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At six thirty in the morning I was again awoken, but this time it was because everyone was getting ready. With bleary eyes I watched everyone hustle around the room, slipping on tutus and tying their long hair back. Meg and Christine sent me a quick goodbye and the room was empty. I closed my eyes and dozed for about half an hour before I got up. I dressed and got ready for my day as the cleaning lady. I got my things together and went to box 5.

After I polished the chairs I closed the curtains to clean them. I was about to take off my shoes and climb onto a chair when it hit me like a ton of bricks on my chest. My legs wouldn't support me anymore and I fell to my knees in a coughing fit. I pulled a rag out of my apron and covered my mouth. I curled in fetal position on the floor as blood dribbled out of my mouth. My shaky hands pulled a pillbox out of my pocket and I somehow was able to swallow the pill and down some of my flask. I shuddered on the floor. I was so cold.

Suddenly arms held me and a soft voice asked if I was okay.

"No." I began to cry, for the briefest moment I thought I was going to die. Erik held me close as I cried into his chest. I wrapped my arms around him and cried like a two year old who lost their mother in a crowded supermarket. I knew Erik might feel awkward at this moment but I didn't care, I just needed to be held by someone.

I don't know how long went by but my tears stopped. "Thank you," I said. "If I'd been alone I'm not sure I would've been able to move myself into a comfortable spot."

"What happened? What was that?" He asked. I knew he had a right to know but I didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm just sick, that's all. Don't worry, I'm not contagious." I laughed weakly.

"That seemed more than a mere cold. Do you have consumption?" He sounded worried. I knew that in this time consumption or tuberculosis was incurable.

"No! No, it's just a disease I have, only me. I'm sure it'll go away soon." I tried to calm him, who knows what would have happened if he knew my heart disease needed an operation. "I need air. Can you help me to the roof?" It was so cold out in February, maybe it was always this cold in February when you were in Paris, I didn't know, I was sure that it snowed here. Silently Erik carried me to the rooftop. I breathed in the cool air and felt my chest loosen.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" Erik knelt next to me. I smiled and shook my head.

"No, I'm feeling better now. Really, it's nothing." I looked up at Erik and could see his face etched in worry. "Thank you for worrying about me." I stood up and brushed the dirt off the back of my dress. I spun around with my arms in the air, I could feel my body going back to normal.

"Don't overexert yourself." He walked up to me and put his arm on my shoulder. I smiled at him again.

"I'm thinking of asking Madame Giry to teach me ballet so I can join the chorus. Being around so much acting has made me a little antsy. I really need to get back into the swing of the stage." I looked over the edge of the railing and saw how far it was to the bottom. A fucking long way.

"I'm sure that you'll catch on quickly." I liked talking to Erik, it made me forget the constant pain I was in.

"Yeah, maybe. I've never taken a ballet class in my life. Who am I kidding, I've never taken a dance class in my life. I minus a dancing ability." Erik's brow furrowed. I really need to stop using future slang here unless I want to keep explaining what it meant. "It means I just can't dance."

"You can sing like a prima donna already." His voice was praising but still he refrained from touching me, I guess he's still not used to physical contact.

"I'm good at a lot of things that don't require me to get out of a bed." God that didn't sound right, I really didn't mean it like that. "I'm fluent in Italian and I write my own lyrics. I even make up dances with my friends but I'm not really flexible enough to make them really good. But I have fun doing it so I might have fun learning to dance ballet while it's readily available to me." God I was rambling again.

"You write your own music?" Erik sounded shocked but excited, I guess he wanted me to show him my songs. I really didn't want to show my mediocre pieces to THE Phantom.

"Yeah, but they're not sheet music, only lyrics in Italian or a mix of Italian and English."

"Would you show me?" He asked. I spun around, trying to hide my embarrassment.

"No. They aren't really good, not like anything you compose." Everything grew still.

"How did you know I compose? Or, for that fact, how my compositions sound?" Shit. I was stepping on thin ice now.

