Chapter 4
Erik paced the floors of the music building basement obsessed with resolving this new distraction in his protégé's life. Christine's voice resounded in his mind. "Ok, so you'll pick me up at 5 tomorrow. I can't wait!" Erik slammed his hand against a nearby wall. Curse that insolent boy! He is out to destroy everything!
He ran a hand through his hair with a growl.
I cannot allow this meeting to take place! Something has to be done! I must intercept their rendezvous!... But no, I can obviously never do that…
A puddle of water lay on the stone floor nearby and he stared into its translucent depths. I cannot be seen because of this! With a hard swipe of his hand, he removed a black mask that was covering his face. Tears streamed down his now uncovered cheeks, and he sank to the ground. Damn this face…
Christine drank from her water bottle fervently while walking to the music building. Having voice lessons at 8:30 in the morning was insane, in her opinion. Her voice was never at its best at the crack of dawn...
But there was no Gratsia would have it no other way. A frown appeared on Christine's face at the thought of her voice teacher. It was bad enough having to sing so early, but it would be better did she actually like her voice teacher. But no, Dr. Gratsia was, most of the time, unbearable.
Christine always wondered why the lady couldn't have just stayed in her own country, because she was definitely not American. Half of the time she couldn't even understand what the lady was saying, and, for some reason, Christine was under the impression that she purposely made her speech so incomprehensible just to throw her off. All of her other students seemed to be able to understand her perfectly during their lessons. Why does she feel the need to give me such a hard time?
She reached the anticipated hallway and that odd feeling of being watched returned. Christine glanced behind her nervously and was relieved to see Bill, her piano accompanist. He was a junior majoring in piano performance. "Hey," she greeted him.
"Hey, Christine. How's the voice this morning?"
"I guess it's as good as it can be at 8:30," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "How are the fingers?"
"They're ready to accompany you," he replied with a laugh.
"That's good to hear. At least one of us will do well..." She reached Dr. Gratsia's office and sighed. "I'll get you in a few minutes."
"I'll be waiting. Good luck!"
"Good morning," Christine sweetly greeted upon entering her voice teacher's office.
"Yess, ah 'ope eet veel be ah gut morrrning! Only ah can deecide zat. Now, letz beh-gin." Carlotta sat at her grand piano and began playing scales for Christine to warm up. Immediately, however, Christine was forced to stop. "Ah, ah, noo! Yuu zound like uh toad theez morneen! Yuu awe naht avake!"
Oh, how her words hurt! No one had ever compared Christine's voice to a toad! "I- I'm sorry, I'll try harder," Christine murmured, still stunned.
The warm ups continued for another ten minutes before Dr. Gratsia proclaimed her voice to be hopeless and called Bill in. Christine recognized that Carlotta was being ruder than usual, and she found herself forcing back tears after each horrible criticism.
When the lesson finally ended, Christine and Bill left the office. Even he had to admit Dr. Gratsia was being too hard on her.
"I mean, man, you're a freshman! And a damn good one at that! I'm telling you, that woman's hearing is messed up."
"Thanks, Bill... She's right, though. I don't think I was giving it my all this morning. Maybe I never do…"
Bill frowned at that. "Really? Why? Because, if that's true, I'm really surprised! You sound amazing."
"Thanks.. I'm glad one person thinks so."
He didn't really know what else to say. After all, he was a piano major, not voice. "Well, I've got a class. I'll see you later, Christine."
She nodded and bleakly said, "See ya," before trudging down the hall.
Meanwhile…
Erik couldn't stand it. He had watched the entire lesson from his conspicuous hiding place behind a mirror on the wall, and he now felt like punjabing Carlotta! She had absolutely no right to insult his protégé in such a way! A toad! A toad?! It seems she is not yet aware of the sound of her own voice!
He could not tear his eyes away from Christine throughout the lesson or afterward. She looked completely miserable, which was understandable.
If Carlotta Gratsia insisted on insulting the girl, then she should have good reason! As it was, she didn't!
Erik knew all too well how badly insults could affect a person, and he absolutely despised Carlotta Gratsia for causing Christine to feel the effects of them.
If only something could be done...
