Author note: Thank you to Twinkle22 who reviewed my first chapter. Hope others will review, and enjoy the chapter. The italics are flashbacks for a reference. I will try to update sooner for those who care to even read the story, but the PSATs are here and the teachers are making a big deal out of them. . so yeah, enough excuses, I'll write more often.

TheDragonEye

Graduation

The music was playing a slow graduation march as the graduating students made their way down the aisles and into the seats on the raised platform. The dean stepped forward as soon as everyone was settled and began that welcoming/ we're-so-proud-of-these-students-they're-the-best-class-we-have-had-ever. Everyone knew that they say the same to each class just to set them out of college in a good attitude and thoughts in their mind.

Daae, De Changy, Destler

It was odd that they should be the best of friends, yet this is the order in which they sat, directly one after another in their seats. But none of them looked at one another, not since they had met back at the tree had they spoken a few words:

"Alright so after this is all over we should go out and do something. . together. What do you say?"

"Christine. . .Erik. . . wait, there is something I have to tell the both of you. I think it will more or less affect you more, Erik. I. . am sorry I have been hiding this from both of you, but, it's for the best that you know now, and not question later. . . . about my actions." Raoul spoke up with a wave of his hand.

Erik was silent a bit as he looked down at the ground. He should have expected this. Though he knew he was weaker on the inside he always acted strong and he had a feeling that he would be left to fend for himself. Raoul was probably making up some excuse to not hang around now that Christine wasn't going to stay here. He was being abandoned by his friends just like his parents had done to him. Sure, he was being selfish, wanting his friends to stay there with him, but he had no one else. And he had grown used to their comfortable atmosphere, they were the only ones who had really accepted him.

"Raoul, I really do not think this to be the time." Christine spoke quietly as she looked down at her hands and smoothed the dark red of her graduation gown. "Let this be a good day, one to remember." she looked up at both of the men, both dressed in black as was the colors of the males of the university and dark red for the women. "After this I will take us all out to take the thoughts away, alright?" she smiled.

For once the two males could not disagree.

"Alright."

"Alright."

They both chimed in unison before the three of them headed off to join the rest of the graduates, preparing for the night that would truly end their lives and start anew.

All the drama, the hard work, and the days of playing skip figuring one can play catch up the next day all had led up to this moment. Yet it wasn't a relief to these three graduates- they all had something laying heavily on their mind.

Christine Daae- receiving a major in music and a minor in theater. She would be leaving the country soon, and she could still not get the looks of disbelief out of her head after she had told both of her friends the news. Her father, of course, had helped in the arraignment of auditioning and such for a few major roles in America. To think, America! The idea had made her so happy, until the faces of Erik and Raoul had shot through her head. Now it only made her sad to think of leaving them. She was especially worried for Erik. His face was always hard for people to accept and with his mask he always received second glances. They were never glances of admiration, usually along the lines of a gawk of a hidden mock or fear. Even after knowing him for so long she could say she barely knew anything of his past before freshman year, but it had been their love of music which had pulled them together in the first place.

As she looked out into the audience and spotted her father, Gustave, and mother, Lisa, her thoughts went back to the very day she had found him alone. . .

Freshman year in high school was when Erik had first met both Christine and Raoul. He had no friends for the first few months and had long since earned the name of 'freak' from the cruel students of the high school. No one would go near him, in fear to pick up a nickname and stereotype from the rest of the body of students. But then, one day, Christine had found him alone in the band room when she had run to drop off her flute. She had entered and had gone to one of the wind shelves to leave the instrument when she heard the faint playing of the piano that branched off of the storage room and connected the band to the orchestra rooms together. Upon investigation she discovered the teen, clad in black, slowly playing away on the piano.

Now Christine knew this was a lunch period, periods five through eight as a matter of fact. Right now it was period six, the time she had lunch. Did that boy have it the same as her? She couldn't recall ever seeing him in the cafeteria though. She took a few steps closer, not recognizing the piece he was playing. As she looked over his shoulder from a few feet away she caught sight of the title, 'Requiem di un ragazzo solo' by Erik Destler. A Requiem? That was the only word Christine had managed to pick out. Her languages besides French and the little English she was learning now didn't help in that. The words on the page were also in the language, probably Italian by the spellings of it. Now, Erik Destler, that was the name of the boy who was shunned by everyone too? That must have been him playing in front of her.

"Who are you mourning? Who is the song written for, E-Erik is it?" she asked in a soft voice. She knew she really shouldn't be talking to him, especially with all the rumors about him, but they were only rumors, right? She took a few steps closer and looked about the side of the organ to look at him. She hadn't been prepared for the sight and she let out a faint gasp of shock, causing the music to stop abruptly and the boy to stand up so quickly the piano bench fell over. Before Christine could speak he disappeared into the next room, leaving a bit of blood still on the organ.

