Author's Note: This story is based off of another story I had started (also called Singing Lessons) that I deleted. I did not like the direction it was going in and I had new ideas that will appear in this story, but would not have fit in with the other. This story will actually be quite different from the previous "Singing Lessons", so if you are reading this one expecting the same thing... sorry. Not that the general idea isn't changed, I'm telling you right now that Christine and Erik belong together, and in my story they will end up together, but the manner in which they come together has changed. I just wanted to point that out to any fans of the previous "Singing Lessons" reading this.

Important note: This story is rated T for a reason. I'm not big on sex scenes, and other than the very basics, I will not go into detail, it's just not my style of writing, so you don't have to worry about that. HOWEVER, this story's plot is based on student/teacher romances, or at least a romance between two people of very different ages (Erik is obviously a bit older than Christine). I promise not to make the story creepy in any way, but if you don't go for the age difference thing at all (again, it's not going to be a massive age difference) than I suggest not reading this. If you don't mind too much however, I promise the story should be good... so give it a try! PLEASE!

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own any of the Phantom characters, blah blah blah...please don't sue me, I will deny everything :)

Erik Destler sat at the bench of the gleaming mahogany piano and watched the three singers onstage with a grim expression on his face. He had been practicing with the teenagers for well over three hours, and after listening to them continuously croak out the songs to the musical they were rehearsing, he had decided that he had been through enough for one day.

With a sudden gesture, Erik brought his right fist down onto the piano keys, producing a sharp, unpleasant sound of jumbled notes. The singers eyes darted over to the left side of the stage, surprised by the noise their instructor had made, but Erik ignored their looks and simply said, "Until the three of you can learn to sing together and produce a sound that doesn't sound like a cat being run over, we are through."

He wished what he said were true, that they wouldn't practice again until they could sing, but he and the students knew that they had rehearsals again tomorrow, whether they sounded better or not. For their sake though, Erik thought bitterly, they had better sound better.

Erik watched the sullen teenagers walk off the stage, and head towards the back of the auditorium, passing by a few girls who seemed to belong to the ballet class. Erik glanced at his watch and realized that he had stopped rehearsal just in time, the ballerinas were scheduled to practice in ten minutes.

Well, it's all for the best then, he thought.

Erik was the singing instructor at a private boarding school called Springmore, dedicated to the performing arts. He himself was completely obsessed with anything to do with music, including singing, instruments, etc. One thing he did not openly support however was dancing.

He understood the beauty in it of course, but why would you want to dance to music when you could create it? Of course, there was the slight chance that he was biased, not that he would admit it.

Erik would normally have walked back to his room around this time after his rehearsals. As a teacher at Springmore, he had been given a choice between living off campus, or living on campus with the students and a few random faculty members. At the time of his employment, Erik had no money, so of course it had been an easy choice; he would live on campus. He stayed in his room most of the time anyway, so the fact that students lived on the grounds as well did not bother him.

Erik was preparing to head out of the auditorium and go home, but the dejected feelings he had left over from his failed rehearsal came sinking in, and he wanted nothing more than to sit down. He didn't even want to walk home yet, it just required too much energy, and he was most definitely not energetic right now.

Instead, Erik opted to take a seat in the back of the room, partly immersed in shadows, and watch the rehearsals currently beginning onstage for the ballerinas. The ballet department at the school was small, only a select few girls were chosen to be in the group each year. Five total were part of the group this year, one of the smallest groups yet, as far as Erik could remember.

The ballerinas were rehearsing for the same event Erik's singers had been; the musical.

The musical was a tradition at the school. Every year a different one was performed to showcase the students work of the year. Not that all the students in the school got to be a part of it. There were class requirements, and very difficult auditions that must be overcome before a student was allowed to perform in the musical. It was generally said that only the best students in Springmore were the ones to perform.

Erik's head was clouded by thoughts of the work he would need to do still to prepare the singers, but he shook it off as he noticed the five girls onstage begin to get into formation, he was curious as to how their work was progressing thus far.

He studied the girls carefully, starting with the three in the back. He noticed that they were all average looking, but also, they reminded him of the reason he disliked the ballerinas. They were all catty looking girls, the type that stared at themselves in compact mirrors all day, and gossiped about their best friend behind their back. He turned away in disgust.

He then looked at the two girls in the front. One girl he noticed resembled Barbara Giry, the ballet teacher. She had blond hair the same shade, and she seemed to have the same build. Erik figured the girl must be Giry's daughter, whom he knew attended the school.

The girl next to her soon captured his attention.

