A/N: Very much not proofread.
"I. Am. Pissed."
"I'm sure you are, Erik, but what else did you expect from her-"
"I can't believe they cast me as Prince Eric! Is it the name? I'm honestly vomiting- They could have cast me as anyone and they cast me as him."
"Wow, okay, maybe because you're a senior and you're talented as hell."
Currently, Erik and Nadir are standing in front of the cast list that's taped to the auditorium door. It's now Friday. The amount of time it took them to decide is in itself appalling. Erik's just about ready to burst, and Nadir is just annoyed. Of course, Nadir is only upset over Christine's casting, not both his own and hers. Erik is fuming because not only was he cast in a role so very not him, but he also had to play the love-interest of a she-devil, goat-sounding, overly-made-up, witch face. This year is already an absolute disaster.
"We can't let Christine see this." Erik says suddenly, moving on from wallowing in self-pity (which is so very like him).
"She might be okay with this, you never know. I mean, she is a transfer student. She can't just waltz in here and take the lead role." Nadir suggests, tightening and loosening the straps of his backpack. As chill as Nadir likes to be, he isn't entirely sure how Erik is really going to react to this. And he also doesn't recall seeing him take his meds at lunch the other day. Oh, god, Mrs. D is going to kill him if Erik has an episode.
"No, you didn't see her face when she told me how much she loves this show. And she was so nervous before her audition. This is going to break her." Erik runs a hand over his hair, resisting the urge to grab fistfuls and scream at the top of his lungs.
"Well, what are we going to do? Stand in front of the paper all day?" Nadir asks, giving Erik a 'you're really going to go there and make everything worse, huh' look.
"Crap, there she is!" Erik exclaims (in a whisper), pulling Nadir by the arm and hastily... doing exactly what Nadir just... said, standing in front of the cast list to block it.
"Hey, guys." Christine greets, but her warm smile drops almost immediately. "I didn't get it." She blurts out. Nadir glares at Erik, but he glares right back. They step to the side so she can read and, and she grins just a tiny little bit. "But I'm the understudy! There's hope! And I like Aquata." Not a complete lie! But currently Christine is on the verge of a mental breakdown! She tried not to get her hopes up— really, she did. But Erik, Meg, and Nadir praised the crap out of her. Her head just shrank back down three sizes.
"Who the fuck likes Aquata?" Erik lets slip, stepping towards Christine and grabbing her by the shoulders (albeit very gently) without thinking. "We. Are. Going. To. Fix. This."
"I. Don't. Need. You. To." Christine mocks, grabbing Erik's shoulders back. "It's only fair, I'm a tra—"
"We get it!" Erik exclaims. Whirling around dramatically. "You're a transfer student! But Carlotta Giudi-Freaking-Celli sucks ass, and if we want to have one, single successful production for our senior year, she cannot play that stupid mermaid!"
Christine's eyes are wide, but she's pretty amused. Part of her is slightly concerned (she's only spoken to him for a few days) because in that time he hasn't appeared to be completely on the mentally stable side. But Nadir just looks embarrassed of him, and she's ten thousand percent sure he would try and stop Erik if he felt the need.
However, when something(one) catches Erik's eye through the windows of the office's door, Nadir starts hopelessly pleading for him to just go to the cafe and chill the hell out. Both Nadir and Christine are tugging on Erik's bony arms in the single stride he has to take to reach the door.
"Mr. Firmin!" Erik calls as he (a bit too aggressively) swings the door open. The man spins around from facing the front desk (manned today by Mrs. Webster ((strike one))), giving a forced, friendly smile to the not-completely-overjoyed teenagers. "I have a few comments regarding the cast list." He manages to shake off the nagging girl and boy, taking a furious stance.
"Comment away, Kid." The man replies, eyes narrowed at the curious scene. All three have become rather disheveled from the struggle of entering the main office, not to mention Christine is beet red and Nadir is excruciatingly disappointed.
