Here is the third chapter uploaded early for my wonderful reviewers! :) I hope you enjoy it! I know we have yet to await an appearance from the long awaited Phantom, but I promise he shall appear soon in some shape or form tee-hee. ;) Thank you to all the wonderful reviews so far! Please keep reviewing with any tips or thoughts on the story so far. :) I shall reply on here personally with thoughts on your reviews so far too. :)

Erik's guest: Thanks for the review! :) Out of everyone, I expected Raoul to be the least trustworthy of Charlotte just turning up out of the blue. And given the absurdity of somebody being able to arrive from the future, I just felt as though he'd be the first person to doubt her and ridicule her in a way. So that's pretty much the reason for his coldness towards her at present. And yes, it would be pretty awesome if they could be BFF's. We shall see in time... :)

Anxiousreader: Lol, Love what you did there! ;) And now, you didn't have to wait too ANXIOUSLY for the third chapter haha! :P Thanks for the kind review! :)

If I owned POTO, I'd be very happy. Like the happiest person in the world. But...I don't. WAHH! So, I shall settle with this. :)

Audition

I stared back at the girl in the mirror, her brown eyes wide, like mine. Her brunette hair was a chestnut shade under the twinkling lights hanging from the chandelier. Coiled ringlets contrasted against her vanilla skin, cascading down her back like a towering waterfall. Her skin was blemish-free, her lips a rosy pink as they stretched into a frown. But it couldn't be me, surely?

Usually my hair was uncontrollably frizzy, determined not to style to my liking. My skin constantly shone and welcomed pours like there was no tomorrow. And nearly always, my lips were paler and thinner than they appeared now. The girl in the mirror appeared more fragile, but in a more feminine way.

My ballet costume even made me appear graceful, though I needed more help with that than a simple change of appearance. It fitted right, though it felt strange to be wearing a corset for the first time. I could understand why so many complained about them. They were unbearably tight. The costume was pretty though. It was an ivory dress, with frilly straps and a buttoned-up front. The skirt reminded me of a tutu. I wore pale tights underneath; my baby pink pointe shoes making my feet appear dainty for a change.

"I actually look girly for once. That makes a nice change." I smiled, twirling side to side, whilst admiring the slight sway of the skirt. "Although…I'm not quite sure it suits me."

"Nonsense, you're probably just not used to it. After all, you were wearing rather…well, bright clothing." Meg replied curtly, holding up my floral top to examine.

I shrugged. "I'll admit I like to wear more colorful fabrics."

Meg turned, her eyebrow raised. "You don't say." She put my top back on the arm of the lounger and moved back over towards me, her lips pursed in concentration as she eyed me up and down. "Hmm, you do look more like the part, but something needs to be done about your hair."

"M-my hair?" I asked, my hands automatically moved protectively towards the voluminous curls I suddenly found myself with.

"Yes, nothing drastic. Maybe pinning up the sides, so that you're able to perform well enough in your rehearsal." Meg explained, gathering a hairbrush, a couple of hairpins and an auburn, oval-shaped hair comb.

"Oh okay," I breathed a sigh of relief.

I stood at the mirror, keeping my eyes on the garishly floral-patterned carpet beneath. I was too frightened to glance up whilst Meg styled my hair. Not that I didn't trust her, but I'd waited all my life to finally have the perfect curls and for some reason, it seemed I'd finally been gifted with them.

"There, that didn't take long."

I peeked, my long curls gradually coming into view. The sides were pulled back over my curls, folding into the comb, placed at the back of my hair. My curls brushed over one shoulder as I turned my head to glance from a different angle and I smiled. For once, I felt pretty.

"Oh I love it, thank you so much Meg!" I exclaimed, clapping my hands together as I turned to grin at her.

She grinned back, pressing her hands to her hips as her eyes ran over my hair again. "I'm glad you like it. Now we need to start preparing for your audition."

I groaned but nodded, knowing she was right. I did say I need all the help I could get.

"Oh before I forget though, I found this besides you when we found you. I completely forgot to mention it." Meg admitted, pacing over to a table. She turned, holding my colorful Beatles handbag out in front of her whilst she eyed it in bewilderment.

"Oh my handbag, I presumed I'd left it back…well, back with my Mum." I frowned. I grabbed it back from Meg, who smiled apologetically.