"I'm from the future, how could I not know about the music you write? It's wildly popular. Where I come from everyone knows about you because of a novel written in 1910." I decided to skip the whole 'this world doesn't exist and you aren't a real person' speech. Really, why would he believe me?

"You knew I was the Phantom from the beginning?" He asked.

"No." I turned to look at him again. "I knew you were Erik Destler from the beginning. I didn't want to say anything until you were ready to tell me yourself." He looked surprised. "I thought it was kind of funny you were playing the whole 'Angel of Music' card on me, I'm surprised I didn't tell you I knew when I came back from drinking with Blaise the first time." His face darkened, what was up with him and Blaise?

"What does the future know about me?" He asked.

"Well, there was a book written about you after you died in the early 1900's and that later became a," I didn't know how to explain what a movie was to him. "A really good play. Then they made a musical and about a thousand more adaptations since the first book."

"Do you know how my life will end?" I was dreading that question. How could I tell him that the girl he loved chose Raoul over him and left him to be found by an angry mob.

"That's... highly debatable. There are so many different versions of your story that I don't think have any basis in reality and they all have different endings." I shrugged. "I couldn't tell you anyway, I'd be meddling in time and I'd mess up the future more than I already am by being here." I really hope I mess up the story now that I was in it. Erik looked confused.

"If you aren't supposed to be here why are you here?" I asked myself that every day.

"I don't know. None of the versions had a black girl who cleans the Phantom's box." I couldn't help but worry that I was drastically changing the future as we spoke.

"Let's go to my home. If we are going to speak of the things yet to happen it would be best to not let anyone overhear us."

"Okay." We began walking down when I had an idea. "Can I keep my future stuff in your house? I don't want anyone to find it and accuse me of being a witch or something."

"Alright." His voice was neutral but I was pretty sure he thought the idea was weird.

"But don't think that this is a free pass to go through my stuff," I said as I walked towards the ballet dormitories.

ERIK

I watched her walk away and wondered if my idea was so obvious. I had thought to look through her things to gain a better understanding of where she was from but she had seen right through me. I thought of the books and plays about me and shuddered. How had my life gotten out? Who, besides Madame Giry, knew my life story? Would Madame Giry tell someone about me? No, she wouldn't, she'd never done anything that had hurt me. The first book that would come out around the turn of the century would mean I was dead and that Antoinette must be as well since she was older than me by six years. Who could have done so much research on my life? It was unnerving.

Danielle had known there was no Angel but she sang for me anyway. Why? I felt a hope spark in my chest that she had never seen the performance of my life or that the writer had never found out about my childhood, if you could call it that. I put a hand against my mask and knew she had never seen the performance. If she had she would have never spoken to me. I laughed once, darkly, she would have run in the other direction as fast as she could if she knew what was beneath my mask. Sometimes being made to wear a mask my entire life made me want to toss the accursed scrap of clothing across the lake and go for a walk in the park an hours walk away from the Opera. I knew I couldn't, they'd kill me before they looked at me. I remembered when I decided to carry Danielle to bed after her first outing with the stagehand and she had relaxed against me; she had already known who I was and she trusted me with her body. I felt myself smile.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I had to decide what I could keep with me and what was too risky to be seen." She carried a strange bag on her back and it looked a little deflated "It's mostly clothes I can't wear here and my camera, cell phone and wallet." She looked up at me. "Don't touch my wallet unless you want to steal my useless future British money." The talk of the future continuously confused me. "Also, if you go through my stuff I won't like you anymore." She had such a serious look on her face I knew she meant it.

"Alright, alright." One of her words came to mind. "What is a cell phone?" She bit her lip, obviously contemplating how much to tell me.

"A little device that you use to contact people without writing a letter. You can talk to them like they're in the room with you." I stopped walking, amazed such a device could exist. She looked at me warily. "Don't you even think about taking it apart. If you so much as take the back of it off I'll smite you worse than God smited Lucifer." Again she was completely serious. It must be worth a lot if she is threatening me. I lead her to a passage that went right down to my home.

