I didn't have any dreams that night, or the next night. I believe that the sleeping pills that I took to help me sleep kept the dreams away, both the good and the bad. It was Friday, and the case had gone to the jury after the closing arguments were made on the day before. Monsieur Destler had stayed at my house to watch over me, sleeping on the couch. I was relieved to know that he was there to protect me if anything should happen, since my parents weren't there. I was excused from classes that day to help set up for the opening night of Beauty and the Beast, which was a good thing. My mind was going back and forth between what had happened in the trial and a couple of nights ago after the last dress rehearsal. Monsieur Destler was still not speaking to me, and I knew that I had probably ruined my chances with him after I screamed in his face. I had left the auditorium after I set the music on the stands down in the pit to get some water from my locker. I had seen Monsieur Destler staying backstage throughout the time that I was there. It was obvious that he was trying to avoid me. I didn't say anything to him as I left the auditorium, taking my time as I roamed the halls to my locker. I got my water and went back to the auditorium. As I looked through the windows of the doors, I noticed something dangling above the stage. I walked in, getting a closer look. It was a body, with a noose around its neck. As I moved to step forward, fearing the worst, until I saw who it was. And I released a blood curdling scream that echoed throughout the entire school.

It was Buquet.

I felt someone pull me to him, shielding my head into his chest as he gazed up at the body. I trembled and quivered as the body held me to him as teachers came running, gasping at the sight of the former principal hanging above the stage. The dreams had begun to haunt my reality, and I was losing it.

"What happened," the vice principal asked as she moved towards me and the person holding me after she shooed everyone away.

"I don't know. I was out of the auditorium, and so was she until just a few minutes ago," the familiar voice spoke as he held me. I let out a low sniffle. "She found the body."

"This girl has been through enough; she didn't need this too."

"I'll get her away from here. You call the police, and ADA Nolan. He'll want to know what has happened."

She nodded and ran out as he escorted me to the counselor's office. He could feel me trembling as he walked me down the hallway, holding me close to him as he put me inside the office, shutting the door. I couldn't believe it; I had seen my first dead body, and it was Buquet, just as it was in my dreams. The question was this: did he kill himself or did Erik kill him for me? I held myself on the couch, thinking about the performance tonight. Would it go on as planned, or would it be canceled because of what happened? I didn't want them to cancel it; I needed to perform. I wanted to perform. I laid on the couch, holding a pillow as I heard an announcement over the PA system come over, telling the students to stay in the classrooms that they were in and that the school was on lockdown until further notice. The counselor came in, shutting the door behind her sitting down at her desk.

"Would you like to talk about what happened," she asked softly, offering me a bottle of water.

"Are the police here yet?"

"Yes, they are here. They are currently interviewing Mr. Destler."

I slowly sat up from the couch, taking her bottle of water, opening it and drinking it down. "I've never seen a dead body before."

"Well, I'm sure that's pretty traumatic," she said, jotting some things down. "You've been through a rough couple of months lately. First, you had that accident while your class was in Paris, then Mr. Buquet began to molest you, you had the stress of the role of Belle for the musical, and then Mr. Buquet raped you."

"Yeah, tragedy and drama seem to follow me everywhere I go."

"Sophia, it is my opinion that you are burying the things that are traumatizing you. It's better to open up about them," she said, sipping at her coffee. "Now, let's talk about Mr. Buquet."

Just as I was about to say something, there was a knock at the door. She got up and answered it, seeing ADA Nolan on the other side. He asked to come in and speak to me alone. She nodded, leaving the room and letting him inside.

"I just found out; I was in court. Are you all right?"

"As well as could be expected," I replied, lying back down on the couch again. "How was court?"

"Well, not that it matters now, but the jury was back on your case. I found out about what happened before the verdict could be announced. I did talk to the foreman though; Buquet was going to be found guilty on all counts."

I looked at him, blinking for a moment. "Do you think that's why he did what he did? Do you think that he thought that there was no way out of it?"

"It's possible, but I wouldn't dwell on it, Sophia. Now, you can heal and you won't have to worry about him anymore."

There was another knock at the door and it was the same detective that was on my case. He must have been investigating Buquet's death. ADA Nolan let him in, sitting on the counselor's desk while the detective knelt in front of me.

"Sophia, I know that this isn't the best time, but I need to ask you some questions."

"You might as well ask them now while you have me here. I have nothing to hide."

"What happened this morning before you found Mr. Buquet's body?"

"I was helping set up for the opening night of our musical tonight with Monsieur Destler. I was out front and Monsieur Destler was in the back."