Christine felt pretty down through her morning classes. While walking to the cafeteria for lunch, one thought was on her mind. Why does Dr. Gratsia hate me?
Meg was waiting for her at the entrance to the campus cafeteria, and immediately she knew something was wrong. "Bad day?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
Christine closed her eyes hating that it was so noticeable. "Yeah.. It was horrible, Meg. I'll tell you about it when we sit down."
"Sounds good." Meg followed Christine inside and both got trays of food before sitting at a table. She wasted no time. "Ok, what's wrong?"
Christine picked up her fork and bluntly said, "I just can't stand Dr. Gratsia. And, you know, since voice is my major, I should like my instructor! You like your dance instructor, and you'll be better in your major because of it."
"Why don't you like her?" Meg asked while taking a bite from her salad.
"She's awful! All she does is complain about how terrible I sound, and she doesn't even try to help. And, she's my freaking teacher! So what am I supposed to do?"
"Gosh, this is pretty bad. Why would she say you're so horrible if she gave you a full scholarship?"
"I know, right? I don't get it at all! It's like she wasn't the one in charge of giving it to me or something. I'm really confused…" Christine poked at her own salad not feeling very hungry.
"Well, why don't you get a new voice instructor? I mean, there are more here."
Christine looked down and said, "I can't."
"Why?"
"She's the best this school has to offer. Actually, she's the best pretty much any school in this country has to offer. Look, since my mom died, I swore to myself that I'd succeed no matter what. I wanted to go to the best fine arts conservatory in the country, and I did. I wanted to get a full scholarship, and I did. And I want the best teacher, and that's what I have. I've got to stick with her, Meg."
Her persistence was admirable, Meg had to admit, but she also found it highly unusual. She had only known Christine for two weeks, but she was quick to find that she was a very indecisive and, even, insecure person. This sudden strength was different. "Well, it's good to see that you know what you want... Ok, if you're so sure, then yeah, stick with her. More power to you. Dealing with her strict ways may help you just as much as my mom helps me. You know she's not the nicest person in the world either. She can whip a person into shape."
Christine's bad mood was fading, and she laughed. "You're right. Your mom is definitely not the nicest teacher in the world. But, at least she knows how to help a person, and she's pretty understanding."
Meg smiled and nodded. "I haven't gotten to ask you lately.. How is your dance class going?"
"It's good. I like it a lot. Your mom's strict and all, but she teaches, so I like it. Although... I could use some extra help on my arabesques." She glanced at Meg with hopefully hinting eyes.
"Of course I can help you! They're really easy-.." She stopped when she saw the astonished look on Christine's face. "I mean, they will be really easy. Let's work on it tonight before dinner."
"Wait, I can't.. I'm meeting Raoul, remember?"
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot! Don't worry about it, we'll work on it sometime before your next class."
"Good." Chuckling, Christine said, "So now that I'm not whining anymore.."
Before she could continue, Meg interrupted. "You weren't whining, Christine. Actually, I had to drag it out of you if I remember correctly."
"Well, anyway, how have your classes been?"
"They've been ok. Dance went well, French was oh so fun, and Math was the best class ever!" She spoke with a great deal of sarcasm and rolled her eyes. "I'm glad I'm done for the day besides practicing. How about you? Were classes bad because of your lesson this morning?"
"Yes," Christine replied simply.
"I'm sorry."
"And now I get to spend even more time with my favorite voice teacher in choir at 2:00. Joy.."
"Gosh, she is everywhere, isn't she?"
"Yeah, but it's ok. She's not so bad in choir. Still strict, but at least I can understand what she's saying."
Meg laughed at that. "What, can you not understand her in lessons?"
"Nope. It's like she tries to confuse me on purpose with her horrible accent."
"Well, that's not nice of her at all."
"You're telling me! She's not a nice lady at all." The girls picked up their trays and headed out of the cafeteria. "Well, I'll see you in the dorm later. I'm going to go practice so I can actually spend time with Raoul tonight without worrying."
"Sounds good. I'll be there when you're getting ready so I can help. See ya!"
"Tschuss!" Christine replied, practicing her German. The girls laughed going their separate ways. Christine was in a much better mood than before.