I reached inside, laughing when my purse came into view. "I don't think the money in there will do me too much good."

"May I have a look?"

I pursed my lips, glancing between my purse and Meg. "Hmm…well I suppose it wouldn't hurt."

I opened it and pulled out a one pound coin, handing it to Meg so she could have a closer look. Her eyes widened as she twirled it around in her hand.

"Wow," she gasped, before handing it back, her eyes still wide. "You really are from the future, aren't you?"

I smiled, shoving it back into my purse and grabbing out my phone. Of course it wouldn't turn on, but then I should have expected that given that there was still over a hundred years for the mobile to be invented. They were always more of a pain for me anyway. I always seemed to repel technology.

"What is that?!" Meg gasped, pointing at the colorful case my Nokia mobile found itself in.

"Urm…well it doesn't work here, which isn't surprising considering that technically these haven't been invented yet," I said honestly. "But it's a mobile, like a telephone. It's a way of staying in contact with people."

Her eyes widened even more as she stepped forwards, eyeing it cautiously. "That's amazing! And that's really a future invention?"

"Eventually, yes."

"Wow," she breathed in awe as I quickly shoved it back into my handbag. I didn't want to be messing with technology that hadn't yet been invented, just in case.

"Right, maybe we should start thinking about the audition." I forced myself to say.

"Good idea." Meg agreed.

It wasn't as bad as I thought, I'll admit. Though Meg was an incredible dancer compared to me. She was so light on her feet, making her routine look effortlessly elegant. I was just glad I'd managed to have a few ballet classes here and there. It was better than going into this audition blind.

Afterwards, I headed towards my audition, with Meg and Christine. As we walked, I tried to take in every little bit of advice that they gave me but it was difficult to keep up with everything they were saying whilst trying to walk without tripping over my feet at the same time. I'd never been very skilled at multi-tasking.

"Thank you so much for your advice." I smiled, when we finally arrived in the wings. I was fourth in line and the very thought of having to wait made me feel nauseated once again. "I swear I shall try my best."

"We believe in you." Christine said.

"Yes, you shall do perfectly well," Meg added. "Just remember what we practiced and you will do just fine."

"Oh I wish it was that easy!"

"It is that easy! Now stop panicking!" Meg grinned. "And just remember, we shall be sat in the audience whilst you perform so if you ever feel nauseated or as if you might pass out then just glance towards us." She added.

I nodded, watching them leave. But as soon as they disappeared, my stomach was in knots once again! I groaned, trying to ignore the way my heartbeat thumped erratically against my ribcage. Oh this is a bad idea, a very bad idea!

All too soon though, it was my turn. As my name was announced, I crept onto the stage, glancing towards a row of people sat at the front. I fought back another groan as I recognized the Vicomte at the end. I should have realized he would be here to watch, given that he was the patron. Great, given how sure I was that he already disliked me. Not that I was much of a fan of him either.

I recognized the others easily enough though.

First were the two managers, Monsieur Firmin and Monsieur André. They looked almost identical to how they appeared in the movie, both dressed smartly and their hair styled neatly. They both looked practically bored though, with André resting his head on top of his hand. Despite some of their terrible artistic decisions being useless in the movie, I'd always liked them. There was always something comical about the pair. I smiled, my eyes roaming over to the guy sat next to them.

It was easy to tell who he was too. With his short ash shaded hair combed back and looking his usual stern-self, just as I almost imagined him to be, I automatically realized he was Monsieur Reyer.

I glanced to the right again, my breathe catching. Oh dear, I definitely recognized her. Madame Giry's dark hair was pulled into a one-sided plait and she was sat straight as she watched me closely as I walked across to the middle of the stage.

I could feel my cheeks growing hot as I glanced forwards at them again, offering a week interpretation of a smile. I couldn't deny, I felt even more nervous now about the prospect of attempting ballet in front of Madame Giry herself.

She looked just as stern as she appeared in the musical and she was probably a thousand times more of a better dancer than I could ever hope to be. I was also sure I could mess this up.

They instructed I should begin once music began. I nodded, my eyes flicking to the middle of the auditorium and catching the eyes of two figures. Meg grinned, offering a wave. I smiled back, taking a deep breath and looking back down as I focused on everything Meg had advised me to do. If I could just get through this, I was sure I would be fine…hopefully.