Chapter Eleven

Disclaimer: We've been over this already. Who even reads this, anyways?

Skye: Yes, poor Emily! She's broke as a stump and, on top of that, Raoul's butting in where he does not belong! And on top of that, we have Christine. Although her problem is understandable, I do agree that she could have at least tried to do something to make it better. But then, I did leave off at a bit of a nasty place, didn't I? We'll see what happens later. Thanks for reading, and thanks for the reviews!

Me: Well, as much as I would love to disagree with you, it does seem as though Christine has been rather mean. As for the killing of Raoul and Emily… I dunno! I make no promises. It is rather fun to have them in the story, BUT! It is also fun to kill of characters…

PhantomOfThePunjab: Yay tense! I'm glad you like the plot, and thus… I UPDATE!

PhantomoftheBasket: Holy crap in a carpet, calm down! I'm not angry and I'm updating now. EVERYTHING IS GOOD!

-

With the newly gained cold shoulder from Naama and the hatred that she knew that Naama, as well as Emily and Kaitlyn, had for her, Christine had one of the worst shifts ever, even worse than the weeks that she was training.

And, of course, it didn't help that she'd have to go to the Phantom afterwards.

Naama signed out a full fifteen minutes earlier than Christine and, without a word, began to pack her things and leave. This is my chance, Christine thought. I can make everything better. They know about the Phantom. They'd understand.

"Naama…" Christine's voice came out as a small, lonely whisper.

"Don't bother me." Naama opened the door and left without a backwards glance.

-

The final fifteen minutes of Christine's shift ticked by just slowly enough to make her think she would loose her mind. Finally, with five minutes to go, the store had slowed down enough for Raoul to skate over to customer service to keep her company.

"What's with the long face?" Raoul asked, giving her a pat on the head. "The whole firing thing isn't for sure yet. And besides, I think I still get a two weeks notice after that, or something."

Christine didn't bother to mention that the two weeks notice was something the employee had to serve if they decided to quit. "I screwed up."

"What do you mean?"

Four minutes left. A voice in Christine's head muttered, counting off the minutes until her encounter with the Phantom.

"I can't talk right now." Christine whispered, her eyes rolling pointedly to the ceiling. "He might be listening…"

"Oh." Raoul nodded, his gaze following hers.

Christine reached into her pocket, grabbing the note she'd gotten earlier. She slipped it up against her palm, holding it there with her thumb and shielding it from any prying eyes. She then grabbed Raoul's hand and pulled him towards him, slipping the note into his fist. To anyone watching, it just looked like she was holding his hand.

Three minutes left.

"Read this." Christine whispered, "After you leave."

"We get off at the same time." Raoul reminded her.

Christine sighed, shaking her head. "No. I have to stay."

Raoul's eyes widened as he took in her meaning. "Like hell you are," he muttered, borrowing one of Emily's favorite lines.

"I can't do anything about it." Christine replied.

Two minutes left.

"Yes, you can." Raoul didn't bother to lower his voice anymore. "You can't just give into him, Christine! He can't keep you a prisoner here."

"Oh, no?" Christine's eyes filled with tears. "He's threatening to take everyone's jobs. I had to stop being friends with Emily to keep you here. That's what he said in the note."

"You stopped being friends with Emily?" Raoul repeated.

"Well, you didn't like her." Christine replied, trying to justify her earlier actions. "But everyone hates me now."

"Why?" Raoul asked.

"Because I couldn't explain why I couldn't be friends anymore." Christine's tears began their trail down her face. "I… I called her some mean things."

One minute left.

Raoul shook her head. "You really are something."

"What do you mean?"

"Do friendships mean so little to you that you'll break them just because someone says so?" he asked.

"I did it to keep you here!" Christine protested. "You and Naama and Meg!"

Raoul shook his head. "You know, I had you all wrong."

"Raoul, no-"

"I say how friendly you were with the other girls and I thought that you'd be someone cool to hand out with." Raoul mutters, signing out and leaving the customer service. "But I guess no one really means enough to you for you to actually risk something for their friendship."

"Wait!"

Christine's voice was drowned out by an announcement, "Attention customers, Superstore is now closing. Please select your final purchases and make your way to the front. Thank you and have a good night."

Raoul was gone, and Christine's shift was over.

Christine stood for a moment, dazed. Then she signed out and ran outside, leaving her jacket and purse in her locker, forgotten.

She wasn't going to let this go bad.

-

Raoul had barely gotten his uniform off and slipped into a pair of jeans and a sweater before the doorbell rang. When he answered it, Christine was standing on the porch.

With no jacket.

Freezing cold.

In her uniform.

"… What are you doing here?" Raoul asked.

Christine came into the house without being invited, her words slurred and jittery from the cold. "Raoul, you're right. I can't just let all my friends go on his whims. I need your help."

"… What do you mean?" Raoul asked. "Aren't you supposed to be there with him…?"

"I can't be there with him. I need your help, though!" Christine grabbed his wrists, her cold fingers digging into his skin.

"With what?" Raoul breathed.

Your plan earlier." Christine whispered. "Where I'm the bait. I'll do it. I'll do anything to fix things."

"But we don't know if that's going to work." Raoul reminded her.

Overcome by emotion, she threw her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. Tears wet his sweater and she whispered, "Please."

Raoul's arms closed over her back, his grip protecting her from the cold and the fear that clawed desperately at her throat. "Alright." He murmured. "I'll help."

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OMIGOD! A completely serious and heart wrenching (I think) chapter! This is just to wet your appetites for tomorrow's chapter (I'm not sure if there shall be one or two). Thanks for reading! Now… REVIEW!