Disclaimer: I don't own the Phantom of the Opera or any of its songs, script, etc.

Showstopper

Chapter 3: A Lead in Phantom

"Do I have to?" I whined to Marisa, one of my best friends.
"Yes!" Marisa whined back at me.

"Especially since we didn't get to see it yesterday," Kendall, my other best friend, added. "With vocational and all that stuff."
"Why must I check the cast list? My audition was not my best by any definition of the word-"
"Stop!" Kendall interrupted. "Now really, go check the cast list before I drag you over there myself!"
"Yeah, I'll go with you; I want to know if I got a lead!" Marisa said merrily.

I really didn't want to do this, but my loving friends were not going to let me skip it. I struggled over to the choir room, through a group of Broadway hopefuls (the popular girls who just simper over everything) who were twittering like parakeets. Annoyed, I watched their "fearless leader" cross in front of me. Andrew. As usual, he was oblivious to us. I had to stop dead in my tracks to avoid clipping his shoulder, which would of course have led to another trail of rumors as to how I was flirting with him.

I rolled my eyes. Idiot.
I walked over to the list and started at the bottom with the chorus.
"Hey! Kendall's in the chorus!" I said, and tried to slip away.
Marisa shoved my forward again.
"Hey 'Risa! You're Meg!" I tried again, hoping she would let me leave.
"Really!" Marisa pushed in front of me. "Wow, Elle! Never mind me, you got the lead!"
"WHAT!" I stared at the principles' column.
Oh my gosh.

"Awesome, congrats!" Marisa said
Oh my gosh!

Oh CRAP.

"Oh crap." I said flatly.
"What's wrong?" Marisa asked, now getting annoyed.
"Look who's got the big lead; I swear if he even thinks about touching me-"
"You'll kill him, I know. Geez, give this whole Andrew thing a rest!"
"Oh great, now you're one of his goombies?"
"No, of course not!" Marisa turned kind of red.

I looked at her for a minute.
"Okay, never mind. You have a study hall this period, right?"
"Yeah," Marisa said. "Why?"
" 'Cause I have the soundtrack from the summer church camp musical. Need I say more?" I asked, flashing the CD.
"To the PAH!" Marisa yelled.
I remembered how great it was to be onstage: seeing the audience hanging on the edge of their seats, pretending to be someone else for a whole night with your fellow actors, the skin-melting spotlights burning holes through your costumes – okay, maybe that wasn't so great. Kendall, Marisa, and I ran through the dances in the musical we'd done the past summer. It's amazing how much you remember! Marisa went off stage and the music suddenly died.
"What are you doing?" I asked. Before I could protest anymore, the soft ballet ballad from our church camp musical filled the auditorium.
"No, I can't do this, not here!" I told Marisa, pleading with her.
"Yes you can, go out there and do what you love to do!" she said, giving me a shove.
"But will you-"
"-yes! We'll jump in when we're supposed to."
With that, I took to the stage; the slow ballad made it easy to complete the dance moves. First verse: delicate with fancy spins and dramatic turns. Chorus: extravagant jumps like those of a figure skater. Third verse: back to the delicacy, but with a little more confidence this time. Second chorus: Marisa and Kendall jump in and dance with me. I was so glad they didn't forget. Final chorus: Marisa and Kendall somersault off center stage, where I perform a series of back flips and a long spin. (Man, did my toes ache after that!) Ending: I started a spin on the left side of the stage. Right before the end, I glanced at Marisa.
What's with the look on her face?

Hang on…

Oh NO!

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A/N: If anyone got lost, we rewound to the first chapter and saw it through Elise's POV. Josie's having fun with her writing, I have to rein her in sometimes. :) R&R!

Phantomfreak07