Author's Note: I'm sorry the last chapter was so short! I went back and edited a few things to make it a little longer but that is all I can do for that chapter. Also, I know the chapters aren't very funny yet, I'm trying, but there is a lot of serious things that I have to talk about so this isn't easy. I'm trying! Honest!

BY THE WAY! I know that this chapter only had a disclaimer up before, sorry about that! I am still trying to figure out everything, but I think I have it now! Sorry again!

Disclaimer: This is the last time I am putting this on because it is redundant, but I do not own any characters. I only own the plot or at least the plot that you do not recognize from the original works.


Two: Wake Up Call

Christine woke up either one of two ways every morning. The first way was that she would hear her alarm go off, and groggily pull herself out of bed in a bad mood, with her hair looking like a bomb went off (and yes her hair always looked like a bomb went off, it was just the way it was in the morning). The second way was that she would rise on her own time (having not heard the alarm when it went off earlier), in a very good mood. Of course, on days when she woke up the second way, the fact that she was now late (possibly by hours) for whatever it was she needed to do, was always sure to put her in a bad mood. It was safe to say that Christine was never in a good mood in the mornings.

This particular morning, Christine woke up the second way. Rising slowly in the bed while stretching her arms, Christine casually looked around the room and subconsciously took account of everything. Fred still alive, check. Phone charging on table, check. Desk, bureau, bookcase, check, check, check. She then glanced at the mirror that hung across the room from her bed. Christine had never thought of her appearance the way others did. People had called her stunning, beautiful, gorgeous, but she either didn't believe them or didn't want to hear it. She didn't believe the boys in school who had called her beautiful in the hopes of getting her to date them. She didn't want to hear her friends tell her how stunning she was, because to her it meant nothing.

Now staring in the mirror she thought about what people saw when they looked at her. Curly chestnut colored hair that reached the middle of her back, blue eyes, a small nose with a couple of freckles. There was nothing really remarkable to look at she thought. Her eyes traveled down further to her body. Normal sized chest , tiny waist, long legs that were toned from dancing. If you were to ask Christine she would tell you that she was a pretty ordinary looking girl.

Her mind wandered to her plans for the day as she stepped out of bed and headed towards the shower. Well, I have off from work for the rest of the week so I don't have to worry about that... what was it that I had to do, I know there was something. She glanced at the clock on her bathroom wall wondering what time it was. 11:30... I slept pretty late, must have been more tired than I thought. Maybe I shouldn't have stayed up so late trying to remember what Sheryl said. I have to remember to call Meg and... Christine's eyes grew wide as she remembered her lunch plans with Meg. Dammit Christine, now you have 15 minutes to get ready and drive all the way across town!! Sure enough, Christine was now in a horrible mood as she took a quick shower, ripped a comb through her still knotty hair, pulled on a pair of pants and a t-shirt from the ballet company, and ran out the door. She called the elevator to her floor and stood there pressing the button 3 or 4 times more, hoping to make the thing move faster. Come on you stupid piece of metal! Finally the elevator doors swung open and Christine practically sprinted in and began pressing the first floor button 20 times.

Two minutes later Christine ran through the front doors of the apartment building and routed out a cab to hail. The one positive thing she had to say about her looks was that she never had much trouble getting a cab with them. Within 20 seconds a sketchy looking driver was pulling up next to her with screeching breaks and a big toothy grin.

"How's ya doin miss? Where can I take ya?"He asked with a suggestive movement of his eyebrows. Charming, thought Christine.

"I need to get to the little cafe at the corner of 7th and Broadway if you don't mind. And please hurry I'm running really late!" Said Christine as she slid into the back seat.

"Sure thing miss, there ain't much traffic today anyways 'cause of the big football game on in an hour."The driver replied. Well at least something is going right, thought Christine.

That's funny, I forgot today was football Sunday, I haven't watched football in years! The big football fan in the family had been her father, and even though Christine had always enjoyed watching the games with him, that tradition had died around the same time he had. The thought alone was enough to choke Christine and she hastily pushed the thought from her mind.

The truth was, Christine avoided thinking about her father whenever possible. He had been a large part of her life, and when he died several years before from a terminal illness Christine couldn't even pronounce, she knew that a piece of her had died as well. She became an orphan the day he died. Her mother had died when she was 7 months old in a fatal car crash. Her death was what had brought Christine so close to her father because her father tried to make up for Christine not having both parents. He wasn't the best shopping partner, Christine often thought, but he was perfect at everything else. He had been a violinist in a very well known orchestra, and he had taught Christine to appreciate music at a young age. She turned out to be a natural, and learned everything from piano, to violin, and even some guitar. What she really excelled at though, was singing.

