-A FEW WEEKS LATER-

Christine still could hardly believe that she had managed to pull out such a triumph for her role as Cinderella. People still came up to her in the hallways to congratulate her, but none more often than Paul Chandler.

Even though he had been there for only a few days, he had still managed to come up to her half a million times to compliment her. Her Paul, from all of the years past. He was finally coming to Garnier High School with her, and she found that they got along just as well as they always had, if not better. It was incredible, to be honest.

These thoughts were what continued to cycle through Christine's mind as she walked through the hallways with Meg. They carried on conversations endlessly, unable to find a good stopping point. They had classes on opposite sides of the school, but since they were talking to one another they went in the same direction.

"So, how are you and Paul doing?" Meg said, raising her eyebrows.

"You make it sound like we're getting married or something like that," Christine responded with a laugh.

"You're getting married?" Meg joked, but her tone was rather convincing at first.

"No, Meg, we're not getting married," Christine responded with a laugh.

For a second, Meg was quiet. That was very unlike her, which meant that she was racking her brain to find the best response possible. Christine was almost a little afraid of what Meg was going to say next.

"Do you want to get married?" Meg asked. Her voice was just too serious for Christine to take it without bursting into laughter.

Once Christine had calmed herself down, she carried on. "No," she said. "We've only been dating for a few weeks, and there's also the fact that we're sophmores, not even eighteen years old!"

"But if you were older, and had been dating longer, would you?" Meg said. This time her voice didn't drip with forced seriousness. It seemed completely earnest and true.

But now Christine was at a loss for words. She wasn't sure what she should say. Part of her could actually visualize having a life with Paul, living together and raising a family. But another part of her mind tracked away to the Angel of Music.

When Christine didn't reply, Meg just carried on. She would use her words to snap her curly haired friend out of the clouds and back to reality. It had worked all of the many years they had known one another, and this time would be no different.

"So, have you two kissed yet?" Meg said, her voice in a strange sort of whisper. Even though it had that same sort of breathy tone, it was rather loud and forced. Christine was still very amused by just how fascinated Meg was with their relationship, so it was very difficult to take any of it seriously.

"Yes, we have," a voice suddenly said. Soon enough, Paul's arm was hung around Christine's shoulders and he had already planted a quick kiss on her cheek. He had come up on the girls from behind, and Meg immediately let out a little giggle.

Christine flushed slightly as she looked over to Paul. She had managed to make friends with such an incredible boy, and then they had been seperated over the years when they didn't have camp together. But now they were in high school together, and there was nothing to keep them apart. It only helped that they had developed romantic feelings for one another.

But it was still so perplexing to Christine just how perfect he really was. Of course, he did have his flaws as every human being did, but all in all he just felt perfect. That, by itself, was kind of like a flaw. Besides, what would a perfect boy like Paul want with a girl like Christine who preferred to just stay away from attention most of the time?

"Let's prove to your friend Meg here that we have kissed," Paul said, a smile curving up and across his lips.

"What do you mean, prove?" Christine tried to say more, but then she found Paul's lips pressed up aganst hers and her eyelids just fluttered shut. There was nothing to resist against, after all. Of course, Christine was the first to pull away. The thoughts of being in a public place with prying teachers bothered her. Besides, she had to be smart about this. There was only so much time left before the class change would be over.

When she turned to face Meg again, Christine found a blush across her face. Paul, on the other hand, was smiling triumphantly. They were opposites in this respect, which was probably one of the things that pulled them together even closer.

"Oh, you two. Too cute! Well, I better be off," Meg said. "I don't want Mrs. Leary to get on my case when I'm late to class on the other side of the building." Her eyes rolled around as she spoke her mother's name. "Bye, then. Have fun, Christy and Paul. But not too much fun." She spun around on her heel, allowing her golden ponytail to fly out into the air and the strands going everywhere.

"Goodbye, Meg!" Christine said with a laugh. "Text me later today." Now she was left alone with her boyfriend. She wasn't really sure where this was going to go.

Luckily, Paul brought up a subject first. "Mrs. Leary? Doesn't she teach here?" Paul asked.

"Yeah, she's one of the teachers for 9th grade. English."

"Ah, I see," Paul said.

"She's very strict, but a lot of kids like her because she is actually quite a good teacher when it comes down to it."

"But it's still weird for Meg because it's her mom."

"Exactly," Christine said with a little laugh. It was odd talking to Paul again with no one else involved in the conversation. It was almost like they were alone. Christine didn't mind, though. It was like old times, but better.

