A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I had writers block. :-P So when I got writing on it again, I added a random scene I thought about before. Crazy phan girls. I still don't know why I put it in there. Anywho, enjoy. Tell me what you liked about it, please.

Chapter 6

It was half past 12(pm) and time for rehearsals. I had called Mike to make sure he wouldn't forget or remember at the last minute and be late. When I finished the call I had to hurry or I'd be late. I heard Miss. Hunter was amazingly cruel to anyone that was late. I turned the corner and nearly avoided running into Carlos who seemed to be taking his sweet time walking.

"Hey Carlos." I said as I tried to make my way around him.

"Ah!" He spun around with a smile. "You've heard of me. But of course, who hasn't?"

"Yeah, I just met you yesterday, remember?" I had finally found an opening so I could pass him but he quickly blocked it. With a sigh I resigned myself to the spot I stood.

"Yes, the stand-in, Keith?" Though it was a question, he made it sound more like a statement.

"It's Chris." I said politely as I imagined various things dropping on him for his arrogance. "And I'm your understudy. Mike is-"

"You don't look like a Chris to me. You're more of a..." He quickly interrupted, not caring what I had to say. "It doesn't matter since your name will not be known to anyone but me and your friend." He waved his hand with a shrug. It took a lot of willpower not to wipe that smug smile off his face or send him flying backwards down the hall.

Somehow I managed a small smile and quickly changed the subject. "We need to get going. Rehe-"

"Do not worry." He said with a laugh. "I am the star so they can not begin if I am not there." The urge to see his head rolling on the floor got stronger every time he spoke but I doubt Miss. Hunter would be happy if her Cyrano was headless. "So come, walk with me, talk with me and no harm will come." With a smile to me, he moved his hand down the hall for us to walk.

This was unexpected and I started to rethink my first impression of him. Maybe he's not so bad. So I nodded and we walked down the hall together to the auditorium where rehearsals were being held. We actually had a pleasant conversation about the play and the character Cyrano. Finally we reached the doors and I was about to walk in but Carlos stopped me.

"Christopher." He began. I had asked countless times to call me Chris but he refused. "Let me do the talking, alright." He smiled and opened both doors. "Good day everyone!" He called out to the people on the stage and Miss. Hunter in one of the seats. His voice bounced off the walls of the auditorium to every corner and ear there was. I stood just behind him and my ears were ringing.

"Mr. Giudicelli. It is about time you-" She paused to look behind him so she could see me rubbing my ears. "And Mr. Daaé I see."

"Please forgive me Madame." He quickly made his way down the aisle to Miss. Hunter and took her hand. "But young Christopher insisted that we take our time." Young, just how old is he? "Though I was completely against it, he would not leave me be."

Even from where I was, I could hear him clearly and couldn't believe that I started to change my mind about him. I was his excuse for being late from the start. I would have strangled him but I doubt a murder scene would bring the right publicity to the theater and Miss. Hunter was in the way. She turned to me with a stare that would have made grown men shudder with only a glance. My head said run but my legs refused to move. She slowly made her way towards me until we were face to face.

"You are still here only because Mr. Giudicelli has requested that you stay." I would have glared at Carlos if I could turn away from her frightful gaze. So many images passed through my mind as I looked into her eyes. Things she has done, things I have heard, and what she wanted to do to me if she could without getting arrested. "So you are to help him and do whatever he asks of you." My mouth opened to protest. "In my view, you are no longer apart of this." She moved her hand to the people on the stage. "You are to stay backstage and return your script at once!" She demanded and held her hand out to me.

The rumors of her cruelness did her no justice. With a sigh I handed her the script, and with it, my chance to be on the stage and perform. I walked down the aisle with my head held high, not letting any sign of weakness show. Carlos got up from his seat to walk with me to the stage. "You must understand. My previous servant has... retired and you are perfect for the job until my mother finds me a new one." He smiled like he had done me a favor before running up to the stage.

