Disclaimer: Me? Own this? –bursts out in hysterical laughter-
For Christine, no weekend had ever been so nerve-wracking. She'd tried time and time again to contact Erik (by phone, by walking past his house—hell, she'd even looked up his email address through some rarely-used hacking skills), to no avail. He seemed to have simply disappeared.
So when she trudged into first hour and saw him sitting at his usual desk, in his usual concealing clothing, her first instinct was to faint with relief. Her second was to go up to him and beat the hell out of him for scaring her so badly. Her third, which was the one she actually acted on, was to go up to him and just stand there, staring at him.
He lifted his head, clearly tired. "Can I help yo—oh. Hi."
"Hi?" she repeated. "Hi? You…you…Erik!"
Oddly enough, he seemed almost amused by her lack of insulting terms. This only angered her more; she punched him in the shoulder. Hard.
"Ow!" he yelped, reminding her of the reason he'd run off on Friday night. Her expression softened.
"I'm sorry. But you scared me so badly."
"Scared you?" he repeated blankly. "How did I scare—"
"Erik, you fell off the face of the earth for three days! I thought something happened to you! After all, all those drunk kids…I thought you might've gotten hit by a car or something. I was ready to start looking into hospitals, morgues—"
"Well, that's a bit morbid," he answered mildly. "And it was two days. And I didn't fall off the face of the earth at all."
"Really?" She placed her hands on her hips and glared at him. "Where were you then?"
"Here," he told her simply. At her disbelieving expression, he added, "Well, not here here. In my room. Downstairs."
"Why?" she demanded. "Why would you hang out at a school over the weekend?"
"Because it's the only place where I can hide." Even to him, the response sounded cowardly, but she was the one that demanded honesty…
"Hide? Erik, you didn't need to hide! We could've…" She trailed off as he smiled indulgently.
"Christine, I've been doing this for eighteen years. People take one look at me and insults fly out of their mouths. It's like some mass epidemic or something, always has been. Sometimes hiding is the only way to find peace." And dancing, he added silently. That had been pretty peaceful in itself, but she didn't really need to know that.
She sighed, sweeping brown curls off of her forehead impatiently. "Erik—"
"Class, find your seats!" Mr. Hall called, trooping into the room with a coffee cup balanced on his books. Christine frowned, torn. Finally, she pointed a finger at Erik and hissed, "We are going to continue this. Very soon."
"I look forward to it." He gave a tiny bow, teasing in the most gently manner possible. She couldn't help but smile.
The rest of the day seemed to take forever. All Christine could think about was that smile and the promise of bringing it to his face again fourth hour. She found focusing impossible. Almost as impossible as the thought of facing—
Meg and Raoul were sitting at the usual lunch table, murmuring and giggling at each other. Christine wanted nothing more than to turn around and go right back out of those doors, maybe to eat in the hall or something. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to the table and sat across from them.
"Christine!" Raoul sounded pleasantly surprised. "How are you this fine Monday morning?"
"Terrible," she answered dully. "Thanks for asking."
Meg frowned at her and Christine frowned right back. She hadn't spoken to the blond girl all weekend (a rather impressive feat when the object of your cold shoulder was your roommate) and she wasn't sure she wanted to start talking again now.
It seemed that her friend wasn't going to give her an option, however. Meg leaned across the length of the table and grabbed Christine in a fierce, awkward hug.
"I'm sorry I was such an ass on Friday," she apologized. "I shouldn't have been such…I should've given him a chance."
Christine's icy heart melted a little. She patted the other girl's back.
"Yeah, you should've." She turned her eyes to Raoul, who was staring up at the ceiling with a look of determination on his handsome face. "And you? Do you have something to say?"
He sighed. "I'm…sorry too. I was drinking and…well, I get bad sometimes. I'm sorry."
"Good, you should be." Christine nodded resolutely. "And now, to prove that you really are sorry, you will do one last thing for me."
"What's that?" Meg asked.
"Apologize to Erik after school," Christine told them both firmly. "We are going to make it up to him."
"What?" Raoul asked, acting as if he hadn't quite heard what she'd said.
"Apologize or forget about talking to me ever again," she answered icily. "And no amount of memories will change that decision, Raoul, so don't even try it."
He grimaced down at the table. "All right, fine. Right after school?"
"As soon as that last bell rings. We'll meet over by your locker."
"And what if Shad—Erik doesn't show?"
"I'll make sure he does," she told him. "Don't worry, he'll be there to accept your apology."
"Or to throw sharp objects at me," he muttered.
"You'd deserve it," Christine told him haughtily. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go down to class early and tell him about this. Don't be late, Raoul."
She could hear him grumbling behind her, followed by an interesting-sounding smacking noise that was probably the sound of Meg's hand against the back of his head. Fun as that sounded, Christine didn't allow herself to turn around; she had to get to Erik and tell him all about this afternoon's plans.
A/N: World's shortest chapter ever! –cackles manically- I think I'll just draw this out for a thousand chapters or so.
Review Replies:
ENTR'ACTE- Aw, you don't like DC? Aww…well, that's okay. –grins-
erik'sangel527- And I thank you for all your thanks. –grins- (doing a lot of grinnin' tonight, it seems…)
Aki T- Another shorty, don't kill me. And the rating will go up, soon. I can't really work with a PG rating for long….
Totschafe- Ah! Ah! Not the plastic flamingo! –updates madly-
Alixy- I'm glad you like how my brain works, 'cause I can't seem to fix it. –laughs- And I'm kinda glad I have no life too…otherwise, how would I have so many reviews?