perfectly, even the dramatic high-ranged notes at the end of the sonnet. With a smile of well-earned accomplishment, she looked into the audience and found a wide variety of stunned faces staring back at her.

  At first, she had the horrifying feeling that she had deluded herself. Perhaps she was horribly out of tune, tone deaf to the extreme, and the people who sat speechless simply couldn’t begin to express their disgust. Rebecca’s heart began to pound with familiar nerve-racking fright as she waited several long seconds for some kind of response. She was rewarded for her patience when she was greeted by a surprisingly loud round of applause considering the small number of people who were present.

  “Rebecca Hope!” Miss King exclaimed. “It is absolutely scandalous that for the past three years you’ve hidden that voice behind a mediocre violin ability! That was beautiful .
. . spectacular . . . really, I’m at a loss for words.”

  Rebecca blushed as she stepped down from the stage. The magic of the moment had passed, and she was just plain old Rebecca again. The spirit of Christine had possessed her during the performance, but now she wanted only to blend back in with the crowd. The faces hovering over her only made her feel even more overwhelmed. Carmen and Debbie were waiting for her, literally glowing with pride. She tried to weave through the crowd to join them. But before she could reach them, Tom stepped into her path, blue eyes twinkling. Rebecca was pretty certain her already unsteady legs were finally going to betray her.

  “You were amazing, Becca!” Tom gushed.

  “Umm . . . thanks,” Rebecca managed to stutter. She couldn’t believe Tom Rittenhouse actually knew her name.

  “We’ll have to get together and rehearse sometime.”

  Rebecca was so flustered she almost forgot how to speak. “Yeah . . . sure . . . I mean . . . if I even get a part.”

  “With a voice like that, you’re sure to get the lead.”

  Again Rebecca’s face grew warm, but this time it had little to do with her singing ability. Carmen was openly gaping at the exchange. As pretty as she was, even she had never succeeded in catching Tom’s attention. But Rebecca knew there were no hard feelings when Carmen flashed a thumbs-up.

  Before long, others were coming up to her, congratulating her on a great audition, telling her how they were sure she’d get a good role. Rebecca found herself the center of attention for the first time in her life. But not everyone was happy with the day’s turn of events. Rebecca noticed that Wendy hadn’t budged from her seat. She was glaring at her with an obvious scowl. And from his corner, Justyn looked on at the fanfare with his lips set in a tight frown. Rebecca watched him until he disappeared into the dimly lit corridor, fading into the darkness like the creature of the night that he apparently was.

  Chapter Three

  “Becca, the cast list’s been posted!” Carmen exclaimed. “Aren’t you excited? I’m sure you got the role of Christine. You were amazing at auditions yesterday!”

  Carmen didn’t give her a chance to respond. She grabbed Rebecca’s arm and started dragging her across the hallway to the billboard where the announcements were posted before she could even unload her armful of books. Even from the opposite end of the building, she could see a small group of excited students scanning the list for their names. But Rebecca wasn’t quite as certain as Carmen was about what the results would be. Yes, tryouts had gone better than she had expected, and Miss King had been happy with her performance, but other girls had done just as well. And girls like Wendy and even Debbie, who had been in the drama club for years, would have seniority over a newcomer like Rebecca. She would be lucky, and grateful, if she got one of the smaller, less important roles. Just being a part of the production at all would be enough for her.

  They got a little closer but there were still too many people standing around the billboard to be able to see anything. They stood back a little to wait their turn. Rebecca started biting off what little that was left of her fingernails. This was worse than when she was waiting to get back her SAT scores.

  “Woo whoooo!” Jay shouted. He forced a smaller, unwilling freshman to exchange high fives with him. “I got a part! Yeah, man! I’m Buquet!”

  Jay pushed his way through the crowd of onlookers. He shoved Carmen and Rebecca roughly as he passed. He knocked into her arm, and Rebecca dropped the stack of books she was carrying. Loose-leaf papers went flying in every direction. Jay looked back only long enough to snicker at her before moving on down the hall, continuing to announce his accomplishment, loudly and obnoxiously.

  “Ugh, Jay is such a jerk.” Carmen complained as she bent down to help pick up the papers and get them back in some kind of order. “I can’t believe Miss King actually gave him a part. Who’s Bucket anyway?”

  “Buquet.” Rebecca corrected with a slight laugh. “He’s the stagehand the Phantom kills right before the intermission. He gets hung.”

