The three drove up to the university that Raphael and Christina were to go to. Mel's college was right down the street; they had passed it while driving. Christina got out of her brand-new black Mustang, which was an exact replica of the one in the US, except this one had a build-in digital screen so she knew where she was going around France. She went over to Melody's car and the other girl lowered her window.
"Go ahead to your college and meet us back here when you take your bags into your room," Christina said through the open window. Mel nodded and backed out of the parking lot. Raphael got out of his car and followed Christina inside. The whole lobby was deserted, except for one lady, standing with her back to them. "Excuse me," Christina said. The lady turned around. She was a familiar face, the lady judge who had nominated them before the graduated.
"Oh, Christina, Raphael!" she said, surprised. "You're here already? I did not expect you until the new semester started."
"We decided to come and spend the summer here, so we could get used to France before we had to start school," Raphael said to the lady. "But we need help finding our dorms." The lady nodded.
"You don't know about the system do you?" the lady asked. The two shook their heads. "Well, the girl's dorms are on the left of the University, and the boy's are on the right. The names are posted on the front door of the dorms in alphabetical order. It says whether you have a single or a double dorm, and it tells you what room." After she was done, she started to leave, but stopped. "By the way, I'm Ms. Conway, your new voice teacher." Finally, they all said their good-byes and the two went back outside.
"Well, let's go," Christina said, then went towards the girl's dorms. When she got to the front door, there was a bunch of keys and a packet of paper. She looked through the names, found hers, and saw that she had a single dorm. Breathing a sigh of relief, she grabbed the key with her dorm number on it and went up. She turned the key in the lock and the door slowly opened by its self. For a college dorm room, it was really nice. The walls were a deep red, much to her liking. The bed was large, and the floor was wood. The closet was large, and there was also a large dresser. Sitting in the corner was a dark wood desk. The sliding doors to the closet were large mirrors. Christina slipped the key in her pocket and went to examine something that was on one of the mirrors. It was in the top, right corner of the left mirror.
When she reached the mirror, she saw a rose. It looked like it was imprinted in the glass and painted. She put her hand up to it, and when she touched it, it was warm. Puzzled, she took her other hand and put it on another part of the glass, which was cold. Christina took both hands off the mirror and continued to stare at the rose. The rose brought back the dream she had at least a month and a half before. That voice, the angelic, wonderful voice re-entered her head. "I will be protecting you, always" was what he said.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, which made Christina jump. She turned to the door to see Melody standing there. She came in to find her friend looking as if she was going to faint. Christina grabbed Mel's arm to keep steady. She didn't like to be scared like that. Melody jumped away when her friend grasped her arm. Then she took Christina's hand in hers.
"Chris, you're hands are freezing. Are you alright?" she asked looking Christina in the eyes. Christina pulled her hand away and shrugged. "And your face. It's white!"
"You scared me, Mel," Christina said, quietly. "You and something else." Melody looked puzzled.
"Well, it's alright, now. Don't be scared. Come on. Let's go get your stuff out of the car." Christina nodded and looked back at the mirror. There was no sign of the rose at all. "Chris? What is it?"
"Nothing," she answered. "Come on, let's go." Christina quickly left the room, trying to forget about what had just happened. She grabbed two large suitcases out of the back seat of her car while Melody grabbed the other two from the trunk. Raphael was no where in site. He must have been still checking out his room. After all of the bags were brought up to her room, Melody sat on the bed while Christina started to unpack. "Is all your stuff already unpacked?" Christina asked Mel.
"No," was the answer. "But, I had hoped that when you were all done, we could go by the Opera House, and then get something to eat." Christina nodded, thinking that it wasn't a bad idea.
"I'll get done quicker if you help me," Christina said, trying to get her friend to help her. Melody got off of the bed and started to unpack Christina's clothes. She knew her friend so well that she knew where all her clothes went, if they got hung up or not. In fact, she had probably worn most of them at some point or another.
"Did you bring your white dress?" Mel asked. Christina pointed to the hang-up suitcase that was hanging on the doorway. "Do you want me to leave it in the bag or take it out?"
"Leave it in there. I don't want anything to happen to it," Christina answered, behind drawings and instruments. While Melody was working on the clothes, Christina stuffed her instruments in a corner of the room, by the desk, and hung her drawings up on the wall. The one that went on the wall above her bed was the now finished picture of the man in her dream, with a rose and mask under him. She had never told anyone about it, and no one asked. Getting to the bottom of one of the five suitcases, including the hang-up bag, Christina found a lot of her sheet music. More would be coming from her parents when they had a chance to send the rest of her stuff. She took out all the music and put it into a drawer of the desk, leaving "Think of Me" on top. There was another knock at the door, but this time, it did not surprise her.
"Almost done, Hon?" Raphael asked from the doorway.
"Yeah," Christina answered. "And Mel thought we could stop by the Opera House before getting something to eat. Sound good?" Raphael nodded. Melody emerged from Christina's now full closet.
"All done!" she exclaimed. "Ready?" The other two nodded. "Alright! Let's go!"