Chapter 5 Rude Awakening

All of the world was quiet except for the sound of waves crashing upon the sand. Christine, in a white cotton sundress that was blowing in the light sea breeze, walked barefoot along the beach. She knelt to pick up an unusual shell then looked up. A black horse was galloping down the shoreline toward her. The horse stopped about ten feet in front of her. Its mane and forelock were long and fell softly against its head and neck. It pawed anxiously and tossed its head for a moment, but a low murmur from the rider quieted it down. Christine looked up at the figure astride and smiled. What she saw looking down at her was a familiar masked face with eyes the color of the waves. He took his right foot out of the stirrup, put the reins in his left hand, and offered his free hand. She smiled at him as she stepped up, gave the horse a gentle pat on the neck, and then placed her hand in his. She heard a faint banging off in the distance but ignored it. This moment was too special to let something ruin it. She placed her foot in the stirrup and was pulled aboard.

"Christine," he said.

"Erik," she sighed and wrapped her arm securely around his waist.

"Christine."

"Yeah?" she asked, resting her head against his back, breathing in his comforting scent. The banging seemed to be getting louder, but she tried to tune it out.

"Christine, are you in there? Hello?"

"What the...!"

Christine awoke with a start. She was back in her own bed.

"Christine!" came a voice from the door, followed by another series of bangs.

"Who is it?"

"Meg. Is everything alright in there?"

"Yeah, just a second," Christine untangled herself from her bed sheets and grabbed her bathrobe. She opened the door just as Meg raised her hand to knock yet again.

"Good morning sleepyhead," she said with a beaming smile that slowly faded as she looked Christine over. "Um, why are you still in you pajamas?" A blank look was all she got in return. "Did you forget? Our breakfast date?" She threw up her hands in exasperation and pushed past Christine into the room. "Christine, what's with you all of a sudden? You, Raoul, and I agreed that we were going to make Sundays our special breakfast date. You know, Belgian waffle day!"

"Oh yeah."

"Anyway, Raoul's gonna be here any minute. Let's get you dressed," Meg flew to Christine's closet and began to paw through it. After finding a suitable ensemble consisting of jeans and a lavender polo shirt, Meg turned toward the desk to allowed Christine to change, smoothing her jean skirt and baby blue paisley shirt. On the desk, there was a single red rose with a black ribbon tied in a bow. She picked it up and sniffed the sweet fragrance. She saw there was a similar rose in a glass bottle on the top shelf of the desk.

"Christine?" she asked, her back still turned. "What's with the roses?"

"What? You can turn around now," she blanched when Meg turned around holding a black bowed rose. "Where did you get that?"

Meg giggled, "I was just about to ask the same question. It was lying on your desk. Is there something you'd like to tell me?" Christine turned and pretended to look for her purse. "Ah, is there someone special now? Boyfriend perhaps?"

Christine blushed, remembering her dream and the emotions she had felt. It was far too early in their relationship to start thinking of Erik that way. "No, not really. He's just a guy I met. I-I really can't talk about it"

"I see how it is," Meg narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips. "Christine, I'm your friend. You can tell me anything."

"I know and thank you. But it's new and I just don't want to make a big deal out of it yet."

"I understand," Meg relented, putting the rose back on the desk. "Wait until Raoul finds out!"

"NO!" Christine shouted in alarm, and then softened. "No, he doesn't need to know about it, not yet. Please, Meg. Please promise me that you won't say anything to Raoul."

"I just don't see..." Meg looked into her friend's brown pleading eyes. "Ok, I won't tell him." Christine smiled in relief and placed the rose in the vase with the first one. She then carefully placed behind several textbooks to shield it from view of the door. The last thing she needed was for Raoul to learn she was secretly meeting with The Phantom. A knock came at the door and Christine jumped.

"Hey, are you two almost ready?" Meg whipped the door open to reveal Raoul casually propped against the doorframe. He looked ready for the warm early-autumn day dressed in khaki pants, white t-shirt, brown shoes and a dark red button-down shirt worn casually open. "The entire campus is going to be awake and in line if we don't get there soon, and then we'll be having waffles for dinner instead." He flashed a brilliant white smile in Christine's direction. She involuntarily felt herself blush and grinned back.

"I'm ready."

"Ok, Mr. Impatient," Meg said, dragging Christine out of the room and pushing past Raoul. "Let's go!" The only thing the students could do was laugh.

