Thank you everyone for the wonderful reviews and for reading this fanfiction. It means a lot to me :) This is a little short but I've been kind of busy lately so, this is all I could do at the moment. Next chapter will be longer! Thanks again and I hope you enjoy!

disclaimer: I do not own Phantom of the Opera

Chapter 4

Dear Diary,

Looking back on all of this just makes me feel so sick. How could I have been so stupid? I never would have thought Erik would be this...crazy. I mean, I knew he was a little eccentric. Anyone could tell by the mask on his face that something must have been at least a little bit off about him. But, being the trusting person that I am, I looked passed that weird quirk and thought I saw something good. Yeah, way to go Christine. People always say never to judge a book by its cover but, they really should. If I did, then I probably wouldn't be in this mess right now. I just feel so...frustrated. With him and myself. I should have listened to Meg. We had a conversation about Erik once and she said some interesting things I wouldn't believe.

The day me and Raoul got into the fight, Erik ended up driving me home. It was raining way to hard for me to walk and Raoul was still ignoring me. The car ride was nice. He was quiet but that wasn't much of a shock. When he dropped me off I thanked him and quickly ran up to the front door and rang the doorbell until Meg answered. She looked shocked to see me and to see the expensive looking car in front of the house. I turned around and waved to Erik even though I couldn't see him through his tinted mirrors. I quickly walked inside and shivered.

"I need hot chocolate." I told Meg as she closed and locked the door. I made the way into the small kitchen and rummaged through the cabinets.

"Who drove you home?" she asked as she walked in after me.

"Erik." I said as I found the box of hot chocolate. "Erm, I mean Mr. Destler."

"Woah, what?" she exclaimed and jumped to my side. "Your singing tutor?"

"Yeah. Why?" I asked confused by the shocked look on her face.

"Well, I thought you'd be with Raoul." she said and I sighed.

"Me and him got into a fight." I said as I walked over to the oven to start to boil some water.

"What?! Why am I just hearing about this now?" she yelled and I grimaced. I didn't want to deal with her at the moment.

"I just saw you now and I didn't feel like calling you." I said truthfully. "I was too upset."

"Why'd you get into a fight with him?" she asked and I explained to her what happened. "So, Raoul feels insecure."

"Why would you say that?" I asked confused and she rolled her eyes

"Come on Christine! You chose another guy over him." she said and then it was my turn to roll my eyes.

"Oh Meg! Don't be silly. I didn't choose anything over him! I wanted to see him but I can't afford to just skip a lesson."

"So, you spent your guy's anniversary with another man." she said. "And not just any man, an OLDER man. And by the looks of his car. A RICH older man."

"Meg, you know it's not like that." I said as I picked up the tea-pot from the stove and poured it in the cup. "He's my teacher!"

"Your point?" she asked. "A lot of people have affairs with teachers."

"Meg, you know me. I have no feelings for Erik other than friendship." I explained as I poured the powder in the water.

"Friendship?" Meg asked. "I thought you guys would have a student teacher relationship. But friendship. That's interesting."

"Meg, shut up." I said as I blew on the hot chocolate. "You can be friends with a teacher."

"No you can't! You can't talk to them outside of school. You can't text them or hang out with them or talk about your deepest secrets with them." she said.

"Well, I can with Erik." I said as I took a sip.

"And you keep calling him Erik. That's a little informal, dontcha think?" she asked.

"He told me I could call him that. He was really nice to me today Meg. He comforted me and actually made me feel better." I told her starting to get annoyed. "We are friends and that's it. Nothing more."

"Hmmm." Meg said and gave me an odd look. "Well, you may feel that way but what about him?"

I scoffed. "Okay Meg, this is so stupid. He's like twice my age!"

"Exactly! Rich guys always go for the young and beautiful girls." she said.

"Stop it." I said and tried to walk out of the room but she blocked my path.

"Listen! I have never known a guy in my life that didn't treat a girl nicely just to get in her pants." she said and I scrunched my nose up in disgust.

"Meg, all the guys you know are teenagers." I said. "Older guys don't do that."

"Oh, so you're an expert on older guys?" she asked and I started to feel my temper rising.

"Are you?" I asked and glared at her.

"Look, I had a lot more experience with guys." she said. "I'm just saying. He could like you. I mean, what's not to like? "

"I'm just a teenage girl. He's a talented, smart, and strangely caring guy. He's like...my dad." I said. "He's been treating me like a daughter more than anything. He's been strict yet makes me feel better when I'm upset. He even let me hug him..." I trailed off when I saw the look on Meg's face.

"You hugged him? Oh Christine, you don't get what's going to happen." she said. "I remember you telling me about him wearing a mask...obviously he's kind of weird...what if he's like crazy and now he gets this sick obsession..."

"Look, yes he wears a mask but, he's not crazy." I said. "He's actually one of the most normal people I know."

Meg sighed. I guess she realized she wasn't going to get through to me. "All right. But, if he's single, put in a good word for me. I would love to have a rich boyfriend." I rolled my eyes and laugh.

"You really are too silly Meg." I said.

To think, if I just listened to her I could be free right now. I need to take a break with writing. Just remembering this makes me feel regret.