"The girl you cast as the title role? That can't happen. I don't care how much money her damn parents offer you, there's no denying she has less talent than a grain of freaking sand. Her understudy, however, is the perfect match. She could use a little work, but she's so promising and considering you dimwits cast me by my namesake as the love interest, I should have a say in who I am comfortable with. And as president of the drama club, it is my duty to make our last productions our best."
"What fascinating credentials you have, son." The man replies, his address causing Erik to noticeably flinch. "It is clear you are quite passionate about this..." He says, eyes wandering to look Christine up and down with a raised eyebrow. Erik's blood boils at the assumption that Christine's prettiness would be the reason he'd rather her play Ariel. "How about this—" He bargains, and all three teens are getting way creepy vibes. "We have Miss Giudicelli as Ariel until we've run through the whole show once. Then, we'll run through it again with Miss Daaé and have a vote among the cast and crew. Whoever gets the most will be Ariel for opening night, and perhaps all performances."
It's not that satisfying a deal, but ten million lightbulbs seem to go off above Erik all at once. Erik will help Christine improve her singing and acting and have her perfectly prepared for that run-through that everyone will vote for her and he can get those stupid service hours. "Fine." Erik says, stepping aside to address Mrs. Webster. "Completely unrelated," completely related. "but when is Mr. Curtis available?"
"Come back during homeroom." She says sourly, not even looking up from her computer.
"Cool." Erik replies, calmly twisting to face Nadir and Christine and walking out the door before them, appearing to feel more accomplished than he actually feels. They follow behind quickly, and once they're deep into the hallway, Erik begins to speak. "Can you come home with us after school today?" He asks Christine, beginning to walk backwards.
"Uh- Well, Raoul asked me to go to the football game tonight, so—"
"Perfect. We'll just go with you. He's on the team anyway, and you do not want to be alone at those things." Erik replies far too quickly. Erik despises football with the most fiery of burning passions. Little does he know, Christine does, too. In all honesty, she only agreed so that Raoul didn't make her feel guilty. She didn't have many friends, and she couldn't risk losing one of them.
"Okay." Christine agrees a little hesitantly, pulling out her cell phone to tell her aunt. She looks up for a moment, her lips stalling for a second before she speaks. "Just... We need to dedicate at least an hour to homework. I don't like complete suffering over the weekend."
"Your wish is my command." Erik replies, actually smiling like a little forest nymph ready to hop around in far too extreme joy. Seriously, he needs to calm down. He is way too excited to have Christine over his house. But then he's suddenly filled with a tremendous amount of dread. He can't have Christine over. And his mother is going to make such a big deal about it. Simply because she's female. Whatever. It's whatever. They have a mission and it must be completed.
Erik, Nadir, and Christine all sat on the ground by the window as the announcements for the end of the day blared through the three floors of classrooms. Their last period that day was Spanish V, and not only were there only six people in the class, but the teacher could also care less what they did or where they sat. Because it was last period on a Friday, she didn't actually do any teaching, and everyone sat around talking through the whole period. The three spent the period deciding what they were going to work on when they got to Erik's house. Christine wrote out an actual schedule, which Erik admired. First was snacks, then homework, then start with Christine's biggest solo and a few duets, and finally, go to the game, drive Christine home, drop Erik off, and Nadir was done being chauffeur.
The bell finally screamed about the whole school, and the three teens practically sprinted to the mall parking lot. (No student parking at St. Cecilia's). Erik let Christine sit shotgun, saying that she had to experience first hand the professional driving of Nadir Khan. She squealed when she turned on the radio to find that he had XM.
"Two month free trial that glitched and turned into two years." He replied.
"This means you have the Broadway station!" She squeaks, turning the dial of the stereo rapidly. "I hope you don't mind, I just really liked this channel when my dad had it in a rental car."
"You're fine. Erik would've made me change it to that anyway. It's either that, or crappy alternative when he's in a bad mood."
"You seemed like a more 70's on 7 kind of guy." She points out, craning her neck around the seat to face Erik, who's sat on the middle seat with no seat belt.
