AN- heheh, thank you my readers, both old and new…and here I present you chapter 2…

I rhymed…it is all my friends fault…she writes poetry and I have been rhyming a lot since reading it…alright, enough rambling…

Also, I thought I should say this here- I am looking for a Beta. If interested, just email me or tell me in your review.

Review replies at end of chapter…

Chapter 1

Jen

Jen sighed and stared out the window again. It was almost 4, almost time to go home. She couldn't wait for the weekend. Thunder rumbled softly in the distance, the first heralding of a storm. The soft pattering of rain on the glass was soothing, and she wanted nothing more than to go out and run through it. 3:50, ten minutes to go. And no band practice, for once. She was glad of that. Being a percussionist and a section leader of the Centennial High Titan Band was a pain in the ass.

3:52. She wanted to make time go faster. Only a few minutes left of English and the junior could go home and pack. She was going to her friend Gabby's for the weekend, and they had a whole list of things that they wanted to-and probably would not, do. 3:55. Almost there, she thought, almost there. Someone next to her shifted in his seat, and she turned to look, even the smallest sound being distracting. Sighing, Jen turned back to attempt to read more of her book. She wanted to finish the chapter before the bell rang.

Settling down more in her chair, Jen let herself be immersed in the world of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series. She had been reading them for 2 years, and was fully intrigued. She loved, no, adored fantasy. She lived it. Her life was spent dreaming and wishing she could be in a fantasy setting. Dragons, elves, heroes and heroines, enchantresses and warriors. And Erik, of course. For the past year, after being 'forced' to watch the 2004 musical version of The Phantom of the Opera, she had developed a love for the character. She felt his sorrow, his pain. She wished she could help him, be with him. Not only that, but she was in love with the story. But mostly him. And not just Gerik, though he WAS the prettiest, but also Leroux, Kay, and any other Erik's she could think of.

She jumped when the bell rang, and sighed with relief. She was free, if only for the weekend. Now to pack her stuff and head to Gabby's. It was going to be a fun night. They would stay up and do nothing. Jen brushed some of her lightish brown hair from her eyes. It really was too long, but she didn't care. It fit her.

After stopping at her locker, Jen began to walk towards the Band Hall, where she would be picked up to go home. The tall teen received a few odd looks, after all, it was summer in Texas and she was wearing long camouflage pants and a black jacket, but that was her style and she didn't care. Besides, the school WAS cold.

Once she reached the band hall, Jen stopped long enough to say bye to her friends and grab her band stuff, then she was off, on her way home.

Within an hour Jen was knocking her friends door. Gabby opened it slightly, peeked out, then shut it. Jen pounded it. "Let me in!"

The door opened to reveal a Gabby, dark haired, brown eyed, slightly Hispanic, and grinning widely. Jen was taller, but then again, Jen was taller than most girls she knew. "Oy"

"Yo." Jen answered, entering and removing her shoes. "Waz up?"

"Ah, nothing." Gabby replied with a shrug. "Sounds fun…"

"Yep…" Conversation ended. As usual. "Soooo…what shall we do?" Jen asked. Her friend shrugged. "Dunno."

"Typical."

"Hey!"

"It's true." Jen grinned. "We could just draw or something…" Gabby suggested. "Alrighty…and…we should watch something later."

"'K." With that the two went into Gabby's room and shut the door. Plugging her iPod into the stereo-thingy, Gabby went to a playlist consisting of Celtic music. "Tis inspiring, no?"

"Indeed it is. And it reminds me of Gerry…" Jen answered back. Gabby rolled her eyes. "EVERYTHING reminds you of him. Though I must say…he IS rather handsome…" Jen growled and glared. "Don't worry, I have a boyfriend." Jen narrowed her eyes then grinned wider. "I know…and you know how fiercely jealous I am…lets draw!"

Jen opened her bag and removed her sketchbook and pencils. She began to draw a dragon, the only thing she could draw well, and Gabby just sat there, as always, trying to come up with something to draw. "So…what should we watch later?" she asked, thumbing through her pile of 'reference pictures'.

"Dunno." Jen replied without looking up from the beast forming on the page. She vaguely thought that the dragon's head was too narrow, but continued to draw, adding some shadowing. Her mind wasn't really on drawing though. She was dreaming again, zoned out. Again, as usual. She had trouble concentrating at times. Right now she was imagining herself in Erik's lair, her muse running his hands down her body…she shook her head slightly. 'Not going there…' she thought. A small voice in the back of her head answered 'but you know you want to.' She glared at the voice. 'So, I shouldn't want to.'