"If you ever need me and don't have the patience to go through the mirror come down this way and it will take you right to my home." She looked around with a light smile on her face, like she was enjoying being with me. It felt nice. We came out from a hidden tunnel close to the bank of my home behind one of the many curtains.

"Do all of these curtains have tunnels behind them?" She looked behind another curtain and found a mirror.

"Some, but only two go anywhere, if someone ever found out where I was they would get lost in the tunnels instead of finding me." She didn't ask which out of the five would not come to dead ends.

"I'm going to put my things over there." She started toward the small alcove where the wedding dress I designed for Christine was hanging on the mannequin. I turned to tell her when I heard a yelp and a crash. Danielle had jumped a mile in the air and a foot backward, knocking into a long candlestick. I walked over to ask if she was okay.

"Are you alright?" She turned to me with wide eyes, eyes that accused me of madness. She spun and picked up the candlestick and put the candle back on before she turned to answer me.

"You really have a mannequin dressed as a bride that looked exactly like Christine in your downstairs? That's six shades of creepy! Oh my fucking God, when I first saw it I thought you'd put Christine in some kind of trance and left her here for later or something! God damn, that ain't right. Motherfuckin' scared the everlovin' shit outta me. Honey, that," she said pointing back at the mannequin, "ain't the work a no sane man." As if realizing what she said she covered her mouth with her hand.

"It took me very long to create that and I'd appreciate it if you'd stop squawking." My voice came out harsh. Again she bit her lip.

"I'm sorry Erik, when I get really freaked out or angry I start talking like a black woman. It's just that the whole mannequin thing seems kind of crazy. You haven't even told Christine you love her and you're already planning the wedding? Look, Christine is my friend and that" again she indicated to the alcove, "is a little stalkerish." Anger welled in me. How dare she say that to me? I loved Christine and she was going to marry me. "And you're also my friend. I don't want to see either of you get hurt." Her eyes fixed on me, I felt all of my anger drain away. She was worried for me, worried that Christine might not want to marry me.

"Why would Christine not want me?" I asked, knowing she was going to say it was because of my face.

"Because to her, like you were to me, you are the Angel of Music. Her father. She doesn't know who you really are, how can she love you if you don't let her know you?" I winced. I knew she was right but I knew Christine would be upset that I was not her father coming to teach her.

"I know." I felt uncomfortable in the silence between us now, so did Danielle.

"So... do you want to take a look at futuristic technology?" I looked at her, surprised.

"Weren't you the one telling me not to take your things to pieces and saying it would be dangerous for me to know about the future?" She shrugged and opened the pack.

"I said that about you, not me. And I'm going to hell anyway so I might as well sin." This was her explanation for disrupting the timeline. I sat next to her, waiting for her to explain the rectangular object in her hand. "This is a camera. In the future people figured out how to make it so the camera has a little machine in it that copies the image of that you point the lens at without having the subjects sit for hours. Here, look this way." She pointed the rectangle at me and something on it flashed, temporarily blinding me. I rubbed my eyes.

"What was that?" She laughed at my expression and turned the rectangle toward me. I was looking at a photograph of myself with a bewildered expression.

"Aren't you a cutie? Well that's how that works, it's not waterproof so don't take it out." Again she eyes me suspiciously. "And this is my phone. It's really useful for when you need to tell someone to get something from the market on the way home. Or to call an ambulance. See? I got 911 on speed dial." I couldn't process all this at once and she seemed to pick up on that. "It's strange. you look a lot like one of the men that played you."

"What?" Wasn't it bad enough everybody knew about my life?

"Yeah, Gerard Butler. But you're a little taller and your eyes are sharper, but when he was in costume you couldn't really tell. Also his hair is brown with some gray in it, I think he's forty three or something now." If he looked so much like me I wonder if my face would match his? If she had a photograph of him I could see what I would look like without this abominable face.

"Do you have a photo of him?" I heard myself ask. She twisted her face and reached for the 'phone'.

"Maybe." She seemed to look through it as if it were a book. "I'm sorry, I guess I don't." She frowned. I felt a little disappointed myself.