"I'm not saying I'm offended, but-" Erik's witty comment is cut short when Christine blurts out,
"Could you p-please put your seat belt on." And Erik almost protests until he sees her trembling hands. Upon seeing them, he quickly grabs the belt, locking it into place and hopes the subject and atmosphere changes as quickly as possible because he feels like an idiot and Christine is definitely about to cry.
"The only music Erik's dad has ever heard is from the seventies. It makes his ears bleed." Nadir says smoothly, as if things didn't just get super awkward.
"I try to make our car rides minimal for a reason."
"What gives him the right to keep the music on what he wants? We're truly living in a patriarchal society even today." Nadir laments, shaking his head in feigned disappointment.
Christine gasps suddenly as a song comes on the radio, and she squeals a bit more. "I love this song!" To which Erik and Nadir immediately groan. It's Astonishing. She's one of those. "Oh, please, it's a good song!" She defends, frowning. "Overplayed and overdone doesn't mean it's bad. And Little Women is a cute show!"
"Should'a known by the fact that you love Little Mermaid and Sierra Boggess that you'd be one of those." Nadir sighs.
"Yes, ma'am. And proud of it."
It's silent for barely a moment before Erik starts belting, "I THOUGHT OUR PROMISE MEANT THAT WE WOULD NEVER CHANGE AND-"
"Oh, god." Groans Nadir, tightening his grip on the steering wheel. "If you don't stop, Erik, I will make you walk to your house."
"-LIVE MY DREAMS OR EVEN START WHEN EVERYTHING HAS-"
"Dude, you're a high-baritone, please stop this nonsense." Nadir begs, stifling laughs because that boy is really going for it.
"I thought home… was all I'd ever want-" Christine butts in.
"My ATTIC… all I'd ever need."
Nadir's begging multiplies as it turns into a full blown duet, but starts to laugh hysterically- as does Christine- at Erik's attempt to hit an E5-which he does, in fact, hit. So very like him to reach notes twenty miles out of his range. They reach Erik's house after a ten minute ride that went on pretty much how the scene that was described to you did. Christine scans the strange boy's house. It's medium sized. Not small, but not a mansion. Not Raoul's house. That place makes Christine nauseous. But Erik's is quaint, but it's still on the bigger side. The three climb out of the car, lugging their backpacks with them to the front door. Erik's key barely hovers over the door before it swings open to reveal a skinny, blonde woman, evidently in her late forties-but not quite early fifties.
"Oh, Rikki you're home from school!" She exclaims, enveloping Erik in a hug that he definitely doesn't want and calling him a nickname that he's definitely never been called before. "Hi, Nads, how are you, dear?" She has called Nadir 'Nads,' before, though. She's never been able to pronounce his name. (Even though it's literally ten times easier than pronouncing her own last name, but that's just how she is.) Nadir doesn't even get to answer before she turns to Christine. "Who's this lovely lady?"
Christine's throat closes for a second. She seems to forget how to form words. Completely. Why is she so intimidated? The woman seems like she means well! "This is Christine. She just moved here and we're going to work on stuff for the play." At that, the woman finally lets the three teens in the house.
"Already? Weren't auditions yesterday?" She asks. Christine, now seeing her clearly, notices how glazed-over the woman's eyes appear, and despite appearing as if she hadn't left the house all day, is clad in formal-business type of attire.
"It's never too early." Erik says, tossing his backpack to the floor next to the stairs. He silently offers to take Christine's backpack, which she gives him with an awkward smile as he and his mother continue speaking. "We need the show to be perfection."
"Who was cast as who?" She asks, however she looks like she's lost complete interest in the conversation.
"The casting sucked. These new directors suck." Erik complains, stalking towards the kitchen. Nadir and Christine follow. "First, they cast me as Prince Eric, who the fuck would do that? Then, they cast Christine as Aquata, when she so deserves Ariel! So, we've made a deal that Christine will run through the show once we've figured everything out and people will decide if they'd prefer her as Ariel or Carlotta. So, we're starting now to make everything perfect."
"I'm Scuttle." Nadir adds, contrasting collected-ness with Erik's excruciating tirade.
