Phantom by Laura DeLuca

menacing words reverberated through the auditorium, Rebecca had to wonder just how much Justyn really had in common with the phantom. What was he really capable of?
     
     
     

Chapter Nine
     
    The weekend was uneventful. Rebecca spent Friday and Saturday with Carmen and Debbie, watching movies, painting nails, and generally immersing themselves in all things feminine. It was a much-needed break from the raging testosterone she had been dealing with for the past week. On Sunday, she gave into self-indulgence and read a historical romance from cover to cover, then soaked for an hour in a warm bubble bath. Best of all, there were no phone calls or notes the entire weekend. When Monday finally arrived, she felt relaxed, revitalized, and ready to take on the world.
     
    The school day went by just as smoothly as the weekend. Tom joined her for lunch, and they actually had their first normal conversation. Rebecca didn’t trip over her tongue once, and it only felt natural when they walked into rehearsal together with his arm draped across her shoulders. But the day had gone too well. It couldn’t possibly last forever. Especially not when Miss King was running late again, and Wendy and Justyn were both watching her and Tom with open hostility.
     
    Rebecca wasn’t ready for the peace to end, even though it was inevitable. But it was the law of averages. All good things came to an end eventually. She did her best to avoid them both altogether, and tried to slip past them to join her friends on the other side of the stage. But Wendy was feeling especially belligerent, and stalked over to Rebecca, waving a piece of paper in her face.
     
    “I suppose you think this is funny?” Wendy spat.
     
    Rebecca had no idea what she was talking about and felt her mouth drop open in shocked surprise. She was glad when Carmen thought of a quick comeback because she certainly wasn’t thinking of any.
     
    “If you’re talking about the possibility of you actually getting accepted to a four year college, then yeah, it’s hilarious.”
     
    Wendy’s nostrils were flaring, but she ignored Carmen and continued to wave the note in Rebecca’s face. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you aren’t going to get away with threatening me like this.”
     
    “What are you talking about, Wendy?” Tom demanded. “Becca didn’t do anything to you.”
     
    “You think your new girlfriend is so perfect and sweet! Well look at this!” She thrust the wrinkled paper into Tom’s hands. “Go ahead, look at it! I found it this morning in my locker.”
     
    Tom rolled his eyes but humored her, and tried to smooth out the crinkled paper enough to read it. He cleared his throat dramatically before reading it out loud so everyone could hear.
     
    “‘ I tell you, daroga—mirrors can kill .’” He paused for a minute, looking a little baffled. “Leave Becca alone unless you want to be just as ugly on the outside as you are on the inside.”
     
    “You see?” Wendy screamed. “Do you see how she threatened me?”
     
    “Wendy, I swear it wasn’t me!” Rebecca protested.
     
    “Well, I don’t know who or what a ‘daroga’ is, but I certainly agree with the sentiment,” Carmen said as she crossed her arms. “If you’d just leave Becca alone, you’d have nothing to worry about.”
     
    “Who is daroga?” Tom asked. “It sounds like it should be the name of a car model or something.”
     
    “The first line of the note is a quote from the original Phantom of the Opera novel,” Rebecca explained. “Daroga was the name the phantom called his Persian policeman friend.”
     
    “And what other loser but you would know any lines from some stupid book that was written like five hundred years ago.”
     
    Rebecca could think of at least one other person. A person who dressed all in black and wasn’t even trying to hide the fact that he was listening to every word they were saying. But even if she wanted to share the information,