  Carmen chuckled. “Do you think Miss King is trying to send a secret message? Anyway, at least we’ll only have to deal with him for half of the rehearsals. I don’t think I could stand spending three full hours a day for the next six weeks with Jay Kopp.”

  “Jay’s not so bad once you get to know him.” It was Tom. Suddenly he was kneeling down beside them. “Hey, Becca, I think you dropped this.” He handed her a sheet of paper with her calculus assignment on it.

  “Th . . . thanks,” Becca managed to stutter.

  Then she felt like a complete and total moron because she couldn’t think of anything else to say. At least not anything that wouldn’t make her sound like a babbling idiot. Luckily, Carmen wasn’t as easily intimidated by incredibly hot guys.

  “Hey, Tom. Have you seen the cast list yet?” she asked as they all climbed to their feet.

  Tom shook his head. “Not yet. I was just on my way over there.” He turned to Rebecca who was still struck dumb. “Why don’t I walk with you? We’ll have to get used to each other, you know. We’re going to be spending a lot of time together.”

  Tom was confident. But then, why wouldn’t he be? He had been the star of all the plays since he was a freshman. But again Rebecca found herself wondering why everyone seemed so sure she would get any part at all, let alone the starring role opposite Tom. She hadn’t been that good. Had she?

  “What? Carlotta! Are you kidding me?”

  Wendy’s high-pitched shriek was like a banshee cry as it echoed down the corridor. As Rebecca and the others inched their way forward, she could see Wendy’s hands were balled into fists at her side. She kept staring at the cast posting as though whatever she was reading might somehow magically change if she willed it hard enough. Her back was to them when they first approached, but she turned around just as they stepped up behind her. Her face, which was already a blotchy red from anger, turned almost purple when she saw Rebecca.

  “You!” She spat. “Don’t think you’ve won anything. Obviously there’s been some kind of misprint. I’m going to talk to Miss King right now. There’s no way she would cast me in a secondary role my senior year. There’s just no way!”

  Rebecca was speechless. It was becoming an almost permanent condition for her. She was pretty sure her mouth was hanging open. Beside her, Carmen was wearing a big grin, apparently amused by the whole thing. But Rebecca didn’t think it was funny. Wendy wasn’t the kind of person she wanted angry with her. Her entire high school life could be over with one word from Wendy Wright.

  “Geez, Wendy. I guess the concept of being a graceful loser is foreign to you,” Tom said with a smug smile.

  Wendy snorted and turned her rage onto Tom. “Oh yeah, Mr. Perfect? Let’s see how gracefully you take it. I’m not the only one who’s been upstaged by some usurping loser from the geek squad.” Tom’s smile faltered and Wendy was the one who looked smug now. “If you don’t believe me, check out the casting list for yourself.”

  Wendy stalked off with a toss of her blonde hair, and finally they were standing in front of the billboard. Tom tried to act cool, but it was obvious he was a little more nervous now than he had been about reading the results. But he was still nowhere near as nervous as Rebecca. She almost forgot to breathe as she looked for her name on the list. She started at the bottom, still in some way expecting to see her name down there, even after what Wendy had said. But her name was much higher up. It fact it was the second name listed on the cast.

  “Christine – Rebecca Hope”

  Her breath caught in her throat. She thought maybe she was imagining things. Or maybe she was dreaming. It couldn’t be true. She couldn’t have gotten the female lead in the play. She couldn’t be Christine. It was just too much to hope for. Yet, there it was in black and white. She was the star. For one glorious moment, she reveled in it. She felt all the excitement and pride that the accomplishment deserved. Then reality set in.

  What had she been thinking? How
was she going to do this? How would she stand in front of an entire auditorium filled with people and sing? Maybe she should follow Wendy into the teacher’s lounge and tell Miss King that she agreed with her—that there had been some kind of mistake. Maybe Rebecca had been suffering from temporary insanity when she had tried out to begin with.

  Luckily, no one noticed that she was having a panic attack. They just went right on talking, not even noticing that Rebecca had long since stopped breathing.

  “I got Meg Giry!” Carmen bounced up and down in excitement. “We get to be best friends. Just like in real life.”

  Meg Giry was Christine’s ballerina sidekick. It was a role that called for more dancing than singing, which was perfect for Carmen. Plus, it was the biggest role she had ever landed, so Rebecca understood her excitement. Tom, on the other hand, didn’t look quite as happy as he examined his placement. His name wasn’t above hers as they had all expected. Instead it sat one line below.