A/N: HEE HEE HEE here it is! My second posted fic. It started out as a story for my LA class, and now that school THE DREADED WORD! is over, I am posting it. Before we begin, here is the scoop. E/C, with 2 Christines! How can that happen? You'll see. 2004-movie-based. Also based on real life. That is, the characters are. Names have been changed. Disclaimer: Don't own anything that ALW and GL own, but I'm saving up! Many thanks go out to my wonderful updater, lilhobbitsparrow. U ROCK GURL! Please R&R because I said please!

THE PHANTOM OF THE MIDDLE SCHOOL

(Written with inspiration from the Angel of Music!)

Chapter 1—Angel of Music

"Christine, Christine!"

"Ari, stop scaring me!"

"Why so nervous, Mademoiselle?"

"If I call you Erik, will you stop?"

"The Phantom of the Opera is there, inside your mind!"

This would be a normal conversation between two best friends at Ely Middle School. Stella Dubois and Ari Cera were wonderful students there, but they were both terribly obsessed with The Phantom of the Opera. Often, Ari would pretend to be Erik, the Phantom, and Stella would take the role of Christine. They would, however, on account of their gossip-infected schoolmates, desperately avoid romantic scenes. Mostly, Ari just loved to scare Stella—as above.

Algebra was their first class of the day. The classroom had no windows, and it was always uncomfortably warm. One could say that it was the longest period of the day. Stella was fascinated by the tricks that Mr. Marten taught them while Ari, who sat next to her, would let her mind wander.

"Ari, did you get the answer to problem number ten?" Stella asked one day, glancing up at her friend.

Ari started out of her reverie. "What?"

"Number ten," repeated Stella.

"Oh, yeah, take a look," Ari said, pushing her paper toward Stella.

Emma, another long-time friend of the girls, turned around with an exasperated look on her face. "How are you guys on number ten when I'm still on number two?"

Ari looked over at Emma's work. "Because you can't draw straight lines, stupid!" she said.

Stella got up and went to Mr. Marten's desk, where there was a cup full of orange and pink rulers. She grabbed one and over to Emma's desk. "Here's a ruler. Use it."

"Stop making fun of me!" whined Emma.

As Stella sat down, Ari shook her head at her. "Pitiful Christine."

Stella gave her standard reply. "Pitiless Erik."

i

The day went by with the two of them playing their favorite characters. When lunch came, Ari, Stella, and Kara, another of their friends, carried their lunches down to the guidance counselor's office to get away from the rowdy cafeteria. In lunch group, as it was called, they could not spend five minutes without talking about Phantom. Today, the topic of conversation was the latest movie, and the fact that it was coming to stores the next week.

Ari took from her pile of books a dark red folder. She had drawn a mask and a rose on the front, and scribbled lyrics around them. One side of the folder was filled with pages of lyrics from the musical and movie. On the other side, at least thirty pictures were assembled. Ari looked swiftly through them and found her favorite picture—the Phantom, alone in his lair, holding a rose. She tapped it excitedly before slamming it down on the table before her. She took one of the many pillows from the couch she was sitting on and began to squeeze it. Kara laughed.

"Let me guess," she said. "Gerard Butler?"

"Who else?" Ari replied, the pillow covering the bottom half of her face as she stared at the picture hungrily. The guidance counselor, Mrs. Disson, turned to see them. She raised her eyebrows at the look on Ari's face.

"What's the matter with her?" she asked. All three eighth graders pointed at the photo on the table. She nodded in understanding. "Ah…so, how was your trip to Spain, Kara?" she said, trying to change the subject.

She and Kara went into a long discussion about Kara's trip to Spain. Ari was still frozen beneath the pillows, still staring at the picture. Stella began to think of other things, her eyes going glassy.

Then, out of nowhere, she heard someone singing. No one visible was singing, but the voice was there. As she got up to throw her trash away, she checked the hall and found no one in it.

"What's wrong, Stella?" Mrs. Disson asked.

"Do you hear someone singing?" she said, turning back.

"I do, yeah," said Ari. "Where's that coming from?

"I don't hear anything," said Kara, and Mrs. Disson agreed with her. "Are you guys sure?"

"Listen a second—don't you hear it?"

"Wandering girls, so lost, so helpless, yearning for my guidance!"

The disembodied voice was plain to Ari and Stella. Without thinking, they both replied to it.

"Angel or spirit, friend or phantom, who is it there, staring?"

"Okay, now you two are really scaring me!" laughed Mrs. Disson. "Cut it out!"

Ari and Stella looked disappointedly at each other as the voice faded away. Kara tried once more to change the subject by grabbing Ari's folder and hunting down the picture of Patrick Wilson as Raoul. She leapt up and bounced around and shrieking, "It's Patrick! It's Patrick! It's Patrick!" incessantly.

Ignoring her, Ari murmured to Stella, "What if we come to school tomorrow and find red roses with black ribbons on them in our lockers?"

Stella laughed hollowly. "Then I would be freaking out!"

"I always have my rose," remarked Ari mischievously. So Stella threw a pillow at her.

i

His name was Erik. Few knew that, however, for he lived nearly a hundred feet underground. He wore a white porcelain mask over half of his face, and preferred black clothing—usually a black suit jacket and pants with a blousy white shirt, and he'd throw his black cape around his shoulders for effect. Neither heat nor cold ever seemed to bother him, and he never sickened. He delighted in being so far from the garish technology that was invading the school building that stood above his lair, and normally stayed belowground as much as possible.

Lately, however, he had taken interest in the talents of two girls who attended the school—young Stella, the artist, and young Ari, the actress. Both were talented musicians as well as writers—all qualities Erik was partial to, especially the music.

Erik worshipped music. Even now, he sat at his organ, although he was not playing. He had two long-stemmed, deep scarlet roses in his hand, and he was twining a black ribbon around each of them. He'd continued to listen to the girls' conversation after he'd stopped singing to them, and decided that theirs was a good idea. It was very early in the morning, long before anyone arrived at the school, but not so early that his flowers would wilt before they opened their lockers.

He privately laughed at himself. He knew he was eager to teach these young women. He could see, could hear their aspiring talent when they sang together. His hands paused in their motions as he thought about their obsession—The Phantom of the Opera. He shook his head—what a character Hollywood had turned the Phantom into! As he finished the second bow, he realized that the whole idea of the roses was from the latest movie. A movie—think of it!

Soon, he was swathed in his long cape and deftly spinning the dial of Stella's lock. The metal door opened, and he found himself staring at what he thought was a mirror, except for the fact that it was not moving. It was a picture of the Phantom played by Gerard Butler. He found a similar image in Ari's locker. He laughed softly—how little they knew!—and left the roses carefully perched atop the lonely textbooks. He sang softly to himself.

"Seal my fate tonight…"