Chapter Ten

Capri's, Shorts, and Jerks

Heather paced her room nervously. It was the week of the play! Today was Monday, and the play would be on Friday night. Seven pm sharp. She was jittery; she couldn't stand the confinement and smallness of her room. With a sigh, she slipped out of the room and once again found her way back to the mirror room. Carefully she peeked into it first to make sure there were no Joe-shaped surprises inside. When she say that the coast was clear, she quickly and quietly slipped in and made a beeline for mirror that led to Christine, Erik, and the other captives.

Once she opened the mirror and shut it securely behind her, she ran down the steps, surprising Christine who stood at the bottom. Heather stopped in time before she could run into her. "Oh! I'm sorry!" Heather apologized.

"It's alright. You're fine." Christine answered, turning, she glared at Raoul. Heather then noticed that Raoul was also on his feet, his eyes seemingly shooting sparks. His mouth was set in an angry line and he was glaring at Christine.

Uh oh, thought Heather, I'm thinking this probably wasn't the best time to come down here. "Is this a bad time?" she asked.

"No, Raoul and I were just talking. We're done now." Christine answered, ushering Heather into the smaller room, where they had found Erik a few days earlier. Erik was still there. When he saw them he nodded to Heather and left to the main chamber to give them some privacy.

"Where are the others?" Christine asked Heather, a smile now on her face.

"Oh, I don't know. Scot and Alyssa are probably dancing. Paige is singing. As should I, I'm just too nervous to. Clay is out on business with the police." She looked at Christine, "I'm scared," she whispered.

Christine shot her a sympathetic look and out her arm around Heather's shoulders. "Oh, I'm sure it can't be that bad. It's just like any other time. And I've heard from Alyssa that you've done wonderfully for the others." Christine reassured her.

"Yes, maybe so, but Joe wasn't trying to kidnap me then. It's scary, because I know he's going to succeed."

Christine sighed. "I know, it was scary when Erik kidnapped me. I'm sorry that I can't help you any more though." Heather was thankful when Christine changed the subject. "So what is the future like?"

"Huh?" Heather said snapping back to attention.

"What is the future like?" Christine repeated her question.

"Oh, well, for one thing, right now it's summer. There's not a lot of snow. There are a lot of differences. Like, women are not that immodest anymore. They can wear pants, like men. Or shorts even."

"What are shorts?" Christine wanted to know.

Heather stood up. "Well, they're a form of clothing. Like shortened pants. They usually come up to about here." Heather explained, putting her hand about mid-thigh. "It's so you can keep cooler in hot weather instead of always wearing stuffy dresses. That, and most girls wear them to show off their legs."

At that Christine gasped in shock. "Oh my goodness!" she exclaimed. "They let you wear things like that! Unbelievable!"

Heather chuckled, "Don't worry, they make a longer pairs that come to the knee. They're called Capri's." Heather grinned, "Don't worry, I don't wear shorts."

Suddenly their conversation was interrupted by a loud thump against the wall. Rushing outside of the room, the girls were shocked to see Erik hit the wall. Raoul stood grinning in amusement. Once the Phantom stood up, Raoul attacked him again. Because of his previous wounds, Erik was still too weak to fight back effectively. Carlotta and Meg stood cowering in a corner.

Christine ran to help Erik up. As Raoul rushed him again, Heather stepped in his way, making him stop by smacking him across the face. Startled, he fell onto the floor. Angrily he got to his feet, ashamed of being brought down by a girl. "You'll pay for that!" he threatened her. His anger still consuming him, he lunged at her. Heather punched him in the nose, stopping his attack.

"Leave him alone!" Heather commanded.

Raoul sat on the ground holding his now bleeding nose. He watched at Christine helped Erik back into the other room. When she came back out, her eyes were blazing with anger. "What do you think you were doing!" she snapped at Raoul.

"I was protecting you! Since you chose me, I think you should be grateful!" Raoul snapped back.

"I might have chosen you then, but now I'm not so sure I chose the right man." Christine snapped.

"Man! He's no man! He's a monster." Raoul yelled.

"Monster! I don't think so. He's no monster, you are!" Christine screamed.

Raoul looked at her shocked. She had just called him a monster! Now he was embarrassed. She was leaving him and going to that monster. She was choosing Erik.

HA! Take that you fop! Heather thought, smiling to herself. You tell him Christine! I'm so glad you're finally seeing it. Oh thank goodness she has chosen Erik!

Heather headed for the stairs. "Um, Christine?" When Christine looked at Heather, she said, "I'm going to leave now. I'll be back later, okay?" Christine just nodded.

Heather rushed up the steps and into the mirror room. As soon as she could, she went back to her room. Just as she was turning the knob, the door was thrown open. In its place was a very shocked Paige.

"Heather!" she exclaimed, "Where have you been? You scared us to death!" Paige pulled Heather into the room and shut the door. Everybody was sitting in her room, all looking extremely worried. Clay jumped to his feet and hugged her.

"Don't do that again, we were just going to go look for you," he told her.

"Sorry guys, I just went to visit Christine. I was really nervous about Friday. You didn't have to worry."

"Yes, but we didn't know that. Next time, tell us before you do that." Paige said.

Heather nodded. "Yes, mother!" Paige laughed.

"Oh, I should probably tell ya'll something." Heather said smiling.

"What?" everyone wanted to know.

"Christine dumped Raoul and picked Erik today!" Heather answered with a huge grin on her face.

Alyssa and Paige gasped in shock. "No way!" they exclaimed. Then they smiled, "Go Christine!"

"Why?" Clay asked.

"While I was down there, Raoul attacked Erik. I stopped him before he could do too much damage, but he had already damaged himself. Christine got angry and told him he was the monster, not Erik. He was very shocked, to say the least. I had to refrain myself from jumping up and down with happiness." Heather explained, giggling.

"I am so happy she got rid of him!" Paige finally burst out, unable to contain her enthusiasm any longer. "He is such a jerk."

"Yes, he is. But I have this weird feeling that he's going to marry someone. I just don't know whom. I guess we'll never know." Heather sighed.

"Too bad, I would love to stay and find out." Paige said, sighing, too.

They sat in her room for a couple more minutes before leaving to give Heather and Clay some time together. "So, what did the police say?" Heather asked him.

Clay sighed, "Not much. I have to back on Friday. They said we'd negotiate more then. They are very illusive when it comes to doing something. But, considering they've been trying to catch the Phantom for years, I think they'll come." Clay explained to her. Heather nodded at the trying part. Indeed, they had been trying to catch him. Always with no avail.

"Well," Heather sighed, "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

Wednesday afternoon, during their break, the three girls took their break with Christine, Meg, and Erik. Erik was beginning to loosen up around the girls after seeing the girls about everyday for a week and a half. He seemed much happier now that he had Christine to love and look after.

Paige sat at the table in the smaller chamber that looked out into the main room. From where she was sitting, she had a clear view of Raoul and his unhappiness. And she was using it to her advantage by giving him death glares. Heather leaned over and whispered to her, "Jeez Paige, if those looks your giving him could kill, he'd of died a thousand times already!"

"Good," whispered Paige back, "he needs to die."

Erik looked up sharply. He had heard them. Instead of doing anything, however, he smiled slightly and then turned his attention back to Christine and her conversation with Alyssa and Meg. Heather sighed in relief.

"Shhhh! Keep it down!" Heather hissed.