necessities. âHereâs a toothbrush, Casanova,â I said, tossing it to him. âIâll be out of the bathroom in ten minutes.â
He grinned, like he knew something I didnât.
It took the four of us a while to get ready sharing only one bathroom, and then we went and got coffee and breakfast at a café across from Opéra Bastille. I had two buttery croissants, fresh-squeezed orange juice, and the strongest coffee Iâd ever tasted.
âIâm moving here,â Flynn said as he inhaled a second croissant.
I tried to gauge the state of affairs between Elise and Owen, but they were being much more reserved this morning than theyâd been last night.
âSo is that the opera?â Owen asked, looking a little disappointed. I explained to him what Elise had told me about the two different opera houses.
âI suppose you two have already gone without me?â he said.
âOf course not,â I said. âWe made a pinky swear. We should go for your birthday.â
âYeah,â Elise said. âWe could double date.â
âIf you donât mind going with Mr. Clean over there,â Owen said.
âHey, lay off the bald jokes,â Flynn said. âIâm a sensitive man.â
Now that Iâd had a chance to get used to it, I kind of liked Flynnâs hair. It made his pale blue eyes look even more ethereally beautiful. He flashed me a smoldering look, and I cracked up.
âSpeaking of opera,â Elise said, âmaybe you guys can help us with a school project weâre working on.â
âAw, man, Iâd forgotten about school projects,â Flynn said.
Elise told them about the libretto contest and how the winning libretto would be developed into an opera to be performed at Opéra Bastille in the spring.
âWeâre going to write a modern retelling of The Phantom of the Opera, â I said.
âI think Andrew Lloyd Webber beat you to it,â Flynn said.
âNo, I mean an updated version with a modern rock score. Weâre trying to think of a good premise.â
âI donât know much about the story,â Owen said. âGive me the basics.â
I told him about the Phantom who haunts the Opera House and how his love for aspiring singer Christine Daaé makes him rig a performance that displaces the lead, Carlotta, so Christine can make her triumphant debut. âBut what the Phantom doesnât know is that Christineâs childhood sweetheart, Raoul, was in the audience, and heâs in love with Christine, too.â
âAh, the ubiquitous love triangle,â Flynn said.
âExactly,â I said. âBut the Phantom isnât a phantom at all, just a man named Erik whose face is horribly disfigured. Since heâs never been loved by a woman before, he feels he has to kidnap Christine and keep her trapped against her will until she falls in love with him and his music.â
âHmm,â Owen said. âMaybe you could have your opera take place during a singing competition like American Idol or The Voice .â
âOh yeah,â Elise said. âAnd maybe like on The Voice, the judges have their backs turned to the performers, so Erikâs scars wouldnât matter.â
âBut when the judges turn around and see him, they recoil in terror,â I said. âAnd then they cut him during the next round, which enrages him.â
âBut Christine makes it through,â Flynn said. âAnd now Erik is determined to help her win so sheâll fall in love with him. But another contestant falls in love with Christine, and Erik sets out to destroy him.â
We started hashing out our ideas on paper, and Owen seemed really enthusiastic. âI donât know anything about opera,â he said. âBut Iâm excited to help you guys with this.â
âYeah, we can pool our skills,â I said. âIâll start writing the libretto. You and
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