Okay all, this one is a lot shorter and came a lot later than I had hoped. I was out of town, then my compter was down, then I was grounded and to top that all off, this story doesnt come as fast as DOC does, so I had a case of writers block. -shrug- And just so you all know, school is starting on the fourteenth, and I am in a Gifted and Talented, Honors program for Englishand I dont know how much homework I will be getting. So I am sorry in advance for all the waiting you will have to endure in the future.
"Did you know Michael is in the ballet here?" Calista stood with her hands limp at her sides, shoulders back and staring at Erik's frustrated face.
"No, now do scales." He tapped a key on the organ.
"Why don't you ever say hi?" Absentmindedly, Calista picked at a loose thread on her simple gray skirt.
"Because, do scales," Erik tapped the key again.
She sang the note then resumed talking, "I don't think that is very nice, I mean, I was your friend and I am hurt that you never noticed it was me."
"You know very well why I didn't, correct your posture."
Calista stood up straighter and put her shoulders back, "Yes, I suppose I do, but that doesn't make me forgive you."
Erik sighed and looked at the defiant tilt to her chin, "Lessons are over."
Calista rolled her eyes and sauntered into the kitchen to make dinner. She had began making Erik dinner every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night for about a month, then she was so tired one night that she just crashed while she was eating dinner. Erik put her in the swan bed and she just began to stay the night on Friday and Saturday. She told her friends that she had a distant relative who was in town, and she hardly ever saw them and she wanted to take advantage of the time they were in town. They were slightly suspicious, but didn't think much of it because she was their friend and they didn't think that she would lie to them; besides, they had the weekend off from practice except when it came close to performance time.
"Pay attention Calista!" Madame Giry banged her cane on the floor of the stage, making a hollow thump.
"Huh?" Calista shook her head and stared blankly at Meg's mother.
"Pay attention, if you will. If you have some other engagement that deserves your time more than this, I would be more than happy to let you go. The Good Lord only knows how much your performance has suffered since Il Muto." She fixed Calista with a pointed glare, causing her to flush as deep shade of red.
"Sorry, Madame, I was woolgathering." Calista mumbled to her feet.
"This isn't the time, and you know that, now pay attention."
"Yes ma'am."
Madame Giry gave a self-satisfied nod and turned her head to another dancer who was flirting outrageously with a stagehand, "Jacqueline!"
Meg looked curiously at her friend then back to Christine, and gestured toward Calista who was fiddling with the run in her pale pink tights. Christine brushed back a loose curl that had escaped from her tight bun at the nape of her neck and stepped toward Calista, "Are you alright?"
"Hm? Oh, yes, I am fine." Calista looked at Christine's worried face then at Meg's who's mirrored the same expression. "Stop being a bunch of ninnies! I am perfectly okay, in fact, I have never felt better in my life."
Meg pouted, but her mother began shouting more instructions so they had to pay close attention.
Sashay… pirouette… the steps ran together in Calista's head and she fought to keep her feet from getting tangled up. Arms in first… No wait, is it second? No it's first, but is it low first or high first? Tears welled up in Calista's eyes and she stopped dancing, saying some quite unladylike curses under her breath. She quickly untied her ballet shoes and threw them to the floor, only to run off the stage with her face buried in her hands.
"What is wrong with her?" A red headed, pug nosed dancer said loudly.
"Oh do be quiet wont you?" Christine snapped, raising her eyebrow pointedly.
"Oh," the dancer blushed and turned back to her own business.
Calista's mostly bare feet made soft thumping sounds as she ran down the hall and began to sprint up the winding stairs to the dormitories, but she missed a step and slid down a few steps. Tears streaming down her face, she turned over to sit on a step and examine her stinging legs and arms, she had even hit her chin, causing her to bite her tongue, and blood to fill her mouth. Calista spit the blood out on the stairs and stared at it with a bitter expression. Her hands were scraped up, her chin ached, her tongue burned, and her legs and knees were cut, so therefore, her tights were more ruined than they had been.
What is the matter with me? Calista thought as she pulled out a sliver of wood from her hand, causing herself to cringe.
"What did you do you goose?" Meg tripped up the stairs with her ballet shoes in one hand and Christine following closely behind her.
"What does it look like I did? I fell." Calista quipped sarcastically and narrowed her eyes a little.
"Wow, is that what you did?" Christine's sarcasm matched Calista's, and she faked surprise for a moment. "I don't believe we could have ever figured that one out."
"Well then why did you ask?" Calista snapped. She was in pain and confused, they weren't helping much.
"Well at least we aren't laughing!" Meg sat down next to her, "If I had fallen, you would have laughed at me!"
