The first time I ever met Erik was when I was fourteen years old. Of course that seems young, but you must first understand that he didn't show his physical self until I turned sixteen. For two long years the passion built and our love grew in shadows until that fateful day he stepped out from the darkness to meet me in the sun. Our story begins though when I was a child and his music began to play for me….

I can still remember the first day of my eighth grade year. My uniform was pressed so tight you could make a penny jump to the ceiling off of it. My blue button up oxford with my tan skirt fit well for only being fourteen I thought as I looked in the mirror at myself. As I tied a red ribbon in my brown hair, I put a little mascara on and began to head out the door.

I headed outside for the school bus to pick me up and once I found my seat, I relaxed and pulled out a book to read, waiting to get to school. I was eager to see my friends again after such a long summer.

I was the first to be picked up every morning so my ride was the worst out of everyone's, but I didn't mind. My mind had thoughts of the school musical flooding through it. Last year I had been in the musical and that was when I had found my love of singing. I was only a chorus girl, but still, just to be on the stage with the stars was enough for me. It made me feel like I had found my place.

When the bus pulled up to the walkway between the buildings, I walked out to look at my school once again. It had been almost ninety days since I had been there but of course, it looked the same. I quickly pulled out my new schedule and made my way to my first class of the day which happened to be Computer.

When I opened the door, I found a patch of my friends gathered around the teacher's desk and I joined them to see what was going on. Once I found out it was nothing important, I took my seat next to my best friend, Megan.

"Christine, how was your summer?" she asked eagerly?

"Oh Meg, it was great! I read so many books and practiced my singing every single day!"

Megan giggled when I even tried to sing her the scales for proof. Just then, the bell rang and like clockwork, everyone found their seats.

Our Computer teacher, Mr. Campbell, stood up and introduced himself but I had known him since I was a child. Throughout his speech, Megan passed notes to me and I had to refrain from laughing at the remarks she would make about class. Finally, we were allowed to go to our computers and Megan and I took off for the first two next to each other. Our project of the day was the start building a website and we had been working on it for about twenty minutes when I suddenly heard the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. A man singing somewhere. Somewhere the most beautiful voice a man could ever posses was serenading my heart and I had no idea where it was coming from. I stood to my feet and began walking around the room, but no matter where I walked, I couldn't see where it was coming from, but I could still hear him.

"Christine, are you alright?" asked Mr. Campbell.

"I hear someone singing. Don't you?" I asked helplessly.

Mr. Campbell paused and listened but shook his head.

"I swear I can hear him, I hear him so loudly! I can hear a man singing!" I began to shout across the classroom.

"Christine, maybe you should go to the nurse." he said and wrote me out a pass.

Even Megan couldn't hear this mystery man so I grabbed the pass and ran out the door. Once the door shut though, I couldn't hear the singing anymore. Now my curiosity was peaked. I wanted to know what was going on. I walked around the corner to the other side of the classroom but there was nothing. As I turned around though, I heard a cape swirl behind me. I quickly turned back to see a cape darker than night swirl around a tall body and before I could blink, it was gone.

I lied down in the nurse's office and began to tell her my tale. At first she thought I was just trying to skip class but as I got my in depth, her eyes began to actually believe me. She looked at me with such pity and then stood up.

"Christine, I am going to call your father. I think you need to go home."

"Mrs. Gill, do you know what is going on?" I asked.

She looked at me for a moment, pondering whether to tell me or not, but then finally shook her head 'yes'.

"I have known for quite some time that this would happen, Christine. I have known ever since you where in the school musical last year."

"What about the musical? I was just a lowly chorus girl." I replied.

"Not to everyone, Christine. Someone sees much talent in you."

'Who?" I asked curiously.

"I cannot tell you his name, Christine. He will tell you when he is ready. All I can tell you is that someone has watched over you since the opening night of that musical."

"Watched over me? What do you mean? And how do you know so much?" I asked angrily.

She motioned towards her office and once we walked in and shut the door, she began her story.

"Christine, what I am about to tell you must never leave the sanctity of this office."

As I nodded my head in agreement, she began again.

"It was long ago that I met him; when the school first opened. He was one of the architects of the auditorium. He was such a brilliant man, Christine. He designed everything you see here today. But he is not just a designer, he is also a great teacher. His true passion is music. And when he heard you sing in the musical, he wanted to tutor you and make you a star. Ever since then, he was watched over you like a guardian angel so to say. He knows every move you make. He is a very clever man, Christine, but he is also very loving. "

"When can I meet him?" I asked eagerly.

"When he is ready, Christine."

"How does he know so much about me?"

"I have already said too much about him. When he is ready to tell you, he will. He will show himself to you someday soon I suppose. He has been with you all summer and you just now heard him sing so it is only a matter of time."

"How do you know so much about him?" I asked.

She paused for a moment, then got closer to my face to whisper, "I have already met him."

Before she could continue, my father walked in to take me home.

"My little Christine, are you alright?" he asked then felt my forehead.

"I'm alright daddy, I just want to lie down."

As my father drove me home, I was silent. My mind raced trying to comprehend the thought of a man interested so much in me that he followed me everywhere. Once we pulled up to our house, I walked inside quickly to lie down. As I pulled the covers of my shivering body, my thoughts were drowned out by the melodic sounds of someone whispering my name over and over again. I didn't even know this man and already I feared him.