"It doesn't matter." I mentally shook myself. "Are you comfortable here? Is there anything you're lacking?"

"I'm lacking in monetary funds but that's about it." She smiled. So be it.

"Come." She followed me to my bed chambers in the room above. She looked confused as I tossed her a bag of coins. "Take this and go buy your necessities." Again she looked shocked.

"I don't want your money, I was just making a joke." She tried to hand the bag back but I pushed it away. "I don't need it, I get a monthly salary and I've quite a fortune already."

DANIELLE

Was he seriously giving me all this money? The bag was heavy.

"I couldn't, I haven't earned it and I'd have to work forever to pay you back." He shook his head.

"Think of it as a gift from a teacher to his student." I clutched the purse to my chest and smiled. I ran the few steps it took to get to him and threw my arms around him, peppering his cheek with kisses.

"Erik you're so sweet." I pressed a few more kisses to his surprised cheek and let go. "I can finally stop wearing the same dress every day!" I laughed. Erik seemed to be in shock. Maybe I'd invaded his personal space a little too much. "I'll have to go on a shopping trip with Meg and Christine; I don't know a dress from a tree in this crazy time." He snapped out of it enough to chuckle.

"You should get going, I'm sure everyone will be worried about you." Erik walked me to the end of the little tunnel and bid me goodbye. I checked the time on my watch and found that it was passed lunch and almost five. I had been with Erik since around nine in the morning. Eight hours. Wow. Meg and Christine got off soon, if I got them right as they got of we might be able to go to a few stores before they closed for the day.

"But first I need to talk to Madame Giry," I said aloud to no one in particular. I walked to the stage and snuck into the audience to watch the last bit of dress rehearsal.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, I'll see you tomorrow." Ryder said to the group, getting up from the piano. Everyone dispersed. I waved at Alphonse as he went to get his make up removed.

"Madame Giry? Can I talk to you?" I asked when I caught her attention. She came over to me and asked what she could do for me. "I was wondering if you could teach me how to dance. I mean, since I'm in an Opera House and the only thing I have to do all day is clean one box that only takes about two hours to clean I thought it would be a good idea." I fidgeted a bit but Madame Giry smiled at me.

"I'd love to teach you the art of ballet. It would be wonderful to see you in our productions." I was relieved, for a second I was afraid she would say no. "Come with me, let's get you a ballet dress and slippers." I followed her to her office and she looked in the closet for a small white dress. "You're so small it'll be hard to find one.. just... right." She pulled out a small white corseted tutu. I laughed.

"A corset. Of course." I undid my dress and tried the white one on. it fit me as well as was to be expected since it was a corset. It was a little tight in the bust, but not enough to inhibit my breathing. She dove back in and found a pair of small white slippers and stockings.

"There, now you look the part. I'll meet you after dinner tomorrow for your first lesson." I changed back and thanked Madame Giry before rushing to the dormitories to tell Christine and Meg.

"There you are. We were wondering where you'd gone off to." Meg quipped at me as she saw me come in the door. I'd hidden the white dress behind my back.

"We thought you'd gone to the moon to see Lance Armstrong." We all laughed at that, but I was for a whole other reason.

"Oh, I was around. But screw the reason I wasn't here I need to tell you something." They gave me their full attention.

"Meg's mom is going to teach me ballet!" They gasped and congratulated me as I showed them the dress.

"We're so happy for you. Oh, it's going to be so much fun being in operas with you!" Christine said.

"I got another little surprise," I said. They leaned close.

"What? What?"

"It seems I've go a benefactor. I now have enough money to go out and buy a change of clothes!" I said holding out the bag of coins. They gasped when they saw the size. "And I need you two to come along with me to help chose the things out. God knows I'm lost."

"Where did you get all that money?" Meg whispered.

"Secret. But let's go spend!" I made a 'come with me!' motion.

"Let's go Saturday. We can spend more time out then." Christine suggested. I shrugged.

"Alright. I can't wait!"