I got to hang out with Mike for the rehearsal and listen to him come up with ideas of how to torture Carlos for a while then about the play and other things. Every so often Carlos would complain about the people around him and that they can not keep up with him or something like that. I was trying not to pay attention to him, and that's not easy. He was very good at making himself known and the center of attention. Rehearsals were finally over at 4:00 pm and Miss. Hunter let us go.

"Oh Chris I can't believe what happened." One girl said as she hurried off stage to me with her friends following behind her. "That's absolutely terrible!" Another said with an angry glare at Carlos. "I wish we could do something." They went on talking and wishing and sparing an angry glare at Carlos.

"Stop it!" I yelled. The girls looked at me surprised at my reaction. "I don't need your pity or your stupid wishes or anything! Just leave me alone!" I walked off stage as calmly as possible leaving the girls standing dumbstruck as they watched me. Everything would have been fine if Carlos kept his mouth shut.

"Christopher. I did not mean to make you lose being an understudy." He began once I had passed him. "Not that it matters. You had no chance of ever seeing the stage-" He wasn't able to finish that sentence. Carlos fell to the floor rubbing the bright red spot where my fist landed. Everyone turned to Carlos and me with awed and shocked expressions.

"I don't give a rat's behind who you are and what you have to say. All you've done is insult me and get me into trouble. I'm tired of you and I'm not going to be you petty servant." Carlos stared up at me amazed at what I had done. Miss. Hunter started to come up to me with a finger in the air. "And you," I said turning to Miss. Hunter. "You make your own choices without giving anyone a chance just because their new." She stared at me dumbstruck. "Know what, forget it. Neither of you are worth it." Turning on my heel I made my way up the aisle.

"Go Chris!" Mike yelled in approval and earned a nasty glare from Miss. Hunter telling him to be quiet. I smiled as I imagined the look on Mike's face after receiving that glare. The moment I walked out the door the whispering and chattering started, as if little fires had been lit. It was oddly amusing to hear them though I couldn't make out the actual sentences.

When I turned to leave I saw the Persian watching me with curious eyes. I smiled and bowed my head instead of verbally saying hello but didn't expect him to respond in any way. You can imagine my surprise when he also bowed his head and taking the hat off his head as he did so. Never had I seen him show any gesture of acknowledgement to anyone and here he was saying hello to me. 'This day couldn't get any weirder.' I thought and turned away from the Persian to leave.

"After your little performance, I may be able to convince the new managers to fire that woman."

I turned back to the Persian and tried to keep my self from staring. "Wa- Seriously?"

He nodded with an amused smile. "They are unafraid of the Phantom so I don't think Miss. Hunter will be a problem." I thought about the old manager and how he seemed to fear the opera ghost along with Miss. Hunter. Now she is frightening.

"Thanks, Old man." I smiled mischievously. I've been pushing my luck from the moment I punched Carlos and I was surprised to still be alive when I snapped at Miss. Hunter so I figured I had one more push left before I got myself a mile deep into trouble. The Persian sighed at hearing his "nickname" with a thoughtful look. Thinking about Mike no doubt, since he gave him that name from the first day he saw him.

"Your welcome, young boy." I frowned. "How about we make a deal, I'll call you by your name and you call me by mine."

"OK. I'm Christopher Daaé, call me Chris."

"My name is Nadir Khan, pleased to meet you Chris." He seemed a bit distracted for a moment when he bowed his head. "Now if you'll excuse me, I must go." He hurried off and behind the door on the left just as he finished. Something was odd about him, he was nice enough but I finally started to understand why Mike felt uncomfortable when he was around. It was this feeling of being watched by unseen eyes or he knew more about you than anyone.

As it turns out, Miss Hunter was fired the next day and Mr. Lefévre got his old job back. You see, Miss Hunter was originally filling in for him when he was sick back she refused to give up the job without taking Carlos with her. So the managers let her keep the job so they could have Carlos. This time around when she threatened the new managers, Carlos refused to leave with her so she had no leverage over them.

