A/N: Thank you for the reviews you guys! Erik will be coming shortly, so hang on tight! And please don't forget to review!

Chapter Five:

Crush

For the next week, Emmy would slowly walk past the auditorium in hopes that she would hear the mysterious singer once more. It wasn't until the third time she done this that Maggie commented on it.

Her excuse: "No reason".

On a selfish level, she didn't want her best friend to know about the Voice. Maggie would get interested and probably go to Mrs. Anderson or someone about it. If the Voice should be caught… she would never know its owner. And for that Emmy couldn't risk it. So this would be one little secret from Maggie. Emmy was entitled to keep something private only to herself.

By the second week, Emmy began to wonder if she imagined it. The Voice had yet to return for another encore, and she was growing restless. She needed to hear it once more for reassurance of its existence. But day after day was silence and she began to think that her Phantom passion was making her perceive it was a disembodied voice.

Of course, this was the real world. There was no such thing unless someone was playing mind games with her. But who would? There wasn't anyone that Emmy knew that could come up with an elaborate prank.

Eventually she gave up. The Voice wasn't going to return and she was certain.

"Are you excited about break soon?" Maggie asked, bouncing in her seat. "I love Christmas! I'm going back to Rochester to visit my relatives. What are your plans?"

Emmy didn't say anything, but stared off into space, her mind on that Voice.

"Um—Hello? Earth to Emmy!" Maggie waved her hand in front of her face. "Anyone home?"

"What? Sorry… I didn't hear you," she replied sheepishly.

The redhead lifted a brow. "I'll say. You've been doing that a lot lately. Is everything okay?"

Emmy shifted in her seat. "Everything's fine. I can't wait for Christmas either." She glanced over at Sarah, who was hovering over Mrs. Anderson at the piano. "Look at that. Already she's sucking up for the spring concert solo right now. And we're not going to start until February!"

Maggie chuckled. "That never stopped her before. Say! You should try out Emmy!"

She gaped at her friend. "Are you kidding?"

"Why not?" Maggie persisted. "I heard you sing before and you're good! There's no reason to be ashamed."

"It's not that I'm ashamed," Emmy sighed. "I know I won't get it even if I tried out and kill the song. Sarah will get the part because she's Mrs. Anderson's little pet."

"I think you need some boosting. A little Phantom therapy won't hurt." Maggie winked.

"Hmm… Gerry," she giggled. "That sounds good to me." Emmy stretched her arms over her head and turned around when she heard the choir door slam close.

The most drop-dead gorgeous boy in all of Cherry Hill entered. He had a strong build, considering he had to be around 5'4", golden-brownish hair, a slight tan, and two eyes of warm coco. Flashing a dazzling smile of perfect teeth, he went over to Mrs. Anderson to hand her a note.

Trey Michaels… Emmy thought dreamily. Oh I wish he were in this class.

Trey was a baritone in the Varsity choir, and had a voice that would give Clay Aiken run for his money.

"Tre!" Sarah squealed and jumped into his arms, placing a messy kiss on his lips.

Emmy grimaced at the sight of the pair. Too bad he happened to be that sophomore that had asked Sarah out the year before. And worse of all, those two were old childhood friends. What were the odds?

She didn't know in the beginning he was Sarah's boyfriend. Last year the musical had been Guys and Dolls and it was the first time that Emmy saw Trey Michaels. In all of her life, Emmy never had a crush on any boy in her school or class. She reserved that first-time crush on the boy that would be her Erik. But once Trey took center stage and sung his first words, Emmy fell. And she fell hard.

He was the one she was waiting for. He was the one that could only be the Phantom to her Christine.

Sure he didn't come close to Erik's appearance, but it didn't matter. She was only concerned that he would be her Dark Angel. But Trey was far from being dark. He was your average normal boy next door. But Emmy didn't care. She found the man she was hoping for.

And it had to be her friend's boyfriend.

How Fate loved to mock her.

And on top of that, the stories she heard surrounding the couple only ate at her.

Supposedly, that on their first date, Trey and Sarah talked about marriage. Marriage.

Apparently, during their time of playing House as children, they fell in love with one another. And when Sarah had to move, the separation didn't sever their bond. It only grew throughout the years until finally that fateful summer of freshman year; Sarah had caught up with Trey. Their childhood love had been rekindled and had become strong and true.

She had bragged about it to her friends how after she graduated they were going to get married and start a family right away. Already she could picture them growing old together, dancing under the stars of time, until the last obstacle of life took them. How sweet… how unfair.

Emmy couldn't possible see what enraptured Trey so much with Sarah. She was self-centered, rude, mean, and downright deceitful when she wanted to be. Yet, he was enamored with Sarah and probably never be with anyone else but her.

As Dean Martin would say, that's Amore.

There was one time that Emmy wondered if the Voice belonged to Trey. And as she watched him and Sarah cuddle and whisper to each other, she knew she had to find out.

xxXXxx

I am going to be so much in trouble, Emmy thought in a panic as she hid in the bathroom as the warning bell rang. She stood on top of the toilet set and waited for the final bell.

Trey had Varsity first hour and she was skipping.

Skipping so she could listen to him sing.

It was a fool's errand that could have Emmy wind up in the Main Office with possible detention or grounding.

But she was willing to do this just once. And once she had her answer, she'll never skip again for as long as she lived.

Outside, she heard the hall monitors do their daily routine to check for any skippers like Emmy, beginning with the bathrooms.

She held her breath, waiting for that door to whip open and be dragged out like a fugitive.

Fate was on her side today.

The monitors left and after a few minutes of precaution, Emmy emerged. Sticking her head out of the bathroom, the halls were clear and she made a mad dash towards the choir room. Luckily, she was hiding near it.

Kneeling, Emmy pushed open the door slightly so she could listen to the class easily. She saw Jay leading his section in "Music of My Heart".

Pursing her lips in deep concentration, Emmy focused on Trey and conjured up the Voice from weeks ago. Mentally comparing wasn't easy, but it was obvious it wasn't him.

He may be able to sing so professionally, yet he was missing the years of experience and the feeling of a worldly sadness.

Disappointed, Emmy closed the door silently and shuffled her feet down the empty corridor. She could now go to her class and say her locker was jammed. Her teacher trusted her and would simply take her word on it without a hall monitor's assurance. She was a good girl.

As Emmy passed the auditorium, she failed to notice a pair of golden eyes shining through the darkness.

TBC…