She was of slightly above average height with very long slender legs that were very obviously perfect for ballet. She was very thin in her waist and arms, but her hips and bust were curvy, causing her body to become perfectly balanced and proportional, if not stunning. Her face was even more remarkable though. She had a mouth the color of stained berries, and Erik couldn't help but wonder whether she ate a lot of strawberries. Her lips were plump and slightly upturned, making it seem as though she were smiling. Her nose was very tiny, and the end was also upturned, but not overly so... it looked very cute actually. Erik could not clearly see her eyes, given the distance he was from the stage, but he could tell they were blue, and startlingly so, considering he could clearly see their color from such a distance! Erik's eyes drifted up towards her hair that was impossible to miss. It was obvious she had very curly hair. Even though her hair was tied up in a bun to dance Erik could see little tendrils and ringlets falling out. The color was a very deep chestnut with little gold strands that would catch the light every time she moved her head. Her skin was very fair, and exceptionally clear, giving her an evanescent look, almost like a porcelain doll.

Erik was enraptured by her beauty. She was breathtaking! He had never seen anyone as gorgeous as she, and certainly not a teenager! For heaven's sake, if she was this beautiful now, what would she look like as an adult?! One thing was for sure, she would definitely have many admirers, he reasoned.

He glanced back up at her face, and was struck by something else. She was not like her catty, gossiping peers. He hadn't met her of course, but there was something in the expression of her face, the way she looked around her, seemed as though she were above the giggles the other girls let out... she was different. Different in a good way though, the best way, Erik thought to himself.

He watched the girl begin to dance along with the other four, but he had forgotten about them. They ceased to exist. As far as he was concerned, this girl was the only person onstage, and he was the only other person in the room.

He was struck once again by her, as he watched her dance he couldn't help but notice her grace, much like his own he would like to believe. She seemed to float across the stage as if she were born to do it, which when he thought about it, made sense. She was other worldly.

Erik nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the door next to him open with a loud squeak, and then slam shut of its own accord as someone walked down the aisle to the stage.

Erik saw that it was Barbara Giry, or Madame Giry as the students called her. He hadn't even realized that she wasn't there leading the rehearsal. He decided that now would be a good time to leave, as he certainly didn't want to explain his presence to the ever meddlesome Giry.

With the grace he had compared to the girl, he rose from his seat, left the auditorium, and stepped into the night, all without making a sound.

...

Christine Daae had been attending Springmore boarding school since she was 12 years old. A difficult feat considering most students started at around 14 or 15, since it was a high school.

Christine had been a special case though for two different reasons. The first being that, she was an exceptional student and performer.

She had been home schooled most of her life, starting in the first grade, and her parents dedication to her education, and her natural willingness and ability to learn, had pushed her several years ahead of her peers. She had already gone through most of the high school curriculum by the summer she had turned 11. Not that she had learnt it all, but she was sufficient and well read in most subjects.

While this sounded extraordinary to everyone else, to Christine it was to be expected. Her parents were both college professors who had been teaching her everything they could since she was a baby.

Christine had also been studying ballet very seriously since she had been 4. She had performed all across the country, traveling with her parents and studying on the road.

It had been a very productive and studious household.

Christine made friends very easily, as she seemed to be the type of person that could get along with anyone, and everyone loved her, so she always had friends around the neighborhood although she was home schooled. However, Christine could not have cared less if she had 100 or 0 friends. She was perfectly happy with the company of her two parents.

Growing up, they had been the two people she could always rely on, the people that lived to see her happy. They were her teachers, her supporters, her fans when she was performing, and her best friends. She loved her parents very much, and relied on them for everything...until she turned 12.

That was the second reason Christine attended Springmore boarding school. Her parents had both died in a car crash two weeks after she turned 12 years old. The wreckage had been so bad that police officials were unable to determine who the passengers of the car were until they did a thorough examination. Christine had been devastated; it was the end of the life she knew and loved.

She had also been scared. She knew of no family members that could take care of her, and she felt very alone. Luckily, a friend of her father's, Barbara Giry, had taken Christine into her home.

Within a week, Barbara had seen that Christine was more than competent to begin training with the school despite her age, and she enrolled Christine along with her own daughter Meg, whom Christine had grown quite attached to.

For four years, Christine had been learning more and more about ballet, acting, and piano, all of which were part of the curriculum at her school. She and Meg had become best friends, and were rarely seen apart, although they both had many other friends as well.

Every year, Christine was accepted into the very selective ballet department, along with Meg (although Meg hadn't made it the first year) and every year, Christine had to be a part of the annual musical.

