Your Teacher (Phantom of the Opera Fanfiction)

Chapter 11

Christine thought to herself, How can I even be thinking of doing anything with Robert when the person I want to be doing something with is standing right in front of me?

Then, the moment of silence ended. "Hello, Christine."

"Hi." Both were acting so shy.

What am I doing? each thought. With that thought, their shyness came to an end, replaced with a sense of distance. Acting unusually detached, Erik said, "Come into the music room, and we will begin."

Today, there would be no tea. It shocked Christine, but she was also rather glad. It would keep things strictly on the lesson.

So, Erik warmed Christine up. At the first sound of her voice, Erik's thoughts went crazy. That voice… So lovely… He had to shake his head to get rid of the intrusive feelings. "Did you practice during our time apart?" He knew she hadn't.

Christine's head lowered. "I'm sorry. I couldn't. I just couldn't do that to my mom."

"Well, you are a bit out of practice. But, let us continue."

His words upset her but also made her strive for more. Concentrating fully on her voice and her voice alone, no matter how difficult it was, they proceeded.

The hour passed slowly for the two. It was so hard to keep the civil atmosphere. Christine considered the situation one of the most awkward she'd ever been in. The whole thing exhausted Erik.

Finally, though, the lesson came to its end. They left each other with simple good bye's, and both let out deep sighs when they were finally apart.

Erik fell into a chair in the den and gulped down another glass of brandy. That was terrible! And, it showed in her voice! He decided something had to be done. It wouldn't be enough to continue with the goal they had now. If only the goal of her eventually becoming a star was all they had, his feelings for her would deepen from lack of timed target.

They needed something to strive for. Something with a time limit. Thinking hard, he reached for the day's newspaper.

A story on the front page caught his full attention. He read it thoroughly over and over again.

The gist of the article was this: There were going to be auditions at the opera house for a new soprano. Someone to take Beth Daae's place..

This had never occurred to Erik. Of course! Why did I not think of this before? He leant against the head rest of the chair with a smile showing on the visible part of his face. Auditions were just what Christine needed. And, competitive auditions were the answer to his hopes.

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 Christine got out of her car still thinking about the lesson. I sucked.. It was so obvious. I'm sure he's so angry.

But, her thoughts were not on her voice alone. Just seeing the man brought the familiar racing heart and warmth to her body.

She had to get her thoughts off him, though. They would do her no good. It was time to focus on Robert. What will I wear? was her first girly thought. She went straight to her bedroom and began searching through her closet.

Six o'clock came quickly. She barely had time to tell her parents where she was off to when the door bell rang. Looking in a mirror one last time, she then walked to the door and opened it.

Robert looked really good. He was wearing different clothing than he had to school that day. But, of course, so was Christine.

"Hi," Christine shyly said.