Three weeks before what happened in Chapter 2....

"Theater?" Frank gawked at his brother. "You? Acting?"

"Yep," Joe said proudly, his blue eyes twinkling as he waved a thick bundle of papers in the air. "This is the script. Did I tell you I got the lead? And Vanessa's going to be in the play too and she's going to be Christine! Ooh, I can't wait till we start rehearsing. And not only there's acting, but there's also singing! Can you believe it, Fr-"

"Whoa, whoa, hold up Cowboy," Frank laughed, raising a hand. "You need to rewind yourself a little coz I'm not getting anything you're saying. Start at the beginning. Closing the Chemistry book he was revising, he twirled in his chair to face his brother, who was rapidly thinning the carpet in his room with his endless pacing as he gushed non-stop about his upcoming acting debut.

"-this new teacher is really great, Frank. You've got to meet him," Joe was saying enthusiastically. He was about to say something else when he saw a CD sitting on Frank's CD player. He grabbed it and immediately wrinkled his nose. "Sade? You bought this crap?"

Frank sighed and with the agility of a martial arts expert, shot out of his seat and snatched the CD out of his brother's hand, grumbling. "It's not my fault you were born with a disability to appreciate good music. Doesn't mean it's genetic. And it's not crap. Crap is what YOU listen to. N Sync, shesh!! No wonder you're turning more and more into a wuss everyday!"

"I-I-" Joe sputtered, his face turning red. " I SOOO do not listen to N Sync!"

"Right," Frank smirked. "It just so happens that someone likes N Sync so much he went and bought 2 CDs and wanted to share his interest with everybody so he broke into our van and nicely slipped it under the driver's seat."

He slowly walked to his brother and studied him from head to toe, circling him with the air of a fashion designer looking over a model. "Well, you do look a little like Justin Timberlake, only taller. You can borrow Mom's rollers to get full effect though-"

"Frank, cut it out!" Joe self-consciously brought a hand up to his head, petting his blond hair gingerly.

"Vanessa likes them. Anyway, you're missing the whole point here. I'm here to tell you about this new school project not hear you diss my good looks," Joe said indignantly.

"OK, OK," Frank said, sitting back in his chair, elbows propped on the armrest. "Where were we. Yes. Acting."

"Right. See, there's this new teacher in school. His name is Gary Weinhardt and he's supposed to be our English teacher, but since it's in the middle of the term already, he thinks we should start on, you know, things like so that we'd get a full term of high school credits."

"Why do you have a new teacher so late I the term?" Frank asked. He held out his hand for the scriptbook Joe was holding. The Phantom of the Opera, Frank read. The classic by Gaston Leroux. Not bad. Suddenly Frank felt like laughing. Joe would make a great phantom of the opera.

"Mrs. Shannon left on maternity leave," Joe explained. "He's just filling in." He gazed at his brother as Frank rifled through the papers. " I know, the Phantom sounds boring, but Mr. Weinhardt makes it sound so interesting. I thought maybe I'd give it a try."

Frank was impressed. He never thought Joe had it in him. An excellent football player, Frank could give him that. But acting in a play? I've got to see this, he thought.

"The play's about this terribly disfigured phantom the catacombs somewhere in Paris and he's got the hots for this singer girl and-"

"I know how the story goes, Joe," Frank said dryly. "I've been trying to get you to read this classic since forever instead of those Robert Heinlein's the Star Beast thingies when we were kid, remember? You'd spend days pretending to be John Thomas Stuart on one of his super-galactic adventures with his super-alien pet Lummox."

Joe smiled wistfully at the memory. " Yeah, that was great..."

"Better start staying up after this. And you can't forget shaving too," Frank said casually, hiding a secret smile. "I'd be happy to provide you with all the caffeine needed.

Joe stared at Frank I confusion. "Whatever for?"

"Yeah, I thought with your not-so-great acting skills and all, the lack of beauty sleep will definitely give you that haggard, messed-up look that'd be great for your part. As the phantom, how are you going to convince the audience with this-" Frank teased his brother's blond hair "-this pretty-boy hair-cut of yours? And so clean-shaven too! No, no, that's so unacceptable-"

"The phantom? I'm not gonna play the phantom!" Joe fumed. Frank burst into laughter as he dodged a pillow thrown at him.

"Then who? Christine?" Frank guffawed. "You said you've got the lead!"

"Raoul, of course," Joe said, pretending to be hurt. "Rich, handsome, a perfect gentleman...He gets the girl after all. And besides, what's the use of being in a play and then dying in the end?"

"Whatever." Frank laughed again, then decided to give up and pay more attention. "Alright, I'll be serious. Tell me more about this teacher. He was available in the middle of the term? What was he doing before?"

Joe pondered Frank's question. "Mr Weinhardt taught English in a high school in Manhattan before changing to drama. And he told us he used to be a Broadway singer too so he should be experienced."

"A Broadway singer?" Frank raised his eyebrows. "How could a Broadway singer become a teacher?"

"Joe shrugged. "He was real young when he sang in Broadway. Suddenly he decide to do something better with his life so he took up teaching. But it's in his blood I guess. You just can't stop doing what you love no matter how much you tell yourself not to. That's why he's doing both, maybe."

"You seem to know a lot about this guy," Frank commented. He'd never seen Joe get this excited before about a new teacher and whatever new things he might bring. But Frank was not complaining. It's time Joe get over his depression and get on with his life. Joe had been haunted by the ghost of Iola for far too long now. With Vanessa and now with this play, Frank hoped he could see once again the brother he once knew-kind, out-going, popular and cheerful. Frank was glad to see he was smiling more and more nowadays. "Has he been in Bayport long? I don't think I've seen him around."

"Nah, it's just that he just came in last week and he had a little trouble with the checking out of books at the library computer this morning so I helped him out. And then we had lunch together," Joe explained.

"No wonder I didn't catch you at lunch," Frank said, getting off his seat, stretching his muscles which felt pretty tense. "Speaking of lunch, I didn't eat much today and now I'm famished. Wanna go grab a burger? My treat."

Joe's jaw dropped again. "Can I get that I writing?"

Frank staggered back, a hand on his heart. "You wound me. I know I haven't been that cruel as not to have treated you occasionally with decency for the past 17 years of your life."

Joe grinned and boxed his brother's arm lightly. "You're so full of crap, Frank"

"Yeah, well...that's why you love me so much."

"Yeah, you wish," Joe retorted, grabbing his jacket as he prepared to leave.

"Just consider it a token of my sympathy for you, my dear ugly, old, unwanted phantom," Frank teased, smiling affectionately.

"Sing, my angel of music....." he mimicked the phantom. "Sing for me..."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Joe said good-naturedly. "You know, you'd make a good phantom. Why you don't you try out, Frank? Let me talk to Mr Wienhardt..."

"Cut the crap and get down here, you idiot," Frank said, already walking down the stairs. But Frank was smiling. Spending time with his brother was something he didn't mind doing. God knows how Joe had kept him sane with his endless jokes and wise-cracking attitude. It helped ease his mind. To him, Joe was like sunshine in the North Pole during winter. Little did Frank know that it was just a matter of time until the sun in Joe would be eclipsed forever.

Pain PG