My Dearest Saffron

Chapter Ten

A/N: Another short chapter. Sorry for the wait! Enjoy :D

As the lights went up for the prologue, I waited backstage, with at least ten minutes before I had to enter. I brushed my hands against my bodice. Rosaria was standing not too far from me. She gave me a friendly smile, and I motioned that I was going to go to my dressing room.

When I reached my dressing room, I creaked the door open. Just when I opened the door, the overture began blasting. I smiled. Then, I began to just dance around my room. My arms swayed with the music, as did my legs. My left arm reached for the ceiling. The music surrounded me, until I felt an arm on my back.

Erik. His gloved hand cupped my cheek, and my face lit up. As the overture came to its abrupt stop, my eyes went wide.

"I have to go. I'll see you later." I opened the door as quietly and as quickly as I could. I ran backstage to stage right. My pointe shoes hit the stage as Carlotta stopped singing. I flashed that winning chorus girl smile. Alexander gave me a thumbs up from backstage and it brought up my confidence by a mile.

~

Act One ended about five minutes ago. I was getting into my masquerade dress. It was most definitely my favorite costume I wore. For a change, I added some glitter to my eyelids. I chose a pink sparkly eyeshadow. I admired my reflection in the mirror and went backstage to prepare for the masquerade scene. Norman was standing at his place, patiently waiting for his queue.

"How are you?" He asked in a formal tone.

"I'm fine. Why do you ask?" I answered.

"Xander tells me you haven't been well." He stopped speaking for a moment. "Just, talk to me more. Please?"

"Alright. No promises." I replied. He laughed quietly and he took my arm in his. I loved this scene; it felt so special to be dancing in colorful outfits, and with the people I've learned to become friends with. The combination of the music and passion was enough to bring me, and others, to tears.

As the music slowed down and the key changed, I knew what was coming next. It was Why So Silent; Better known as The Phantom crashes the masquerade in the most dramatic way possible. Xander emerged from the top of the staircase and slowly descended to the bottom of the staircase. I had to act drawn to him. That was easy now; Invisible forces pushed me towards him after a while. The hypnotic act was difficult to figure out, as it took me about ten rehearsals to get the hang of it.

I ran offstage to get into my Wishing dress; a blue dress with white floral patterns and lots of buttons. It takes a few minutes to get the dress on, but I always have time to get to my place. I snapped the final button into its place, and hurried to my spot. Once again, Norman was standing there, and he took my hand.

I loved the next few scenes. The second part of Notes was when Christine sang Twisted Every Way, which is almost like a rebellion. It's her melodic monologue about her choice to be in The Phantom's opera. She says she doesn't have a choice in this scenario, and she runs off. Then, we have Wishing. It's an entire song about her calling upon her father, Gustave, for assistance in her pain. She aches to be beside him again and ends up just letting him and The Angel of Music go. 

WC: 606