Disclaimer: The main characters don't belong to me, but the rest does.

Dear Diary,

Mr. Destler would be the Angel of Music, if there was such a thing.

He brought a duet today, just like he said he would.

"'La ci darem la mano'? I love that song! From 'Don Giovanni', right?"

"Yes - I'm glad you like it."

"The funny thing about it is, it sounds so romantic, but Don Giovanni really is just trying to bed the girl."

Mr. Destler cleared his throat.

"Well, there aren't all that many romantic duets for soprano and baritone, are there?"

"Oh, you're a baritone! - No, I guess there aren't. Baritones only get to be villains, old men, fathers, and incarnations of the devil, so the tenors invariably get the girl. Which isn't fair for the sopranos. I mean, baritones are almost always better looking than the tenors, so it kind of gets ridiculous sometimes, to the point where you start wondering why Tosca likes Cavaradossi so much when she could have Scarpia."

He let out a small, not-so-cheerful laugh.

"But not all baritones are handsome."

"I guess not..."

There was an uncomfortable silence.

"But cheer up! You get to be the same voice part as Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau."

I felt, rather than saw his smile.

He played the opening bars, then began to sing.

His voice was so smooth, so rich, so perfect, so everything that I missed my entrance.

"Oh! I'm sorry..."

I began to sing too. The whole experience was just unbelievable. I know I already said this, but his voice is perfect. By the time we were done, I was dreamy, and dizzy, and my face was probably flushed. It took me a good minute to figure out that I should probably break eye contact and say something.

"Mr. Destler, you have the most beautiful voice!"

"You're very kind."

After a pause, I asked:

"Where did you learn?"

"I didn't really learn... I guess Mother Nature was trying to compensate for something."

"Don't say that!"

"Let's talk about something else."

The end of the class was slightly awkward.