The Leading Lady (Phantom of the Opera x Reader)

Chapter Five

She was tossing and turning all night. It was impossible for her to reconcile the handsome stranger she had met with the phantom her book spoke of, but the two fit so well. 

She woke up early the next day and put on her clothes for practice - white tights, a white leotard, and a white wrap. The wrap had puffed sleeves that became tight around her arms and gave her a lot of movement. She put on some ballet flats, and then worked to put her hair in a neat and low ballerina's bun, but pulled her side strange forward to still frame her face. She applied a light bit of make up. She then packed her rehearsal bag - a loose canvas tote bag - with a few canteens of water, her leather-bound script, and a few other essentials. Once she felt ready, she went down to the kitchen of the opera house.

The kitchen was two rooms: one had a counter where you could serve breakfast and see into the kitchen where people cooked away, and the other was a seating room with a great table and small tables around, to give people seating options. It was early enough that there was no line, and only a few people here and there, so Y/N was able to grab a chocolate croissant and espresso without issue. She ate and drank fairly quickly, and left before the crowd came in for breakfast.

She was the first onto the stage before practice, and began with simple stretches. They would be reading through the first time with the choreographer.

"Bonjour, Prima Donna," She looked up to see a few ballerinas, who were quietly warming up as well. More and more people filed in with time, and Y/N looked over everyone and could only recognize a few from auditions.

"Ladies and gentleman!" A voice called out. Y/N looked up to see the Maestro, a thin and balding Parisian, "Get out your scripts and we begin."

Y/N cleared the stage, as the first scene of the play was the soldiers returning from war, and a dialogue explaining the battle. She was not included. She watched from the audience as an hour went by — excruciatingly slowly — of scene blocking the male cast members. Reading through the script, she began memorizing her dialogue for act two.

"Scene two!" The Maestro called out after the scene one cast cleared the stage. Y/N stood and went onto stage, alongside the male lead, Piangi. The scene was a simple dialogue and short song between two lovers who were separated by war.

"Piangi," Maestro Reyer called out, "You will enter stage left. Y/N, you will be sitting downstage right and reading a book."

After the instruction was given, they each took their place on stage. Y/N sat down, pretending her script was a book.

The Maestro gave his signal and Piangi rushed out, and speaks/sings his first line to the audience: "My first love - Elissa. There she is, so soft and untouched. Away from the hands of war," Piangi sang out, approaching her, "Elissa!"

As scripted, Y/N looked up to Piangi, and casted away her script as she would a book, "Hannibal!" She cried in greeting, running over to him and singing her next line, "You have returned! How was the war? Did you fight hard? What did you fight for?"

The rest of their blocked scene went as such, and they worked through it with ease. When she was done, they dismissed her from rehearsal so the ballerinas could practice the next scene. She walked quietly to her room, avoiding anyone as she made her way down the halls.

When she got inside, she collapsed onto her bed and let out a groan. She was exhausted physically from the series of movements she had had to repeat time and time again for the maestro - until her blocking was "perfected".

She laid in bed for what felt like just a moment when a humble knock came. She pulled herself out of bed and opened her dormitory's door, to find no one there. A second knock persisted, and she looked to her mirror.