Since Mr. Lefévre was in charge now, I was no longer Carlos's servant – not that I ever was since I never agreed to it – and I got to practice with everyone else. Carlos was sore about it for a couple days but once he got his new servant – a random fan girl – he didn't care anymore. Mike and I were amazed that anyone liked him. The fan was definitely random, I say random because no one had ever seen this girl before today and usually people who love the arts tend to come and make themselves known. By known I mean shown out of the auditorium very loudly.

Rachael and her father would come visit during rehearsals now and then to talk to the managers and see how things were going. Rachael would quite often wander away to converse with me and Mike until her father called her back for whatever reason he had. She'd offer me breakfast, lunch, and most commonly dinner every day. I'd say yes to breakfast and lunch but never dinner since I'd try to send as much time as possible with my angel and besides, there was a rule of getting too close to a girl since it would throw off my concentration.

Of course I had told my angel everything that happened once the singing lessons. It was really nice to talk to someone and know they won't tell anyone. Mike has a big mouth. Every day I'd wonder more and more about the angel and every day I wanted to ask a question but couldn't bring myself to do it. I was afraid it would be a sign of lack of faith and then the angel would leave. I had to ask though.

Two days before opening night, after the lesson, I finally gained the courage to ask. "Angel?" I started, waiting for a reply before continuing.

"Yes Christopher, I am still here." The voice answered.

Taking a deep breath I sat at the vanity table thinking of the question over and over again. "Why did you choose someone like me even though there are so many other possible and better candidates?" After a moments pause, I closed my eyes to listen for the angel's voice once I had asked. Not to determine where the angel might be since I have tried that countless times before and it's near impossible.

"You have a talent unlike any I have ever seen and that shall be shown to everyone when you play Cyrano." The angel said which seemed much closer than ever before. I sighed. "You will play Cyrano, so do not worry yourself about Carlos." With a nod, I opened my eyes half expecting to see a person before me. I couldn't being a little disappointed that no one was there.

"Will I ever see you?" I finally asked. I was almost sure I heard a sigh. Almost like the angel knew that I would someday ask this question and probably disappoint me. A minute passed and I got up from the vanity table, guessing that the angel had left.

"Someday." The angel replied. I turned around with a smile unsure where to look so I closed my eyes once more.

"I look forward to that day."

Another pause. "Good night Chris."

The next day, Mike said I was invited to a party that a bunch of girls were having in the evening. I would have said no but Mike persisted on me going for over an hour until I finally gave in. Mike had once time went on about something for 4 hours. I think it was about a pet. He got the pet – a fish – which ended up dying within the week. He is sure his mom planned it somehow.

Ten minutes before the party I left the dressing room after explaining that if I didn't go what Mike would do to me and was ready to call him on my cell when he almost bumped into me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"What do you mean? The party is here." Mike explained with a large grin. I sighed knowing Mike's forgetfulness and how he sometimes chose to forget things. "Anyway, we need to get you into something less formal." He said examining my clothes I wore – a button up shirt with a blue tie and dress pants. "This is a party were goin' to, not church." We went back inside and I changed into a black T-shirt and blue jeans.

We came to the girls dormitories where there was a TV. Inside were a group of girls, some of them I recognized, all in either very casual wear or clothes that looked a lot like PJs. One of them wore a shirt with "The Phantom of the Opera" on it and another wore a white half mask. Two girls were gazing lovingly at a phantom plush toy paying us no heed. One of the girls, a blonde in a white T-shirt and dark blue pants, came up to us with a smile.

"Glad you both came." She said. "I'm Megan, the red head with the phantom T-shirt is Anna, The toy with the Phantom toy are Valerie and Sophie, and that's Kathy. We have two more, Gina and Rachael, but Rach's changing."

"Rachael? Y-you mean Rachael de Chagny?" The girl nodded. I glared at Mike. "Why didn't you tell me she'd be here?"

"I didn't know!" He raised his hands like a gun was being pointed at him threateningly. I sighed and sat down on a bed. Mike put his hands down and turned to the blonde with a smile. "We gunna watch that movie or what?"

"What movie?" I asked and glanced at the girls sitting around the TV. The two with the doll took turns hugging it and sighing.

