Phantom Read Online Free Page B

know, you fat cow? You’re used to playing the smaller parts. But I’m supposed to have the lead!”
     
    Tom didn’t wait for any more words of encouragement. He stormed away; following the same path Wendy had taken. Rebecca assumed Miss King would be getting an earful. Hopefully their director had the sense to escape out the side doors before the protestors could lynch her.
     
    “That was completely uncalled for,” Carmen muttered. She put her arm around Debbie. “Don’t worry about Tom. He’s just pissed that the new guy showed him up. Hey, why don’t you guys come over to my house for a while so we can run through our lines? After all, Deb, you and I are mother and daughter. We should be spending some quality time together.”
     
    Debbie smiled sadly as she ran a hand through her short blonde hair. The fact that she had been cast as Madame Giry, who was the oldest character in the play, probably only made her feel worse. She always got stuck in the frumpy roles, even though her voice was one of the best. It really wasn’t fair. Rebecca almost felt guilty that she had gotten the role of Christine. Debbie had just as much seniority as Wendy, and she was a lot nicer.
     
    “That sounds like fun,” Debbie told Carmen. Then she turned to Rebecca with a much more sincere smile and reached out to give her a hug. “Congratulations, Becca! I just knew you would get Christine. I’m so happy for you!”
     
    “Thanks, Deb.” Rebecca returned the hug but it was awkward with her bundle of books still in her hand. “I could never have done this without you. You’ve put up with all my craziness.”
     
    Carmen was rolling her eyes. “Will you two stop being so mushy? We’re doing a high school play. It’s not like you won an academy award. Now, let’s get out of here. I’m starving. We can order a pizza when we get to my house.”
     
    “I need to grab my book bag,” Rebecca told them. “You guys can wait for me outside. I’ll only be a minute.”
     
    “Okay, but hurry up.” Carmen ordered.
     
    Debbie and Carmen disappeared through the main doors, and Rebecca found herself alone in the eerily quiet hallway. It was a gusty fall morning in South Jersey, and the howling wind sneaking in through the old classroom windows added to the chilling atmosphere. While she had been worrying about casting calls, the rest of the students had cleared out of the building. Rebecca had never realized how creepy the school was when it was empty.
     
    It was getting close to Halloween, and cardboard cut-outs of skeletons and big-nosed witches on broomsticks were taped to the walls. There were smiling cartoon characters that shouldn’t have been intimidating, but somehow they were. And even more intimidating was the soft thump of footsteps behind her as she inched her way to her locker.
     
    Rebecca swallowed hard and with more courage than she felt, she swung around to face whoever was behind her.
     
    There was no one there. The hallway was empty, but the door to the gym was swinging on its hinges. Could whoever had been following her have ducked inside? Or was she just imagining the whole thing? Did it really matter? She should just grab her stuff from her locker and get out of there. She was being silly anyway. This was her school . She was just as safe there as she was in her bedroom. Yet still, her heart was racing with unexpected fear and excitement. She heard a strong, male voice call out to her in a beautiful and familiar melody.
     
    “Beeeccaaa. Beeeccaaa.”
     
    It was the right melody but the wrong name. The song that the phantom used to lure Christine into his hidden underground chamber below the opera house came whispering through the doors. And just as Christine was unable to resist the mesmerizing voice and the gloved hand that pulled her through the secret passage behind the mirror, so Rebecca was unable to stop herself from slipping through the doors of the gym as the phantom voice sang to