Hey ya'll! I got this idea while spending the night at Lauren's (Songbird of Night) house: What if I were Christine? Not very original, but I'm gonna write it anyway. :P You can bet things will be a wee bit different...

Being Christine: Chapter One

"One, two, three. One, two, three."

Though it was a given fact that Aunt Annie had been instructing the ballet for years, I was sure the music was going One, two, three; therefore I was very off with the dance steps. I looked atrocious, and about as coordinated as a one-legged elephant in pointe shoes. But then, again, I am about as coordinated as a one-legged elephant in pointe shoes.

Stupid dance steps, I thought. Stupid music.

But that was a lie. I thought the music was lovely and so well compos-"Christine!"

There went that happy thought.

Aunt Annie's tone of voice told me I was in trouble. Again. I walked away from the other dancers and towards where she was standing at the far end of the stage.

"Christine," she began, and, from the look in her eye, a look of disappointment, I could tell that I was about to hear some bad news, "You are not progressing very well in ballet."

Duh.

"If your dancing does not improve, I'm afraid this may be your last opera."

I was a little more than startled. "What? Aunt Annie, I have to stay! I've nowhere else to go. I promise I'll approve, I truly do. I can't leave!"

"And I would never want you to, so please keep that promise."

"I will."

As Aunt Annie walked away, I let out the breath of air I didn't know I was holding. I wasn't so worried about losing dance. I was much more worried about losing something much more important...

~o~

"From-a our saviors, from-a our SA-A-A-A-aviors-ah!"

Kill. Me. NOW, I thought to myself as our Prima Donna, Carlotta, graced, the stage.

"Brava, brava," I heard her minions call out her.

Brava my butt! So many people would be offended if they knew what I truly though of them. But most people didn't know I existed. I had always kept to myself, finding that it was easier to live in the opera when remaining out of its ranks.

"...who now own the Opera Populaire."

What?

"Christine." I turned around to see my best friend Meg standing behind me.

"What's going on? I kind of zoned out..." Meg knew I couldn't pay attention to anything very long. There is just always something more interesting in my head.

"Two new people own the Opera, Christine."

I wasted a moment of my day-dreaming time to think this information over. "Two newbies were dumb enough to buy the Opera?"

"Apparently."

"Give it five months, and, trust me, they'll be high-tailing it out of here. They'll sell the place before half the year is out."

"Unless there's no one dumb enough to buy it from them."

We both laughed, then, in our randomness, changed the subject completely and started discussing the latest gossip about one of the dancers, who may or may not, be pregnant with one of the scene-changers. Then we talked about the horrendous altos' costumes. Then we talked about the most important stuff: what was being served for lunch.

"...the Viscount de Chagny."

Huh?

"Raoul?" I spoke my thought softly as I worked my way to the front of the crowd that was gathered for something I only partially knew about with Meg behind me.

"It's Raoul," I said, this time not to myself, but to Meg.

Meg looked shocked. "How do you know him? And how the heck are you on a first-name bases with the Viscount?"

I smiled as a flash-back to the first time I met Raoul began to play in my mind. I was with Father on the beach in Calais. My red scarf, a last gift from my mother, blew away from me on the wind, and was whisked out to the sea. I couldn't swim, so I was sure that was the last time I'd ever wear it. I had turned to leave with tears in my eyes when I heard splashing behind me. A boy a bit older than my age, which was six at the time, was swimming out to save my scarf. When he swam back to the shore, I realized he was one of the Counts' sons. I had seen him a few times before, most of the time in carriages heading to important dinners and galas that I'd never see. I didn't know anything about him until returned my scarf and introduced himself. I introduced myself and thanked him, letting him know how much it meant to me. From then, we were friends until I came to live at opera. I had never seen him after that.

I assumed I'd had a dumb look on my face, since when I snapped back to reality; Meg was staring at me with a confused look on her face.

"Fine then, Christine, don't answer me."

~o~

Of course, Raoul walked right past me without a second glance. Just my luck. But, then again, that was to be expected. How was he supposed to remember someone when the last time he saw them, they were seven? So I went back to Lala Land until disaster struck.

Carlotta was pitching a fit, which is nothing new, then randomly started screechin-I mean, singing. Well, it might not have been random, but I usually tune Carlotta out of my head, so it was random for me.

"When you find, that once again you long, to take your heart back and be free, if you ever find a moment, spare a-AH!"

The scream brought me back down to Earth, and I turned around to see the scrim on top of our Prima Donna.

How in the world did I not notice that? I must have been getting good at tuning out all things Carlotta.

"Until-a you stop-a these this from 'appening, this thing does-a not 'appen!" And with that, our one and only lead soprano left. What did Meg say lunch was again?

I was running off to find her when I felt a hand on my shoulder. "Christine Daae could sing it sir."

WHAT?

"She has been trained by a great teacher."

How did she know about THAT?

"By who."

I knew would sound stupid saying, the Angel of Music, so I said the next best thing.

"Don't know his name, monsieur."

I still sounded stupid

"Let her sing for you monsieur. She has been well taught."

My heartbeat drowned out the next bit of conversing but as soon as the music began I was miraculously able to sing.

I sang for a full-house that night. As I took my bows, I realized that I might become the new Prima Donna.

In your face Craplotta!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Not too, too different in this chapter, but soon there should be some big changes. I know it's not very long, but the chapters will be shorter so I can update more frequently when school starts back. Please review!

PS: I'm always open to ideas, so just send me a quick pm or leave your ideas in the comments. I'll be sure to let everyone know whose ideas I used. :)