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The sun was shining while Christine Daaé walked through the parking lot. It was her first year of high school and she would lie if she said she wasn’t excited, although a little scared. She had picked her favorite blouse, green and red with golden embroidery, and paired them with the nicest jeans she had, hoping her outfit would help set the mood for the upcoming year.
She spotted a familiar headful of curly blonde hair adorned with a white bow a few feet ahead and ran towards it, not wanting to go inside all by herself.
“Meg!”, she called out when they were closer, and sure enough, the blonde head turned in her direction, revealing her best friend’s face, and the girl smiled.
“Chris! Hi!”, the girl called Meg waved at her, taking hold of her arm when Christine was close enough. “How have you been? I’m so glad you made it! Let me introduce you, these are Cecile Jammes, Gabrielle Sorelli, Laurie Wayne and Isabel Fleck.” The girls smiled at her as Meg announced their names. “Girls, this is Christine Daaé, my childhood friend I told you about.”
“Christine, Meg told us you are a dancer, is that right?”, the shortest one, Jammes, asked.
“Well, I’m not really good at it, Meg’s far better than I am, but yes, it’s true.”
“You should join us! We’re all applying for the dance club!”, Sorelli said.
“Actually, I was thinking of joining the show choir club, or maybe the band…”
“Christine loves music”, Meg explained. “She’s been taking singing lessons since forever.”
“That’s nice, but sure you can do both?”, Sorelli wondered.
“I guess I could try.”
The girls cheered.
“Oh, do you know who goes here as well?”
“Who?”
“Christine Daaé? Is that you?”, a boy nearby asked.
When Christine turned around, she was met with another familiar, though grownup face. Blonde short hair, blue eyes, and a smile that for some reason made her think of a happy Golden Retriever, wagging its tail right and left, though the face in front of her was very much human.
“Raoul!”, she squealed, and the boy hugged her.
“He’s already wearing a letterman jacket?”, one of the girls whispered, to which Meg responded with a “psst!”.
“How are you doing, Lotte? It feels like it’s been ages! Let me look at you!”, he held her by her shoulders.
“It does feel like it. I’m good! Here to stay, at least until I graduate.”
Christine’s father, Gustave Daaé, was a famous musician who toured all over the world. He’d take Christine wherever he could, and so she knew all of the United States territory as well as a few foreign countries, especially in Europe. She never really had the chance to settle anywhere. They weren’t extremely rich as one would expect, since Gustave was focused on classical music rather than pop, but they had a good life.
“That’s great to hear. Well, we should get going. Can’t be late on the first day! Good morning, ladies!”, he then addressed the group of girls, who greeted him back cheerfully.
“Chris, what’s your first period?”, Meg asked.
“Let me see. I have… History. You guys?”
“Oh no, I have Biology”, her friend replied sadly.
“We both have English”, Sorelli pointed to Isabel.
“I have Algebra!”, Lauren chimed in.
“And I have…”, Cecile checked her notes. “French? Really? What a way to start the year off…”
“Look, I have History too! I can walk you there”, Raoul offered eagerly.
“Well, I guess it’s settled then. See you later! Text me if you need anything!”, Meg said, and the group parted as they entered the building.
“You must sit with me and the team for lunch! We have so much to talk about!”
“I don’t know, Raoul, the girls are going to apply for the dance club and they asked me to tag along, maybe we are doing that during the lunch break…”
“No! Absolutely not, I won’t take no for an answer. Applying today, applying tomorrow, what difference will it make?”
Christine thought it would make no difference to have lunch together that day or the next one either, since they could also meet after school or talk on the phone to catch up as they had done their entire lives, but didn’t say anything. Raoul was just trying to help her feel welcome.
She was shaken from her thoughts by a commotion in the hallway. Three boys wearing jackets like the one Raoul proudly sported had cornered a tall, thin kid who was covering the right side of his face with his hand. The other boy wore black from head to toe and Christine thought he looked a little old to be in high school, but assumed it was due to his height and the fact that his black hair was combed back, giving him a more serious, even formal look.
Before she could ask Raoul what was happening, his team mates had grabbed the taller boy’s arms and legs and were carrying him out through a side exit. The people who had gathered around them in the hallway followed suit, cheering them on.
“What’s going on?”
“They are going to teach this asshole a lesson.”
“Why? What did he do?”
“Because this is high school, Lotte. There are rules. Those who don’t follow them, pay for it.”, Raoul stated simply as they walked through the doors.
“They’re throwing him in the dumpster ?”
Christine was horrified.
“Like I said, high school.”
“But it’s the first day! We literally just got inside, what can he possibly have done? What rule did he break?”
“Well, I don’t have all the details, but from what I heard he got into an argument with Firmin and Andre during summer.”
