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Description
The next day, Ryan and Catherine were once again waiting in the audience.
“You actually like the guy?” Ryan asked incredulously.
“Well, he’s a little eccentric...” Catherine started.
“A little eccentric? Cathy, he wears a damn mask! It’s just plain weird.” Ryan interrupted.
Catherine smacked her cousin’s arm.“God, Ryan, would you just let me finish? I’m tired enough as it is, I don’t need you running over me right and left.”
“Sorry. Anyway, why are you tired? Don’t tell me you had another panic attack”, Ryan asked with a mixture of concern and frustration.
“Yes, but it doesn’t matter. I’m used to them. There’s nothing you or anyone else can do about them, okay? Just leave it alone.” she said testily. She paused. “Ryan, you really should be nicer to Eric. I think he’s just extremely shy. So what if he wears a mask? That’s his business. I don’t think he’s dangerous or anything--“ Ryan gave his cousin a look--“especially if he is Mr. Khan’s son. So just...chill, would you?” said Catherine.
“Alright, fine”, he said, slumping down in his seat. “Maybe...maybe you could reintroduce him to me or something”, Ryan said reluctantly. Catherine gave a triumphant smirk.
Finally, Mr. Khan and Eric walked in.
“Hey Eric!” Catherine yelled welcomingly. Ryan gave a halfhearted wave.
Eric looked over in surprise, and nervously walked over. “Hello Christina”, he said.
Ryan gave his cousin a confused look. “Christina? Since when do you go by your middle name Cathy?”
“Since someone finally decided to call me that after all these years”, Christina answered. Ryan gave a blank look. “Oh come off it Ry, you know I’ve always wanted to go by my middle name, so I asked Eric to call me that when I met him yesterday”, said Christina. Eric stood in the isle awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do now that there was another person to interact with.
“Um...”, he started uncertainly.
Christina looked up in surprise. “Oh yes, sorry Eric. This is my cousin Ryan. Ryan, this is Eric.”
“Hey”, Ryan nodded casually.
“Hello Ryan” Eric said.
Eric sat down next to Christina, as he did yesterday. Ryan leaned over and asked, “So um, Eric, have you sung in public before?”
“No, I haven’t”, Eric replied blankly.
“Huh. Well, I guess you and Christina are in the same boat”, Ryan smiled playfully. “I heard you say yesterday that you play the violin. How long you’ve been doing that?” Ryan asked. Ryan was a friendly person, and even though he still distrusted Eric, he was getting more and more comfortable around the strange boy.
“Yes, since I was 9”, the slender boy replied again.
“Cool. Can’t wait to hear what you can do!” Ryan finished.
“Alright everyone, let’s warm up!” Mr. Khan shouted. The group settled into position and began singing.

After the vocal warm up, Mr. Khan sorted the students into vocal sections. Ryan and Eric were in the same group, since both were tenors, and Christina sat a little farther away in the soprano section. After that, Mr. Khan asked the students some questions on what sort of pieces they were interested it. The students had a wide range of interests, ranging from Sondheim to Rogers and Hammerstein. After a good discussion, the theater instructor let them off for a break.
Christina walked over to Ryan and asked, “Where did Eric go?”
Ryan looked at Christina like she was crazy and said, “He’s right next to me doofus.”
“Um, no he’s not Ryan.” Christina responded, looking around her cousins shoulder.
“What the... how’d he disappear so quickly?” the boy sputtered.
Christina looked at her cousin worriedly. “Do you think we should go look for him?” she asked.
“I think he’s fine, but if you feel like you need to, you can”, Ryan said indifferently. “But I think I’m going to go get a snack. Besides, I want to say hi to Margaret and Philip”.
“Alright then, I guess I’ll see you later”, Christina said quietly.
She went off through the recesses of the theater, looking first in the break room, then the greenroom, with no luck. Christina then started looking in more obscure places, the tiny nooks and crannies in different parts of the old building. She had a feeling that Eric would be in a well hidden spot. Christina didn’t think that he would want to be near people, and wouldn’t want to be easily found.
“I wonder why he’s so...insecure”, she wondered. “No, not just insecure, frightened. Why is he frightened? It’s not like I’ll hurt him. I don’t think anyone here would, despite his eccentricities.” She continued walking through the more abandoned parts of the theater, the other students voices growing dim. Christina was somewhere backstage, where the props were kept until they were needed on stage. There was a little less light in this area, which left the girl feeling anxious. Just as she was about to turn back, she heard someone singing.
Christina followed the sound to the left side of the backstage area, near the back. Finally, she recognized Eric’s tenor voice, except stronger, freer. She realized that he must have been holding back in warm up. His voice floated through the large room, smooth and enticing. The voice held Christina in a state of awe.
