Chapter Three: Dreams of Arms Around You
Willow picked her clothes out carefully, donning a red shirt, and tight black pants, and picking a red mask to put over the left side of her face, pushing her hair over it so that it swept and mainly covered the mask, taking care with her makeup for her first day of school…
She set out walking, carrying an empty bag, and humming lightly as she made her way to school.
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Erik, through a little big of determination, and a lot of sneaking and a little murder, had managed to secure a place in the class. A boy named Eric, (Which he would say was simply a misspell) Drow had had an awful accident. The boy hadn't submitted a picture or any other information aside from that he was 25 and was going to attend school. He was studying Acting and Drama, Singing, and, with a little twinge, Erik had managed to get all of his classes coordinated with all of Willows, including his psychology class that he had no idea about.
He drove slowly towards the school, his black Porsche creeping down the street like a very large cat, and smiled as he pulled into the school, his mask in place, a strap securing it incase someone decided that they wanted to take a little tug.
He carefully made his way to his first class, ignoring the interested stares that he was getting from everyone, and selected a seat in the back of the class, humming softly to himself and intently watching the door, while running his hands over his newest composure, suddenly rather nervous…
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Willow walked into her classroom, and the first thing she noticed was that she was indeed late… the second thing she noticed was that the empty seat was beside… Erik… her eyes widened as she walked towards him.
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Erik had for a moment worried that she wasn't going to come after all, and after the bell rang, he was about to get up. The girl sitting in front of him, having all the boys fawn over was starting to get on his nerves. She reminded him of someone, and he couldn't place her quiet.
His attention, along with every other males, turned when Willow walked into the room. She was indeed a sight, her clothes, her hair, her makeup… her lips… Erik took a deep breath, making sure that the empty seat was visible to her… He saw a look of astonishment cross her features, as the annoying woman in front of him desperately tried to get the men's attention back. However, their eyes followed Willow as she sat down beside him, sitting her things down and looking curiously at him. However, everyone's attention was drawn to the front of the room when the teacher walked in.
"Hello everyone! I'm Mr. Sharden, you can all call me James. Okay, I just wanted to start out class by everyone introducing him or herself, and telling a little about their background, and why exactly they wanted to perfect their act…" he chuckled at his little wit, which Erik found rather annoying.
The room passed by, people standing up, being serious, some acting out a little. Erik had everyone's name memorized, by the time they got to the annoying brunette.
She stood, and a smile spread over her lips…
"Ma name iz Carlotta." Erik's mouth dropped open. Surely… "I am zee great la Carlotta's great great granddaugter! I vill happily accept zee lead roll and prove to you zat I am zee spitting image of ma grandmozer… I donot care eff oou, donot belieeef zat my grandmozzer was real, she was!" She sat down happily, and everyone cheered. The teacher looked at her, and Erik saw a bit of distaste… good…
He looked over at Willow, who was motioned to stand by the teacher… She gave a little smile… "My name is Willow, though for some odd reason, I'm known as the Phantomette to some…" Scattered cheers came from around the room, and he recognized a few people from the bar. She continued. "I'm supposing that I can't use my comment now, since it would insult Ms. Carlotta there…" Erik grinned at her… "But I want to act a bit because I like it, and because one day, I'm going to get to act alongside the Phantom of the Opera, or die trying." She smiled enchantingly at the teacher, and a flash of jealousy went through Erik at the smile the teacher returned before Willow sat down. For a moment, Erik sat seething, before realizing that it was his turn.
He stood, intending to make this short. "My name is Erik, and I'm here because," he gave a small smile… "I am zee great grandson of Erik from the Opera house… I don't care eff oou donot belieeef me…" Everyone laughed as he sat down, happily not having to answer that he was stalking Willow, while Carlotta's face flamed, then she gave him another look, and smiled at him.
"We are destined to be!" She said to him, and laughed happily. "Handzom, oou, can bee wiff me!" Erik gave her a look of disgust, and turned his attention to the front of the room.
"Okay then, well, now that we're all acquainted, I'd like to say that we're going to start out acting out… The Phantom of the Opera, and apparently, we have three people who were just destined for the part…" He glanced at Erik, Willow, and Carlotta, then continued… "We will audition for parts tomorrow, so brush up your skills, because we're going to sing people…." They spent the rest of the class watching the film. Erik watched in amazement as Willow sang softly to some of the songs, and cried when the man portraying himself cried… he shook his head, she was just too amazing…
-
Willow happily watched the film, running through every line with ease, having watched it so much… She knew it by heart, and wouldn't have a problem trying out for any of the parts, even though she wanted to be Christine… even though she didn't know if she could leave with the stupid fop Raoul… oh how she wished Erik had just broken his neck… She murmured it out loud, as everyone stood to leave the class…
"Stupid fop…" Someone touched her shoulder, and she spun.