Description
At six thirty in the morning I was again awoken, but this time it was because everyone was getting ready. With bleary eyes I watched everyone hustle around the room, slipping on tutus and tying their long hair back. Meg and Christine sent me a quick goodbye and the room was empty. I closed my eyes and dozed for about half an hour before I got up. I dressed and got ready for my day as the cleaning lady. I got my things together and went to box 5.

After I polished the chairs I closed the curtains to clean them. I was about to take off my shoes and climb onto a chair when it hit me like a ton of bricks on my chest. My legs wouldn't support me anymore and I fell to my knees in a coughing fit. I pulled a rag out of my apron and covered my mouth. I curled in fetal position on the floor as blood dribbled out of my mouth. My shaky hands pulled a pillbox out of my pocket and I somehow was able to swallow the pill and down some of my flask. I shuddered on the floor. I was so cold.

Suddenly arms held me and a soft voice asked if I was okay.

"No." I began to cry, for the briefest moment I thought I was going to die. Erik held me close as I cried into his chest. I wrapped my arms around him and cried like a two year old who lost their mother in a crowded supermarket. I knew Erik might feel awkward at this moment but I didn't care, I just needed to be held by someone.

I don't know how long went by but my tears stopped. "Thank you," I said. "If I'd been alone I'm not sure I would've been able to move myself into a comfortable spot."

"What happened? What was that?" He asked. I knew he had a right to know but I didn't want to talk about it.

"I'm just sick, that's all. Don't worry, I'm not contagious." I laughed weakly.

"That seemed more than a mere cold. Do you have consumption?" He sounded worried. I knew that in this time consumption or tuberculosis was incurable.

"No! No, it's just a disease I have, only me. I'm sure it'll go away soon." I tried to calm him, who knows what would have happened if he knew my heart disease needed an operation. "I need air. Can you help me to the roof?" It was so cold out in February, maybe it was always this cold in February when you were in Paris, I didn't know, I was sure that it snowed here. Silently Erik carried me to the rooftop. I breathed in the cool air and felt my chest loosen.

"Are you in a lot of pain?" Erik knelt next to me. I smiled and shook my head.

"No, I'm feeling better now. Really, it's nothing." I looked up at Erik and could see his face etched in worry. "Thank you for worrying about me." I stood up and brushed the dirt off the back of my dress. I spun around with my arms in the air, I could feel my body going back to normal.

"Don't overexert yourself." He walked up to me and put his arm on my shoulder. I smiled at him again.

"I'm thinking of asking Madame Giry to teach me ballet so I can join the chorus. Being around so much acting has made me a little antsy. I really need to get back into the swing of the stage." I looked over the edge of the railing and saw how far it was to the bottom. A fucking long way.

"I'm sure that you'll catch on quickly." I liked talking to Erik, it made me forget the constant pain I was in.

"Yeah, maybe. I've never taken a ballet class in my life. Who am I kidding, I've never taken a dance class in my life. I minus a dancing ability." Erik's brow furrowed. I really need to stop using future slang here unless I want to keep explaining what it meant. "It means I just can't dance."

"You can sing like a prima donna already." His voice was praising but still he refrained from touching me, I guess he's still not used to physical contact.

"I'm good at a lot of things that don't require me to get out of a bed." God that didn't sound right, I really didn't mean it like that. "I'm fluent in Italian and I write my own lyrics. I even make up dances with my friends but I'm not really flexible enough to make them really good. But I have fun doing it so I might have fun learning to dance ballet while it's readily available to me." God I was rambling again.

"You write your own music?" Erik sounded shocked but excited, I guess he wanted me to show him my songs. I really didn't want to show my mediocre pieces to THE Phantom.

"Yeah, but they're not sheet music, only lyrics in Italian or a mix of Italian and English."

"Would you show me?" He asked. I spun around, trying to hide my embarrassment.

"No. They aren't really good, not like anything you compose." Everything grew still.

"How did you know I compose? Or, for that fact, how my compositions sound?" Shit. I was stepping on thin ice now.

