AN: I don't guarentee anything on my French. And this includes all chapters following this one. In case you couldn't tell, I can't speak it. So forgive me. Erik is supposed to be saying "Fucking moron." But I dunno if its right.

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"What?" I exclaimed. He had taken me by complete surprise.

Erik flashed me the smile he'd had before he opened the door. The one that showed the harshness of his eyes. He repeated, no longer asking a question, but stating a fact, "You have a thing for Erik, the Opera Ghost."

"I, I have no idea what you're talking about!" I stuttered.

"Obviously you do. You just stuttered, and every time you talk about the Phantom your face lights up. Just being here has made your voice go up three octaves. And, to top it all off, you're desperate to take my mask off, just like you would be if you saw the original Erik." He replied, while the look of harshness faded from his eyes and was replaced with a slightly sad look.

"And if I do have a crush on him?" I said. I couldn't believe the nerve of this guy! Who was he to judge me? "I mean, most girls do! A guy completely devoted to you, and ready to take you away whenever you want. So what?"

"Calm down Kristina! I didn't mean anything by it, well maybe a little. But, you know, he's not all he's cracked up to be. Remember, he was a murderer. You seem so willing to overlook that," he said with sadness written all over his face, "Plus, I wanted to know if you'd ever be able to feel anything like that for this Erik."

"Wait. What?" Okay, now Erik was kind of starting to creep me out.

"I mean that I like you Kristina. I find you beautiful, and intriguing. I think we would be amazing together, and I wanted to know if you felt the same." With each word he said Erik slid a little closer to me, so that by the time he'd finished talking he was barely an inch away.

"Erik, I don't know. I mean, I just met you. And it's all just really, surprising."

"What's so surprising?" Erik softly whispered, "That I like you, or that you find yourself liking me back?"

"It's just, I just, I don't know," I conceded while turning my head away from him. I had always been less than comfortable around guys, and he wasn't making it any easier, staring at me with those piercing green eyes.

"We have all the time in the world," he softly replied. He lightly grabbed my chin and made me face him again. He started to lean down towards me, and I tilted my head up to him without realizing it. Suddenly, he pulled away, "I'm sorry Mlle. Kristina, we will have to finish this tomorrow night. I will send someone to accompany you to the costume shop, to pick out your outfit for the party. They should arrive around six o'clock tonight. I would be honored if you went as Christine. Tomorrow I will send someone to take you to the party. I will see you then."

He lightly bowed to me (a very informal way to say goodbye, if you ask me, not the way you'd leave someone you had almost kissed) and he left. He rushed out of Box 5, and I could hear him run down the stairs.

"Okay, that was a little weird, no, more than a little," I whispered to myself, "Why in the world would he act like that, and then leave so suddenly?"

After a few minutes of quiet contemplation I left the opera house myself, just much more slowly than Erik did. I no longer felt like exploring, I was too wrapped up in my thoughts. I kept thinking about him the whole way back to the hotel. Why wouldn't he kiss me? Why would he stop halfway there? Why not just do it? Why couldn't I stop thinking about him? And why was his look of sadness engrained in my memory? None of this made any sense.

"Hey Kris!" Megara called as I entered the hotel room, "Perfect timing! I was just about to head out for shopping! Want to come? Oh, and how was the Opera House?" She added as an afterthought.

"It was, good, I think."

"What do you mean 'you think'?"

"Well, uh, something weird happened," I said as I proceeded to tell her all that had transpired.

"Wow. That's awesome! I mean, how often do you run into a really hot guy in a foreign city? Well, actually, that happens a lot, but how often does he ask you out? That's incredible! And you get to go to a costume party! That would be totally fun! You should take me with you! I could go as Meg! It works out perfectly! Erik as Erik, Kristina as Christine, and Megara as Meg! Seeing as our names are so close to the characters '… it makes my casting in a word ideal…' Ha! You see! I can quote the Phantom too!"

I laughed at her and replied, "Meg, dear, you are quite insane. I mean, yeah, that'd be fun and all, but I don't know if you can go. I mean, isn't it kind of rude for me to invite someone, when someone invited me? What if he's only allowed to bring one guest, and the host isn't expecting another one?"

"Who cares? How often do you get to go to a costume party in Paris? Girl, you are taking me whether you like it or not! And besides, you can ask when you guys go to get your costumes!"

"He said he was sending someone to pick me up, so whoever that is might not know."

"Damn! He's sending someone to pick you up? He's got to be loaded! I thought for sure you guys would go shopping together! But hey, this is even better! You got a sneak peek at the fact that he's rich! And besides, you can just say I wouldn't have let you go if I couldn't go too."

"Well, yeah, but- What makes you so sure he's rich?"

"The fact that he's having someone escort you to buy your costume."

"Well, he did say he would have someone take me to the costume party as well."

"Hot damn! He's richer than I thought. I bet he's getting a limo! And whether you know it or not, you have already given in to my scheme. So I am going whether you like it or not."

"Come, come now Meg. Was there ever really any doubt about whether you'd come or not? You knew you had me beat before you even asked."

"I know. But it's always fun to pretend I have to pound you into submission. It's just more interesting that way."

I laughed and tackled my dearest Meg, who had sat down on the bed to listen to my story, "How dare you say such a thing! You're horrible!"

"Hey! Watch it," Meg replied while squirming out from under me, "You'll mess up my hair."

I just laughed and threw a pillow in response.

"What did I just tell you about my hair?" she half yelled while tossing it back at me.

"Whatever. I woke up way too early this morning. Wake me up at 2:00."

"So we're going to go to the costume party, right?" Meg asked.

I yawned and mumbled in reply, "Of course, night."

"Night Kris," Meg said as she left the hotel room and lightly closed the door behind her.

I snuggled under the covers and tried to go to sleep, but it didn't work. I kept thinking about Erik, which really wasn't the smartest thing to do, because that inevitably led to certain fantasies playing in my head, but after a few of these I finally managed to fall asleep. It seemed like only a few minutes had gone by when Meg woke me up.

"Come on Kris. It's time to wake up! Damn it Kris," she said while hitting me with a pillow, "Get up!"

"Quit it already. I'm up, I'm up."

"Good, because you overslept."

"What?"

"I got distracted by some cute girls and forgot to wake you up. Sorry."

"Ugh. I'm going to kill you. I should've known not to trust you. You always get distracted when you see a nice ass." I said while trying to completely wake up, "What time is it then?"

"About four."

"Damn it Meg! I was supposed to go to the Louvre!"

"Well, you'll just have to go tomorrow then, won't you?"

"Seriously Meg, you're not helping. And if you don't shut up I am going to punch you."

"You always say that. But you never do anything, so why should I believe you this time? Anyway, what are we going to do for dinner?"

"It's only four o'clock! How can you be hungry already?"

"I didn't eat lunch. So what are we going to do?"

"Why do I have to decide? It's your turn to pick."

"Well, let's just go to the café down the street, it's close and cheap and we'll have enough time to eat and talk and still make it up here by six."

"Stupid, stupid, stupid." I thought to myself while walking out of the opera house, "What in the world possessed you to invite her to the ball? You're a moron!"

I couldn't believe I could do something as blatantly rash as invite someone I barely know to the biggest party of the year. And she didn't even know what she was getting herself into! How was she supposed to know that this party was going to be filled with the crème de la crème of all of Paris?

"Débile foutu," I muttered to myself, inadvertently switching back to my native French.

"Erik! Erik!" I heard a familiar voice yell behind me. I abruptly turned around to see a young Persian man chasing after me.