After a second of silence, she decided to change the subject to something that had come and gone by in her mind fairly consistently ever since the musical had closed. "I miss being in a show," Christine said, pursing her lips slightly. "I loved being Cinderella, it was so much fun. It was exhilirating."

What Christine didn't mention was that she missed talking to her Angel of Music and learning how to become a better singer and performer. He had been just about silent in the recent times after the show had ended. Occasionally she would hear her name whispered in the hallway, or a melody coming out of nowhere just loud enough for her to hear.

"I miss being in shows, too, you know," Paul replied. "I haven't been anything since I performed in the drama camp with you."

"Why didn't you do something at your school?" Christine said, her eyebrows creasing.

"Middle school didn't do any open plays or musicals, my old high school had terrible teachers. It just wasn't worth it. I did still think about it, though."

"That's good, I suppose," Christine said. "Well, there are going to be auditions for the spring musical fairly soon."

"Do you know what it's going to be?" Paul asked.

"Actually, yes," she replied. "The Light in the Piazza!" Her face lit up and started to glow with excitement. Paul, on the other hand, didn't have such a positive response.

"Never heard of it."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"How can you consider yourself a thespian and a musical theatre performer if you've never heard of the Light in the Piazza?" Christine said, finding her lips pursing themselves into a little pout subconsciously.

"I never said either of those things," Paul said, lightly touching Christine on the nose. As he did this, her eyes tracked up to his and suddenly they were lost in one another's gaze again. They were caught in there, like a fish on a line. But they weren't struggling to get away, not by a long shot.

Christine almost found it confusing how quickly they had fallen for one another. She supposed it had something to do with the fact that they already sort of knew one another from the past. That was likely an important part of it, or at least she thought so. But when she was staring into Paul's eyes, there didn't need to be a rational explanation.

The two of them just made sense together. As Paul leaned in for another kiss, reality finally snapped back to the curly haired singer and she blinked and moved away.

"You will be auditioning, right?"

Paul, a bit disappointed that Christine had pulled away from his embrace, didn't respond for a second. "Like I said, I don't really know anything about it."

"It's got a major guy's role," Christine said. "He sings a lot. In Italian. Like an opera singer."

"Then I can't do that!" Paul replied, being overdramatic in his reaction.

"I am no opera singer!"

"But you are a diva."

"Am not."

"Don't flatter yourself too much," Christine laughed. "But, anyways, I remember how we used to sing together at drama and at my house. You sang with me, remember?" she said. "My father taught you about how to sing too."

"Still, I could never compare to you."

"Well, you could compare to Ian, who is probably your only real competition." She lowered her voice at the next part. "He's also a bit overweight, and you obviously don't have that problem. So as long as you try, I think you have a pretty good shot."

"I'm flattered," Paul said. "Little Lotte who has been visited by the Angel of Music himself thinks I have potential."

"I know you have potential," Christine replied. "There's no doubt about it." She was about to say more, but a thought suddenly hit her.

Christine froze where she was. "Paul," she said, only her mouth moving. "How long has it been since the bell rang?"

"Oh no," Paul replied. They had completely lost track of time after they started chatting with one another. They had been fairly close to their classes to begin with, so they hadn't worried about it. But as their eyes tracked over to a clock hanging up on the wall, that easy going attitude vanished. The bell rang, making both of them jump.

"Oh goodness," Christine said. "Should I run? I've never been late to class before."

"No, don't run," Paul said. "Just walk into class like nothing happened. Like you were supposed to do it."

"I have a feeling you've done this before," Christine said with mock horror.

"Maybe," Paul said. "But you certainly haven't." Christine was tempted to stay and flirt with Paul some more, but she knew she had to dash off. Now all sorts of things flew through her mind as she scurried away.

The Angel of Music. Auditions. Paul. They were all so different, but they connected in strange ways in Christine's head. Right as she was walking through the doorway of class and being questioned about being tardy, something finally clicked in her mind.

What would the Angel of Music think of Paul?

A/N And that is the end of Act I, which feels really weird to say. I've set up quite a few things for the upcoming chapters/scenes, and I'm excited for it. I know this chapter was a bit shorter than the other ones and a lot more boring, but I've got some great things planned. Just bear with me, and we can do these things together! Over on the side is a montage of clips from the Light in the Piazza just to give you a feeling of what's coming with that lovely bit of loveliness. Well, look out for my author's note about finishing this act coming out soon! Vote and comment, if you please.