Chapter 25

Tuesday's rehearsal turned out to be about ten minutes after the end of my class, so I had to get out of there quickly. This could be a problem, since the gossips of the class usually wanted to find out what was new with each person. And I seemed to be a target right now.

As the class I ended I scooped my books into my bag and stood up. Amy said,

"Hey Christine!"

"Sorry, can't stop. I've got a rehearsal in ten minutes and I can't be late." I said, pulling on my bike helmet as I ran out of the room.

I burst into the auditorium and found, to my relief, that it hadn't started yet. I sighed in relief and looked around for Jessie. She waved to me and I joined her.

"How's it going?" she asked. I grinned.

"Pretty good. I think I may have run over a cat trying to get here on time, but these this happen." Jessie laughed and said,

"Our Prima Donna has been here for twenty minutes already, strutting her stuff." I glanced over at Carlotta who was talking noisily. I don't think anyone was actually listening, but she didn't seem to have noticed.

Mrs Lewis came in, with Professor Sandsmark and peered around.

"Everyone here? Good, good… today we just want to have a quick run through, with cues. I'll show you all where you'll be getting ready while you're waiting to come on. Also, this is a formal occasion, so please dress properly." she glanced around at us before turning to Professor Sandsmark, who clapped her hands and said,

"I've got the running order here. Please stand in order according to the list."

She called out names and each person stepped forward. To my disappointment, Jessie was the third person and my name wasn't called after her. Jessie looked at my helplessly and shrugged. I shrugged back and waited for my name.

"Carlotta, you stand next to Mark. And last, we have Christine for a triumphant ending." The professor smiled kindly but I felt my heart drop about ten inches. Carlotta. I was next to Carlotta. She didn't look particularly happy about it either but I took my place.

Professor Sandsmark began to run through a list of instructions about where to enter, what to do when we'd finished our piece, times of arrival and departure etc. I listened carefully, mentally storing the information away. Carlotta put her hand up to ask a question.

"Yes Carlotta?"

"Could I change the running order? I don't feel that my song will be appreciated if you put on something like… like that on straight afterwards." She said, glancing at me. I looked at her calmly.

"Because my song is better, you mean?"

"I did not mean that and you know it! My voice is far superior to yours and the effect of my song will be ruined if they put on a song as poor as yours afterwards!"

"If by superior you mean similar to the sound of a cat in a blender, you're right!"

"Girls! Stop bickering at once. No, Carlotta, the running order cannot be changed." Professor Sandsmark said, irritated at our behaviour.

I folded my arms indifferently. Carlotta glared at me and started to mutter to her neighbour. I rolled my eyes as we started the tour of the backstage.

We ran through the performances. It was going to be a good show, that much I could tell already. I waited for my turn behind Carlotta and her friend. They were talking quietly, giggling occasionally. I stood some way off, reading through my sheet music. The rest of the performers milled around, talking excitedly

"Such a whore…"

"I know!"

I ignored their giggles.

"I mean, he's much older! What a gold-digger!"

"Wonder how much he's paying her…" OK, I got curious. I glanced over and caught them looking at me. They turned away, bursting out in laughter. My face went red with anger and I started towards them. But before I could say anything Meg appeared beside me.

"Hey Christine. Finished class early, thought I'd see how it's going. Not performed yet?"

"No…" I muttered. Meg looked at my flushed face.

"What's up?"

"Nothing important." I said quietly.

I fell silent and glanced briefly at Carlotta and her friend. They were talking again, throwing looks at me. They moved ahead slightly, so we couldn't hear them. Meg looked from me to them.

"What…?"

"Guess he'd have to pay someone to sleep with him. What was with that mask?"

"I heard he was deformed underneath it. God, she's such a slut. Still, he's got to be paying her a lot. He's got to be rich to live at the Manor."

I snapped. I know, it wasn't the best thing to do, but I was mightily annoyed by that point. I strode over to Carlotta, pulled her around and spat,

"What the hell is your problem?"

"I don't have one." She sniggered. I swear, I wanted to hit her so much. But I held back.

"No. Obviously if you had one you'd just throw a little tantrum as you always do. Now you'd rather just spread rumours about me instead."

"They're all ready spread. It's not my fault if everyone here thinks you're a whore." Carlotta sneered.