"MEG!" Christine marveled as the petite blond girl came back to the table with her third Belgian waffle covered in strawberry sauce and a mound of whipped cream. "You do realize that's your THIRD, right?" She held up three fingers and pointed to the plate for emphasis. Meg just smiled and nodded as she used her fork to smear the toppings over the fresh waffle.

"I was hungry."

"Where do you put it all?" Christine stared at her plate in amazement. She only was able to half of her own waffle before reaching her limit.

"In my mouth, silly. Mmmm," Meg popped a large section in her mouth and grinned.

"Remind me never to get into a waffle-eating contest with Meg," Raoul said to Christine as he speared a piece of his second waffle and then pointed his waffle-laden fork at Meg, drizzling syrup across the table. He took the bite and smirked sheepishly. "Oops."

"HA! You've got that right! Don't challenge me, Raoul. You know you won't win," she leaned across the table and indicated the dripped syrup. "And you've made a mess. Good job."

"Quiet, you," Raoul narrowed his eyes at Meg.

"You know I'm right. Tell him, Christine." Christine sat in a daze and did not respond. "Christine? Hello, anybody home?" Meg waved her hand in front of the brunette's face.

"Huh?" she replied, snapping back to the present moment.

"Welcome back to Earth," Meg giggled.

"Yeah, where did you go?" Raoul inquired after swallowing his last mouthful. Christine looked at her plate and fought to keep the pink from showing on her face.

"Nowhere. I just zoned out for a bit."

"Sure..." Meg started sarcastically but stopped when Christine shot her a warning look. "Alright, I'm done. Let's get out of here."

As they rose and walked over to put their dishes away, Christine couldn't help but smile a little, remembering the dream from this morning. She had not visited the shore since she was little. Fond memories of her mother and father came flooding back before she could suppress them. They had built sand castles as tall as she had been at the age of six, gathered bags and bags of shells and sand-dollars, raced the waves coming up the shoreline, buried her father in the sand up to his shoulders...

Christine suddenly felt claustrophobic in the room and needed to get out. She bolted out of the door and into the sunshine. The warm rays penetrated her skin and comforted her a little bit. What she really needed at this point was to be held; not by Meg or Raoul, but by someone who seemed to understand her emptiness. She was startled by her thoughts, but who she wanted with her more than anyone was Erik. Not knowing where he lived or any way of contacting him, she hurried toward Majestic Hall so she could seek shelter in her room. Behind her, she could hear Raoul and Meg yelling at her to wait for them, but she couldn't tolerate being around those two with their perfect lives and living parents. No, she wanted to be alone.

Breathless from the climb up the stairs, she slammed and locked her door and then sat down on her bed, pulling her afghan quilt around herself. Her mother had made it for her and when she snuggled into it, she could almost feel her mother's arms wrapping around her, comforting her. She closed her eyes and finally calmed down. Her silent peace was interrupted by the ring of her telephone. She wiped her eyes and sniffled to clear her nose before she crossed the room and picked up the phone.

"Hello?" she said in as normal of a voice as she could manage.

"Christine, you're there," came a familiar male voice from the receiver.

"Yes, who is this?"

"Come now, you couldn't have forgotten me already. We met last night remember?"

"Erik?"

"Affirmative, how are you doing?"

"I'm okay now...I think," she replied, sighing lightly.

"You think? Christine, it's me. I can tell that something has made you upset. What's wrong?" Erik's voice was filled with concern. Christine couldn't help but give a little smile. She had only just met Erik and yet he seemed to be her comfort.

"I can't talk about it, not right now."

"All right," He said hesitantly. "If you need someone to talk to, I will be there for you. Remember that, Christine. I will always be there for you. You have no reason to feel alone anymore."

"I know. Thank you, Erik. That means a lot to me."

"I know it does. Well, if you are sure you are okay, I'm off to work on a piece. Will we meet again this evening?"

"Absolutely!" Christine felt a tingle run up her spine at the thought of seeing Erik again. "Just let me know when and where. See you later, Erik."

"Have a good day, my dear," he replied. Christine noticed that he hung on the line for a few seconds just to make sure that she really was all right. After placing her phone back on its base on her desk, Christine looked up at the vase and roses hidden on the shelf. She brought the vase down and inhaled the sweet fragrance and smiled at the thought of her mysterious friend.