In The Wings

Act III Scene III

It had been two days. Two days since the Phantom had taken over Garnier High School's production of the Light in the Piazza, since Christine had gained the part of Clara. Everyone attempted to just simply move on, but this seemed to be unfathomable for most. The heavy air of fear pressed down on everyone's shoulders.

Christine stood on the stage, fumbling around with her hands nervolusly. Paul had convinced her to take the part of Clara, to take a place back inside of the spotlight. She could still feel the Phantom's eyes on her, burning the back of her neck every moment she spent inside Garnier High School.

The piano introduction for The Beauty Is began, and Mrs. Richard started telling Christine her staging. It was very vague directions because she had already staged this whole scene for Carly. Christine was meant to already know this staging because of this-after all, she had done this for Cinderella already.

She had thought that she knew it because of how she had paid attention whenever Carly sang. But Christine soon realized that she had been paying attention to the singing rather than locations and actions. But Christine had to do her best, as best as she possibly could.

The Angel of Music, now the newly dubbed Phantom, was watching, and the directors would be very unhappy she messed up everything. But Christine had a feeling it would be a worse decision to make the Angel of Music unhappy.

Christine bit her lip as the intro was finally giving way to her voice.

"These are very popular, in Italy," Christine sang, her spirit bouncing along to the piano music. Her heart was beating very quickly. As badly as she wanted this role, she wanted it for herself, not because an Angel of Music made it happen through his threats and breaking a poor boy's leg.

Carly looked like she wanted to murder her from the wings. Christine herself almost wanted to go back and cower in the wings herself. Maybe the center of the stage wasn't where she was meant to be anymore. Paul had helped calm some of her fears, but being back on the stage was making them rise up again.

"It's the land of naked marble boys!" she sang out, and a few people laughed. That was good. At least someone was enjoying her performance.

"Something we don't see a lot in Winston-Salem!" Christine had been fearful that her voice would crack when she tried to jump up to that high note. But she had hit it perfectly, impressing everyone including herself. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Meg and Bridget sitting in the wings, nodding and smiling widely.

"That's the land of courdoroy!" The music slowed down and became sweeter as she walked around.

"I'm just a someone in an old museum,

Far away from home as someone can go." Her eyebrows lifted as she got herself fully engaged into the song. Finally the stage began to feel like a home to her again instead of some foreign place. This is how performing was meant to feel. Everyone always talked about being bitten by the performing bug, and Christine was sure that she had been affected by it.

"And the beauty is I still meet people I know.

Hello!" Her arm went up in a wave, the tips of her lips going upwards as well. Everything was coming together more perfectly than she ever could have imagined. Christine was alllowing herself to become Clara.

This is exactly what the Angel of Music had been teaching her about, bringing true emotion into her already impressive voice. With feeling on her side, she would have the power to move people using her music alone. For someone who had been raised on strict technique this had seemed rather abstract, but he could not have been more correct about it.