Cassandra opened her eyes and stared lazily out the window onto the quad. It was a foot deep in brand new snow. Christmas was six days away but she wasn't going home. Her dad paid an extra five hundred dollars for her to stay over most of the term. He worked in Russia and it was impossible to get her into the country for a few weeks during the holidays. She was happy with this arrangement anyway…no school meant no rules. No uniforms during the holidays, no rules outlawing CD players or food in the halls. Cassandra padded out into the hallway barefoot and in her pajamas. She knew there were only a dozen or so other girls staying, and most of them were underclassmen. She and Mia were the only ones that stayed consistently—Mia's father was dead and her mother didn't want her home to disrupt things with the new boy friend.

Cassandra's long hair was twisted into a messy bun and her lovely figure was on display for anyone who cared to look. She had pert and well proportioned breasts, long legs, and a tight tummy. She was a very attractive young woman and she knew it. She dressed to flaunt it when she wasn't hidden beneath the decorum that a school uniform dictated. Today she was wearing just her star and moon PJ bottoms and a matching Camisole top and bra. Her gray "St. I's" hoodie was over the top and completed her lazy ensemble.

She went into the cafeteria and smiled at Marcia. The old lunch lady knew Cassie well and often helped her get out of really bad scrapes.

"Hey Marcia---What's cookin'?"

"Eggs, Bacon, and French Toast."

"Yummy." Cassie took the plate and went to sit down in the far corner of the cafeteria. She enjoyed her breakfast by herself.

"You're barefoot." Cassie nearly spit OJ as the person came up from her blindside. She turned to see Mr. Villefort staring down at her.
"Mr. V—what are you doing here?"

"I'm working—I thought for sure you'd be going home." His eyes dug into her again.

"Uh—no…I can't—my dad works out of country."

"I see." Mr. Villefort sat down across from her. "I hope you don't mind if I join you?"

"Not at all." Cassie continued to eat and watched the very proper mannerisms of the man across from her. Cassie knew how to eat properly, but breakfast in the Cafeteria didn't dictate such etiquette. "So, why did you come from Denmark to here?" Cassie asked trying to break the silence.

Mr. Villefort shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea. I was looking for a reason to move—St. Isabel's was looking for a music teacher. Fate chose for me."

Cassie suppressed a belch and patted her chest. "Excuse me." She chugged the rest of her OJ and popped the strawberry into her mouth, chewing rather rudely. "Well, I'll catch you later then Mr. V." Cassie got up and left the cafeteria before Villefort could say anything to her.

Most of break was uneventful for Cassie. There was the big Christmas tree in the Common room and she sat beside the big fire there reading the books she loved. She was in the middle of a Western Novel her father had sent her when Mia came in and started playing with her hair.

"You cheat and open your presents too early." She said winding a strand of Cassie's long hair around her fingers.

"I didn't cheat---the box is still under my bed."

"Serious? You're actually going to wait to open your presents on Christmas this year and be surprised?"

"Well, Tomorrow or when I finish this book, whichever comes first." Cassie replied.

"How much do you have left."

"49 pages." Cassie said turning the page eagerly. Mia ripped the book out of Cassie's hand and bolted for the door. "Mia!"

"Hell no, you have to be surprised just like me!" Mia ran for the door and sprinted down the hall and threw the book into her room, locking the door behind her. "You're going to go to the mall with me and help me pick out a Christmas gift."

"And fight the last minute shoppers?"

"I never said we were going to buy anything." The look on Mia's face was mischievous.

"Would your Christmas gift happen to have two legs, a good build and a penis?"

"You know it."

"I'll get dressed!" Cassie sprinted for her room to change. Man hunting was a favorite past time for her and Mia. She came back wearing tight jeans and a hoodie. She braided her hair back from her face and put on a toboggan. She and Mia went to the bus stop and then sat at the mall for several hours drinking iced coffees and eating pretzels and any freebies they could weedle from vendors. When they returned to St. Isabel's they were tired.

"Merry Christmas, Cassie. I'll see you tomorrow morning, OK?"

"Merry Christmas, Mia." Cassie went back to her room and crawled into bed to stare at the ceiling for the next few hours.

"Wake up Cassie! You lazy Ass!"

"Mia, go away!" Cassie rolled into her pillow and ignored the voice on the other side of the door. She also ignored the sound of it opening. Mia launched herself into the air and up onto Cassie's bunk, landing heavily upon her back. "Ungh—" Cassie grunted as Mia's weight pushed all the air from her.

"It's Christmas!" Mia said shaking Cassie. She grasped Cassie by her shoulders and lifted enough to pull her torso from the mattress. She let go and watched as Cassie flopped back to the surface like a dead fish.

"Five more minutes mom." Cassie said fluttering her hand listlessly.

"Santa came—" Mia whispered.

"Presents!" Cassie did a rolling kick and sent Mia sprawling across the floor below. "Merry Christmas Shit head!"

"Hey, that's just pay back from last year." Mia said while she rubbed her ass where she'd landed on it. It was true, last year Cassie had been excited for Christmas and had gone to wake Mia up. She'd done a flying squirrel style leap from the middle of the room and landed on Mia's bed so hard that the frame cracked beneath the strain. Cassie climbed down and hugged her friend.

"So where's my hottie at?"

"What?"

"You said Santa had been here—I told him I wanted a hot man."

"Oh—I lied." Cassie and Mia ran to the great hall, their present boxes in hand to open them beside the fire. Everyone was excited to see what everyone else had.