Christine had always planned with her father that she would study vocals in college and someday have a profession in singing, but when her father died, she found it too painful to continue training without him. Instead she continued ballet practice which she had been taking for years with Meg, and succeeded due to her natural talent. At the time it just seemed easier to have a career in ballet. Luckily for her Meg had always been very serious about ballet, and they ended up working together for the same ballet company. Christine felt that without Meg, she would never have made it through the time after her father's death, and would not even have had the job she had today without her. Where exactly am I today though? thought Christine. It's not like it's my dream to be a ballerina, and I haven't exactly gotten over my father's death. She hoped that in time the sadness she felt when she thought of her father would go away and in its place would be happy memories. For now though, she knew it was too soon.

Christine was pulled out of her reverie as the cab approached a very quaint outdoor cafe with a very angry blond standing on the sidewalk. Uh oh, thought Christine as she saw the look on Meg's face. She suddenly had a mental picture of Meg attacking her with very sharp claws. She shook her head to get rid of the image, but the look on Meg's face didn't go away.

"Do you know how long I have been standing here waiting?!"asked Meg in a voice that Christine had come to know as the "don't mess with me" voice. Christine didn't want to get caught checking her watch because she knew better than to do that in front of Meg, but she also didn't want to try to guess because Meg would probably think she was joking around. Instead she took the cowards' approach.

"Um... look Meg I must have slept through my alarm and so I got a late start and the cab driver was giving me strange looks and I uh... I'm sorry?"Christine's rambling was clearly not working because it seemed as if Meg had gotten taller as she was now towering over Christine, still angry. Think Christine, before she hurts you! "Uh... I'll pay for lunch!"No stupid! Think of something else, your already broke! Oh crap it's too late, she's smiling! RUN FOR IT! Before she could take a step backwards Meg was pulling her into the cafe to order and thanking her for being so generous.

After ordering their lunches and finding a table outside in the sun to wait for their food to come, Christine and Meg started chatting about little things. "My mother called yesterday and told me to remind you to come for Labor Day Weekend," said Meg.

"I'd love to go, I haven't seen your mom in a while," replied Christine, "but what's going on that weekend?"

Meg's mother had always been like a mother to Christine, even more so after her father's death. She was now expected to come to every holiday and family party and was treated as if she were Meg's sister. Christine felt like she owed a lot to the Giry family, a debt which she could never repay, and knew she wasn't expected to.

"Nothing special, but my mom knows we have off from work that weekend and she wants to take advantage of it,"replied Meg.

"Okay, that should be fun," said Christine. "Speaking of work, I meant to ask you, did you hear what Sheryl was talking about yesterday at the end of practice? I kind of missed it."

Meg gave her a funny look, and replied, "I was wondering why you weren't more excited today, considering this is right up your alley."

"What do you mean?" asked Christine.

"Well Sheryl was saying that the next performance we do isn't going to be our own, but we are going to be working with the New York Opera House. They apparently are putting on a show with a lot of ballet parts, so we are all going to have a part in it," responded Meg. "Our company works with the Opera House sometimes for shows like this when the Opera needs ballerinas, but they haven't needed us for a few years now."

Christine's mouth had been hanging open since Meg had said the four magic words... New York Opera House. Christine couldn't believe it, she was going to actually be in an opera, or at least in a show in the opera house. Meg was right, this was what she had always wanted, but she suddenly felt sad thinking of her father and the connection she had with him and singing. She suddenly felt like she was going to be sick. How could she work in the Opera House for months and be so close to the life she had always wanted but not be able to do what she really wanted; to sing. She knew this would be hard, after all she had such mixed emotions about it now and they hadn't even started yet! Somehow though she knew she had to do this, if not because she needed to keep her job, then because she needed to somehow get over this complex she had. She would get through this, she just didn't know how.

After eating their lunch and sitting back and enjoying the sun for an hour or two, Christine and Meg hailed a cab back to Christine's apartment where they spent the day watching movies and hanging out with one another, something it seemed they never had time for anymore. When Meg left the apartment and Christine was cleaning up, she thought again about the show they would be performing with the Opera House. She had been thinking about it all day in fact, in between movies and popcorn, even during the movie! She couldn't stop thinking about it. She had decided that she was going to deal with whatever sadness she felt from working with the Opera House, after all, her father wanted this life for her. He would be happy! Maybe that was why this was so hard. Well your just going to have to suck it up Christine, unless you want to get fired which would be completely illogical anyway because you know you want to do this, Christine chided herself. Honestly, she thought, you can be such a baby sometimes! She was starting to have a good feeling about the show. Somehow she knew that this would be good for her.