Priorities
A/N: So here is the second chapter. I've been up all night for this. And it's pathetically short, but, for some reason, my muse only comes when I stay up all night...
Disclaimer: Some candy is red, some candy is blue, I don't own the Phantom, but I'd sure as hell like to!
A few weeks passed, and I had become friends with the girl, Christine Daae. She was very pretty: she had flawless, china doll skin, and beautiful, dark curls of hair. I longed to be just like her, for she was a great dancer, and she sang wonderfully. I wished day in and day out that I would one day have at least half the talent that she possesed. And then there was Meg. I liked Meg very much, but she was such a gossip! When we were together, she almost never stopped talking! I oftened wondered how she got through her mother's strict ballet lessons. Madame Giry did not permit us to talk. It was possible that Meg had been enduring those strict rules for so long that she talked all the time outside of them to make up for lost time.
She often told wild stories about the Opera Populaire being haunted by "the Opera Ghost." My mother never told me stories when I was a young girl, so I listened with rapt interest whenever Meg started talking about the Phantom, and how he used to do favors for her. I didn't know why, but whenver Meg told the stories, Christine would suddenly get very quiet, and often made excuses to leave. I didn't really want to pry, but I was determined to find out why my friend behaved that way.
It was four weeks after Sebille had come to live here, at the Opera Populaire. She was two years younger than me, and I daresay she already was looking up to me as a sister. I didn't have any siblings...only Meg, who I had known since I came to live at the opera house nearly ten years ago. Meg seemed to like Sebille. Or at least she liked talking to Sebille. She was such a quiet little thing. I had noticed on her first night here, when Meg and I helped her get ready for bed, that her left arm had an angry looking bruise glaring from the pale skin. When Meg had gone to talk to her mother before bed, I asked Sebille about it. The poor girl burst into tears and then promptly spilled out her entire life's story to me. What a sad girl...I couldn't imagine living with a parent who flat out didn't want me. My mother died when I was three, and my father and I became very close after that. I felt sorry for Sebille, but I wasn't quite sure how to comfort her.
After that night, she was almost always at my side. Except, of course, when I had my music lessons.
Meg was out one day with her mother to pick up new costume materials for the new production the opera house was going to be putting on, and Sebille and I were sitting on the steps of the grand foyer, just enjoying the quiet that had consumed the normally buzzing Opera Populaire.
"Christine," she said suddenly, "why are you just a dancing chorus girl when you sing so well? You could easily replace that singing cow, la Carlotta, you know. Oh, when she sings that aria for Hannible, it reminds me of the bad door back in the shop that screeched so horribly when you opened it..." She spoke it with such mild curiosity and innocence that I was compelled to laugh at the statement. Unfortunately, at that precise moment that Sebille began to speak unwittingly, la Carlotta herself had entered the foyer. She shrieked indignantly when I started to laugh that Sebille and I both sat stark up right. All mirth drained from us as Carlotta strode towards us with a face like a storm. I stood up swiftly and grabbed Sebille's hand, and we ran away, laughing helplessly. We hid in my dressing room, behind a changing screen. We didn't know if Carlotta had even chased us, but we sat very still for about fifteen minutes before we dissolved into hapless giggles.
After we had composed ourselves, we decided to stay in my dressing room to talk. Sebille sat, just looking at me for awhile.
"Honestly, Christine. Why don't you sing and take la Carlotta's spot as prima donna? You're so good..I wish I could sing half as well as you. My mother..she never encouraged my singing. She always told me that, while I may be able to outdance a butterfly, I would forever more be outsung by the crickets. And where do you go every week? Every time you come back, you're always so happy, and exhausted. Do you go out to meet with a lover, perhaps?" She managed a sly smile in my direction. I sat very silent, not knowing what to say. I was suddenly in a very dangerous situation, for both me and my dear Sebille. I had no wishes of getting her hurt.
"Of course I don't. Can you even imagine any man having any interest in me, anyway? No, I believe I'm only suitable for ghosts..." I then realized what I said. I had just worsened the situation. But Sebille just giggled slightly.
"Maybe you should meet the Opera Ghost then, dear Christine. If you're only suitable for ghosts, then you're perfect for each other! Except your voice...Your voice is like the music of the angels.." Damn this girl and her innocent, idle chatter. She does not know what she's saying, of course, and I hope that the ears I just know are listening know that it's just a girl's imagination.
"Why did your mother not encourage your singing? Did she ever say exactly why?" I inquired, trying to get Sebille away from thoughts of spectral beings. She frowned, and I silently apologised to her for opening old wounds.
She sighed. "She always told me that my voice was no good. She often told me that it was good that I could dance, because I was so utterly helpless at everything else. I can't sew to save my life, but I'm very good at reading and writing. My ballet instructor taught me. Faye taught me a lot, including dancing. I miss her so much. While Mother made dresses and such, Faye would teach me ballet. I've been learning since I was four. I didn't like her father, though. He was a nice enough man, I suppose, but I never really grew up around men. My father died when I was a year old. I think he shot himself, but my mother never spoke of him. All I know is that I'm supposedly the reason he's dead, and I only found that out by Mother's anger as she threw me out..." We sat in a rather uncomfortable silence. I think that Sebille was remembering her old life, but I was listening in dread for the beloved voice that I hoped would not come.
We jumped as Meg came bursting into the room unannounced. She was holding a few bags and smiling brightly.
"Come on, girls! I got sweet buns and candies, and all sorts of presents for you! And Mama says to bring you both down to look at the fabric for the costumes when it's brought over. It's absolutely to die for!"
-munches on the candies she stole from Meg- What? It's been a long night...Please review...I'll share my candy! -holds out bag of candy invitingly- And I still need a beta, please! Interested? Leave a reivew!
-Kitty-