The Man behind the Mask (The Phantom of the Opera)

Chapter fourteen

The next morning I woke up thinking about everything that happened last night. I asked The Phantom for lessons. He agreed to give me lessons, then once the lessons started everything just went weird. It was almost like I was flirting with The Phantom and he was almost flirting with me back. When my friends finally woke up they started bombarding me with questions.

"How long were you out for?" Rachelle asked.

"What happened last night? Give us all the juicy details." Jen said.

"Did he harm you in any way?" Karissa asked.

"Guys give me a minute to wake up." I said.

"Sorry we just want to hear what happened last night." Georgie apologized.

"There's no need to apologize. To be honest I'm still replaying over everything that happened." I told them.

"Did something bad happen?" Jen asked.

"No nothing like that. I went there after our chat." Then I gave a brief explanation of everything that happened last night.

"Wait! Are you saying he almost kissed you?" Jen asked.

"No nothing like that but there was a brief moment. When he was standing right behind me, I thought I felt something."

"Ew Tamara we do not want to know what you felt!" Karissa yelled covering her ears.

"No not like that!" I exclaimed. "I meant I thought I could sense a different emotion than just hate towards me!" I said my face turning bright red.

"Oh sure that's what you meant." Rachelle said while rolling her eyes.

"Moving on because I do not want to hear more about my sisters stirrings." Karissa said.

"Do you think you'll go back for any more lessons?" Georgie asked.

"Yeah I think I will," I said after a while. "Even though last night was strange. I actually enjoyed myself."

"Do you have feelings for him now?" Karissa asked looking like she was going to puke. We could all see that my sister did not approve of The Phantom.

I paused a while before I answered. "No, not really."

"You hesitated!" Jen said.

"No I don't have feelings for him." I reassured them all especially my sister. "But-

"No buts, either you do or you don't!" Karissa yelled towards me.

"I was going to say. I don't like him but he is a good teacher, and if I want to save my job I need to continue taking lessons from him." I said really fast just to get it all out.

"You can continue taking lessons, as long as you don't fall for him." Karissa warned me.

"I promise." I said back.

"Now who wants breakfast I'm starving here!" Jen exclaimed.

"I do"

"Me too"

"Same here."

***

Finally after a long day at work it was time for another lesson. I had to make the long walk towards his home again. By the time I've finished my lessons I'm going to need a new pair of shoes.

When I finally arrived I could see The Phantom playing the piano. He didn't see me at first so I just watched him while he played, like the creepy stalker I am. I didn't get to watch him play for that long because I was leaning on a lamp post. And right at that moment it fell underneath me. The worst part was when it fell it broke as well!

"Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry I didn't want to disturb you while you played. So I thought I would just watch a little bit but I didn't realize I was leaning on your lamp post." I said really quickly.

"No don't worry about it." He said.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to break it. I can buy you a new one." I offered.

"No that's not necessary I have a lot more in the back." He said nonchalantly.

For a while we just stood there not saying anything. After about five minutes I broke the awkward silence.

"About last night."

"I don't know what you thought was going to happen. All I was doing was helping you and if you don't like my technics you can find another tutor." He said quite quickly.

"Oh no I'm not arguing with that. I was just going to say we forget about last night and move on." I responded.

"Alright then. Now we will be working on harmonies." The Phantom said.

I froze right in my tracks. I knew this was going to be a tough lesson because I absolutely suck at harmonizing.

***
A couple of days have gone by now since my first lesson. I had my last lesson tonight and the show was tomorrow night. My lessons were going good and I was getting a lot better. I just hope that I improved enough to save my job.

I went down to the lair a bit earlier tonight. When I got there I didn't see The Phantom at first. Then I saw him behind one of the curtains putting on his mask. For a brief moment I saw a tiny glimpse of his face. But I didn't get a good look to see how his face actually looked. Unfortunately it was at that moment that The Phantom saw me.

"HOW LONG HAVE YOU'VE BEEN STANDING THERE?" He yelled right in my face.

I've never seen this side of him before. Usually he gets agitated with me but now he is full blown angry. For this is the first time I have actually been afraid of him.

"I didn't see anything, I swear." I squeaked out.

"I don't believe you." He said still very angry.

"I promise I didn't see anything. All I saw was you putting on your mask, and you were only readjusting the mask" I said.

Even though I tried to reason with The Phantom he was still mad me.

"Look I'm not in the mood to teach you anything today. I think you should go." He said.

He started to walk away but I was just able to grab onto his arm. "No please, I have my first show tomorrow and I'm really nervous. Please don't cancel our lesson." I begged.

The Phantom let out a frustrated sigh. "Alright." He finally agreed. "We will work on your high notes tonight."

"Thank you." I whispered.

"Now you have a lot of power and if you really tried you could nail your high notes. I've noticed when you come to the high notes you clam up that power you have. I have a theory that I think will work to get you to open up a little bit." He said.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Tonight's lesson will not be here." He answered.

"It's not. Where will it be?" I asked.

"Tonight we will be breaking into the opera house."