Wherefore Art Thou, Chase?

Author\'s Note: I would like to thank (The Academy? ^_~) everyone who was reviewed my story. I would also like to thank Eon for posting me on her recommended reading list. When I saw that, I was extremely excited and I think I might have done a dance (something I don\'t do often, let me tell you! ^_^ )! The details are fuzzy, but I do know this: I\'ve been inspired! So many reviews have spurred me onto creating THIS chapter!! Voila!! And thanks again! ^_^

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Chapter 9: Demons: Inside and Out


“You should wear that to the party,” Lily remarked to Janelle. They were sitting on the couch watching Ever After on DVD and Drew Barrymore’s character had just emerged at the masque. “I mean, that dress is gorgeous and it would fit you perfectly now,” she added, unaware that her comment, which was meant to be complimentary, actually struck a chord that wasn’t easily buried inside of Janelle.

“What d’you mean by ‘now,’ Lily?” she asked quietly, trying not to get up and head for the Chocolate Cabinet in the kitchen. Glancing at her cousin, the blonde woman suddenly realized what she’d said. She turned to face the brunette, trying to fix her error.

“’Nelle, I didn’t mean it like that…All I meant was that your so slim you’d fit into that dress perfectly!”

“As opposed to a few years ago when I was fat,” Janelle added, staring at the TV screen so she wouldn’t start crying. When she thought of all the things she’d had to sacrifice from her “old” life–like getting up later or anything that contained even the slightest bit of chocolate–she always became a bit sad, which made her want to reach for the chocolate she’d had to cut out of her life. Chocolate is my Achilles’ heel, she supposed. Which would explain why Chase is so irresistible, with his eyes and hair being the color of chocolate…

“Well, yes…As opposed to a few years ago when we were both fat,” Lily said quietly, a little timid. Janelle nodded silently, glancing at her anxious cousin. A smile broke out on the brunette’s face and she slung an arm about the blonde’s shoulders, giving her a hug. “At least you got slim,” the blonde added, poking her in the stomach teasingly.

“Yeah, but you got the hourglass figure that guys like…I look like a pear,” Janelle pointed out cynically, making Lily laugh before they returned to watching the movie.

As they continued to watch, Lily pointed out, once more, that she should wear “Danielle’s” dress to the party that night. “I’ve already told you, Lily…Chase insists that it be a surprise. He even made Huey cancel our tutoring session yesterday because he had stuff I couldn’t see hanging all over the house!”

The blonde sighed and nodded, the movie pulling her back in. Erin appeared at the top of the stairs, though it took Janelle a second to recognize her. The redhead had pulled her hair up into a bun and stuck a gray hat with a press badge hanging out of it on her head. She wore a charcoal business suit, and was carrying a pad of paper and a pencil. A tape recorder was dangling out of the black handbag slung over her shoulder.

“He’s even told Huey and I what you’re going as…” she said, descending the stairs in tan-colored pantyhose and black stiletto heels. Janelle glared at her, wanting to get the answer out of her, but unable to because she’d been “sworn to secrecy.”

“You can’t even give me a hint?” she wheedled, pleading with her eyes.

“They’ll be here soon, Janelle…Be patient,” Erin said, trying not to laugh. The brunette narrowed her eyes at the costume-clad redhead, then returned her attention to the ending movie.

Just as the credits began to roll, the buzzer sounded. Erin answered it quickly and buzzed up whoever was at the door. Lily stood to look for a new movie to watch while her roommates were out at the party and she was stuck at home giving out the candy in the Chocolate Cabinet to the trick-or-treaters that came to the door.

Erin answered the door when a knock sounded on the door. “Hey guys,” she greeted them, before saying, in a singsong voice, “Janelle! Your date is here!”

She stood and looked over her friend’s head and recognized half of Chase’s handsome face in the doorway. Only half, though, because the other half was covered by a famous white mask…

**********

Chase had agonized over the many famous couples he could pick for costumes for Janelle and himself. Romeo and Juliet had been too clichéd and, besides, they already were Romeo and Juliet. Finally, the decision had come down to a Disney costume or The Phantom of the Opera and Christine Daaé.

Watching her expression now, he knew he’d made a good choice. A hand flew to her mouth while her eyes widened. Stooping to make sure his top hat cleared the doorway, he entered the apartment, Huey following behind him. The eighteen-year-old was dressed in a very convincing Superman costume to Erin’s Lois Lane.

“Now, Janelle, you have a choice…You can go in this costume,” Chase pulled one costume out from behind his back, “Or this one.” He pulled another costume out from behind his back. The first costume was a contraption consisting of leather and chains that he’d rented as a joke. The second costume was the one that Erin had helped him buy for Janelle.