She could not believe what she had seen. She knew the boy had worn a mask, but for that reasoning? One side of his face had been completely marred- a red twisting lump of flesh where a smooth, flat cheek should be. But his other face could have been quite handsome had it not been for the bruises and cuts on it. There had been several welts visible on his arms where his shit sleeves had been rolled up, and his fingers were red and raw to the point of bleeding. How long had he been like that before she had come along?

"Wait, please!" Christine called and started after him. She had found Erik crouched behind several stacked boxes of sheet music and he didn't even raise his eyes when she approached him. "Are you alright? What happened? How long have you been in here?" she asked quickly, it was an instinct. Her kind heart just wouldn't stand to see it, not even the one people had called a 'freak'.

"Go away, I don't need any pity from someone like you."

From someone like you. So this had been someone else? Another student who had done this to him? "I am not pitying you. . I am simply concerned." She spoke quickly after an instinctual step back. She sighed and moved down to her knees in front of him. "My name is Christine. You must be Erik. Are you alright?" she asked. She received no reply for several minutes. She shook her head and put her hand under his chin, forcing his head up and to the side as she inspected the bruises and cuts on his good side of his face. "You should really have the nurse look at those." she spoke, "And report those who did this to you."

Erik only shook his head and looked away from her, "That won't stop them, but. . . " he stopped his thank you and looked at her. "Why are you in here Christine?"

"It's sixth period and I normally drop my flute off during that time. I don't have the time in between classes she explained."

"Sixth period?" he echoed and shook his head. "I like instruments. . . this morning before school I hid away in here. .after. . well. . I like to play them. It's the only beautiful thing I can offer to the world." he spoke softly.

Christine smiled faintly at him, feeling as though she was finally starting to uncover some truth of who this boy really is. "If you want, I can take you to get someone to look at those injuries. I am sure there is a lot more you know about instruments too that I would like to know, Erik."

Erik. She was using his name! No one, and rarely even the teachers used it. Most of the time they wouldn't call on him for anything. But this girl might be the only shot he had on talking to someone so he nodded and slowly rose to his feet, Christine doing the same. "It stands for The Requiem of the lonely boy." he spoke as he headed for the door.

"Pardon?" the teen asked as she followed after him.

He looked back at her. "The music I was playing. The requiem is my own, work and words in meaning."

That had been the first day the both of them had met. Raoul had warmed up to Erik a bit later, but that was a little later on. Another story in which Christine remembered all too well.

"Christine Daae."

Christine looked up as her name was called and stood, walking past her friends to collect her diploma from the dean. She shook hands with the beaming man before she circled around and sat down in her seat as Raoul De Changy's name was called, leaving a gap in the chairs as she looked over to Erik who was looking down at his hands.

"Erik Destler."

The man rose from his seat and started across stage, feeling as though he was walking to his death instead of to get a diploma which signaled a life out side of high school. He was never comfortable with being in front of so many people, people who stared at the black half mask which was on his face. Today due to the way he was walking the entire audience were the ones viewing it instead of his peers. In a way he felt sorry for them. No one should have been looking at him. After all, not even his parents had cared to look at his face. Who knew where they were now.

He sat down in his seat, his hands sweaty and feeling as though he might ruin the diploma that was in his hands. He looked over at Raoul and Christine, wondering how he would be able to go live without them to turn to.

"Freak!" a punch.

"Fag!" another punch.

"Corpse." a kick to the side.

Erik had grown used to these things, after all, it was spring in his freshman year of high school. The beatings were nothing new to him. But even so he whimpered in pain from the past beatings. The pain was adding up. He could hear Christine's pleas for them to stop, they never listened though. It was always nice to hear though that the one person he had befriended actually stayed by him. But she had earned a reputation in school as well. It really didn't affect her friendships of other people as much though. She shouldn't be forced to watch this though. Erik closed his eyes, wishing the pain to just go away, the three boys who had jumped them never seemed to get tired of using him as a punching bag though.

Suddenly the beating halted and a new voice came up.

"All three of you are pathetic, go home before you are arrested and put in juvenile hall."

"De Changy, stay out of this. Just because your father is a business man and your mother is a lawyer you think you know everything. Perhaps. . if you pay us to leave we will let the freak go from a beating. . .for the rest of the day." he heard one of the other boy's say, and Erik risked opening his eyes.

He felt Christine's presence next to him as she knelt on the ground, but she didn't touch him. Probably because she risked hurting him even more. But there was someone standing over them, and from the boy's other words it was none other than Raoul De Changy.

