Disclaimer: I don't own Phantom. Gerry is currently AWOL from Silvermasque's closet though… hmm, three guesses where he went. I'm so glad you can't hear the muffled sounds coming from MY closet through the computer. HA!

Kendall

Ch. 13 – Superior Feminine Intellect

We slipped through the door and were greeted with the pounding of Erik's insanely loud organ.

I could barely hear Kayla as she said, "Okay, on the count of three, we scream his name as loud as we can."

As we crept around to stand behind him, I noticed he was playing with his eyes closed. (That's dedication.) I glanced at Kayla, and she mouthed, "One… two… three…"

"ERIK!"

If I live to be 100, I will never forget his reaction. It was the most hysterical thing in the world. Here's the play-by-play:

We scream his name

He bangs out the wrong chord on the organ

He screams

He leaps on top of the organ

We dissolve in hysterical laughter

…Of course, five seconds later, he swept down and we ran like heck.

"Your hand at the level of your eyes," Kayla sang, skidding to a halt and turning to face Erik.

We all stopped and watched the confrontation. If we weren't all afraid for our lives, the scene would have been seriously funny (especially since Kayla gets made fun of for being short sometimes). They stood barely two feet apart, Kayla gazing up, Erik staring down. I could see the longing in her eyes, how bad she wanted to lean up and kiss him. Erik was breathing smoothly, his eyes narrowed.

Out of the blue, Kayla said, "Well, ask already!"

Erik blinked. "What?" he snapped.

"Don't you want to know how we got out without wetting ourselves?"

I covered my mouth to stifle my laughter, and Josie snorted.

Erik raised an eyebrow. "You are crude."

Kayla responded with a smirk, and he looked around at the rest of us.

"How did you get out?"

"We used SFI," said Josie. "Long story."

"Surely not too long," he countered. "Seeing as how it only took five minutes to execute that maneuver."

"We'll tell you what it stands for, but you'll probably still find it… annoying, to say the least," I said.

"I'm listening."

"Superior…" (Kayla)

"Feminine…" (Me)

"Intellect," Josie finished.

Erik rolled his eyes at us, and Josie produced her hairpin.

"It was simple," she explained. "Insert the pin into the lock and –

"I know how to pick a lock," Erik interrupted. "What sort of Phantom would I be if I couldn't pick a lock?"

He drew himself up to full height as he said this, and Kayla went dreamy-eyed. (I swear she could have been drooling.)

"Maybe you have other ways to get through a locked door," she suggested. "Hence the Opera Ghost?"

He spread his arms and sighed. "Mademoiselle, I am a magician. You should know that magic in this modern world is simply logic not explained."

She leaned slightly closer. "So what's magic outside the modern world?"

His amber gaze never left her face. "Magic is… complex and simple all at once. Real magic cannot be explained. Hence the reason I cannot explain it now."

"No, that explanation was just fine, monsieur," she said.

In one fluid motion, Kayla put her hands on his shoulders, stood on tiptoe and kissed him on the cheek.

Erik jerked away from her, anger emanating from him again.

She raced back to where we stood halfway up the steps, pursued by his rage-filled voice. "Why did you do that?"

"Once again, superior feminine intellect," she said. "You don't know how many times I've dreamt about doing that."

Sam, Josie and I were in an exasperated shock. How do you cope with the fact that your best friend just kissed the Opera Ghost?

I didn't really know how to end this chapter, so that's a bit of an abrupt halt. Sorry! I really didn't do Nikki any justice in this one, seeing as how it should be her chapter. Erik's chapter up next!