It was a light peach color that would compliment her pale skin and maple syrup-colored hair. It was rather frilly, in the style of the late nineteenth century in Paris. The “sleeves,” if you could call them that, were draped across the elbows. The dress would dip and reveal a bit of cleavage if the lace-up bodice was laced just right and the silken material billowed out over a million petticoats underneath in a hoop-skirt-style.

It would be hard for her to get into and out of, but she didn’t seem to mind. Running over to him, she snatched the dress out of his hands and held it up to her body. With one look at Erin, they both squealed, then ran up the stairs. Lily watched them go longingly, then smiled uncomfortably at Chase and Huey.

“So…If you guys need anything, we’ll be upstairs,” she informed them, before racing up the stairs behind her roommates.

**********

“I take back what I said before, ‘Nelle…This dress looks even more amazing than the Ever After dress would,” Lily remarked, sounding awed.

“You look gorgeous, even if I do say so myself,” Erin agreed, stroking her chin in a mock-thoughtful gesture. The redhead had admitted to helping Chase find a Christine Daaé dress that would fit and look good on Janelle. “But, don’t just take our words for it…Look at yourself in the mirror.” Quicker than she could protest, Janelle was being spun around to face the mirror she’d been avoiding making direct eye contact with for years. She had only a moment to brace herself for what she knew she’d see in it before she met her eyes in the reflected glass.

Just as The Phantom came to Christine Daaé in her mirror in her dressing room, Janelle’s inner demons surfaced through the looking glass. She saw the gorgeous, formal dress and white, elbow-length gloves, but they weren’t on the slimmed-down figure she now had. Instead, she saw chubby cheeks and arms. A hideously misshapen middle that bulged and threatened to break the seams of the frilly dress. She saw double chins, hardly any neck, and bad acne sprinkled over her cheeks. Her eyes were watering of their own accord, which she could see quite clearly through the thick glasses that were perched on her nose. Janelle began to hyperventilate and she whirled back around to face Erin and Lily, who were each grinning from ear-to-ear. She gave them a wan smile and just nodded.

“Can we do my hair, now?” she asked, trying to take attention off of her reflection.

**********

When they finally descended the stairs, about two hours after the guys had arrived, Janelle had shoved her mirror experience to the back of her mind in anticipation of the party. He knew she didn’t dance, so what did Chase think they’d be doing at there? Spilling Coke on his tux and having intimate conversation in the bathroom while she rinsed it out? It wasn’t likely that she’d make that mistake again…Besides, it was harder to get soda stains out of a tux than it was to get them out of a T-shirt.

Chase and Huey each looked up from where they were sitting on the couch, drinking soda and watching…

“The First Wives’ Club?!” Janelle asked incredulously, watching as the three women walked into the night at the end, singing, “You don’t own me!” at the top of their lungs. “You could have watched any movie in that DVD cabinet and you chose The First Wives’ Club?!”

Chase shrugged, took a sip of his soda–a feat much easier accomplished when he’d taken off the mask–and smiled enigmatically. “Huey wanted to see it,” he admitted nonchalantly, ignoring the way Huey blanched and glared at him. Janelle just rolled her eyes and glanced at Lily, who was giggling, and Erin, who was shaking her head in bemusement.

“Let’s just go,” she suggested to Erin. “You know, before they start picking out another movie, like The Princess Bride or Beauty and the Beast.”

“Hey!” Chase protested as he stood and grabbed his mask. “You can’t get any more suave than Cary Elwes in The Princess Bride,” he argued as he put the mask back on and fidgeted with it until it fit just right. Then, he offered his arm to Janelle, who placed her hand on his arm and sent a jolt of lightning up and down his spine from that one small touch.

Behind them, Huey smiled at Erin and scooped her into his arms, much like the “real” Superman might. “We’ll be home…whenever! Call me on my cell phone if you need anything!” the redhead told Lily, who was nodding amusedly and following them out so she could close the door.

“Have fun, you four!” she called down the hall before slamming the door and running back to the TV. It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! was on that night and it had always been one of her favorite things to watch on Halloween.

**********

As she struggled down the stairs in her gigantic skirt, Janelle came to a sudden realization. “How is this fitting in your car, Chase?” she asked, gesturing towards the hoop skirt in a very unladylike manner.

“Well, uh…see, we aren’t exactly taking a car,” he told her as they stepped out into the evening air. He pointed at the limo parked perpendicularly to the walkway the were on. “We’re taking that.”