Calista giggled, "Yes, I would have, wouldn't I?" Christine and Meg nodded, smiling.
"Come on," Meg helped Calista up, "Let's go get you cleaned up."
Calista allowed them to help her hobble up the stairs because now that she thought about it, her legs really did burn… a lot. All she had to do was sit still, and her friends cleaned her cuts and bandaged the worst of them. The stinging subsided a little and they went to the dining hall to eat and bring back some food for her.
Sighing, she got out her journal and started writing.
Confusion was running on high today. I stormed out of practice and then proceeded to fall and cut my arms and legs. It was quite graceful. But the whole reason I am confused, is because of Erik. I don't know what to make of him anymore. He is enamored with Christine, but the Vicomte is courting her even if she insists he isn't. I don't believe her, but it isn't my problem. I know that if it came down to choosing, Christine would choose the Vicomte. She doesn't love Erik, not like a lover anyway. She doesn't really even know him, she used to think he was the Angel of Music, then he went and showed her that he was a human, and they both made a mess of things the next morning (Christine stripped him of his mask, and in the best terms, he flew into a rage). I don't know if I am angry or happy about that because I think-
A soft thump startled Calista from her writing and she slammed her journal shut as she looked at the face that wore a mask that could only belong to one person. Erik was in her room, the ballet dormitories… in the middle of the day!
"What are you doing?" Calista's eyes scanned the room frantically for any little ballerina that forgot her shoes or something of the like.
"Would I come down here if I was not positive it was safe to do so?" Erik sat on her bed cross-legged and raised his visible eyebrow.
Suddenly, Calista flushed, she realized she was still in her leotard! "I suppose not," she mumbled. "Can you go away now?"
Erik looked taken aback, "Excuse me?"
"I am hardly dressed to receive company." She responded primly.
A smile tugged at the corner of his lips, "I will be back once you have changed."
"But you wont watch will you?" Calista's blush deepened as she realized she never needed to ask that question, "Never mind, I know you won't."
"I'm glad to see someone trusts me a bit." Erik said dryly.
"Well what reason do you give people to trust you?" Calista scrambled around, getting her under things and dress, then went behind a dressing screen.
"What do you mean?"
"You are the Phantom of the Opera, you terrorize little kids, you threaten to burn the House to the ground, somehow you throw your voice around and make people think that they are crazy, and for some reason you like to sabotage Carlotta's makeup and throw props at her."
"Now, Callie, do not blame me for the makeup because I know everything that goes on in the grounds, and I know that you and Christine and Meg have fun playing in the witch's makeup."
Calista poked her head around the screen, "Could you tighten my corset, this is not a one person job." She put on a mask of nonchalance and fought a blush as Erik came behind the screen, moved her silken hair off her pale neck and tightened her corset then went back to where he was sitting.
"Who in the world thought up those contraptions is utterly insane." Erik said, shaking his head.
"I think it was a man, and who are you to call anyone insane?"
Erik shrugged and looked at Calista who came out in a simple grey dress with white cuffs on the tight sleeves and a high collar that was accented with white buttons, which also went down the back of her dress.
"I can't get all the buttons," she turned around and let Erik button the rest, the whisper of his calloused fingertips against her back and neck sent little shock waves through her body and she shivered a little. Stop it, she commanded herself.
"Are you cold?"
"A little," Calista shrugged and turned around, because she really wasn't but why else would she shiver?
"Do you want my cloak?" Erik moved to take it off, but she shook her head.
"No, thank you." They stood in silence. Calista mentally scrambled to find a subject, "Oh, did you know there will be a masquerade on New Year's Eve?"
"Yes, I plan on making an appearance there." Erik said dryly.
"By yourself?"
"No, I will have a whole entourage of beautiful women at my side as I terrorize the managers yet once again." He raised an eyebrow and Calista laughed.
"You can't go by yourself."
Erik's brow furrowed, "What?"
"I will go with you."
"What?"
"I want to go with you, I don't have any suitors to take me, and I would just sit by the wall, dancing with an old man occasionally. Madame Giry dances with more men than I do. I hate masquerade balls. I only get to go because I am Madame Giry's 'adopted' daughter, even though I am not."
"Oh, well then I suppose so."
"Yay!" Calista threw her arms around Erik's neck and gave him a huge hug, and just as she was giving him a kiss on the cheek, the door started to creak open.
Yes I know, I am a spot evil, and I will say this now, I am severely dissapointed on the number of reviews I got for the last chapter, two reviews? Come on people, I know that there are more of you reading this story, but thank you to the two that did review, I really do appreciate it. So as punishment for not reviewing to all you other people, I give you an evil cliffie. :)) I do love you all though. -evil laugh-
please reivew!
much love
kat
