XPLR | Colby Brock

(97) The Phantom of the Opera.

December 8, 2018. Decision day.

I changed into my black dress, then stepped into the full length mirror Colby had in his room to examine myself. "What do you think?" I asked, reaching behind me to tie the ribbon so it would suck in around my waist.

"Gorgeous as ever," Colby said with his signature, charming smirk, just as he came over to me. He reached down and took my hand, squeezing it quickly, before leaning down and kissing my cheek.

I chuckled a bit at that. This dress really did flatter me, which was lucky since I didn't get to pick it. I bent down to fix my shoe, which prompted Colby to casually grope me before turning off and sitting back down on his bed. I rolled my eyes sarcastically, but truthfully, I enjoy it.

I quickly changed out of my dress, forgetting to tell him not to look. By now he's seen me in many lights, and varying degrees of modesty, but nevertheless he still respects me. I knew he was watching anyway, but when I glanced back he quickly moved his eyes to his phone. I chuckled, then changed into my rehearsal outfit. I put my backpack on and turned to him.

"Are you ready to take me?" I asked him, covering the black dress with a coat cover. There's still Circa hair everywhere, even though she's been missing from the house for a long time now. I miss her. We have Navi, yes, but at least I don't have to worry about her hair getting on every dark item of clothing I own.

"Of course I am, baby," he said and stood up. He reached for his keys, and with his free hand he took mine and began to lead me away. Sam and Kat were sitting next to the window, just talking.

"I'll see you guys after my concert," I said with a wave as we started to go down stairs. I let go of Colby's hand to hold the rail. "You got it," Katrina said, just as Sam shared the same breath with, "Knock 'em dead."

I smiled at them both and nodded before Colby and I went out to his car and he opened the trunk then the door for me. "You know, I've been looking forward to this ever since we watched Phantom of the Opera together," Colby said as he got into the drivers seat.

I reached back and put on my seat belt, and I smiled at him. "Me too," I said.

Once we arrived at the school, Colby grinned widely at me. He placed his hand on my cheek, and he pulled me closer and kissed me softly, more passionately than normal for a few extra seconds. "I love you. So much," he said, then he hugged me before saying, "I'll be back here at eight pm," he said and nodded.

I unbuckled myself and stepped out of the car, kissing his cheek. "Bye," I said, and when I turned, Amber, a trumpeter, and Logan were waiting for me.

I shut the door behind me and waved to them as I came closer. Logan grinned at me as he opened a box and said, "Want one?" He asked, holding out a candy cigarette to me. I smile and took it, placing it between my lips. "Thank you," I sang, starting to get those pre-concert nerves that make you excited and nervous at the same time. Logan smiles at me and wrapped a friendly arm around my shoulder, then Amber's. "Been a pleasure working with you, girls," he said with a smile.

Amber giggled, her beautiful red hair flowing behind her in the wind. She must've spent so much time on it. "You act like you'll never see us again," she said. "Oh, Rose! By the way, you should come to dinner with all of us after this. I already have a restaurant reserved for all fifteen of us," she said and smiled, bending over to see past Logan and look at me.

I shrug a bit, "I'll see, my boyfriend is picking me up after this," I said. "He might want to take me somewhere."

She frowned a bit. "Aw..." She said, and Logan echoes her. "Come with your friends with a bit, you're always with him," he commented. I sighed at that and thought for a moment. "Okay, okay. I'll go with you guys. He wants to meet you guys," I said.

"No," Logan said, laughing. "He wants to meet me because he's scared you'll leave him for me. He wants to make his presence known, that way I'll back off. Little does he know, you and I are not romantic in the slightest," he said, opening the door for Amber and I. While his words said one thing, the subtle wink that followed suggested otherwise. We are NOT romantic in the slightest.

I looked up at the stage, the choir singer brought her hand up as I prepped for my big entrance, perhaps one of the most important parts of the entire concert. "The Phan~Tom of the Opera is there... inside your mi-"

Eighth note down beat rest. A natural chord. My mind commanded while my hands jumped across the keyboard. Once I nailed my entrance, my eyes darted up and searched around my ensemble for any eyes watching me. Logan's caught mine, and he grinned widely at me. I returned the gesture.

I turned back to my keyboard as I started to play the moving melody of the piece. Sixteenth note after sixteenth note, dancing up the scale and changing with every key change. The ensemble is following me for the ritardando. So I gradually slowed moved my hands, with a natural crescendo, back down the higher register, and settled into a rather calm movement, just as I leaned back to let them know they need to brace for the final fermata, and with a prepped but sudden movement of my wrist, I pushed the keys back down into a six note chord in each hand, for which I held for about eight counts. The singer on stage matched our pitch perfectly, and together we gave a musically perfect ending to a riveting and thrilling concert.

Perhaps my final melody to be played in this concert hall, one with has been so forboding and forgiving, as well as welcoming. A home to those of us broken-hearted musicians, whom have never had hope for a life in music, but one we've so graciously achieved. Praise be to God.

We shook hands in the lobby, which was riving with people congratulating the soloists and singers, but also voicing their appreciation for the pit orchestra. Some of us receiving hugs, and I even was gifted a rose by a rather young girl, no older than eight. "You know, my name is Rose," I said. She just smiled acceptingly and excitedly, before turning to leave with her mother.

But in all this action, all this praise and thanks, there was still one question surveying in my mind: Where is Colby?

The answer is simple.

He never came.