Janelle gasped and, for the second time in as many hours, her hand flew to her mouth. Chase grinned widely as her gaze flickered between him and the limo uncertainly. “Well?” he encouraged, leading her towards the limousine and opening the door for her, like a true gentleman.

“Chase, how are you paying for this?” she asked as she clambered into the seat ungracefully.

“Actually, I’m not…Huey is,” Chase told her sheepishly as he followed her into the sleek, black vehicle. Both Erin and Janelle looked at Huey inquisitively and he shrugged.

“My dad is an entrepreneur in the limousine rental business,” he told them by way of explanation. Erin and Huey each slipped into the back of the vehicle and then they were off.

The backseat of the limo was luxurious and plush. A small TV hung from the ceiling and a wet bar was in the corner. Nearby was a phone that was connected to a phone on the driver’s side of the limo. There were so many buttons, it was hard for Janelle to resist pressing them. But she managed by looking at Chase. Then, she had an entirely new problem which was, in a way, similar to her first problem. Why does he have to be so damn gorgeous? she wondered as she stared at him out of the corner of her eye. And sweet, and funny, and sexy…

“So…How about some music?” Chase suggested, jolting Janelle out of her thoughts. She nodded, deciding it would be safest to look out the window. What she didn’t count on was the calloused touch on her shoulder and his voice suddenly near her ear. “I really like your hair, by the way,” he whispered, his voice washing over her like waves on the beach shore. She shivered and closed her eyes, nodding imperceptibly in response to his compliment. She could tell he was smiling and she wanted to lean into his touch, but she resisted. She could feel her cheeks heating under his gaze, though, and that irked the hell out of her.

She felt like a teenager going to her prom…Or, at least, that’s what she thought she felt like. Janelle couldn’t actually relate this to anything remotely resembling a date in any way, shape, or form.

Erin and Huey watched from across the back seat as Chase lifted one of the many curls that the girls had worked so hard on pinning back to cascade over the back of her neck. He dropped a kiss to her neck and they both turned to give the “couple” some privacy. “Lois Lane” waggled her eyebrows teasingly at “Superman,” which made him grin. She reached up and ran her fingers through his carefully gelled hair, messing it up.

“So it looks more wind-blown,” she murmured in explanation. Huey slid a sideways glance at Chase and Janelle, who seemed pretty preoccupied with themselves, before he leaned in and kissed her quickly, smudging her lipstick slightly. As she wiped away the lipstick that had gotten on him, she quirked an eyebrow.

“So it looks more wind-blown,” he teased, echoing her earlier words and making Erin giggle. She found herself giggling giddily more often in his presence, which was a heady thrill on one level, but disturbed her down to the core on a deeper level.

Suddenly, the back of the limo was filled with haunting, chilling notes. Janelle, Erin, and Huey almost instantly recognized it as the overture for The Phantom of the Opera. Chase had, apparently, started the CD player.

“What a coincidence,” Janelle murmured, sliding a knowing look over at Chase, who was pretending to ignore the fact that he was dressed up as The Phantom.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied, meeting her gaze. Janelle quickly blushed and turned to face her window again, wanting to press her forehead against the cool glass but afraid of ruining her makeup.

As the songs changed and they fought through traffic, Janelle thought she heard a soft, deep voice singing along to the songs with The Phantom in them. A glance in his reflection in the window showed Chase moving his lips along with The Phantom parts. She smiled, closing her eyes and listening to him.

He knew the words perfectly and his voice was beautiful. He’d make an amazing Phantom–or Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny–if he ever got the chance. The thought of another woman playing Christine Daaé to him in either of those parts, though, made her feel like she’d been stabbed in the gut and the blade was being twisted over and over, wrenching scream after scream out of her.

“You don’t seem like you’re having much fun, ‘Christine.’” Hot breath sent a shiver up and down her spine. Janelle turned her head and jumped a little. She hadn’t been expecting him to be so close and, with the mask on, he was almost unrecognizable for all of a moment. She was about to say something, when the limo came to a complete halt and she heard the driver get out.

“We’re here,” she whispered, right before the back door opened. Something flashed in his chocolate brown eyes before he smiled and got out of the limo.

**********

As he pushed past the dancing Ketchup and Mustard Bottles, Chase took a sip of his orange soda. There wasn’t any beer at this party, which was okay by him. He wasn’t fond of the taste and it had always seemed a little watery to him. He scanned the room as best he could with the mask on and zeroed-in on Janelle. She seemed to be talking, quite animatedly, with someone dressed as a gorilla. When the gorilla walked away, Chase swooped in, circling his arm about her waist and pulling her up against him.

