Alright, well this is the fourth chapter, this time I'm not giving up anything, you guys are going to have to read and find out for yourselves. Enjoy.
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I told Maestro everything, then all I heard was thoughtful silence. "It doesn't matter now," he said.
I looked at the shadow with surprise. "All that matters is the music," he continued. "I've been to your theater, it was entirely unfair."
I heard his voice get rougher and harsher, I flinched away from the shadow. I felt warm, soothing carasses against my back and on my shoulders, as if invisible hands were trying to calm me. "Don't worry Celeste, they will hear you, I promise you," he whispered.
I sighed as the carasses ceased and I was left alone, not entirely. "Sing that song again, Celeste," Maestro said.
"Which one?" I asked.
"Outcasts," he said absently.
I nodded and stood from the stool and walked to the middle of the stage. "Where should I start?" I asked.
"The beginning, as always," he said.
I cleared my throat and sighed before opening my mouth...:
I don't know if you can hear me
or if you're even there.
I don't know if you would listen
to a street girl's prayer.
Yes I know I'm just an outcast,
I shouldn't speak to you.
Still I see your face and wonder,
weren't you once an outcast too?
God help the outcasts,
hungry from birth.
Show them the mercy
they don't find on earth.
God help my people,
we look to you still.
God help the outcasts
or nobody will.
At some point Maestro started to strum the notes of the song and I hummed along until I thought I should come in.
I ask for nothing,
I can get by.
But I know so many,
less lucky than I.
Please help my people,
the poor and downtrod.
I thought we all were
the children of God.
God help the outcasts,
the children of... God!
My voice resonated throughout the building and I sighed with pleasure and satisfaction. "Beautiful," was all he said. "Simply beautiful."
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The next day was the start of rehearsels, we mostly focused on the choir and small parts, so that we could buckle down and get to the more important and best for last. When it was Charolette's turn I started off the stage like the rest of the choir girls. "Not you Celeste, you have to stay up with Charolette," Mrs. Girvan explained.
I looked to her with confusion. "But it's not even my part," I said.
"Oh yes it is, your her understudy, therefore you must learn her parts as well," she said and sat down and I joined Charolette on stage.
"Now, let's start with Mary's solo," she said and gave Megan a signal.
Megan turned on the track and we sung. Of course, my voice was the clearest and loudest, and Charolette's was lacking. The combination of our voices wasn't pleasant, cuz on the one hand one was great and on the other was terrible, it's not a good comdination. "Stop, stop!" Mrs. Girvan called and Megan paused the track.
Charolette turned to me and glared. "Can you save your shriecking for the choir, when people can actually sing over you?" Charolette said.
At first my reaction was 'what the hell?!' I shook my head slowly at her. "Do you hear yourself, at all?!" I asked and stepped closer to her. "Your voice is as flat as a cutting board!"
Charolette put her hands on her hips and smirked at me. "You mean like your chest?" she asked.
My jaw dropped in amazement, I crossed my arms over my chest. "Oh and like your's is so amazing, here's a tip stop inflating them," I said with an exaggerated smile.
Now it was her turn to have her jaw drop... in outrage. I smiled and tilted my head childishly. "Girls, girls!" Mrs. Girvan called.
We turned to her and waited for the lecture. "Obviously this isn't working so we'll go one at a time," she continued. "Miss Diamond you'll go first."
I kept smiling as I walked off the stage then rolled my eyes as I caught her satisfied smirk. I joined Megan by the stereo system. "What a tone-deaf bitch," Megan whispered as she fiddled with the system's volume knob.
I grunted and watched the performance by the foot of the stage... Somewhere in the middle of the song I heard something cracking on the ceiling. I looked up and gasped. "Look out!" I called to Charolette, just as a sandbag came swinging to her head.
Suddenly it wasn't Charolette being hit... it was me. No, not me, not really. I was seeing it through another girl's point of view. I screamed as the bag pummeled me and crashed into a mirror and I crashed to the floor... that was when I blinked myself back to reality and rushed onto the stage with the others. "Augh!" Charlotte screamed.
At this point I would've laughed, but that vision I had sent me into shivers. "I can't believe this!" Charolette said, fake tears coming to her eyes.
She turned to me and I rose my eyebrow challenging her to go on. "Are you so desperate to take my part, that you'd kill me?" she asked putting a hand to her heart.
"Oh yes, that's why it fell, it was all my fault, I was so needy and desperate to have your part!" I said dramatically and added a drawn out gasp for good measure. "Oh please, you add new meaning to the name 'dumb-blonde'."
Megan and the other chorus girls started to move aside as Mrs. Girvan strode toward Charolette. "Miss Diamond are you alright?" she asked hurriedly.
"A sandbag smacked me in the head and you're asking me if I'm alright?!" Charolette shriecked.
"Hey she was trying to help!" Megan protested. "My God, you could've killed someone!" she called up to the stage crew.
"Sorry!" one of the guys called down. "I swear to God I don't know how that fell, no one's been up here since yesterday!"
Megan shook her head and looked back at Charolette. "Let's get this girl an icepack," she said to no one in particular.
"I'll go," I said and went to the back rooms where the kitchen was and the freezer.
It always struck me as odd to have a kitchen in a theater. I sighed as I took out the ice pack and headed back towards Charolette. Then I saw the door to the upstairs was open. I looked around to see if anyone had left it open by mistake. I looked at the stairs again and decided to investigate, Charolette's big head could wait. I climbed up the stairs to the balconies where the sandbag dropped. I gulped and looked around. The crew had reeled up the bag and had gone back down to check on little-miss-diva. I sighed and turned back to the stairs, not before seeing a suspicious (moving) shadow at the far end. I looked at it and squinted to look harder. Suddenly it jerked into action and went through another door. "Hey, wait!" I called.
I charged through the door and ended up in a dark, dusty attic of some sorts. "Wait!" I called again. "Who are you?!"
"Who are you yelling at?" Megan asked as she came through the door.
"I thought, there was," I stammered. "I-I thought I saw someone."
"Well, I don't see anything and if we don't get back downstairs, Charolette's going to be raving about it until next week," Megan continued and started toward the stairs.
I looked back up into the rafters and scanned them. "It's alright, you're welcome here," I whispered. "Please come to me, show yourself."
I shook my head and thought I couldn't get anymore crazier as I climbed down the stairs and to the dressing room, Charolette's ranting and raving the only thing to greet me.
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I must be really into this cuz here it is. Well that's it for this chapter until the next chapter. Once again please R&R.
