Legal mumbo jumbo: Gaston Leroux owns all of the characters from "The Phantom of the Opera". I did change some of the names to more American sounding names, because it takes place in the states. I'm not making any moola off of it. Trust me, I don't deserve to. It's my first fan fiction ever and I don't know whether or not it's good or not. Reviews are greatly appreciated. If you think it's good or bad, don't hesitate to tell me. Be cruel if it's necessary. Enjoy my story.


What if?

Chapter One: It Begins

Christine sat in the crowded room looking around. Hundreds to thousands of girls were crowded into the theater lobby, as well as a huge line that lead out the double doors. She sat in the hard uncomfortable blue plastic chair, nervously fiddling with the end of the light blue sun dress. She looked around and sat back further into the chair. She was still amazed that she was auditioning for "Jekyll and Hyde". Everyone around her was singing scales or singing the song that they were auditioning for. Christine was seated next to the secretary's desk. When one arrived at the theater, you were to give your resume and head shot to the secretary and wait to be called. She looked down on each resume as they dropped next to her. Most of them had either a bachlorette, major, or doctorate in musical performance. Christine had just graduated from high school five months ago and college wasn't on her priority list. Most of them had extensive experience, where she once again had slim to none. She put her face in her hands and groaned, "I am so screwed."

She pulled her hands away from her face and reached down by her side to pick up the sheet music. She looked over the song that she was going to auditioned with and sighed. It was "How Could I Ever Know?" from The Secret Garden. It had been one of her favorite songs from the first time she had heard it. She had cried hysterically the first time she heard it. Well, actually, she cried during the entire musical. She hummed the song absently as she slouched back into the chair again. A woman with brown hair pilled on top of her head, looked down at Christine and gave her a look between an ignorant smirk and a glare. She lowered her eyebrows in confusion and looked at the floor. She snorted and left. Was singing really this cut throat? I let my head fall against the wall and closed her eyes. **Please let this go alright.**

"Is this seat taken?" a voice asked.

She opened her eyes and saw a slender tall girl with blonde hair. Christine glanced over at the chair and saw that I had most of the sheet music strewn across it. She picked it up and organized it, saying that it wasn't. She sighed and plopped down in the chair. "Hi! I'm Meagan,"she said extending her hand towards her.

"Hi, I'm Christine,"she said shaking her hand.

"So, what are you auditioning for?" she asked.

"Chorus. You?"

"Emma Carew," she said, shaking her head.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I'm not sure that I want to do this. I'm not really into the darker musicals. Plus, I was considering auditioning for Lucy,"she said sadly.

"Well, why don't you?" she suggested.

"She's a prostitute."

"So?"

"Well, I've never played the 'bad girl' in a play and I guess I don't want to start now," she said with a shrug and making quotations with her fingers when she said bad girl. She nodded, showing that she understood. "Well, just because your character is this way, it doesn't mean that they were necessarily type-casting," I explained.

"True. I don't know. Maybe I will, maybe I won't. I guess I'll surprise myself," she said between giggles.

She felt her initial nervousness fading away.

"Christine Dane?"

She looked up and saw a short blonde permed secretary standing at the doorway of the auditorium. She stood up and gave Meagan a nervous glance.

"Go get 'um kid. Don't show them that you're scared. They eat fear up like cookies," Meagan whispered to her.

Christine smiled and nodded in thanks to her. She picked up the sheet music and followed the secretary into the auditorium.


* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The dark haired figure put his hand on his temples and let out an exasperated groan. This wasn't going over well with him. He went over to the wine upholstered chair next to the other man. He pushed his mid ear length black hair behind his ears. He slouched into a chair and put his feet up on the chair in front of him. The man was dressed in a white dress shirt, black pants, and a black leather jacket. He was in his late twenties, maybe early thirties and had an impeccable sense of style. He carried a powerful air and he was somewhat arrogant. He had a slender figure and was rather well built. He was tall, standing at six feet tall. All around he was wasn't a bad looking man. Most would call him handsome. There was one difference he had though; his left eye was a sapphire blue and the other was a silver color, almost invisible with the pupil always dilated. He pulled the sunglasses down from where they were resting in his head holding his hair back partially. He sprawled his arms across the back of a few chairs and gave another annoyed sigh.

"How much longer?" he asked in an aggravated voice.

"Another two hours," the other man answered. After another expected sigh of annoyance he sat up and said,"You really are the most impatient man."

"Well, the all...how should I word this?...oh yes...they suck,"he stated simply.

"Always looking for that one perfect voice aren't you?" he said taking off his glasses and rubbing them against his blue silk shirt.

"Always," he said with chuckle. "What can I say? I'm a firm believer in musical talent being a virtue that lies amongst at least one of these girls. It seems to elude every single one of them. Not a talented one in the whole three hours we've been sitting here."

"There have been a few ones that stuck out though," he pointed out.

"Sure. It's called all noise, not music. There's a difference, believe it or not." He sighed. "Why don't we just grab any thirteen girls and call it a day, Rob," he suggested.

"We can't do that Erik. We have to listen to them all," he concluded, putting his glasses back on.

"All right," Erik said, leaning back further into the chair. This really was the worst part of casting. "I should have gone into acting,"Erik muttered. He had the singing abilities, that much was apparent. He could probably act. Yet, he always kept music sacred to himself. He didn't do it for material gain, but because he loved music.

The door closed bringing him out of his present train of thought. He looked up to see a girl with shoulder blade length coffee colored curls. She was wearing a knee length light blue sun dress with black leather knee high boots. She looked over at Erik and looked away. She was trying not to show her fear or nervousness. She made her way up to the stage and stood in the center of the stage. Robert sat up and looked at Erik. Erik shook his head and said, "No. It's your turn to do the talking."

"Alright," he muttered. He turned his attention to the stage and said, "Please state your name and experience."

"Hi,"she started."my name is Christine Dane. I'm 19 years old and I have pretty limited experience."

"Great," Erik whispered to himself more than anyone else. "Just great."

"Alright," Robert told her with a kind voice, giving Erik a warning glance. "And what piece will you be performing for us, Miss Dane?"

"'How Could I Ever Know?' from 'The Secret Garden'," she said raising her voice to reach the two men.

"Well, at least she has taste," Erik whispered.

"Shush,"Robert spat. Erik shrugged nonchalantly and straightened up a little bit. Robert nodded to the pianist to start.

The piano started and Christine straightened her poise and opened her mouth. Erik nearly fell out of his chair when the first few bars started. Her voice was what he had been looking for. He sat up and leaned on the back of the chair in front of him. He listened to her tone and pitch. Near perfection. Her voice was obviously ill-trained or not trained at all. He sat back and closed his eyes, listening to her sweet, gentle voice. The song ended far too soon. He was jerked back into reality by Robert's voice yelling to her that she would receive a phone call within the week regarding the job. Erik looked at Erik and was surprised that he had remained unaffected. Erik looked back at the stage where Christine had been standing. She had left and was on her way out of the door. Erik took the application from Robert and looked it over. Little to no experience and no mention of ever having had a voice lesson.

Hmm, Erik mused. With a good teacher and extensive training, she could go very far on the stage. He sat back further in the chair and put his chin in his hands. He was not going to be a happy guy for the next few hours.


To be continued...