Disclaimer: Me? Own this merriness? –bursts out in hysterical laughter-
The urge to follow Erik out of the choir classroom at the end of the hour was a painfully strong one, but Christine resisted. The memory of his pained expression haunted her as she tuned Meg out and walked to French class.
"Bonjour! Bonjour!" the teacher cried, waving her arms like a madwoman. Short, with a shock of violently-red hair, Madame Grace was known to be more than slightly insane. No one really enjoyed her class; besides being difficult to comprehend, it was nearly impossible to sleep through thanks to her habit of jumping on top of desks and belting out Celine Dion songs.
"Bonjour," Meg muttered back. Christine only nodded, still lost in thought.
The teacher bounced. "Off in our own little world, eh, mademoiselle?"
Christine nodded again. Madame Grace bounced more madly.
"Tu as sommeil, eh?"
"Beg pardon?" Christine twitched. "Did you just say, 'you have sleep'?"
Grace laughed. "Non, non, Mlle Daaè. I have much to teach you, yes I do…"
"Can't wait," Christine muttered. Meg, having apparently forgiven her for the Raoul-incident, sniggered.
Christine sat down and instantly put her head down on the desk. "I can't do this today," she groaned. Meg prodded her from the next seat over.
"Just keep your head down. Maybe she'll forget about you."
"Fat chance."
Indeed, Madame Grace seemed rather bent on tormenting the poor girl. No matter how small Christine tried to make herself seem, the teacher always found her and demanded, "Où est tu nèe?" or something equally foreign-sounding.
By the end of the period, Christine had been reduced to very quiet mutters and had slid all the way down in her seat. Worst of all, she was stuck humming "Champs Elysees", the most annoyingly catchy of songs.
The two girls escaped into the hallway just as the bell rang; Christine immediately turned to the nearest set of lockers and began banging her head against them.
"Get. It. Out," she growled. Meg grabbed her and wrenched her backwards, smiling theatrically at the pack of freshman who were staring at the seemingly-insane brunette.
"Christine, that won't help," she said quickly. "Trust me, the song will fade with time. A head injury, on the other hand…"
"I know, I know," the girl shot back grumpily. "Remind me again why I'm taking that class?"
"You want to get in touch with your heritage," Meg said promptly. "Also, I signed you up for it."
"You'll excuse me if I don't thank you for that clever insight just yet…"
"Christine!" a voice called. She didn't bother turning; when one heard one's name being shouted down a school hall, one paid no mind, for it was always in reference to another person.
A hand closed over her shoulder. Raoul, panting and sweating ever so slightly, grinned at her. Meg made a faint coughing noise.
"Can I help you?" Christine asked, remembering to be polite even as she kicked Meg discreetly.
Raoul's grin widened, making him look less like an arrogant football captain and more like a little boy. "I know why I know you!" he told her happily. "Our fathers worked together! We used to play together at company picnics and dinners and things, remember?"
"We…did?" Christine asked blankly.
"Your father's name was Daaè, wasn't it?"
"Yes, it was." Christine tilted her head to the side, inspecting the boy's handsome features cautiously. Her memory was beginning to clear…was this really the boy she had once played countless games of Frisbee with? "Raoul…oh my God!"
His smile reached his eyes, crinkling them gently as she laughed delightedly and came forward to hug him tightly.
"Little Lottie," he reminded her cheerfully, speaking into her hair. She giggled again.
"No one but you and Dad called me that…"
Meg coughed again. "You two know each other? How ironic…"
Christine looked at her friend, eyes bright. "He's right, we were really good friends as children, but Dad left that company and we never kept in touch. He wasn't always this tall or buff," she added with a sly expression. "I seem to remember quite the clumsy little creature, always flailing after the softball when we played catch. You've grown."
"So have you," he told her with a smaller smile. "You're beautiful. Who would've thought that tough little tomboy would turn into this?"
She blushed and struck his chest. "I was only trying to keep up with the boys, you know that. I wouldn't have done nearly as many of the things I did if you weren't always daring me to."
"Oh, I'll bet." He laughed, turning his attention to Meg. "Did she ever tell you about the time she broke her arm?"
"No, I don't believe she has." Meg grinned.
"Well, we were eight. We were climbing these massive oak trees in the park and little Miss Daredevil here had gotten up higher than me. I wasn't about to be outdone by a girl, of course, so I got up past her and she came higher than me again. We went back and forth for a while; by this point, we were really high up, I mean at the top of this poor old tree. And Little Lottie here, she thought she'd just go one branch higher, just to really spite me."
"And I fell," Christine said with a reminiscent chuckle.
"I thought she was dead at first," Raoul admitted. "It was the scariest thing I've ever experienced."
"You?" Christine exclaimed. "My arm was bent at the most grotesque angle you can imagine! I was screaming my head off and Monkey Boy here was trying to climb down without breaking his own neck—"
"Sounds like fun," Meg said with a laugh. "I'm sorry I missed out on it." Her eyes glittered. "I would have loved to sign your cast."
"I think I actually still have it somewhere…"
"Your cast?"
"Yes." Christine grinned. "The doctors let me hang onto it when I told them it had sentimental value. Really, I just didn't want to get rid of these really horrible little drawings Raoul and my father had drawn on it…neither of them have any artistic talent, you know."
"Hey, I'll have you know that those were my best works ever!" Raoul cried, feigning a hurt expression.
"Hon, that isn't exactly something to brag about." Christine laughed again, reaching up to playfully ruffle his hair.
He smirked. "Very funny." Glancing at his watch, he added, "Ah, I have to go. I'm supposed to pick up some groceries for my mom. I'll talk to you later, okay?"
"Okay," Christine answered, hugging him again. "Raoul?" He turned back. "It was really nice to see you."
He grinned again. "Yeah, same here."
When he was out of earshot, Meg made a squeaking sort of sound and half-tackled Christine in pure excitement. "I don't believe you!" she squealed for the second time that day. "You know Raoul! You know Raoul!"
She was referring to him as if he were some sort of celebrity. Christine couldn't resist rolling her eyes.
"Come on, let's go. I have math homework."
The two left, not giving the school another thought.
Just around the corner, Erik leaned back against a locker, closing his eyes, biting his lip, and trying very hard to fight off an alien emotion.
A/N: Hmm, bad ending to a (what I think is a) decent chapter. Before you all leap on me over the C/R moment, let me assure you that I do ship Erik/Christine all the way. No worries, I won't do a one-eighty on you. This is just my character development/attempt at being unbiased.
Review Replies:
Angel-of-Music1331- lol, and there will be more bonding. You can look forward to it.
Aki T- I LOVE YOU! Lol, I really appreciate all the reviewing you've been doing. I think I may dedicate a chapter to you. Or at least offer you a freshly-baked cookie. –holds out plate-
flamingice- Ah, the mirror scene. I haven't really thought that far ahead yet. But I will do my best.
EmailyGirl- You thought Meg was being mean? Whoops, that wasn't my intention at all. I just see her as sort of a sarcastic type, one who sort of worships Raoul…dunno where that came from. I'll try to sweeten her slightly, but I don't want to change her character too drastically.
-grins- I still love you guys. The next chapter should be up soon…maybe tomorrow.