"Scuttle is so perfect for you, darling." She turns back to Christine while Erik takes out packages of oreos and chips. "So, where're you from, doll?"
From? Difficult question when you're a Daaé. "Oh, all over. My father was a musician."
Was. It's still a fresh word to say. However, Christine notices that it's her first time not stuttering over it. She didn't go is- was. She said it. It rolled off her tongue as if she wanted it to. But there's no way she'd ever want to use that past tense linking verb regarding her father.
"How cool! What instrument?"
"Pretty much everything. He had a touring band, but he was considered a solo act, so he played any instrument he could lug onstage. He preferred violin, though." She tells the woman, eyeing the oreos Nadir is inhaling and begging the universe for the conversation to end.
"Violin! That's Erik's favorite as well!"
Christine faces Erik, who's been watching the entire conversation very closely. Flinching, just as she had when she noticed Erik's seat belt unbuckled, she asks "You play the violin?"
"And the piano. But that's not really important. Do you want an oreo?" He offers, giving his mother a dirty look, which the woman actually catches and excuses herself.
Christine takes a seat next to Erik on the island, reaching for the blue package and taking one oreo, pulling it apart and eating it very slowly. She despises eating in front of other people. Erik opens his mouth to say something, but his mother begins calling for him. "I'll be right back."
Nadir and Christine watch him as he leaves, and once he's out of earshot, Christine hesitates. "She's…"
"Not the worst mother in the world." He finishes. "She means well, but she can be pretty wacked at times. She can't help it, though. Plus, she buys me snacks." Christine nods. She gets it. Erik seems pretty normal anyway, so she must have done something right. "So, your dad…" Oh, god. "Was he Gus D?"
Gus D, a known touring musician who was tragically diagnosed with cancer two years ago and fell off the face of the earth. Gustave Daaé. "How'd you figure that out?"
"You just… seem like him. I saw him in concert with my uncle in eighth grade. He was phenomenal."
"He always told me I was an exact replica of my mother."
"She died in a car crash, didn't she?" Nadir asks. His voice is so even and he seems so calm that Christine has a sudden urge to punch him in the face for it.
"How-"
"The seat belt thing. You were in the car, weren't you?"
"Yeah, but-"
"So you feel pain. You know what it's like." It's not even a question, but Christine nods. "Erik feels a lot of that, too. If you're going to be his friend, that's the first thing you need to know. He's hurting more often than he appears, and there isn't much you can do about it. And even though his face plays a role in that, most of the issue stems from what goes on inside that giant head of his. It's like a thousand emotions swimming around in there and in order to express one fully he has to fish for a long time before he catches it."
Christine doesn't really know what to say. Or why he's telling her this so randomly, but she doesn't need to reply because Erik returns. He looks pretty annoyed, or maybe just uncomfortable-It's hard to tell. Whatever he is, he seems to be attempting to hide it. But Christine is confused. Something looks different. She really cannot figure it out. It's like he went upstairs and someone else came back down and Christine cannot stop staring-stop staring you creep!
"My mom makes me wear makeup when I'm not at school." Erik explains. That's what it was. He looks… normal. Christine immediately hates it. His face is caked with concealer, but if it hadn't been pointed it, Christine would have no idea. But it's so not him. "I'd wear it at school if I could, but the handbook says no makeup for guys."
Christine's mouth goes dry. She has this thing-it's stupid, but she has this thing where she's only comfortable around certain people and gets far too anxious around people she doesn't know well. And Erik does not look like Erik. "You look-"
"Normal?" Erik tries, and although she thought it before, she realized that it's quite the opposite. Normal is the face he was born with.
"You look so not you." At that, his eyes seem to flicker. For a moment, Christine thinks she said the wrong thing, but he suddenly smiles-involuntarily. His lips just curl and though most of his face is packed down with makeup, crimson dusts across his pale cheeks.
