The Talent Thief by Mike Thayer

Author:Mike Thayer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

CHAPTER 20

Phantom of the Auditorium

My goal in tech crew had always been to make every performance as flawless as possible … until today.

The play was in an hour, during sixth period, and I’d never been more nervous for a performance in my entire life. And I wasn’t even the one in front of the crowd.

I still wasn’t quite sure exactly how I was going to take Candace’s talent at the right time. There was no final dress rehearsal or anything, and I needed an object that I could use to hijack her singing ability. I’d need to stay alert and have the guts to jump on any opportunity that presented itself, all the while not creating any suspicion that I was up to something.

Captain Hook and Tinker Bell passed me in the hallway. They didn’t pay me a second glance. No one ever did. The second you put on one of those headsets and black tech-crew shirts, you blurred into the background.

My phone buzzed and I pulled it out to see a text from Brady.

I got the stuff. Come to my house after school to make the video. But for now: DON’T. BACK. DOWN. We win this round.

I stared at the words as I walked. Brady had hardly known me a couple of days, but he already knew me well enough to guess I’d be entertaining second thoughts about going through with this.

I turned the corner and skidded to a halt, my sneakers screeching on the tile floor as I nearly ran into a group of girls.

“Sorry,” I said instinctively, keeping my eyes low as I shuffled to the wall.

“No worries,” a familiar voice said. “We actually thought you’d pass right through us. That’s what phantoms do, isn’t it?” I looked up and blanched. Martina and the other two backup dancers stood shoulder to shoulder, taking up the entire width of the hallway. Their exaggerated performance makeup, Lost Boy costumes, and ultra-stylized hair drew an even starker contrast than usual between me and them. They looked like they were sixteen-year-olds going to the fairy prom, while my black turtleneck and jeans made me look like I was some dollar-store mime.

The other two laughed and for a moment I wished I was a phantom, able to just phase through the wall and disappear from view.

“Looks like you skid-marked yourself,” Martina said, smacking her gum and laughing as she pointed to the ground where my shoes had left a pair of black streaks on the floor. “And, oh my gosh, look at those shoes! I didn’t know Walmart had a clearance section.”

I didn’t know stereotypical, pick-me popularity hacks were on clearance for three-for-one. I felt my skin heat up from ghost white to solar red. “Can I please get by?” I couldn’t even meet their eyes.

They stood there awhile—I’m sure just to let me know that they were in control—before Martina finally moved to the side. “Just make sure you pull the curtain on time, Phantom.”

I walked past them, trying with everything I had not to let my emotions snowball, not to give them any bit of satisfaction.

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