“An argument over what?”, Christine demanded to know.
Raoul shrugged.
“Does it matter? The guy’s arrogant, acts like he’s better than everyone, we can’t stand him and it’s been years now.”
“Has he ever thrown any of you in the dumpster?”
“No”, Raoul responded quickly. Way too quickly, she noticed.
So there had been a humiliation of sorts, Christine assumed, and couldn’t help but wonder what it was. The crowd screamed loudly and clapped, which probably meant the boys had been successful in throwing the other in the dumpster, though she was too short to see it as Raoul ended up standing in front of her.
“Yeah, that’s how you do it! You showed him, buddy”, Raoul gave one of his team mates a high-five as they went back inside.
“This is barbaric”, Christine muttered in reply and Raoul turned to her.
“Sorry, Lotte, did you say anything?”
“I said I need to go to the bathroom. I’m going to ask for a hallway pass just in case. Keep going, I’ll meet you in class.”
“Sure you don’t want me to come with you to the secretary?”
“No, I’ll be fine, otherwise we’ll both be late. You go ahead and save us a good seat”, she smiled.
When Raoul turned back around to head to class, Christine made her way out through the same doors they had just walked in and rushed towards the dumpsters. Thankfully it was empty, except of course for the boy who had just been thrown in it. His rage was radiating from him, but Christine wasn’t scared.
“Hey”, she said in a small voice, as if she didn’t want to startle him, and extended her left hand. “Do you need help getting out?”
“I’m good, thank you”, he replied as he got on his feet, and Christine noticed he had very long limbs. He jumped out of the dumpster, patted his clothes to make sure there was no dust in them, then reached back in and retrieved his backpack- also black, Christine observed, but adorned with several pins in the shapes of musical notes, skulls, and others she couldn’t really see.
Christine then noticed the white half-mask, and realized that was the reason he was covering his face while the jocks harassed him. He probably didn’t want to risk it falling out of place in case he was hit. She also took notice of his mismatched irises, one black and the other a blueish white.
“Christine Daaé”, she offered her right hand.
“I’m Erik”, he replied, shaking her hand, and cocked his head to the left, staring at her intently. “Are you new here?”
They started making their way back into the building.
“Sort of. Officially, I have lived in this neighborhood all my life, but my dad travels a lot for work, he even leaves the country at times, and he used to take me with him. Apparently I’m old enough to stay alone with a guardian now, so I get to live a mostly normal high school life.”
“Daaé, you said? As in Gustave Daaé, the famous musician?”
“Yup, that’s him.”
“That’s so cool! I’m a huge fan of his.”
“Thank you”, Christine smiled.
They walked in silence for a few minutes.
“So, uh… Those jocks were pretty rude.”
“They’re just coward dumbasses. They put on a brave facade but when push comes to shove they’re the first ones to run and hide.”
“Did… Did something happen between you?”
“They just lack the ability of leaving people alone. Just because they wear a stupid jacket they think they can boss everyone around and get people to do their bidding. But payback is coming”, he gave a wicked smile.
“What are you going to do?”
“Me? Nothing. But they might want to pay more attention to their lunch money next time they’re throwing someone in the dumpster.”
“Wait! You stole their lunch money?”
“How could I, Christine? How could I know that the money was inside the wallet they keep in the front pocket of their bags? Besides, in case you haven’t noticed, they were holding my arms and legs. Even if I knew where they kept the money, I wouldn’t be able to reach it.”
His cocky smile, however, said otherwise.
“Erik, this is not right.”
“Neither is throwing people in dumpsters, yet they do it anyway. Like I said: payback”, Erik merely shrugged. “And it’s not like I did anything. Not that they can prove, anyway.”
Christine couldn’t find it in her to reprehend him more. The dumpsters were certainly not pleasant to be in, even if they were empty.
“Well, where are you going now?”, he changed subjects.
“History.”
“Too bad. I have Geometry”, Erik motioned to a door they stood next to. “But I’ll see you around, I guess.”
“I guess.”
“Oh, and by the way, I’m applying to show choir and the band”, Erik winked. “Goodbye, Christine.”
With that, he turned around and walked into the classroom.
“Goodbye”, she all but whispered.
The bell rang, startling her, and she rushed to History class. Thankfully, she managed to arrive before the teacher. It would do no good to get detention on her first day.
“Where have you been?”, Raoul asked. “It took you forever.”
“I... Got lost. Couldn’t find my way back.”
“Told you I should have gone with you.”
But Christine was no longer paying attention to the blonde boy by her side. Instead, her mind was on the mysterious but somehow charming young man who wore all black and donned a white mask. She could tell something beautiful and dangerous was growing between them.