"Did you see Mr. Buquet come into the auditorium at all?"

"No."

"What happened next?"

"I stopped to get my bottle of water out of my locker, so I left the auditorium."

He nodded. "When you came back, that's when you found the body?"

"Yes."

"How long were you out of the auditorium?"

"At least five minutes."

He nodded again. "Right now, we're ruling his death a suicide. Mr. Destler's story is similar to yours. We'll be doing an autopsy to be sure. Thank you again for being so cooperative, Sophia."

I nodded, turning away from all of them. All I wanted was to be alone. I heard the door open and shut and I was left alone. I closed my eyes, thinking about the ocean that I saw yesterday. I smiled a little, thinking about how cool and kind it was, relaxing, washing everything away. I thought about it for a while, thinking about how I could leave the hurt and the past behind.

"Absolutely not," I heard an angry voice say in the office as I slowly came to. I must have fallen asleep. "We're not canceling the show tonight. My students have worked too hard to lose a night of performing especially opening night, and Sophia could use something to take her mind off of today."

"Erik, you have to understand the situation that occurred here today. I don't think that the students are up to performing tonight, and they definitely won't be up to performing when they find out that there was a suicide in the same auditorium where they will be performing in."

I slowly turned around, seeing the vice principal and Monsieur Destler talking about the show for tonight. I slowly sat up, stretching and yawning. They both turned around, looking at me.

"Sophia," Monsieur Destler spoke first, kneeling beside me. "Are you okay? How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay for the moment. What's this that you're talking about, canceling the show for tonight?"

"Well, we're considering it, Sophia," the vice principal spoke as she looked down at me and Monsieur Destler. "You've been through a lot this week; it's my opinion that you should take the night off and rest, but Mr. Destler feels differently."

"I believe that the show must go on, Sophia. We will continue the performance as normal, and then we will break the news to everyone about Mr. Buquet's death after the show. However, I will not cancel unless you feel like you cannot perform."

I looked up at the both of them, then looked at the vice principal. "I need to speak with Monsieur Destler, alone please."

She nodded, leaving the room and shutting the door behind her. We looked at each other, unsure of what to say. I wanted to tell him so many things, but I felt that the time wasn't right. I sat there quietly for a few minutes before I stood up from the couch, looking at my reflection in the mirror. I was staring at Sophia, but in a way, I was also looking at Christine. Christine, who was torn about what she should do, just like before with the performance of Don Juan. Monsieur Destler came up behind me, placing his hands on my shoulders, watching us in the mirror. He leaned down, kissing my cheek softly.

"You don't have to go on, Sophie," he said softly, pulling my hair back. "We can spend the night together and just relax. Not do anything but watch a movie or run through your lines. It's up to you."

I sighed softly, looking at him. "As nice as that sounds…it's probably not a good idea, not after today."

"The choice is yours, Sophie. I'm not going to force you to do anything that you don't want to do."

I looked down at the floor as his hands moved up and down my arms, then I looked up at the mirror, trying a little song of my own.

Twisted every way, what answer can I give?

I watched his face change from comforting to shock, taking a step back from me. I turned around, watching him back into the wall, his look of astonishment still planted on his face. I stepped forward, and he moved behind the desk. He was actually afraid of me…or was he afraid of what I was singing? I cleared my throat, moving back towards the door.

"I have a show to get ready for," I said with a smile, opening the door and leaving towards the auditorium. I met everyone there, and said, "Well, come on, everyone! We have a show to do!"

I ran out on stage for my curtain call, which was met with wild cheers and applause. I stood center stage, and took my curtsey in the beautiful, yellow ball gown. When I arose, Monsieur Destler smiled at me and signaled me to move to stage left and stage right to bow before my audience. I did so, and I have never felt so happy in my life. I rejoined the principles in the front row, Jay on my left and Drake on my right, taking their hands as we did took our bows. We gestured towards the orchestra, the lighting crew, and the stage hands that were backstage, thanking them for their service for us. We joined hands once more and took our final bows as the curtain dropped we all cheered. I hugged Jay, telling him that he was fantastic as Drake squeezed my hand, smiling at me. As everyone began to head to their proper dressing rooms, Monsieur Destler came backstage, holding a bouquet of beautiful red roses.

"Everyone, may I have your attention please," he instructed as everyone came back, standing in front of him. "First of all, what a fantastic opening night we had, right?" Everyone cheered and clapped, and he held up his free hand to silence everyone. "Secondly, everyone did a great job, and our star, Sophia Day, shined through so much that someone sent these to her to congratulate her on her opening night and in her first leading role of a musical. Miss Day, these are for you."