The rest of the performers fell silent. I stared at Carlotta and ground my teeth.

"I am not a whore!"

"Could have fooled me." She smirked. Meg stepped forward.

"Get lost, Carlotta."

"Screw you, Giry. Just because she can't handle the truth… but hey, if she wants to sleep with older men for money, not my problem."

"How dare you!" I spat. Meg seized my arm.

"Let it go, Christine. We know it's not true."

"Hey, let the girl try and defend herself! Everyone knows she left Raoul de Chagny for the guy who owns the manor, who everyone says is deformed. Why would she do it if she wasn't being paid?" Carlotta's friend demanded.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My jaw dropped and I clenched my fist. Meg held me back.

"Christine, ignore them. They don't know anything."

"Or you could just put an end to the rumours here and now. Come on, Christine, tell us! How much? Is he good?" Carlotta laughed harshly. I couldn't speak. I was so furious I was speechless. Carlotta laughed when I didn't answer and looked around at everyone triumphantly. I couldn't meet anyone's eyes. Meg tugged my arm.

"Christine, come on. It's all lies. As long as we know it…"

"Carlotta? It's your turn." One of the organisers called from the stage. Carlotta turned and flounced off. I gaped after her and then looked at the other performers. They were watching me, some looking concerned, others curious, and some even appeared to be enjoying the commotion. Jessie pushed through and looked at me.

"Christine? Are you OK?"

"It's not… we… we're…" I stammered. Meg hugged me tightly.

"Don't worry about it, OK? It's all bull."

I couldn't speak. I couldn't even cry. I could only mouth wordlessly. I couldn't believe what they had said about me. Was that really what everyone was saying about me? Was that how everyone thought of me now? As a whore who was being paid to sleep with a deformed old man? Meg yelled for everyone to stop staring and get lost. Only she used slightly more colourful language. Then she and Jessie sat me down, Jessie pressing a cup of water into my hand.

"Is that really what they've been saying about me? Is everyone…" I couldn't finish my sentence. Meg hugged me.

"Christine, you just have to ignore it. If you rise up to it, it'll just make thins worse. Just ignore it."

"It's only idiots like Carlotta who believe it anyway." Jessie added. I glanced at the stage, where Carlotta was singing shrilly. Meg patted my hand.

"Look, let's just get through the rehearsal. Then you and me will go back to the Manor and tell Erik-"

"No!" I said sharply. I closed my eyes. "No… don't tell him. I don't want him to know."

"Christine-"

"He can't know." I whispered. Meg frowned slightly.

"Why not?"

Because I was ashamed. Not of him, don't think that. No… I was ashamed of myself. Erik had given me everything, had changed my life for the better. And all I had brought to him, I realised now, was pain. Raoul, Dad, the Masquerade Ball and now this. I realised now, that there were tears on my face. I wiped them away, sniffing. Meg looked at me, concerned.

"He just can't. Don't tell him, please Meg."

"Not if you don't want me to. But he should know. He loves you and he's going to know that something is wrong."

"Christine, your turn." The organiser called. I stood shakily, wiping the tears away frantically. Carlotta and her friends were now sitting in the audience. I gave the sheet music to the pianist. Professor Sandsmark frowned at me.

"Is everything alright?" I nodded.

"Yeah… it's fine."

"Well… go on." She said, clearly not convinced.

I realised then that I was going to sound terrible if I didn't calm down. So I took Erik's advice and found something to concentrate on. There was a window, right at the back of the auditorium. I kept my eyes on it as I sang. Sing out of the window, up into the sky. Forget about everyone sitting here. Just forget it.

I managed to get through the song and Professor Sandsmark nodded.

"That's it for today. I'll see you all here tomorrow."

Meg took my arm and guided me out of the building.

"Let's get you back to the Manor." She said, taking the spare helmet from the bike.

"You don't have to come if you don't want to."

"I'm making sure you get home OK." Meg told me firmly.

When we got to the Manor, Erik came up from the kitchen. He took one look at me.

"What's wrong?"

"Told you so." Meg said, elbowing me. I shook her off and shook my head.

"Nothing."

"Well, I'm gonna go. Let you two talk." Meg said, pushing me towards Erik and going to the door. When she had gone Erik looked at me.