"I'm from the future, how could I not know about the music you write? It's wildly popular. Where I come from everyone knows about you because of a novel written in 1910." I decided to skip the whole 'this world doesn't exist and you aren't a real person' speech. Really, why would he believe me?

"You knew I was the Phantom from the beginning?" He asked.

"No." I turned to look at him again. "I knew you were Erik Destler from the beginning. I didn't want to say anything until you were ready to tell me yourself." He looked surprised. "I thought it was kind of funny you were playing the whole 'Angel of Music' card on me, I'm surprised I didn't tell you I knew when I came back from drinking with Blaise the first time." His face darkened, what was up with him and Blaise?

"What does the future know about me?" He asked.

"Well, there was a book written about you after you died in the early 1900's and that later became a," I didn't know how to explain what a movie was to him. "A really good play. Then they made a musical and about a thousand more adaptations since the first book."

"Do you know how my life will end?" I was dreading that question. How could I tell him that the girl he loved chose Raoul over him and left him to be found by an angry mob.

"That's... highly debatable. There are so many different versions of your story that I don't think have any basis in reality and they all have different endings." I shrugged. "I couldn't tell you anyway, I'd be meddling in time and I'd mess up the future more than I already am by being here." I really hope I mess up the story now that I was in it. Erik looked confused.

"If you aren't supposed to be here why are you here?" I asked myself that every day.

"I don't know. None of the versions had a black girl who cleans the Phantom's box." I couldn't help but worry that I was drastically changing the future as we spoke.

"Let's go to my home. If we are going to speak of the things yet to happen it would be best to not let anyone overhear us."

"Okay." We began walking down when I had an idea. "Can I keep my future stuff in your house? I don't want anyone to find it and accuse me of being a witch or something."

"Alright." His voice was neutral but I was pretty sure he thought the idea was weird.

"But don't think that this is a free pass to go through my stuff," I said as I walked towards the ballet dormitories.

ERIK

I watched her walk away and wondered if my idea was so obvious. I had thought to look through her things to gain a better understanding of where she was from but she had seen right through me. I thought of the books and plays about me and shuddered. How had my life gotten out? Who, besides Madame Giry, knew my life story? Would Madame Giry tell someone about me? No, she wouldn't, she'd never done anything that had hurt me. The first book that would come out around the turn of the century would mean I was dead and that Antoinette must be as well since she was older than me by six years. Who could have done so much research on my life? It was unnerving.

Danielle had known there was no Angel but she sang for me anyway. Why? I felt a hope spark in my chest that she had never seen the performance of my life or that the writer had never found out about my childhood, if you could call it that. I put a hand against my mask and knew she had never seen the performance. If she had she would have never spoken to me. I laughed once, darkly, she would have run in the other direction as fast as she could if she knew what was beneath my mask. Sometimes being made to wear a mask my entire life made me want to toss the accursed scrap of clothing across the lake and go for a walk in the park an hours walk away from the Opera. I knew I couldn't, they'd kill me before they looked at me. I remembered when I decided to carry Danielle to bed after her first outing with the stagehand and she had relaxed against me; she had already known who I was and she trusted me with her body. I felt myself smile.

"Sorry to keep you waiting, I had to decide what I could keep with me and what was too risky to be seen." She carried a strange bag on her back and it looked a little deflated "It's mostly clothes I can't wear here and my camera, cell phone and wallet." She looked up at me. "Don't touch my wallet unless you want to steal my useless future British money." The talk of the future continuously confused me. "Also, if you go through my stuff I won't like you anymore." She had such a serious look on her face I knew she meant it.

"Alright, alright." One of her words came to mind. "What is a cell phone?" She bit her lip, obviously contemplating how much to tell me.

"A little device that you use to contact people without writing a letter. You can talk to them like they're in the room with you." I stopped walking, amazed such a device could exist. She looked at me warily. "Don't you even think about taking it apart. If you so much as take the back of it off I'll smite you worse than God smited Lucifer." Again she was completely serious. It must be worth a lot if she is threatening me. I lead her to a passage that went right down to my home.