The voice did not answer. She sighed. The voices, as she called them, were of course her own making, but sometimes it seemed like they took on a life of their own. Gabby looked at her strangely. "Voices."

"Ah. I see. Well, Shadow says he wants to talk to Erik." Jen grinned. "And Erik does not want to talk to Shadow. For obvious reasons…you know what happened last time…" Now Gabby was grinning. Their muses were always so…inspiring. Jen's were Erik, the Phantom of the Opera (Whom she called Jerik, meaning Jen's Erik), Creedy, Gerard Butler's character in Reign of Fire, Faramir from The Lord of the Rings, and Amlute, her dragon. Gabby's were Shadow, a bi Slavic vampire (who loved to harass Erik), Josh and Paul, two Irish vampire brothers, Dracula, and various others that Jen could not keep track of. Gabby had this thing for vampires…

"Shadow says nothing happened."

"And Erik says something DID. And he refuses to let Shadow near him." Jen replied. "Shadow says fine."

Silence followed as the two girls drew some more. Then Jen, unable to stand it, spoke. "I think we should watch Phantom. Or anything else with a certain Scottish actor."

Gabby smacked her playfully. "You WOULD say that."

"You know it."

"Well, I guess we could…he does sing well…" Another growl and glare. "But he is yours…"

"And that means no sighing, sqee-ing, or phan-girling." Jen reminded her sternly. Those were her rules when it came to watching Gerry. "I'll try…"

"Do or do not, there is no try." God, she had been hanging around Nick too much. Nick was her fellow section leader in band, and one of her friends. He was a Star Wars freak. And a genius. And of course, he could quote all of Star Wars…hence the phrase.

"Wanna watch it while we draw?" Gabby asked. "Why not…it is late enough…" she looked at the clock, which now read a little after midnight. "Got ice cream?"

Gabby groaned and rolled her eyes, then laughed. "Yes, we do actually…"

"Let's eat some while watching…" Jen was grinning now. She had discussed ice cream and the Phantom one night, hence the joke. Jen got the DVD and put it in the player as Gabby scooped them both some ice cream. "What you guys doing?" Gabby's brother Andy asked, walking by. Then he noticed the DVD box in Jen's hands. "Never mind…"

Once the ice cream was ready the two settled down with their paper and pencils and Jen pressed play. The party had begun. The prologue began to play, and Jen mouthed along, not because she wanted to, but because she just did it without thinking. Gabby glared at her. "Sorry…" She shut up, or tried to. But when the movie reached 'Think of Me, it was Gabby's turn to sing. Jen watched and waited, and when it showed the Phantom, or his head from a top view, she spazzed. The scene changed, and she sighed. "I think it should show him more…"

"Of course you do."

"No seriously, he IS the title role…he should have more screen time…" Jen argued back. Gabby sighed. She had a point. And he was good looking…

The movie continued with much random discussion, joking, ooh-ing, ah-ing, and phangirling. As well as singing along. When it was done Jen sighed. "Why can't it end differently?"

"I don't know…" her friend replied, then yawned. "Let's go to sleep…or attempt to…"

"Sigh…if we must."

"Well I am tired." Gabby told her. Jen shrugged. "I am never tired and always tired…I'm a paradox."

"So it seems."

Returning to the room, Jen grabbed some clothes and went into the bathroom to change for bed. Once done, she returned and lay down on the floor, head on her pillow, staring at the ceiling. "So…I still hate the ending…"

"I know." Gabby told her, turning off the light. Jen smiled in the dark. She liked the dark. It was…well, dark. The sun hurt her eyes, but the moon was beautiful. "Well, goodnight I guess."

"Night."

Jen sighed. She knew she couldn't sleep. So she imagined herself in her own world, and smiled. 'I wish I could keep Erik from being so unhappy and lonely.' She thought while there. Closing her eyes, she soon found that sleep came to you when you least expected it to.

XxXxXxXxX

In the dark, the strange woman Tai smiled. "Be careful what you wish for, ma Cherie, be careful what you wish for…"

Review Replies…YAAAY!

MJ MOD- heheh, yeah, I love Guild Wars…you play? And it certainly shall be a case of 'be careful what you wish for' as our poor hero will see…

Dawnstag- thank you, and I hope it is as good if not better than the first, heheh

MikoHatome- I shall , and thanks for reviewing