"Actually, I don't have to tell anyone. You idiots decided to try and attack these two in front of a school security camera, anything I say doesn't matter. They probably will already know."

"Why I outta-"

"But you won't, you will kindly go on your ways and plan on how to try and talk your way out of this mess." Raoul spoke coldly.

There was a moment of silence before Erik heard three pairs of feet retreating. "Are you alright, Erik?" he heard Christine's voice and his gaze rose to look up at her. He heard De Changy ask him the same question as he looked down at him.

"I'm used to it." was his simple reply.

Erik supposed Raoul and him had been friends ever since that moment, and that was also when people began to treat him as they would anyone else. He did have a hunch that Raoul was all to do with it, but as the years past he grew used to it. What Raoul had said earlier was making him nervous. What would happen if the man left him? Christine too?

An hour or so later and the graduation ceremony came to a close, and Erik was forced to watch as families embraced the graduates, and people talked of the future. Erik retreated back to the oak tree as he watched Raoul and Christine run off to find their families.He felt so. . . alone and abandoned since the longest time. He should have come to realize sooner that Raoul and Christine had lives besides defending him and keeping him company. He slunk down, and looked at the diploma in his hands. A major in music, and a minor in Architectural design. Raoul he knew would follow up and become a business man. He now had a degree in law and such.

"Erik?" He looked up as he heard his name and saw Christine and Raoul standing a bit off, motioning him over. "Come on, let's go and enjoy the evening."

With a brusque nod Erik rose and walked over to them when Raoul slung a arm over his shoulder. "Lighten up, as long as Christine doesn't force us to eat anything she cooks we'll be fine."

"Look! I am sorry I mixed the sugar and baking powder up, give me a break!"

That jarred a smile on Erik's face as he walked with his friends down the familiar path leading away from the campus which had been their home for so long.

The roll of the waves was calming in Erik's opinion, Christine's choice had been a good one. They had all lain their graduation gowns away from the shore and were now sitting along the side as the water lapped up against their legs. They had talked for a bit before a sense of awkward and donning silence had overcome all three friends. Raoul was the one to break the silence.

"I am going to Italy. . . three days from now." he spoke and shook his head as Erik opened his mouth to speak. "My fiancee is waiting their for me, and I am working with my father on a business proposition there. An offer for me to being a practice down in Rome. So. . I don't know if I will be back. . I will make sure I will come and see you off Christine, before you leave for America that is."

"Raoul, I'm so happy for you. What is her name? When did you meet her?" Christine asked, though everyone could see past her half cheerfulness. Erik on the other hand remained silent as he stared at the water as it would pull away and then seep closer once more. All this time. Raoul knew he was going to leave. Erik looked at Raoul and then Christine.

"You'll keep your promise. . the two of you. . won't you?" he asked softly.

"Erik, we aren't abandoning you. We'll see one another again. We promised." Christine spoke and looked up at Raoul, both thinking the same thing.

"Have you any job offers yet?" Raoul asked and frowned as Erik shook his head no. "You should look, and if you don't find something I am sure I can get a contact to you I mean father knows-"

"Your father knows people! I know Raoul!. . .I. . .I know." Erik's voice grew quiet after his sudden outburst of rage. He truly did not like the mentioning of family, plus the fact as though he could not do anything himself. Erik looked to Christine. Sure he was upset that Raoul was leaving him, but he would be in the same continent at least. Christine. . would be across the world. And deep down. . he knew. . from the moment he saw her. . She was. . she was. . .

There was a splash of water and Erik sputtered a bit to find that both Christine and Raoul had moved into the lake not caring that their clothes were getting wet.

"Come on Erik!" Christine called, with a smile.

"Yeah, after all you probably would prefer to be wet." Raoul added and shook his head at a moment over thinking his words.

Erik smiled once more faintly, Christine had been right, they needed to make this time last as much as they could, especially now that Raoul only had three days left in France.

"Yeah! You know that sexual joke fell flat." Erik replied as he wadded into the water, splashing some water at Raoul who returned it. He disappeared under the water which resulted in a water wrestling fight for a few minutes.

When they finally were soaked through the skin they waded out of the water and sprawled out on the beach once more, watching as the sun set.

"It's beautiful." Erik and Raoul both heard Christine whisper. Erik only gave a small nod before his fingers laced with hers.

"The perfect end to a day like this. A mosaic of colors, fading into the slate of darkness in a end of one life." Erik spoke.

"And the beginning of another." All three spoke together.

Ending note:

Hope you enjoyed it.

TheDragonEye