"Well?"

"It's nothing. I'll start dinner." I moved to go past him but he caught my arm, looking at me closely.

"Christine, have you been crying?"

"Erik please-"

"What happened?" he said loudly. I stared at him. His eyes were looking into mine and I saw the determination there. I wasn't getting away with this.

I looked down at my feet. He didn't let go of my arm.

"Tell me." he said gently. I swallowed hard.

"It was just… Carlotta and her friends. They just said some stuff that… it got to me."

"What did they say?" Erik asked quietly. I couldn't bear to look at him. I didn't want to see the look on his face.

"They… they called me a whore… and a gold-digger. That I was being paid to sleep with you…" his grip on my arm tightened and I winced. He let go quickly and I moved past, going down the stairs to the kitchen.

Erik came down a few minutes later. I was silently slicing vegetables, biting down on my lip to stop myself crying. I didn't turn when he came in and a moment later his arms slipped around my waist, pulling me gently to him.

"Christine…"

"It's so stupid. I shouldn't let them get to me, but it did." I said, my voice catching. Erik sighed, resting his cheek against my head.

"You shouldn't have to go through that. I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault. It's just people with too much spare time." I said crossly, hacking at a carrot. Erik took the knife from my hand and put it on the surface. I sighed and buried my face in my hands.

"What's wrong with me? Why did they get to me like that?"

"Christine, look at me."

I turned slowly and looked up at him. His face was perfectly serious as he said,

"There is nothing wrong with you. These rumours will die eventually. And no matter what happens, I will be with you. As long as we're together, it doesn't matter what they think."

That did it. I broke down in tears. He looked rather shocked but I shook my head.

"I just… it's… oh, can we just blame it on hormones?"

"If that's what you want." He said, smiling slightly. He kissed me and then said,

"I'll help make dinner."

"OK. Can you cut the meat up?"

He nodded and got a knife from the drawer. We made dinner in silence, but as we sat down to eat, Erik looked over at me.

"Christine?"

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you want to tell me what happened?" I put down my fork and looked at him, chewing my lip.

"Because… because I was embarrassed, OK?" Seeing the look on his face, "Oh, not about you! Don't be stupid. No, I felt embarrassed because… well, you've given me so much. You've just made my life so much better and all I've done is screw up. This was just… it was like the last straw, you know?"

Erik considered me for a moment and then smiled. I glared at him.

"Fine. That's the last time I share my innermost feelings with you! If you're just going to laugh at me…"

"No, no, it's not that… you're just so… so naïve."

I looked at him blankly.

"You're a very odd guy, Erik." I told him frankly. He smiled.

"Christine, my life was… pointless before you. Don't think for one single moment that you've made things worse." He told me, still smiling. I couldn't help smiling back.

"Really?"

"Really. And I couldn't give a damn what anyone else thinks. As long as we know that those rumours are false, it doesn't matter."

"I know. I was just being a bit dramatic." I said.

He smirked as he started to eat dinner. I decided not to comment.

Meg called me that evening. Erik and I were sat in the library, reading when my mobile began to ring. I answered it.

"Hello?"

"Only me. Everything OK?"

"Hey Meg. And yes, everything is fine." I said with a smile.

"Great. Want me to come to rehearsal tomorrow? Safety in the numbers, as you put it."

"Would you? That'd be great." I said, thankful to her. She laughed.

"No problem. Gotta run, Mum's out and I promised I'd make dinner."

"OK, see you tomorrow."

I hung up and put the phone down. I glanced up at Erik and elbowed him.

"Stop smirking at me! It wasn't that funny."

"I know. I just enjoy your reaction." He told me. I pushed him and he caught hold of me, kissing me. I pulled back.

"That's cheating! I was telling you off, you can't just go around kissing me to stop me talking." I told him, mock-sternly. He smiled and kissed me again.

"We'll see about that."

We should really argue more often.

A/N: I love hormones. The number of times I've gotten away with sulking and throwing a tantrum by blaming it hormones… well, there you go. Please leave a review! Oh and, about my spelling of practise and practice. I have an excuse! See, I'm actually English and we spell it differently to Americans. Unfortunately, my computer is set on the American spelling and it switches back and forward between American and English. That's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!