"If you ever need me and don't have the patience to go through the mirror come down this way and it will take you right to my home." She looked around with a light smile on her face, like she was enjoying being with me. It felt nice. We came out from a hidden tunnel close to the bank of my home behind one of the many curtains.

"Do all of these curtains have tunnels behind them?" She looked behind another curtain and found a mirror.

"Some, but only two go anywhere, if someone ever found out where I was they would get lost in the tunnels instead of finding me." She didn't ask which out of the five would not come to dead ends.

"I'm going to put my things over there." She started toward the small alcove where the wedding dress I designed for Christine was hanging on the mannequin. I turned to tell her when I heard a yelp and a crash. Danielle had jumped a mile in the air and a foot backward, knocking into a long candlestick. I walked over to ask if she was okay.

"Are you alright?" She turned to me with wide eyes, eyes that accused me of madness. She spun and picked up the candlestick and put the candle back on before she turned to answer me.

"You really have a mannequin dressed as a bride that looked exactly like Christine in your downstairs? That's six shades of creepy! Oh my fucking God, when I first saw it I thought you'd put Christine in some kind of trance and left her here for later or something! God damn, that ain't right. Motherfuckin' scared the everlovin' shit outta me. Honey, that," she said pointing back at the mannequin, "ain't the work a no sane man." As if realizing what she said she covered her mouth with her hand.

"It took me very long to create that and I'd appreciate it if you'd stop squawking." My voice came out harsh. Again she bit her lip.

"I'm sorry Erik, when I get really freaked out or angry I start talking like a black woman. It's just that the whole mannequin thing seems kind of crazy. You haven't even told Christine you love her and you're already planning the wedding? Look, Christine is my friend and that" again she indicated to the alcove, "is a little stalkerish." Anger welled in me. How dare she say that to me? I loved Christine and she was going to marry me. "And you're also my friend. I don't want to see either of you get hurt." Her eyes fixed on me, I felt all of my anger drain away. She was worried for me, worried that Christine might not want to marry me.

"Why would Christine not want me?" I asked, knowing she was going to say it was because of my face.

"Because to her, like you were to me, you are the Angel of Music. Her father. She doesn't know who you really are, how can she love you if you don't let her know you?" I winced. I knew she was right but I knew Christine would be upset that I was not her father coming to teach her.

"I know." I felt uncomfortable in the silence between us now, so did Danielle.

"So... do you want to take a look at futuristic technology?" I looked at her, surprised.

"Weren't you the one telling me not to take your things to pieces and saying it would be dangerous for me to know about the future?" She shrugged and opened the pack.

"I said that about you, not me. And I'm going to hell anyway so I might as well sin." This was her explanation for disrupting the timeline. I sat next to her, waiting for her to explain the rectangular object in her hand. "This is a camera. In the future people figured out how to make it so the camera has a little machine in it that copies the image of that you point the lens at without having the subjects sit for hours. Here, look this way." She pointed the rectangle at me and something on it flashed, temporarily blinding me. I rubbed my eyes.

"What was that?" She laughed at my expression and turned the rectangle toward me. I was looking at a photograph of myself with a bewildered expression.

"Aren't you a cutie? Well that's how that works, it's not waterproof so don't take it out." Again she eyes me suspiciously. "And this is my phone. It's really useful for when you need to tell someone to get something from the market on the way home. Or to call an ambulance. See? I got 911 on speed dial." I couldn't process all this at once and she seemed to pick up on that. "It's strange. you look a lot like one of the men that played you."

"What?" Wasn't it bad enough everybody knew about my life?

"Yeah, Gerard Butler. But you're a little taller and your eyes are sharper, but when he was in costume you couldn't really tell. Also his hair is brown with some gray in it, I think he's forty three or something now." If he looked so much like me I wonder if my face would match his? If she had a photograph of him I could see what I would look like without this abominable face.

"Do you have a photo of him?" I heard myself ask. She twisted her face and reached for the 'phone'.