"Were going to watch ALW's The Phantom of the Opera." I stared at the red head girl, Anna, and then turned to Megan and Mike. "We've all seen it but love to watch it over and over."

"Is it good?" I asked. All the girls gasped in unison and stared at me wide-eyed. "What?" I've seen the play and read the book but wasn't as interested in seeing the movie.

"It is the most awesome movie ever!" One girl said. "Gerard Butler is in it!"

"Who now?" This conversation went on for about five minutes. Girls freak out and try to explain why Gerard makes the perfect phantom and his voice while I asked about the story and if it was good. It seems none of them had read the book nor did they care. The movie started and Christine and Raoul were together in the dressing room when the door opened and two girls came in.

The first was the girl I had seen before when I had accidentally found myself in the girl's bathroom. She had an interesting hair style, her dirty blonde ran past her shoulders and close to her waist with two blonde stripes in the front and two in the back. She wore a white T-shirt with a picture of Indigo Montoya with the words, "I do not mean to pry, but you don't happen to have six fingers on your right hand." Rachael was wearing what looked like a 19th century night gown with a corset and stockings. Mike got up with lots of complements and looked like a dog eyeing a juicy stake.

I cleared my throat, making myself known and to calm Mike. "Hey Rach."

Rachael turned to me then her face went pink. "H-hi Chris."

The girls exchanged glances as they looked at me and Rach with sly smiles. If I didn't know better, I'd think they planned this. "OK Chris, It's your turn." I turned to Kathy who had some clothes neatly folded in her arms. "I think this is your size." She handed me the clothes with a large grin. They did plan this. I was going to refuse but Mike pushed me out and into another room to change.

I came out about 5 minutes later after changing into what I believe was the Phantom/Erik's outfit – mask included. The girls' excitement grew when I came into the room with Mike. Rachael was one of the few who stayed calm and smiled. The movie was on pause and you could see two hands – a woman's and a man with a black glove. I started to get the idea of what was going on.

"You know the main song right?" Megan asked. I nodded and turned to Rachael who also nodded. "Good. We'll have the captions on incase you guys mess up though." She grinned as she pressed play and the music began. Rachael got up and turned to the screen waiting for her cue. The moment Christine started singing, so did Rachael. I was pleased to see that she had been practicing over the years. She would turn to me every so often but would quickly turn away with a little more red in her cheeks.

It was my turn now. I got into position, turned to the screen, and opened my mouth but was thrown off when the Phantom started singing. It was not what I had expected at all. Catching myself at the next line, I started singing half looking at the screen and half at Rachael who resigned to her seat for now. I was surprised when Christine hit the high E in the movie. Rachael didn't try to hit it and I didn't blame her. The song was over and I sat down next to Mike and refused all requests to sing the next song.

Glancing at Rachael, I noticed she seemed a little tired. "Are you OK?" I asked as I stood by her. She looked up at me with a weak smile which quickly faded.

"It's the corset." She said panting slightly. "I had no idea it was so constricting." She glanced at Gina who was mouthing the words to the song then back to me. "It's my fault though. I told her to-"

"It's a little too low." I said after glancing at the corset. "Stand up." Rachael slowly stood up and turned her around to fix it. Loosening the strings I pulled the corset up making Rachael gasp quietly. "It should be better now." I said as I tied the strings. She had turned a bright red when she faced me. I would have asked her if she was alright but Mike called me back.

"You have no idea what just happened do you?" He asked as I sat down. "You were so close!" Mike put his head in his hands with a queit whine. We watched the rest of the movie with few inturuptions with the exception of the girls singing and when I started laughing when the Phantom's mask came off. 'That's no distorion! It's a sunburn.' I thought to myself. Overall, the movie wasn't... bad. I decided to leave as soon as possible to avoid questions from the girls.

"Chris." Rachael called after me after she also left the room. I turned around to her her waiting in front of the door biting her lip. "Uh, nevermind." She said before going back inside a little more pink than before. Never have I ever seen Rachael blush so easily before. I dismissed the the thought and went to my mom's dressing room to rest.

"Tomorrow's the big day." I said to myself.