When they got back from the rehearsal, Evelia and Meg were exhausted. Rehearsal had gone on hours longer than expected once again, and, once again, it had been because of Carlotta. Nobody within Carlotta's earshot even dared to speak of Evelia's stunning performance, but backstage Meg whispered pride-filled words to her friend, and Madame Giry gave Evelia her rare, beaming smile. But the rehearsal after that had been tiring, as every few lines had to be stopped and run through again several times. Meg and Evelia were very thankful to be heading to bed, but Evelia stopped her friend outside the ballet dormitories. She turned to Meg and spoke

"Meg, I saw when I was singing that none of the ballet girls were dancing. Why? Was I going too fast?"

"Well, no, not at all. We were all just kind of watching you."

"Me! Why?"

"Well, you rather shocked everybody. Nobody expected you to be a singer! I'm sure the other ballet girls were just waiting for you to fail so they could give you hell about it!"

"But I'm NOT a singer! I have never had a lesson, this is the first time I have ever even sung in front of people! I mean, I sing when I am alone, but that's a completely different thing! When you're up there, you can feel everybody watching you. It's like their eyes stab you with knives right in the pit of your stomach. It's so scary for me, because I'm just not a singer!"

"Don't be foolish! You're amazing! Much better than Carlotta! And it's perfectly normal to feel that way. I once had a good friend who was a singer- she started out in the ballet chorus just like you- in fact, I believe you are even better than she was! And that is saying something, to be better than C-" Suddenly Meg stopped in the middle of her sentence.

"Than who?" Evelia was too curious to let this slide.

"...No one." Meg didn't know what to say.

"No, tell me! Come on, Meg!"

"Alright, alright." Meg sighed. She knew she had to tell her friend about this eventually. "But please promise never to speak of it again. It has been forbidden to speak of such things in this Opera House."

"I promise."

So Meg told Christine everything. She told her of the skull-sealed notes, she told her of Christine, and she told her of the Phantom of the Opera. When Meg was done, Evelia didn't know what and what not to believe. She knew Christine was real, but she also knew that Christine had been known to be a bit crazy. Evelia was sure that the legendary "disasters" had been just small accidents that had been over-exaggerated for the sake of good gossip (which is always effective in packing the Opera House during performances). Just then, Meg and Evelia heard the footsteps of Madame Giry, who was coming to check on the girls, so they hurried into the dormitories and dove under the covers of their beds.