Disclaimer: If I did own POTO, I would be a very HAPPY PIE!

I don't know if anyone is actually reading this, but I'm going to continue anyway. Well, Erik appears in this chapter! In all his dark glory! MWAAAHHHH! Okay, not that dark…

"Oh God! Can't be late AGAIN!"

Christine was running down the band hall muttering curses to everything from Smaug to small bits of fuzz. Being the daydreamer that she was, Christine completely lost track of time while gazing at the falling rain. The result was earning several glares from the snobby Wind Ensemble kids as she rushed by. (She was in Symphonic band, which was below Wind Ensemble)

Anyway, she made it to the band room with no time to spare. She clambered over the sea of backpacks to her cubbie (which was falling apart…the band room is really old…) and pulled out her French Horn. After maneuvering through the percussionists, she found her place as last chair of the French Horns. (She didn't practice…at all…).

"I've got the music all set out and I'll turn the page and switch pieces!" Jammes, the extremely annoying chair in front of Christine, said.

"Okay…whatever…" Christine said, wondering why she always ended up with the eager band kids as music partners.

Mr. Hilbert, the assistant band director, had finished taking roll (which took a long time; there were a lot of band geeks at Christine's school) and told the less than thrilled band students to be quiet (which also took a long time…same reason).

"Okay! Shut up! Do you really want me to yell at you for an hour and a half?" he challenged the class.

Christine smirked.

'Oh yeah…I'm really scared of someone who's shorter than me even on a podium…'

The class eventually fell silent and Hilbert gave them a glare.

"Okay. Now then. As you all know, one of the pieces we are performing requires a piano player. I would like to introduce you to Erik Destler, who will fill that requirement. Erik?"

A very tall figure in black appeared in the door way. Christine looked up at him and gasped. He was wearing a half mask!

'He must be a Phantom fan! Awesome!'

She smiled to herself as she saw the other side of his face.

'Wow! Very nice! He looks like Lestat in Queen of the Damned…'

She heard snickering coming from the trombone section as Erik made his way to the piano. It was, of course, the uber Fop Raoul along with his other foppish friends.

'He is so gonna get punjabbed…'

>

Christine was still in a daze after band practice. Erik was such an amazing musician! He made an extremely dull piece of band music so moving that she actually had to stop playing to wipe her eyes during the slow, pretty section.

She smiled to herself as she unlocked her Forest Green '98 Honda Accord (sounds like a car advertisement), thinking about him. She had to meet him! Christine pulled out her POTO soundtrack and put it into her ghetto CD player. She was just pulling out of her parking space as the spine-tingling intro blasted in her speakers.

"Oh yeah! I definitely have to meet him!"

YAY! The real story begins! I have many interesting things planned for this phic, which involve many of my favorite songs. HAPPY PIE! Love and Peace!