Erik: Must I continue to stay here?

Me: Yes.

Erik: Why?

Me: Do you want me to butcher your story?

Erik: No.

Me: Then you have to stay here. Now say the disclaimer.

Erik: -sigh- The Phantom was never hers. And I'm happy it's not.

Me: -gives Erik Death Glare of Doom- Right, on with the fic!

Tuesday: Ensemble Tryouts/Casting

Lets just say that ensemble casting went horribly. Only half of the boys trying out could sing, and only half of the girls could sing well. Vicky and I would seriously piss of some people in the near future.

"What about Eric and John? Should they be let in?" Vicky asked.

"Erm…yes," I finally decided. At least those two could hold a tune. They would definitely be background singers, or would just have no lines at all.

'Erica and Alex?" Vicky said around the pen she was chewing on.

"Yes. They can be ballet rats."

Mr. VanTeyens and Ms. Nichols thought we were crazy to cut anyone. They thought we should keep all of the guys, regardless of their singing ability, and every girl that they liked, regardless of singing ability. And we were adamant on only letting actual singers into Phantom.

"Vicky, if this keeps up, we'll have no cast," I exclaimed after we had fished auditions.

"Kaye, don't worry. We can always use main character rejects as extras and understudies," she assured me.

I gave her a sideways look, "If you think it will work."

"Oui!"

"Okay, but main male parts auditions are tomorrow," I reminded her. "Gabe, Derek, and Dylan are all going o try for the Phantom. And, Gabe and Derek will want their respective crushes as Christine."

"Right, lets hope Dylan can sing. Should we worry about Gabi and Christina?" she asked.

"Possibly. If they ca hit high E's and C's, we should panic," I said to myself.

"I just want to get through male auditions before we worry about them," Vicky announced, remaining focused on her ultimate goal of singing Christine.

"I have an idea," I said.

"What?"

"If both of us are the best for the part of Christine, we should alternate shows. This way, we could both play her."

"Kaye, that's a good idea, but how will we decide whose Christine?" Vicky questioned.

I thought for a moment. "We can have the guys who we call back for Raul and the Phantom decide three girls, and have Ms. Nichols decide the rest," I said after a long pause.

"Yay!" she squealed. She and I parted at the doors to the school. "Au revoir!" she shouted as she and I split.

I got on my bus and couldn't help over hear two guys on my bus saying that they would try out for the Phantom.

"Do you even know who he is?" I asked.

"Uh, no. But he wears a mask, so he's got to be cool," one of them said. I just glared angrily, and sat in my seat. I pulled out my iPod and turned up Point of No Return to drown out the bus noise.

Wednesday: Main Male Casting/Tryouts

"Okay! Guys trying out for the Phantom, go to stage left!" I yelled. Half of the group moved there. This was going to be a long day.

"Raul move to center stage!" Vicky ordered. About six move, and none of them looked like they knew what they were doing. I knew that Vicky would give them hell just for thinking of trying for her least favorite character's part.

"And all undecided to stage left!" Mr. VanTeyens shouted. the rest of the guys, about twelve, moved there.

Vicky, Mr. VanTeyens, and I handed out the music for the respective characters. Vicky gave the Rauls All I Ask of You and Why Have You Brought Me Here?. I gave the Phantoms Point of No Return and Music of the Night. Mr. VanTeyens gave the rest Down Once More/Track Down This Murder.

I told the Phantoms to read over the music, and went to whisper in Vicky's ear "Let the musical butchery begin."

"Wonderful," she replied before shooing me away from her Rauls. They already looked terrified.

Tuning out all other noises, I focused on the lot before me. Dylan, Gabe and Derek were there, and were furiously looking over their music. I selected Angel, a guy I thought couldn't hold a tune, and got him to go first.

"Sing Music of the Night, and I'll tell you when to stop," I told him. He began, and after only three lines, I had to stop him. He was almost ridiculously off tempo.

"What??" he asked. I think he thought that he was singing well.

"Your singing to fast, and then to slow," I informed him.

"Well, there's no music."

"Okay, Dylan!" I called. Dylan looked freaked at my calling on him. "Please sing Music of the Night without music."

Dylan looked uncertain, but he shuffled his papers and began singing. His voice was wavering at first, but his singing got stronger. By the end of the song, he was sounding like a good candidate for our Phantom.

"Good. See? Anyone who thinks that they can match that, stay. Anyone who can't, please go join Mr. VanTeyens's group," I ordered. Only Gabe and Derek were left after that. Dylan had sat on one of the speakers by the curtain.

"Okay, who wants to go first?" I asked. Gabe tentatively raised his hand. "Sing Point of No Return please."

"Why can't I sing Music of the Night?" he asked.

"You will, after you sing a few lines from this song, and I thin you're good enough."

"Fine," huffed. He began singing, and his voice sounded better for a Raul.

I stopped him, "I think your voice would better suit Raul. Please go see Vicky."

"If you think so," he said uncertainly. He looked torn between following orders and wanting to play the Phantom. Thinking it over for a few minutes, he finally decided to seek out Vicky. That left Derek.

"Please sing Music of the Night," I said. He began singing, and his voice seemed too lack the richness for the part. It seemed good for Piangi though. I told him to go see Mr. VanTeyens.

"Looks like you're our Phantom. Come with me, and we'll have you sing for Vicky," I ordered.

"That is something I'm truly frightened of," he retorted.

I chuckled, "Yup, if you're awful, she'll freak."

"If Dylan's awful, why would I freak, Kaye?" Vicky said from behind me.

"Because he's the only one left Vicky," I answered.

She nodded, and told me, "Gabe's the only Raul left too."

"Well, we've found or main guys. Should they come to girls auditions tomorrow?" I asked.

"Yes, we have to know what they sound lie with possible Christines," Vicky informed me.

"Kay."

The rest of tryouts went off without a hitch. The roles were as follows:

Phantom: Dylan

Raul: Gabe

Piangi: Derek

Andre: Steven

Firmin: Angel

Joseph Buquet: Jason

Extras: Dan, John S. , Jon C. , John B. , Eric

"Kaye, we'll need to cast some girls as guys," Vicky told me after I had typed up the list.

"Tomorrow. Ad shouldn't we be practicing? Tryouts for Christine are tomorrow," I reminded her as I went to get my bag. It was finally time to leave the school.

"Right, going to practice, bye!" she said as we parted ways outside.

I began singing Think of Me under my breath. Tomorrow was tryouts, and I couldn't just let anybody have the part.

Here ends Chapter 2. Review, and you get special e-cookies. Thanks to Scara J. Woods and it's pronounced 'lowlight' for the story's first two reviews. - sends Erik to give them e-cookies- Review peoples!