Breaking away from the entrancing melody, she continued to search for Eric. She looked around the backstage, but couldn’t see him. Christina knew he was in this area, but where? Suddenly, she looked up. Eric was up in the rafters, sitting on one of the platforms, perhaps 15 or 20 feet in the air. He faced away from her, his mask lying next to him as he sang. Christine gasped when she saw him.
Eric immediately stopped singing and snatched his mask up. “Who’s there? What are you doing?” his tenor voice rang out.
“It’s...It’s me Eric. Christina.” the girl answered in hushed tones.
“Oh. H-hello. What are you doing?” he asked in a less guarded manner.
“You disappeared so suddenly after warm up, I came to look for you. How on earth did you get up there? You could get hurt!” she said.
Eric made a small laugh and turned around. His mask was now securely in place. “No, I’m fine. It’s not dangerous. I just climbed up using the ropes”, he gestured nonchalantly to the length of rope hanging from the platform. “Why were you looking for me?” he asked quietly.
Now it was Christina’s turn to laugh. “Because you’re my friend, and I wanted to know where you disappeared to!”
Eric looked down at her in amazement. “I...I’m you’re friend?”
“Yes silly! Why ever wouldn’t you be?” she questioned.
“I don’t frighten you?” he asked abruptly.
Christina started. “Frighten me? Why?”
Erik continued to look down at her, his golden eyes shining oddly in the dark. “Because of...never mind.” he said. “Shall I come down?” he asked.
“Yes. It’s getting a little difficult to look up at you from this angle”, she replied.
Silently, Eric climbed down the ropes, leaping down the last couple of feet. He moved in such a way that he appeared to be a strange mixture between a spider and a gazelle. Christina stared, wide eyed.
“How do you do that?” She asked.
“Practice I suppose”, he replied vaguely. He walked over to her and sat down. “Are you feeling okay?” he asked in his abrupt manner.
Christina looked at him. “Why do you ask?” she said as she sat down next to him.
“I don’t know, you just seem tired. I’m sorry, was that rude?” he asked in a nervous manner.
Christina stared at him, an unreadable expression on her face. “No, no, you’re fine Eric. But you’re right, I am tired. I had a rough night I guess.” She looked away, trying to keep herself from crying. The memory of her panic attack, and the reason for it, reappeared in her mind.
Eric tried to peer around to see if she was okay, but ended up facing forward again. “I don’t sleep well either, so I at least understand that”, he said. Christina still wouldn’t look at him. Suddenly, an idea popped into Eric’s head. He very clearly and deliberately began to hum a soothing tune. It was a piece called “Where is Love” from the musical “Oliver”. While the lyrics were sad, the tune was calming. His beautiful tenor voice echoed softly in the dark room, and Christina turned around to look at her new friend.
“I think he’s trying to make me feel better...” she thought. This strange boy’s kindness, mixed with her utter exhaustion suddenly struck Christina. As she stared silently at Eric, she began to cry.
Eric looked up at Christina and noticed her tears. He stopped singing and leapt up from the ground. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean...please don’t cry!” he stammered, putting his hands out awkwardly.
“No, no, please, I’m sorry...it’s just...I’m so tired, and your voice is so nice, and...” she broke off in a sob. “Please don’t go!” she said.
Eric looked at her, bewildered, and sat back down. He couldn’t believe he was about to ask this, but his new friend’s sudden emotion prodded him. “Did...did something happen? You can talk to me about it if you want”.
Christina looked at him with watery eyes and a runny nose. “He’s gone. My dad’s gone, and I don’t know what to do anymore. He said he’d always be here, and now he’s not. And at night all I can think of is what if I die too? What will happen to me? I’m so scared, all the time...Oh God, I’m sorry Eric, I shouldn’t burden you with any of this, certainly not when I’ve just met you...”
Eric interrupted her. “No, it’s okay. I get it. I don’t have family either.” he said quietly. “I get it.”, he repeated.
Christina simply stared at him. Eric began to think that he said something entirely inappropriate when suddenly, she leaned over and rested her head on Eric’s shoulder, grasped the front of his jacket, and sobbed.
Christina’s action took Eric completely off guard. No one, certainly not a girl, had ever touched him like this. Her awkward embrace left him emotionally raw, just like the girl he was trying to comfort. Quietly, so Christina wouldn’t notice, he began to cry as well.
After a few minutes, Christina sat up and wiped her eyes. “I...I’m sorry. That was probably really weird”, she said, looking extremely embarrassed. “You probably think I’m a nut job or something”, she said with a sheepish grin.
“It’s alright. I’m not really used to people doing that, but it was...nice. You’re nice.” he finished hoarsely.
Christine gave a watery giggle. “Okay...thank you." she looked around the prop area. "I guess we should get back. Mr. Khan and Ryan are probably wondering where we wandered off to.” The two friends crawled up off of the floor and headed back to the auditorium, unknown feelings whirling around in their hearts and minds.

