Pulse (Phantom of the Opera Fanfiction)

Chapter 4- Preparing the Mind

Chapter 4- Preparing the Mind

Meg, Christine, Meg's father David, Meg's mother Julia, and Christine's dad Gary were standing outside the stage doors, the doors that the girls had previously gone through to audition. Both were still ecstatic, overjoyed and thrilled about the fact that they were officially Pulse competitors. They had just gotten through explaining their auditions in detail to each other and the parents, and they were now just standing.

Christine didn't know what to do with herself. She was still completely stunned. I just can't get over this. I never thought-... Am I dreaming? Is this actually real? It was real. It was very real. Excitement mixed with nerves were invading her emotions. "What happens now?" she asked Meg after about a minute of silently standing.

"I have no idea!" Meg exclaimed with a laugh. "Wow, this is so amazing! I just knew we'd make it!"

That makes one of us, Christine thought. She'd had a feeling Meg would make it, but for herself to get three 'yes's' just hadn't seemed possible. But I'm in, and I need to come to terms with it.

While wondering what the heck they were supposed to do, another thought came to Christine. "Hey, why are we the only people here? Why haven't we seen anybody else go in to audition?"

Meg looked around. "You're right, where is everybody?"

"Hmm, it is strange," Julia murmured.

"And what happened to Chris?" David asked. "We were so busy listening to your audition stories that we didn't notice him leave." Gary looked just as confused as they were.

"Maybe-" Meg's sentence was cut off.

The girls were frozen in place. Eight people suddenly emerged from the stage doors. Chris Roberts and four buff bodyguards were walking their way, but it wasn't them the girls were staring at. It was the other three people... They were none other than Nadir, Madame Giry, and Erik! Christine and Meg could barely breathe due to their astonishment.

"Hello again," Chris greeted using his perfect host voice. The eight of them stopped walking in order to face the girls who were staring at them with wide eyes. The bodyguards stayed close to the assigned people.

"H-hi," Meg stuttered. Christine didn't speak.

"I suppose I forgot to tell the five of you that you could leave," Chris said. "My mistake," he continued with light laughter. Then, he asked with a knowing smile, "Wondering what we're doing?" He could tell they were shocked to be seeing the judges up close. "We're taking a break. You two were the last to audition. Auditions will begin again in about thirty minutes, but in the mean time, we're hungry."

Nadir and Madame Giry chuckled at Chris' words, bringing themselves into the conversation. "Yes, I'd say this break is well needed," Nadir said.

Madame Giry nodded before smiling. "It's good to see our two favorite competitors again."

Meg could only giggle in a childish way while Christine looked from Nadir to Madame Giry and then to the silent Erik. She'd never been this close to such famous people. A blush came to her cheeks when she looked at Erik, though, because he was looking right at her. Their eyes met for a long moment before Erik looked away.

"Come," he simply said to Chris, Nadir, Madame Giry, and the guards. Then, he and his bodyguard walked away.

Christine vaguely heard Chris say, "You two should go celebrate," because her eyes and attention were focused on Erik's retreating back. I wonder why he was looking at me.. Well, after such a long day, I probably look horrible. That's why he looked at me, I'm sure. She also couldn't help but notice, He walks so gracefully. Forcing herself to blink, she snapped out of her trance and noticed that Chris, Nadir, Madame Giry, and their bodyguards were following Erik.