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

Showstopper

Andrew

Chapter 17 – Different Views

Okay, TOTAL REWIND.

That's better. Anyway…

When I came into the Performing Arts Hall (aka auditorium), I could feel him in there. And I was NOT being paranoid. Unfortunately, most of the cast were already filling the seats as well. If I'd been there early, I would've gone to see what he was doing here; it couldn't be good.

Marshall got things rolling pretty quickly and I slouched back in my seat, messing with my cell phone again. Rehearsals always made life crazy, and to make matters worse, I had three new text messages from my girlfriend.

R we gonna hang out 2day?

…

Where r u?

…

Did u ditch me again?

"Oh I'll ditch you, all right," I muttered, my fingers already flying over the buttons.

I told you I had rehearsals starting today.

A few moments later the phone beeped loudly with a response.

"Holy sh-" I covered the phone (and my mouth) and glanced at the message.

Screw rehearsals! UR just making excuses 2 ditch me! im not blind u kno!

I swore under my breath and glared at the phone.

You know what? I am ditching you, starting now. We're over.

I turned the phone off, dropped it in my bag, and stormed out the side door of the auditorium, then reentered into the wings.

That's when the lights went out.

And this time, the backup lights went out… again.

By now, I knew what that meant.

"What's going on?" I heard Katryne whisper. She was our backstage manager; I'd assumed she was checking the tech headsets and mikes and things.

My senses were on full alert, but I tried to act casual in case she was upset.

"I dunno. Probably just the techies messing around."

I slipped through the curtains and grabbed Marisa.

"Where's Elise?" she hissed.

How dare she! The girl was glaring at me as if it were my fault!

"What're you talking about?"
she wrenched away from me. "Elise – isn't – there," she ground out, trying to control herself.

My eyes widened in alarm behind the mask I was (still) wearing.

"Ohhh snap. That's… not good."

She gave me a hard look. "D'you know something I don't?"

I didn't look at her, mentally kicking myself instead. I really shouldn't've said anything…

"You're not gonna believe me. Forget it."

I turned to leave, but she grabbed my arm.

"No! Tell me. What happened?"

"It's the Phantom… it's really him."

She narrowed her eyes at me. "You're serious?"
"Yeah."
Marisa exploded in panic. "What're we gonna do? We can't –"
Her loud whisper was drowned by Marshall's grouchy voice.

"Where is Marisa? I want to get this done sometime tonight!"

She sighed and ran back onstage. I watched her go and was surprised to see Elise with her. What was going on?

I brushed through the curtains; this time Katryne stopped me.

"Is everything okay?"
I pointed to the backup lights that had flickered to life again. "Looks like it."

She smiled. "Good. Oh, and… the tech girls wanted a word with you."

Katryne took off her headset and handed it to me. The voice that exploded from the earpiece almost deafened me.

"Don't you EVER blame that on us AGAIN! We could hear what you said, y'know!"

"Fine," I snarled. "I'll keep my comments to those who appreciate them."

"You'd better." I could finally make out Eileen's voice. She was doing tech again? Just great. I thrust the headset back into Katryne's hands and strode around behind the last curtain.

I nearly ran into the Phantom, who was coming from the opposite direction.

"Watch where you're going, boy," he growled. But I was so angry that I was willing to do anything, however foolish. I snatched his lapels and yanked him closer.

"What did you do?"

He threw my hands off and straightened his coat.

"I needed a word with Miss Garnierai."

He seemed unconcerned, but his eyes blazed. I stood waiting.

"Well?"

"Never you mind," he said, brushing his sleeves off. "You will be needed soon. Go."

He turned to leave the way he'd come, but I ran in front of him.

"Wait. Look what she did to me!"

I ripped off the mask and glared at him.

"Are you still gonna take her side?"

A smirk flickered around his lips, and his amber eyes danced. However, he said nothing; he simply brushed past, leaving me glowering in his wake.

X-X-X-X-X

Act One finished within the hour (we ended up skipping most of it because of what was sung), and I caught up to Marisa as she was heading out.

"That was… fun," she commented. I couldn't suppress a derisive snort.

"We didn't even run through it," I said. "We skipped 98 percent of the actual script."

She raised an eyebrow. "Are you telling me that Andrew, god of the theater world in our high school, actually cares about the script?"

I resisted the urge to give her the finger as we walked out to the parking lot, contenting myself with "Shut it."

"So what were you doing backstage?" she asked.

"What're you talking about?"

"You stayed back there after I left. What were you doing?"

I took out my key lanyard when we stopped at my Jeep.

"I ran into… him… again."

She giggled. "Well, 'he' has a name."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Erik."

"I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, I asked him what he talked to Elise about."

"And?"

"He wouldn't tell me."

She looked disappointed. "Oh… okay. Well, I'll see you later."

"Later."
I watched her walk over to a dark blue Dodge Caliber through my rearview mirror. She waved as we each drove off our separate ways.

It actually left me with a good feeling. Maybe she could be useful in this entire deal with Erik.

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A/N: Yay, another chapter finally up! Praise the Lord! R&R:P

Ash