Description
The next day, Ryan and Catherine were once again waiting in the audience.
“You actually like the guy?” Ryan asked incredulously.
“Well, he’s a little eccentric...” Catherine started.
“A little eccentric? Cathy, he wears a damn mask! It’s just plain weird.” Ryan interrupted.
Catherine smacked her cousin’s arm.“God, Ryan, would you just let me finish? I’m tired enough as it is, I don’t need you running over me right and left.”
“Sorry. Anyway, why are you tired? Don’t tell me you had another panic attack”, Ryan asked with a mixture of concern and frustration.
“Yes, but it doesn’t matter. I’m used to them. There’s nothing you or anyone else can do about them, okay? Just leave it alone.” she said testily. She paused. “Ryan, you really should be nicer to Eric. I think he’s just extremely shy. So what if he wears a mask? That’s his business. I don’t think he’s dangerous or anything--“ Ryan gave his cousin a look--“especially if he is Mr. Khan’s son. So just...chill, would you?” said Catherine.
“Alright, fine”, he said, slumping down in his seat. “Maybe...maybe you could reintroduce him to me or something”, Ryan said reluctantly. Catherine gave a triumphant smirk.
Finally, Mr. Khan and Eric walked in.
“Hey Eric!” Catherine yelled welcomingly. Ryan gave a halfhearted wave.
Eric looked over in surprise, and nervously walked over. “Hello Christina”, he said.
Ryan gave his cousin a confused look. “Christina? Since when do you go by your middle name Cathy?”
“Since someone finally decided to call me that after all these years”, Christina answered. Ryan gave a blank look. “Oh come off it Ry, you know I’ve always wanted to go by my middle name, so I asked Eric to call me that when I met him yesterday”, said Christina. Eric stood in the isle awkwardly, not quite knowing what to do now that there was another person to interact with.
“Um...”, he started uncertainly.
Christina looked up in surprise. “Oh yes, sorry Eric. This is my cousin Ryan. Ryan, this is Eric.”
“Hey”, Ryan nodded casually.
“Hello Ryan” Eric said.
Eric sat down next to Christina, as he did yesterday. Ryan leaned over and asked, “So um, Eric, have you sung in public before?”
“No, I haven’t”, Eric replied blankly.
“Huh. Well, I guess you and Christina are in the same boat”, Ryan smiled playfully. “I heard you say yesterday that you play the violin. How long you’ve been doing that?” Ryan asked. Ryan was a friendly person, and even though he still distrusted Eric, he was getting more and more comfortable around the strange boy.
“Yes, since I was 9”, the slender boy replied again.
“Cool. Can’t wait to hear what you can do!” Ryan finished.
“Alright everyone, let’s warm up!” Mr. Khan shouted. The group settled into position and began singing.

After the vocal warm up, Mr. Khan sorted the students into vocal sections. Ryan and Eric were in the same group, since both were tenors, and Christina sat a little farther away in the soprano section. After that, Mr. Khan asked the students some questions on what sort of pieces they were interested it. The students had a wide range of interests, ranging from Sondheim to Rogers and Hammerstein. After a good discussion, the theater instructor let them off for a break.
Christina walked over to Ryan and asked, “Where did Eric go?”
Ryan looked at Christina like she was crazy and said, “He’s right next to me doofus.”
“Um, no he’s not Ryan.” Christina responded, looking around her cousins shoulder.
“What the... how’d he disappear so quickly?” the boy sputtered.
Christina looked at her cousin worriedly. “Do you think we should go look for him?” she asked.
“I think he’s fine, but if you feel like you need to, you can”, Ryan said indifferently. “But I think I’m going to go get a snack. Besides, I want to say hi to Margaret and Philip”.
“Alright then, I guess I’ll see you later”, Christina said quietly.
She went off through the recesses of the theater, looking first in the break room, then the greenroom, with no luck. Christina then started looking in more obscure places, the tiny nooks and crannies in different parts of the old building. She had a feeling that Eric would be in a well hidden spot. Christina didn’t think that he would want to be near people, and wouldn’t want to be easily found.
“I wonder why he’s so...insecure”, she wondered. “No, not just insecure, frightened. Why is he frightened? It’s not like I’ll hurt him. I don’t think anyone here would, despite his eccentricities.” She continued walking through the more abandoned parts of the theater, the other students voices growing dim. Christina was somewhere backstage, where the props were kept until they were needed on stage. There was a little less light in this area, which left the girl feeling anxious. Just as she was about to turn back, she heard someone singing.
Christina followed the sound to the left side of the backstage area, near the back. Finally, she recognized Eric’s tenor voice, except stronger, freer. She realized that he must have been holding back in warm up. His voice floated through the large room, smooth and enticing. The voice held Christina in a state of awe.