"Maybe." She seemed to look through it as if it were a book. "I'm sorry, I guess I don't." She frowned. I felt a little disappointed myself.

"It doesn't matter." I mentally shook myself. "Are you comfortable here? Is there anything you're lacking?"

"I'm lacking in monetary funds but that's about it." She smiled. So be it.

"Come." She followed me to my bed chambers in the room above. She looked confused as I tossed her a bag of coins. "Take this and go buy your necessities." Again she looked shocked.

"I don't want your money, I was just making a joke." She tried to hand the bag back but I pushed it away. "I don't need it, I get a monthly salary and I've quite a fortune already."

DANIELLE

Was he seriously giving me all this money? The bag was heavy.

"I couldn't, I haven't earned it and I'd have to work forever to pay you back." He shook his head.

"Think of it as a gift from a teacher to his student." I clutched the purse to my chest and smiled. I ran the few steps it took to get to him and threw my arms around him, peppering his cheek with kisses.

"Erik you're so sweet." I pressed a few more kisses to his surprised cheek and let go. "I can finally stop wearing the same dress every day!" I laughed. Erik seemed to be in shock. Maybe I'd invaded his personal space a little too much. "I'll have to go on a shopping trip with Meg and Christine; I don't know a dress from a tree in this crazy time." He snapped out of it enough to chuckle.

"You should get going, I'm sure everyone will be worried about you." Erik walked me to the end of the little tunnel and bid me goodbye. I checked the time on my watch and found that it was passed lunch and almost five. I had been with Erik since around nine in the morning. Eight hours. Wow. Meg and Christine got off soon, if I got them right as they got of we might be able to go to a few stores before they closed for the day.

"But first I need to talk to Madame Giry," I said aloud to no one in particular. I walked to the stage and snuck into the audience to watch the last bit of dress rehearsal.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, I'll see you tomorrow." Ryder said to the group, getting up from the piano. Everyone dispersed. I waved at Alphonse as he went to get his make up removed.

"Madame Giry? Can I talk to you?" I asked when I caught her attention. She came over to me and asked what she could do for me. "I was wondering if you could teach me how to dance. I mean, since I'm in an Opera House and the only thing I have to do all day is clean one box that only takes about two hours to clean I thought it would be a good idea." I fidgeted a bit but Madame Giry smiled at me.

"I'd love to teach you the art of ballet. It would be wonderful to see you in our productions." I was relieved, for a second I was afraid she would say no. "Come with me, let's get you a ballet dress and slippers." I followed her to her office and she looked in the closet for a small white dress. "You're so small it'll be hard to find one.. just... right." She pulled out a small white corseted tutu. I laughed.

"A corset. Of course." I undid my dress and tried the white one on. it fit me as well as was to be expected since it was a corset. It was a little tight in the bust, but not enough to inhibit my breathing. She dove back in and found a pair of small white slippers and stockings.

"There, now you look the part. I'll meet you after dinner tomorrow for your first lesson." I changed back and thanked Madame Giry before rushing to the dormitories to tell Christine and Meg.

"There you are. We were wondering where you'd gone off to." Meg quipped at me as she saw me come in the door. I'd hidden the white dress behind my back.

"We thought you'd gone to the moon to see Lance Armstrong." We all laughed at that, but I was for a whole other reason.

"Oh, I was around. But screw the reason I wasn't here I need to tell you something." They gave me their full attention.

"Meg's mom is going to teach me ballet!" They gasped and congratulated me as I showed them the dress.

"We're so happy for you. Oh, it's going to be so much fun being in operas with you!" Christine said.

"I got another little surprise," I said. They leaned close.

"What? What?"

"It seems I've go a benefactor. I now have enough money to go out and buy a change of clothes!" I said holding out the bag of coins. They gasped when they saw the size. "And I need you two to come along with me to help chose the things out. God knows I'm lost."

"Where did you get all that money?" Meg whispered.

"Secret. But let's go spend!" I made a 'come with me!' motion.

"Let's go Saturday. We can spend more time out then." Christine suggested. I shrugged.

"Alright. I can't wait!"