Chapter 6 Bailey's

"Gosh, I can't believe it's Friday already. This week has flown by!" Meg said as she hurried to catch up with Christine. They both were returning to the dorm after their last classes on Friday.

"Hey, girls! Wait up!" Raoul called from behind them. They stopped and waited for him to jog up. He was clutching a bright orange paper in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. "Look what I found." He waved the orange paper until Meg snatched it.

"Let me see that. OH! Party in Mo-ville tonight!" she cried after studying the flier. "We have to go!" Mo-ville, short for Mortonville, was only fifteen minutes from Crawford College and was home to Morton University. The school was famous in the area for its active social-life. "How did you get this?" the blonde asked. "I thought invitations to these parties were hard to come by." It was true that many of the events worth attending were limited to a guest lists which only occasionally include people outside of the school. Many people went to some real dives before finally meeting the right people to get their names on the list.

"Oh, they are. I just happen to know a guy who owes me some favors. I had him put our names on the list. It should be a good time," Raoul answered with a smug grin.

"Yes! Count me it," Meg shouted, blue eyes sparkling as she squeezed Raoul in a tight bear hug. Her outburst caught the attention of several groups of students. She waved at them and then turned her attention back to her friends. "What about you, Christine?" The brunette looked back and forth between Meg and Raoul hesitantly.

"I don't think so," she finally said. Truthfully, she did not care to repeat last Friday's fiasco. If she got into trouble again, Erik would not be around to save her.

"WHAT! Do realize what kind of opportunity this is? I know people who would give their right arm to get into one of these parties!" Meg grabbed her, eyes wide in astonishment.

"I know, but I'm not up to going to a party tonight, and I have plans anyway."

"Of course you do, " Meg replied sarcastically. "It's not as if you've seen your mystery boyfriend enough this week..." Her voice trailed off as she realized what she had just said in front of Raoul. Christine turned a bright shade of crimson and glared at Meg. "Christine, I'm so sorry..."

"Wait, you have a boyfriend?" Raoul interrupted, trying to catch up on the conversation. "Who is it? I probably know him."

"It's n-nothing," Christine stammered.

"Oh come on, Christine. Tell me."

"NO! You two need to find something else to focus your lives upon and just mind your own business!" She turned and stormed off to Majestic Hall. True, she had spent several evenings with Erik this past week. They had taken a walk down to the park by Crawford Lake and spent some time in Farber Auditorium playing music. Tonight, they planned to stay in and have a movie night. Christine was surprised when Erik suggested the date, but found that he had a love of classic movies and some musicals. She just needed a few minutes by herself to cool off.

"What the hell just happened?" Raoul was bewildered watching Christine storm off. "I totally missed something."

"It's my fault, Raoul. She's been seeing this guy but she won't tell me who it is and she didn't want you to know about it. She gave me the whole 'it's new and I don't want to make a big deal out of it' speech, but I think there's more to it. I'm a little worried, Raoul."

"I'll ask around and see if anyone knows anything about it. Just try to keep an eye on her. There are dangerous people around and I would hate to see someone as innocent as Christine Daaé fall prey to one of them."

"I HATE HER!" Christine wailed later that evening. She was pacing the room as Erik gazed at the restless girl from his seat on her bed. "She promised she would keep the secret, but she betrayed me!" Concern flashed in his eyes and everything inside of him screamed to rush over and hold Christine tightly; to never let her go. Instead, he sighed and looked down at his black shoes, crossed at the ankles.

"Hate is a very powerful thing, Christine. I'm afraid that's how life is. Sometimes the people you think you can trust the most are the ones that let you down the hardest," he looked into Christine's beautiful crystal blue eyes which held hurt even in the dim light from her desk. "I wish I could tell you that I will never betray you, never hurt you, but I cannot. No one can. What I will swear to you is that I will do everything in my power to avoid it." She stared at him, startled for a brief second and then smiled. She gracefully sat beside him and took his left hand in both of hers.

"Thank you," she whispered. After what felt like an eternity of staring silently into the darkness of her room, Christine stood up and said, "How about that movie?" Erik regarded her careful for a moment.

"Wait here, I'll return in a moment."

"Um, ok..." Christine said to the now empty room, sitting down on the bed, perplexed at her friend's abrupt departure. "I'll just...wait here." In what seemed like no time, her door opened and Erik waltzed through carrying a tray with tea pot full of hot water, two mugs with spoons, and an amber pear-shaped bottle. He carefully set the tray on Christine's desk and poured the steaming water into the mugs which already contained a powder mixture. The scent of chocolate filled the air. He proceeded to open the bottle and measure several teaspoonfuls of the cream-colored liquid into mugs. With a stylish stir, he handed Christine a mug and picked up his own in salute.

"Cheers, to life constantly trying to keep up down, yet never succeeding." He clinked Christine's now upraised mug and watched as she took an experimental sip.

"Oh, it's hot, but this is delicious," Christine inhaled the scent of chocolate deeply. "What did you put in it?"

"Bailey's Irish Cream. This will almost always make me feel better."

"I can see why. This is really good!" Erik smiled slightly at the compliment.

"Now, how about that movie?" Christine smiled back as she popped the DVD into her laptop and then settled back into her place next to Erik. As the image of the MGM lion roared on the screen, all of the worried over her day seemed to disappear. She glanced over at Erik and smiled. How could anyone this warm and comforting have such a horrible reputation? "I guess people are afraid of some one who is different," she answered herself back. "They are afraid of what they don't understand." With that, she sighed and rested her head on Erik's broad shoulder, her mind at peace for a change.

"MEG! What do you mean we can't spy on her! She's our friend and she could be in danger!" Raoul shouted above the loud music. The party was everything they had hoped for, except for Christine's absence.

"Yes, she's our friend and she'll tell us who he is when she's ready," Meg looked down at her empty red plastic cup. "This is exactly why she made me swear not to tell you."

"She WHAT! Oh, this beats all!" He turned threw up his hands up in exasperation, forgetting his half-full cup that he held in his hand. Beer flew up in the air and soaked some girl's white shirt. She shrieked as several nearby guys threw their cups at her. Raoul grabbed Meg's arm and lead her out of the house just as chaos ensued.

"I wanted to tell you, Raoul. I really did," Meg pleaded on the sidewalk. She doesn't trust me, Raoul thought. Christine doesn't trust me.

"Raoul?" Meg saw the pained expression on Raoul's face. He looked at her and tried to hide it, but she had already seen all she needed to. A hint of a smile crossed her face. "You're interested in her, aren't you?" Raoul smirked and blushed a bit.

"HA! I KNEW it!" Raoul's hand flew up to cover her mouth. All Meg could do was giggle.

"I don't know exactly how I feel about her. Of course we're already friends but yes, I would like to get to know her better. NO, Meg. I don't want you playing matchmaker," He added in response to the gleam in her eyes.

"Ok, then," Meg said, trying to sound deflated but failing horribly. "All we need to do is find out who her mystery man is and then break them up for good!" Raoul looked at her uncertainly.

"I don't want to hurt her, Meg. If she really likes this guy she will be devastated. You know how delicate she is emotionally."

"Of course I know; in fact, I'm counting on it. She will be hurt. She will be devastated...and then she'll run straight into your arms. It's perfect!" Meg grinned evilly. She thought she had left her devious days back in high school, but this was to help an old friend. "MUAHAHA!" Raoul couldn't help but get caught up in her enthusiasm and joined in the laughter.