Breaking away from the entrancing melody, she continued to search for Eric. She looked around the backstage, but couldn’t see him. Christina knew he was in this area, but where? Suddenly, she looked up. Eric was up in the rafters, sitting on one of the platforms, perhaps 15 or 20 feet in the air. He faced away from her, his mask lying next to him as he sang. Christine gasped when she saw him.
Eric immediately stopped singing and snatched his mask up. “Who’s there? What are you doing?” his tenor voice rang out.
“It’s...It’s me Eric. Christina.” the girl answered in hushed tones.
“Oh. H-hello. What are you doing?” he asked in a less guarded manner.
“You disappeared so suddenly after warm up, I came to look for you. How on earth did you get up there? You could get hurt!” she said.
Eric made a small laugh and turned around. His mask was now securely in place. “No, I’m fine. It’s not dangerous. I just climbed up using the ropes”, he gestured nonchalantly to the length of rope hanging from the platform. “Why were you looking for me?” he asked quietly.
Now it was Christina’s turn to laugh. “Because you’re my friend, and I wanted to know where you disappeared to!”
Eric looked down at her in amazement. “I...I’m you’re friend?”
“Yes silly! Why ever wouldn’t you be?” she questioned.
“I don’t frighten you?” he asked abruptly.
Christina started. “Frighten me? Why?”
Erik continued to look down at her, his golden eyes shining oddly in the dark. “Because of...never mind.” he said. “Shall I come down?” he asked.
“Yes. It’s getting a little difficult to look up at you from this angle”, she replied.
Silently, Eric climbed down the ropes, leaping down the last couple of feet. He moved in such a way that he appeared to be a strange mixture between a spider and a gazelle. Christina stared, wide eyed.
“How do you do that?” She asked.
“Practice I suppose”, he replied vaguely. He walked over to her and sat down. “Are you feeling okay?” he asked in his abrupt manner.
Christina looked at him. “Why do you ask?” she said as she sat down next to him.
“I don’t know, you just seem tired. I’m sorry, was that rude?” he asked in a nervous manner.
Christina stared at him, an unreadable expression on her face. “No, no, you’re fine Eric. But you’re right, I am tired. I had a rough night I guess.” She looked away, trying to keep herself from crying. The memory of her panic attack, and the reason for it, reappeared in her mind.
Eric tried to peer around to see if she was okay, but ended up facing forward again. “I don’t sleep well either, so I at least understand that”, he said. Christina still wouldn’t look at him. Suddenly, an idea popped into Eric’s head. He very clearly and deliberately began to hum a soothing tune. It was a piece called “Where is Love” from the musical “Oliver”. While the lyrics were sad, the tune was calming. His beautiful tenor voice echoed softly in the dark room, and Christina turned around to look at her new friend.
“I think he’s trying to make me feel better...” she thought. This strange boy’s kindness, mixed with her utter exhaustion suddenly struck Christina. As she stared silently at Eric, she began to cry.
Eric looked up at Christina and noticed her tears. He stopped singing and leapt up from the ground. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean...please don’t cry!” he stammered, putting his hands out awkwardly.
“No, no, please, I’m sorry...it’s just...I’m so tired, and your voice is so nice, and...” she broke off in a sob. “Please don’t go!” she said.
Eric looked at her, bewildered, and sat back down. He couldn’t believe he was about to ask this, but his new friend’s sudden emotion prodded him. “Did...did something happen? You can talk to me about it if you want”.
Christina looked at him with watery eyes and a runny nose. “He’s gone. My dad’s gone, and I don’t know what to do anymore. He said he’d always be here, and now he’s not. And at night all I can think of is what if I die too? What will happen to me? I’m so scared, all the time...Oh God, I’m sorry Eric, I shouldn’t burden you with any of this, certainly not when I’ve just met you...”
Eric interrupted her. “No, it’s okay. I get it. I don’t have family either.” he said quietly. “I get it.”, he repeated.
Christina simply stared at him. Eric began to think that he said something entirely inappropriate when suddenly, she leaned over and rested her head on Eric’s shoulder, grasped the front of his jacket, and sobbed.
Christina’s action took Eric completely off guard. No one, certainly not a girl, had ever touched him like this. Her awkward embrace left him emotionally raw, just like the girl he was trying to comfort. Quietly, so Christina wouldn’t notice, he began to cry as well.
After a few minutes, Christina sat up and wiped her eyes. “I...I’m sorry. That was probably really weird”, she said, looking extremely embarrassed. “You probably think I’m a nut job or something”, she said with a sheepish grin.
“It’s alright. I’m not really used to people doing that, but it was...nice. You’re nice.” he finished hoarsely.
Christine gave a watery giggle. “Okay...thank you." she looked around the prop area. "I guess we should get back. Mr. Khan and Ryan are probably wondering where we wandered off to.” The two friends crawled up off of the floor and headed back to the auditorium, unknown feelings whirling around in their hearts and minds.