Page 114 of The Facade

Was he ever going to ask me out?

Miss Crawley’s classroom door opened down the hall, and a second later, she appeared with a white sheet of paper in her hand.

This was it.

The moment of truth.

Her heels clicked on the tile floor as she approached the group of drama club students. The crowd parted like the red sea when she got closer, and everyone was silent as she went to the bulletin board and pinned the paper right smack in the center.

Then, with a flourish of her arm, the petite teacher who held my future in her hands said, “There you go.”

And even though I was dying to see what fate had been decided for me, I hung back against the stone wall and let everyone else crowd around the paper. Because as anxious as I was for the role, I didn’t need everyone to see the disappointment on my face if I wasn’t cast as Christine.

Nash waited back, too. After watching a handful of students cheer while a few walked away with drooping shoulders, Nash looked at me and said, “You want me to look for you?”

“Sure,” I said. “If you don’t mind.”

He walked across the hall to the other side, and after leaning closer and squinting at the list, he turned back to me with a huge smile on his lips. “You’re Christine.”

“I am?” I asked, rushing to his side, needing to see it for myself. And sure enough, on the second line down was my name next to the name Christine Daaé.

My chest felt light. This was actually happening!

I looked back at the list, and after reading what Miss Crawley had written on the first line, I turned to Nash with a big smile and said, “And you’re the Phantom.”

“I know.” His grin stretched wide across his face. “Finally.”

He put a hand to his chest, and I could almost feel the relief coming off him.

He really had wanted the part so badly.

I checked the list again to see who would be playing Raoul who was Christine’s love interest in the show but frowned when I read a name I didn’t recognize from auditions. Asher Park.

I tried to think if there was anyone named Asher in any of my classes, but no faces came to mind that matched the name.

“Do you know who Asher Park is?” I asked Nash. Maybe Asher was a freshman or sophomore? As a senior, I didn’t have many of the younger students in my classes.

“Yeah, I know Asher.” Nash frowned and looked at the list. “But he hasn’t been coming to school this year.”

Miss Crawley walked up to us then. “Is everything all right?” she asked, seeming to notice our frowns. “You’re happy with your parts, right?”

“Yes, of course,” I said. “I’m thrilled.”

“Me too,” Nash said. Then he pointed at Asher’s name and asked, “But how did Asher get the part of Raoul? I haven’t seen him at all this year.”

“Oh, yes. Mr. Park,” Miss Crawley said. “Hehasbeen away the past few months. Going online after everything that happened last spring.”

Nash nodded, waiting for Miss Crawley to continue.

“But he’s returning after Thanksgiving break,” she said with a shrug. “He heard about auditions from Mr. Park, the biology teacher, who is his older brother as you know. And requested to audition remotely.”

“So he auditioned online?” I asked, slightly confused.

Was that kind of thing even allowed? Wasn’t there something about seeing someone in person and feeling their energy that helped with that sort of thing?

I mean, she’d had me singAll I Ask of Youwith a few different guys yesterday to make sure the chemistry was there between me and a potential Raoul.

How would she know if this Asher guy and I would even work well together?

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