Pulse (Phantom of the Opera Fanfiction)

Chapter 3- Auditions

Chapter 3- Auditions

"The way we were…" The singer's voice trailed off until he was left standing with an anxious expression on his face.

After a moment of suspense, Madame Giry said, "You're the best we've heard all day."

Nadir commented, "Yes, that was an outstanding audition."

Erik, on the other hand, studied the singer's face and shook his head. "You are over-confident. The performance might have been the best we have heard today, but that is not saying much. To correct Nadir, it was not outstanding. It was average at best."

It was the other judges' turns to contradict his remarks. "Erik," Nadir began with a frown. "He was good. Please, at least agree that he is good enough to go to the next round."

Madame Giry looked at the competitor. "Don't listen to Erik. Trust me, you were great, the best we've heard in Nashville." The judges were in the third city, Nashville, Tennessee, trying to find talent.

Erik rolled his eyes at Madame Giry and replied to Nadir. "Yes, yes, all right, he was good enough to proceed." He directed his attention to the singer. "I suppose that is three yes's."

Nadir smiled. "Congratulations."

Madame Giry also smiled. "We'll be seeing you in L.A."

The contestant left the stage after a few exclamations of 'Yes!', and Madame Giry and Nadir glared at Erik. "You have done nothing but insult and belittle these performers," Nadir reprimanded.

They were about to get into what was sure to be a big argument, but Chris Roberts, the host, interrupted by introducing another contestant. It was a 68-year-old gymnast. Erik slumped in his seat and groaned miserably. This is a mockery. Will we ever find true talent?

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It was nearing the 'big day', as Meg liked to call it. She and Christine had been practicing constantly and both were ready, whether Christine knew it or not.

Every sentence Meg spoke seemed to have something to do with the audition, and her next sentence was no different as the girls walked to their last class of the day. "My mom and dad are so excited. How's your dad with it all?"

Christine recalled telling her father about Meg's idea back when Meg first told her about auditioning. Even before opening her mouth to ask him if she could audition for Pulse, she knew what his answer was going to be. And she had been right. Her father had encouraged her enthusiastically. He'd also found Meg's idea of him coming with them to be logical. Quite frankly, Christine hadn't seen her father get so excited about something in a long time. It really had caused her own excitement about the competition to grow. "He's all for it. He thinks we'll be great."

"And he's right," Meg said confidently. "We will be great. But you still doubt it, don't you?"

"I don't doubt that you will be great," Christine said. "But me? I'm not so sure…"

Meg sighed. "As I've told you so many times before, you're going to be amazing. You'll be better than me. My only hope is that, after all our hard work, we both get in."

Christine inwardly hoped for the same thing.

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Erik, Nadir, and Madame Giry were traveling by limousine from their hotel in Atlanta, Georgia to the Fox Theater. It was the first day of auditions in the large city. Nadir and Madame Giry were very enthusiastic and talkative while Erik merely sat silently in his seat with his arms crossed. There is only one city after this. We have yet to find a true competitor. He sighed and started skimming through a stack of audition applications on his lap. Each person who was to audition had to fill out applications, which were then sent to the judges before each day of the auditions. The applications Erik was looking through were for the hopefuls he would be seeing that day.