"It's kind of like there's two different versions of me. Same personality, but totally different auras." No one knows how to reply to that, so he quickly adds, "Homework time?" to which Christine and Nadir agree, trailing behind Erik and making their way towards the staircase. They climb the seemingly lengthy (but actually quite small) steps to the second floor of the house. The second floor looks like one small hallway with four doors scattered along the walls. Two doors are open, showing a small office and a guest bathroom. Erik leads the way to the end of the hallway, opening the door to reveal a blue-walled bedroom. Christine thought she was the only teenager still standing with a twin bed, but lo and behold, Erik, with a comforter matching his walls, has one right up against the middle wall. She wonders how he could sleep without the wall to his back. On the wall adjacent to the one with the bed is a nice, wooden desk that's so completely cluttered it would just have to be Erik's. The wall opposite that holds a full length keyboard and a violin case. Decorating the walls are various playbills, as well as posters for movies Christine has never heard of. Finally, sitting atop Erik's bed, poses a really adorable cat that makes Christine freeze in her spot. Her heart pounds but she stays completely silent. No, she's not afraid of cats, just- Oh no. Psychosomatic or not, Christine's neck and arms immediately become unbearably itchy. Already? She didn't even have a chance to politely tell anyone. Whatever, it's too late now.
As they get through an hour's worth of homework, she scratches at her arms and neck (and almost everywhere) as discreetly as possible. How hard is it to just say 'Dude, your cat is gonna make my throat close,' when it takes literally two seconds? Stupid Christine and her stupid anxiety and stupid fear of bothering other people or bringing attention to herself. She didn't totally begin to feel like she was dying until the third song they decided to practice with. Christine couldn't even tell you the name of it because the room suddenly felt like it was seven hundred thousand nine hundred and twenty eight degrees in the room. Breathing was no longer an option and she felt like she was floating away to some other planet. She started coughing-wheezing actually. She sounded like the epitome of death and dying. Erik hadn't really been looking at Christine before she started coughing. He was playing the piano and Nadir was staring emotionless at his computer unmovingly. Finally, Erik spins around to see Christine literally dying, covered in red hives all over her neck, cheeks, and probably arms, considering she hadn't stopped scratching the area under her stiff maroon school sweater since she got to his room.
"Are you okay?" He asks, standing up from the bench of the keyboard and walking over to the pale girl.
"I'm- F-f-fine." She spits out between wheezes. "I just… do you have any Benadryl?"
"What's happening- A-are you sick? What-"
"I'm getting the Benadryl." Nadir says, far more calm than his counterpart. "Take her to the bathroom and away from Ayesha." He shuffles out of the room and quickly trots downstairs to the medicine cabinet.
"You're allergic to cats?" Erik asks, but Christine is too busy holding her throat and attempting to force her knees not to buckle. She abruptly clutches onto Erik's black hoodie, ultimately failing her attempt. Erik catches her by the upper arms and half-drags her to the bathroom, where she folds down onto the memory foam mat in front of the sink. She leans against the side of the bathtub, looking deathly pale. "Why didn't you just tell me? You could've, like, died."
"M' fine- throat's just- closing. Room's- spinning. M' s-s-s-so s-s-s-sorry."
Nadir returns with a glass of water and pack of benadryl, kneeling down to the brunette and helping her take the medicine. When she manages to get the small capsule down, Nadir steps back to give her some space. So does Erik-once he hesitantly shoves her dark curls out of her face.
"Benadryl takes up to thirty minutes to fully kick in." Christine tells the startled boys, although she already stopped coughing and wheezing.
"Do you want your sweater off, you-"
"No! No- No, I'm good. It's good. God, I'm so embarrassing." She hides her face in her arms, supported by the ledge of the tub.
"We probably should've asked you how your relationships with cats was." Nadir points out, deciding to sit down next to her on the ground. Erik once again does as Nadir, but on the other side of Christine. The three sit like that-kind of like how they were sitting in Spanish class-for quite some time, waiting for Christine to feel well enough to be brought home.
Christine truly felt like she had an actual group of friends for the first time then. And nothing made her laugh harder than Erik's mother walking in, immediately concerned and puzzled at such a sight, and asking "What on earth did you boys do to her?"