Most of the girls in the room were sophomores. There were seven sophomores, four juniors and one senior. They sat around the fireplace with their cardboard boxes and opened them to reveal shiny wrapped packages. Mia and Cassie stopped paying attention to the younger girls and concentrated more on their own boxes.

"Wow—Cassie, check this out." Mia opened a box and held it out towards Cassie. It contained a stunning diamond necklace.

"That's gorgeous! Oh my gosh!" Mia scooted towards Cassie and had the other girl help clasp the necklace about her throat and let her curly hair fall back into place. "It goes great with your PJ's—" Cassie said when Mia turned around for observation. The two laughed. Now it was Cassie's turn to open a present.

"Whoa—an iPod!" Mia squeeked as Cassie tore the wrapping from the box. "This ought to be easier to hide than a CD player." Mia read from the note that fell from the wrapping. "Boy, your dad sure must love you….that or he's tired of reading about your CD players getting confiscated every month."

Cassie was ecstatic—she'd been begging for an iPod for a year now. Mia got socks and quite a bit of money. Cassie got a set of the Russian dolls that stack one inside the other. They depicted the Phantom of the Opera. The largest was masked , then there was a very feminine one inside (Christine), then another masculine one, painted to look like a soldier (Raoul), an older woman (Madame Giry) and of Course a doll painted to look like a dancing ballerina (meg). The smallest 'doll' in the center was a tiny carved red rose.

"Wow—these are so cool." Cassie said placing the dolls back inside one another. "I can't believe my dad got me these."

"What else is there?" Mia asked.

"Let's see—" Cassie also got two $100 gift certificates to Barnes and Noble and money to buy and download songs for her iPod. "This is for you, Mia." Cassie pulled a box from behind her chair and handed it to her friend. Mia opened it to reveal a dancing Hamster toy. It would sing and dance to the song 'Macarena'. Mia loved the song and loved the dancing Hamsters even more—she could set off dozens of them at the stores in the mall.

"Oh, AWESOME!" Mia set it on the ground and turned it on and began dancing with it as it vibrated in the box. Cassie laughed.

"This is yours—it's not as cool as the dancing hamster. Dancing Hamster is God."

"You have four of the damned things."

"But I didn't have the Macarena one! I haven't been able to find Macarena Rat!" It was true, Mia had 'Kung Fu Fighting' Hamster, 'Convoy' Hamster, 'Happy Birthday' Hamster and one that sang 'School's Out'. She kept them in a box under her bed and only took them out when she was feeling really sad or bored. They weren't supposed to have toys, but neither Cassandra nor Mia cared about that. Cassie opened the wrapping carefully and pulled out a book covered in a deep brown leather. In the center there was a panel of black soft leather with a red and green rose painted into it. "It reminded me of the one from the Phantom movie—so I got it for you."

"Mia, it's beautiful." Cassie said running her fingers over it. "It's great! I was almost out of space in my other Journal."

"That's why I got it for you." They hugged and then put all their things back into the boxes. They watched for a while as the other girls played with a new board game. "I can't wait to go skiing next weekend though."

"Me neither—" Cassie said. Mia stood up and stretched.

"I'm starving! Let's go get some breakfast from Marcia." Cassie and Mia were on their way out when something caught Cassie's eye.

"Wait." Cassie grasped Mia's arm and looked into the far dark corner of the room where Mr. Villefort sat watching the happiness at the fire. Cassie strolled over to her teacher and felt his eyes brush lazily over her body. "Merry Christmas, Mr. Villefort."

"Oh---Merry Christmas, Cassandra." He smiled sadly.

"Umm—Mia and I are going to get breakfast, would you care to join us?"

"I'd love to, thank you Cassandra." He rose slowly from his seat. "I'll meet you down there."

"Alright." Cassie and Mia plodded down to the cafeteria.

"Why did you do that?" Mia hissed as the turned into the cafeteria.

"I felt bad for him—he was all alone."

"Cassie, he's weird. I don't know about him."

"Mia, stop it. It's just because he's new."

"Yeah, and Pitbulls are just mis-understood."

Two days after Christmas Mia and Cassie got into a bus with the other girls and headed for a ski resort in New York. Cassie and Mia weren't experts but enjoyed the freedom that skiing afforded them. It also gave them the opportunity to flirt with men. When they returned from their ski trip just after New Years and just before the start of term they were giddy.

"That guy was soo cute!" Mia gushed. "I can't believe you took his number!"

"Doesn't mean I can call it. I told him I go to St. I's."

"Yeah---hey, see you tomorrow." Mia went down the hall to her room and Cassie went to hers. When she got there she found a red rose with a black ribbon tied to the stem taped to her door. She put her bags down and took the rose carefully from the door. There was a card beneath it.

"Cassandra:

I know you'd appreciate the symbolism—I wanted to personally congratulate you on receiving the role of Christine. You did fantastic.

I'm very excited about working with you in the coming months.

Sincerely,

Richard Villefort"

Cassie was ecstatic. She'd done it! She was to play Christine!

The next morning at breakfast Cassie and Mia talked about it. Mia too had a rose on her door, the note congratulated her for receiving the role of Meg.

"This is too cool. I think this is the best Christmas ever!" Cassandra said toasting Mia.

"It can only get cooler if the kid playing Raoul from St. Mark's is an actual looker." They clinked their glasses and thought to the coming weeks and the rehearsals.