I stepped forward as everyone clapped and cheered, accepting the flowers and smelling them as I stepped back towards Drake and Jay, as he put up his hands to silence the cast and crew once again.

"Finally, I have some bad news that happened earlier today. We did not tell you before because wanted tonight to go on as we wanted it to." He took a breath, looking out into the sea of students. "Mr. Buquet committed suicide this morning –"

Gasps and cries emerged from the cast and crew, shocked at the devastating news of Buquet's death. I turned my head, seeing Chrissy begin to cry along with her clique. I rolled my eyes, heading back to the dressing room as Monsieur Destler continued to speak to the cast and crew about Buquet's death. I sat down at one of the tables in the dressing room, taking the card that was in with the bouquet of roses, and reading it.

Sorry we couldn't be here for your big night, but we're sure that you did a fantastic job. We love you! – Mom and Dad

I sighed softly, setting the bouquet beside me as I looked myself over in the mirror again. I had a feeling that wherever Christine was now, she was smiling and happy for me. I began to change, slowly working off the ball gown and eventually the hoop that went under it. As I changed, I began to reflect on the evening's performance. I thought I had done very well, especially considering the facts of what had happened earlier this week. I no longer felt burdened with the pain that was the events of what happened, but I realized that I still needed to open up about what I was feeling about the whole thing. As the girls began to flood in, I grabbed my things, starting to head out the door, only to be blocked in by Chrissy and her clique.

"Are you happy, you little diva bitch," she asked me, her hands on her hips as she attempted to star me down. "You got the lead, you got roses which were probably from Monsieur Destler, and now you will never have to worry about Buquet anymore because he's dead."

"Chrissy, get over yourself," I replied, trying to head for the door again, but the girl on her left blocked me in, playing with my flowers.

"Just answer my question," she said, taking my bouquet from me. "Are you happy?"

I watched her as she held my bouquet in my hands, playing with all of the petals of the roses as she waited for me to answer. "You know what," I said, taking my flowers back, pushing past the group and opening the door. I turned back to look at her as I spoke again. "First of all, the flowers were from my parents. Second, I am happy. I am the happiest that I have ever been in my life and the only reason why you're so bitter is because you're nothing but an empty shell who has to put out to everyone to even feel anything. And that is better than beating the shit out of you."

With that, I turned on my heel and left the dressing room, shutting the door behind me. Drake and Jay came running up to me, smiling.

"Hey, Sophie, we're heading out to get some late dinner," Drake said with a smile. "Do you want to come with us?"

I thought about it for a moment, looking at Monsieur Destler briefly before I answered. "No, thanks. I'm not really that hungry."

"Are you okay to be alone? I can come over later."

"No, I'll be okay, Drake. Really."

He nodded. "Be careful going home," he said, and then he and Jay took off. I walked over to Monsieur Destler, seeing that he was alone and no one was around.

"Will I see you in a few minutes?"

"Not tonight, Sophia. I have to get rest of my own."

"Oh," I said softly, feeling slightly disappointed that he wasn't going to be coming over. "Well, that's okay. I need to try and sleep tonight anyway."

He didn't say anything more as he continued to put the music away. Rather than waiting on him to say something, I turned around and left, walking home alone. It was a long walk, and I began to think about what had happened earlier between Monsieur Destler and I. I must have scared him more than he had scared me when he sang to me in the hallway outside of the courtroom. I took a couple of short cuts home, completely exhausted from the day. When I got to my front door, I saw a single white rose with a black ribbon tied around it. I picked it up, seeing that there was a card tied to the ribbon as well. I read it silently.

Sophie, Sophie, don't think that I don't care…

You did very well tonight, my dear. I'm pleased with how far you've come. However, I feel that there are some secrets that will not remain buried for long. Meet me in my basement after Sunday's performance at 9:00pm. I love you.

Yours,

Erik

Secrets? What secrets could there be between us? Unless…the dreams. The dreams could have been the secret. The look of bewilderment on his face earlier that afternoon still haunted me. I let myself into my house, locking the door behind me. I went into the kitchen, getting some vases from under the sink. I placed my roses in one, filling the vase with water and placing it in the center of the island. As for the rose from Erik, I placed that in the other vase with some water and carried it up to my room, setting it on my dresser, and then changed for bed. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail before I lay down in my bed, my eyes heavy and tired. I closed them, sighing happily at the idea that I would no longer be hurt by Buquet, or by the haunting memories of what he had done to me. I drifted off into the darkness once again, feeling myself being pulled further and further below.