“How you managed to escape me, I have no idea, my Angel of Music, but now I’ve got you,” he teased, his voice low and predatory. He gave her no time to respond, merely covered her mouth with his. Her soft sigh of pleasure stirred something inside him and he backed her up against the wall carefully. His tongue snaked out and parted her lips. The tentative touch of her tongue to his nearly sent him through the roof and he had to pull back. Her eyes had fluttered shut and she was gasping for breath. He drained his cup of orange soda, then set it down on a surface that he could only barely make out from the corner of his eye. Leaning down, he pressed his lips against her erratic pulse, making his way up to her lips again. Her arms had wound their way around his own neck and his top hat had fallen off at some point, but he couldn’t have cared less about the damned hat. As long as she continued making those little noises she was making, he’d be all set.

Suddenly, applause penetrated the fog of their desire and Chase lifted his head to look out across the room. Every eye at the party was on them and everyone was either clapping or cheering. Stepping away from Janelle, he bowed and snatched up his hat in one motion. Glancing back at Janelle, he noticed that she was blushing furiously and she was flustered. She’s embarrassed, he thought guiltily, watching in horror as she glared at him and then stormed out of the room.

Chase looked around the room which was filled with costumed men and women who were hosting a myriad of emotions on their faces. They were all calling after Janelle playfully, unaware that their attention could ruin any chance of her ever being anything other than cold to him from now on. The sudden slam of the front door silenced them and they all looked at him expectantly. “I…I’ll be right back,” he told them, before rushing out after Janelle.

**********

She fought back tears as she stalked towards the limo, staring at it hard to stop herself from breaking down and crying. How could he embarrass her like that?! All of those people she would have to work with and now they’d be making fun of her about making out in public with her leading man. Janelle could just imagine the puns they might come up with and none of them were kind.

A firm grip on her arm caused her to turn around. Her eyes lit with fury as she recognized Chase behind his mask. “Janelle, I–”

“Don’t even start with me, Chase Nicholson!” she interrupted, wanting to reach out and smack him. Hard. “How could you embarrass me like that?!” she demanded.

“Janelle, I–”

“I mean, its bad enough that you’ve got me so disoriented that I can’t think straight, but I have to work with those people and now all they’ll think is that I’m some silly little girl who’s just there to pick up guys!”

“Janelle, believe me–”

“Believe you?!” she shrieked, on the edge of hysterical. “Why should I believe you?!”

Whatever else she was going to say was suddenly cut off as he seized her and brought her up against him. He kissed her soundly, catching her off-guard for about a moment before she was pushing him away.

“NO!” she cried, yanking herself away from him. “No…” she said again, this time much softer. As he watched her, he realized there were unshed tears in her eyes that she was trying desperately to hold back. He stepped forward and she backed up a few steps, her eyes wary behind the tears. Her complexion was getting red and blotchy and he didn’t doubt that soon she was going to burst into tears. The thought made him feel so horrible and guilt-ridden…

“At least let me accompany you home,” he said, not so much an offer as a plea. Meeting his eyes, Janelle realized that there was compassion and guilt in those chocolate depths. Taking a deep gulp of air, she nodded slowly, then turned back and tried to make her way back to the limo as dignified as possible in the awkward shoes and skirt.

**********

The ride home was silent as far as conversation went. Every so often, Janelle would sniffle. With each gentle sob she expelled, Chase thought lower and lower of himself. When they finally arrived at her apartment building, Janelle faced him.

“I’ll return the costume to you tomorrow…” she began, staring at her hands in her lap.

“Janelle, I just wanted to say…” She lifted her gaze and he faltered, losing his train of thought for a moment when their eyes met. “Uh…Just wanted to say that…uh…I really do like your hair,” he told her, reaching out to touch the curls lightly, timidly. A small, wet laugh bubbled out from her lips, which made him feel marginally better. “And…I’m sorry,” he added, feeling his gut wrench when her smile fell and she lowered her lashes to stare into her lap again.

She moved so quickly that he was sure he’d imagined it, but all of a sudden her lips were on his and he was sure he hadn’t made the first move. Before he could recover, she was already trying to struggle out of the limousine, cheeks burning brightly.

“Good night, Janelle Scott!” he called out the window after she’d slammed the door.

**********

Back at the party, Erin and Huey were staring at the door curiously. “D’you still think we have a ride?” Erin asked him quietly. He merely shrugged and shook his head.

“Who knows? I mean, they’ve been out there for a while, right? It isn’t like they’d just leave without us, right? And, even if they do, we can take public transportation…or something.” Erin laughed as Huey paled a little at the thought of public transportation. Slipping her hand into his, she tugged him out onto the dance floor because the party was still going and they could worry about this later.