It wasn't that she didn't want to be a part of it, she loved to perform, but the rehearsals were long and very demanding.

One night after a particularly long practice, Christine was left sitting on the stage rubbing her feet. The rest of the ballerinas had scurried off to their dorm rooms to sleep. Despite her exhaustion, Christine had wanted to stay. She loved having the auditorium to herself at night. It was peaceful to be onstage by herself and be able to dance freely, away from the instruction and criticism of Madame Giry and the rest of the ballerinas.

Christine glanced at the clock on the wall opposite her and saw that it was exactly 11:11. She smiled to herself as she thought of all the times Meg had told her to make a wish when it was 11:11, apparently your wish would come true or something. Christine was tired though, and she honestly couldn't think of anything to wish for, so she let it slide.

She began putting her ballet shoes on again, deciding that this would probably be the only time she would have the stage to herself, so she might as well dance. She stood up and began to twirl on her toes, already warmed up from the practice earlier. She went to do a first arabesque, which involved bringing her leg back and high into the air, but she couldn't find the motivation she needed. She was clearly too tired to dance tonight, it was a lost cause.

Feeling dejected, she sat down again to remove her ballet slippers and replace them with the Mary Jane high heels she wore that day. Those too were a mistake for her sore feet, but she hardly cared anymore, and she wasn't about to wak back to her dorm shoeless.

Christine let her mind wander as she packed up her belongings, and she found herself focusing on an old memory of her mother singing her a lullaby when she was young. Her mother had been a very good singer, and she often sang old sad sounding folk songs to Christine. The particular one she was thinking of was one of her favorites, very sad, but also truly beautiful.

Christine missed her mother so much at that moment, but she didn't want to give into the tears that she could feel threatening to escape. They would only make her weak, and right now particularly, when she was already so tired, she did not want to feel any weaker. Instead, she started humming the lullaby to herself in an effort to soothe herself.

She loved music, and it was evident now as she got caught up in the beautiful melody that threaded its way through her vocal chords. She longed to sing it out loud, and for a second was self conscious, but upon looking around at the empty seats surrounding her, she took a breath and started singing the once forgotten words. She didn't pride herself on being a wonderful singer (not that she was awful, she just didn't think she was great) but at that moment she didn't care, she was free onstage and no one was there to see her.

Or so she thought.

...

It had been a week since Erik had watched the ballet rehearse. Or to be exact, since watching Christine rehearse.

He had been determined to learn the girl's name after being so struck by her in so many different ways, that he had risked getting in trouble by his boss to look up her name in the files. He had not had time to look at the rest of her file for he had heard someone coming, and he wasn't supposed to be there, but he had gotten what he came for; her name.

Erik was heading for the auditorium. It was 11:15 at night, and he knew the place would be empty.

He enjoyed going there at nights when the rest of the campus was asleep or at least not working. He prided himself on being a talented piano player (some would even say he was a genius at the instrument) and he would go to compose and play on the school's beautiful mahogany piano. He would have liked of course to have a piano of his own, but dorm rooms provided little space for a baby grand piano much less a grand one.

Regardless, Erik was just opening the doors to the auditorium, quietly of course, as was his way, when he was stopped in his tracks by a voice so beautiful, he doubted it was real.

He looked down at the stage where the sound of the voice was coming from, and he had to do a double take when he saw who was standing right in the center.

Christine Daae!

She was so caught up with her song, that he didn't want to bother her, plus he wanted to hear more, so he sunk into the shadows of the last row, and silently sat in an uncomfortable, poorly upholstered chair.

He felt himself go numb with pleasure at the sound her voice made when she hit a high note. She was superb! Better than that, she was... he couldn't even find a word, his brain had stopped forming coherent thoughts.

The sound of her voice drifted over him, and surrounded him in such a gentle yet demanding way. Did she know she was this good? Did anyone other than him know she was this good?

He highly doubted it, otherwise he would probably be coaching her for the musical right now, and she would be in more singing classes.

He was so immersed in his thoughts and her voice that he almost didn't hear her stop. She had though, and it seemed that she was packing her things to leave.

He glanced at the clock, and saw it was half past midnight. Has it really been that long? he thought, amazed that it had only felt like 5 minutes.

His desire to play the piano had completely left him, as had all other rational thought. All he could think about was her and the beautiful voice she had. He had thought that she was perfect before when she was just a dancer, but this, this had bumped her up to goddess status!

He felt like he should bow down to her, but at the same time, he had to keep himself hidden in the shadows as she walked up the center aisle and out the door.

Once she had gone, Erik sat in his uncomfortable chair for a while, his thoughts on nothing but her.