In The Wings

Act II Scene VI

He had mentioned this on that night. Even though it had only been a weekend since that extraordinary night filled with music and absolute shock from the removal of his mask, it felt like years had passed it. It continued to be a dreamlike experience for her. Every time she glanced over to the auditorium, she would wonder if it had all really happened. It was real, and yet it felt fake.

But she was driven by the memory of the music of the night. Ever since she had heard it, there had always been a part of her mind that had been transfixed on hearing it all over again. Even more so, she wished that she could create it herself. The Angel of Music had told her that he was going to have her sing his music.

Perhaps that would be better than playing Clara Johnson in the Light in the Piazza. Knowing that she was the driving force behind the unearthly music that the Angel of Music composed was worth so much, it had to be.

Yet that disappointment from being cast as Franca echoed through her soul. When she had been expecting to play the lead, she had ended up becoming the supporting role. Just months ago, this would have been a dream for her. But she hadn't been able to escape the spotlight going to her head completely.

She was no Carly Gill when it came to being a drama queen, but she certainly wasn't the doe eyed girl who would do anything anyone would say just to attempt to prove herself. She was finally seeing that she was better than that, and it was getting to her.

Trying to take her mind away from the situation, she continued down the list. Almost directly below her name was Meg Leary in the role of Senora Nacarelli. This put a smile back on the soprano's face. Her best friend was going to be playing her mother in law! Oh, now she was excited again.

Turning around, she spotted a flash of blonde hair. Rushing over to her best friend, she didn't let anyone get in her way.

"Meg!" she cried. "Have you seen the results? They posted the results!"

"I didn't!" Meg shrieked in response. "Oh my goodness, who are you? And who am I?"

Christine cleared her throat. "Hello, mother-in-law," she said. When Meg gave her a perplexed look in response, she rolled her eyes. "You're playing Senora Nacarelli and I'm playing Franca. That makes me your daughter-in-law."

"You married my son?" Meg said, lifting her eyebrows. "I don't remember giving permission for that."

"You didn't," Christine giggled, going along with the joke. "We eloped."

"Wait," Meg interrupted, breaking character in a minor way. "Who is playing your husband? My son?"

Christine gave a sigh. "Ian Peterson." At this, Meg burst into a bout of only slightly stifled laughing.

"Oh, Christy!" she said. "I am so sorry!"

"No, no need to be sorry," Christine replied. Of course, the real reason she had felt so irritated about her role was because she had had her heart set on the role of Clara. But she was attempting to hide that away from Meg best that she could.

"Let me change the subject," Meg offered, being able to decipher the distress on her best friend's face. "I'm wondering how they can use Chandelier in this musical. I can't wait until the techies come around."

"Chandelier? What's that?" Christine asked, creasing her eyebrows.

"It's the new sound and light system," Meg replied. "That's why my mom ran all of that fundraising last year."

"Let me guess, it's super high tech?"

Meg nodded. "Precisely. If anything happened to it, all of the teachers would freak out. It was really expensive. It took them years to get enough money for this thing!"