"Hi Willow, I didn't realize you were going to go to the same school as me." He looked innocently at her, his eyes peering behind his mask. She smiled softly, even though she knew she should have been glaring… oh well…
"Yeah, it's amazing that we got the same class. Who would have thought? " She grinned, and then looked at him… "So, you are zee great great grandson of Erik zee wonderfully handsome and perfect?" She laughed at him. He looked at her, hiding his astonishment… surely she was just playing… she didn't think he was handsome and perfect? She continued talking… "You are going to try out for the part of Erik, right?" She looked at him.
He gave a malicious grin, as they walked down the hall… "No, I was thinking of trying out for the part of the Fop." She laughed softly.
"You heard that, huh?" Erik nodded.
"Don't worry, I despise him to. Yes, I will be trying out for the role of Erik. And you, are you going to try to be La Carlotta?" he saw the vaguely sick look that came over her face…
"I'll try for Christine, though I doubt I'll get it." She smiled softly… "What are you going to next?" He looked down at the piece of paper in his hand, pretending that he didn't know hers…
"I've got about an hour before the Voice class…" She looked at him with a bit of horror in her eyes.
"Let me see your schedule." He handed it to her, and she scanned it, then looked up with a smile. "We've every class together." She smiled again. "Big coincidence there…" she paused for a moment… he thought she wasn't going to say anything else… "That's good though, if we get the parts, then we can practice during our free time… if you want to...I mean…"
He stopped her… "Of course. I would love to have someone to cheat off of anyway." He laughed, and realized how UNErikish he was acting, but around this girl, who had a mask like his… he felt… at ease. And, playing the part of Erik Drow, the Phantom obsessed college student, he didn't have to worry about how he was acting, because he wasn't himself. Deception was one of his best acts.
She smiled. "You'd be cheating off of the wrong girl here." She looked at her watch… Ten fifteen. "I'm going to go grab some breakfast and settle my little self under one of those lovely looking tables. You want to follow?" For some reason, she didn't feel weird talking to his man. She shrugged it off. He was just a familiar face in this new place. She was sure that she would get over it as soon as she made friends.
"Sure." He said, a small smile playing on his lips, and they made their way to the cafeteria, discussing class, and making fun of Carlotta…
-
After standing in the line for about fifteen minutes, they both had a slice of bread, and some stuff to smear on it, that Erik swore up and down was wonderful. He was enjoying acting the part of someone who wasn't shy, or who wasn't ugly. He wasn't having to be his normal cold self, he wasn't being his self, he was being someone else… he was getting his wish, he was being normal.
"So…" Willow said, the flash of her green eyes pulling him out of his thoughts of normality. "You've seen the movie now… what was your favorite part?" She took another delicate bite and arched one elegantly shaped eyebrow at him. He laughed for a moment, thinking how odd it was to tell her what the favorite part of his life was… he shrugged for a moment, leaning back against the tree they had sat under….
"I really liked the part where the chandelier fell down." He laughed softly, thinking of how wonderful that had been. The shock and chaos that he had cause. His mouth quirked on one side as he gave her a sideway look. "What about you, what was you favorite part?"
Willow smiled… "I'm in love with the whole thing. It's one of the most… amazing, emotional movies and books I've ever had the pleasure to view. But if I had to pick a part… I'd pick the part where Erik sang Music of the Night… it was just…" She stopped, and looked down, a faint blush coming over her cheeks. He laughed, and looked at her… What would a normal man do… he thought for a moment, then brought his hand out, sliding his fingers under her chin and lifting her face up. He looked at her.
"What is it just?" He was getting to act normal, like he had always dreamed of… why hadn't he thought of this sooner?
She gave an embarrassed smile. "It's just… when I used to get upset… I'd turn on my soundtrack and close my eyes, and I'd…" She mumbled something.
"You'd what?"
A small flash of her eyes, before she looked back at the ground. "I used to pretend that he was there singing to me, and that he was going to put his arms around me and just hold me, and everything would be okay." She blushed fully now, and finally forced herself to meet his eyes. "I know, I'm a dork, don't grin so much."
Of course, he wasn't grinning because he thought she was stupid, he was grinning because she was honestly making him happy. Someone actually wanted to be held in his arms, and feel like he cared? "I don't think you're a…" he paused over the word, letting it roll off of his tongue… "Dork. I think that it's a shame that you never had anyone to hold you and sing it to you." She looked up at him, a small smile playing on her lips.
"Really."
He nodded at her, and then leaned back, adjusting his mask in a motion that was all to familiar.
She gave a soft smile, reaching out and brushing his mask. "You know, most people cant pull of the mask look, but your really have it down, don't you?" She glanced at her watch and then stood, brushing crumbs off of her lap. "We need to get going if we're going to make it to class on time." He nodded, standing also, and then looked at her.
"I've had a long time to practice pulling it off…"
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