While practicing, Christine found that she was being much more of a perfectionist than usual. Every few minutes, she would slam her hands on the keys angrily not liking something about the way she sounded. "What is wrong with me?" Oh no, now I'm talking to myself.. But still, there was something about her voice that she just couldn't ignore. The problem was, she couldn't figure out how to fix it, either. "I'm sure this wouldn't be happening if I had a good voice teacher.."
She continued working on her arias for an hour before finally deciding, "Dr. Gratsia's right, my voice is hopeless.." She gathered her music and left feeling completely worthless.
During Christine's Practice…
That's my girl.. always practicing, Erik thought while making his way to his usual place behind her practice room mirror.
The problem with residing in the music building's basement was that the sounds coming from practice rooms would always travel down to his lair. Before this year, it annoyed him so greatly that he eventually found it necessary to request ear plugs from Madame Giry. Now, however, the ear plugs lay unused in a desk drawer.
He was becoming quite accustomed to tuning all other noises out besides Christine's voice. His ears would perk at her blessed sound, and his feet would make their way to rest behind the wall of her practice room.
Today's journey proved to be quite worrying, though. The frequent harsh pounding of piano keys would cause his lips to curl downward. She is being hard on herself today…
When unexpected words came from her mouth, he gasped slightly. She has never talked to herself before... They were questioning words of frustration. Erik knew the answer to her question. He knew what was 'wrong' with her. If only I could make my answer known to her! But, as always, that was impossible. Yes, yes, if only she did have a good teacher…
Finally, her last words unsettled him greatly. Your voice is not hopeless! He felt like climbing through the mirror and showing her just how great her voice could be with teaching, but he knew he could not.
Erik sometimes wondered why on earth he had ever gotten involved. It's not like he could ever really help her. Sure, he had gotten her a full vocal scholarship, but he would never be able to help her live up to it. That knowledge frustrated him to no end.
Erik was one for perfection, and when he couldn't have it… well, it was not good.
Christine stood in front of the full length mirror of her dorm room examining her appearance. Meg had spent the past fifteen minutes fixing her hair and make up so that the curls looked immaculate and her face exquisite.
She was all ready and extremely nervous. "Meg, what if he is disappointed with what he sees in me. He hasn't seen me in four years. What if I blow it?"
"You're not going to blow it, Christine. You're gorgeous and he's going to love you!" She handed her a purse and quickly adjusted a curly lock of hair before squeezing her friend's shoulder reassuringly. "Now, are you ready to meet him?"
Timidly, she answered, "Yeah, I think so," while still looking at her reflection in the mirror. "Will you come with me?"
"Girl, I would come with you even if you didn't want me! I want to see this guy."
Christine couldn't help but smile. "Thanks, Meg."
"No problem," she replied cheerfully.
They walked downstairs, and Christine suddenly thought of something. "What if I don't recognize him and he doesn't recognize me?"
"Stop worrying, Chris!" She gently pushed her ahead.
When the girls made it to the dorm entrance, there was only one person there, and Christine knew immediately who it was. "Raoul!" she exclaimed, not even trying to hide her excitement.
He was, in a word most girls would use, 'hot'. Tall, tan, blonde hair, brown eyes, good build, and a perfect smile. His taste in clothing was also worthy of attention.
"Christine!" He stood, approached her, and gave her a long hug. She couldn't help but blush. "You look amazing."
"Thank you. So do you. You're definitely not the same kid who used to have spiky hair, glasses, and braces! But, I still recognize you."
He laughed. "Yeah, I guess I'm not. You look beautiful. Nothing has changed there."
She blushed again and smiled before suddenly remembering Meg. "Oh! This is my friend and roommate, Meg Giry."
"Good to meet you, Raoul," Meg casually said while shaking his hand. "I'll see ya later, Chris. Be good, you two." She glanced from one to the other one last time before taking her leave.
"So, I was thinking we could go out to eat, and then, I can take you to see my college," Raoul asked, perfect smile in place.
"That sounds good," Christine replied. The two walked out into the early evening with content smiles on their faces.
Little did they know, a mysterious shadow was watching their every move from his place behind a tall bush. He wore all black clothing and a mask, which covered the entirety of his face, hiding the emotions of pure rage from the world…