Phantom Read Online Free

had expected, and Miss King had been happy with her performance, but other girls had done just as well. And girls like Wendy and even Debbie, who had been in the drama club for years, would have seniority over a newcomer like Rebecca. She would be lucky, and grateful, if she got one of the smaller, less important roles. Just being a part of the production at all would be enough for her.
     
    They got a little closer but there were still too many people standing around the billboard to be able to see anything. They stood back a little to wait their turn. Rebecca started biting off what little that was left of her fingernails. This was worse than when she was waiting to get back her SAT scores.
     
    “Woo whoooo!” Jay shouted. He forced a smaller, unwilling freshman to exchange high fives with him. “I got a part! Yeah, man! I’m Buquet!”
     
    Jay pushed his way through the crowd of onlookers. He shoved Carmen and Rebecca roughly as he passed. He knocked into her arm, and Rebecca dropped the stack of books she was carrying. Loose-leaf papers went flying in every direction. Jay looked back only long enough to snicker at her before moving on down the hall, continuing to announce his accomplishment, loudly and obnoxiously.
     
    “Ugh, Jay is such a jerk.” Carmen complained as she bent down to help pick up the papers and get them back in some kind of order. “I can’t believe Miss King actually gave him a part. Who’s Bucket anyway?”
     
    “ Buquet. ” Rebecca corrected with a slight laugh. “He’s the stagehand the Phantom kills right before the intermission. He gets hung.”
     
    Carmen chuckled. “Do you think Miss King is trying to send a secret message? Anyway, at least we’ll only have to deal with him for half of the rehearsals. I don’t think I could stand spending three full hours a day for the next six weeks with Jay Kopp.”
     
    “Jay’s not so bad once you get to know him.” It was Tom. Suddenly he was kneeling down beside them. “Hey, Becca, I think you dropped this.” He handed her a sheet of paper with her calculus assignment on it.
     
    “Th . . . thanks,” Becca managed to stutter.
     
    Then she felt like a complete and total moron because she couldn’t think of anything else to say. At least not anything that wouldn’t make her sound like a babbling idiot. Luckily, Carmen wasn’t as easily intimidated by incredibly hot guys.
     
    “Hey, Tom. Have you seen the cast list yet?” she asked as they all climbed to their feet.
     
    Tom shook his head. “Not yet. I was just on my way over there.” He turned to Rebecca who was still struck dumb. “Why don’t I walk with you? We’ll have to get used to each other, you know. We’re going to be spending a lot of time together.”
     
    Tom was confident. But then, why wouldn’t he be? He had been the star of all the plays since he was a freshman. But again Rebecca found herself wondering why everyone seemed so sure she would get any part at all, let alone the starring role opposite Tom. She hadn’t been that good. Had she?
     
    “What? Carlotta! Are you kidding me?”
     
    Wendy’s high-pitched shriek was like a banshee cry as it echoed down the corridor. As Rebecca and the others inched their way forward, she could see Wendy’s hands were balled into fists at her side. She kept staring at the cast posting as though whatever she was reading might somehow magically change if she willed it hard enough. Her back was to them when they first approached, but she turned around just as they stepped up behind her. Her face, which was already a blotchy red from anger, turned almost purple when she saw Rebecca.
     
    “ You !” She spat. “Don’t think you’ve won anything. Obviously there’s been some kind of misprint. I’m going to talk to Miss King right now. There’s no way she would cast me in a secondary role my senior year. There’s just no way!”
     
    Rebecca was speechless. It was becoming an almost permanent condition for