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Sometimes, Meg watched her from the rafters, long after her own dance practice had ended. Christine Daaé, working in the costume department, always stayed late, and at first, it was out of curiosity of what kept her quiet friend late at night.What she saw—what she heard—had surprised her. The sound technician, Erik, who wore a mask, was teaching Christine to sing. And laying there, away from the bright lights of Los Angeles, Meg thought it was nearly hypnotic, hearing her voice rise and reverberate in the auditorium.As the lessons went on, Meg saw the way Christine and Erik interacted changed. Where at first, he had hovered his hands over her stomach while teaching her to breathe, he now rested his hand on her rib cage. Where they would make awkward small talk before heading their separate ways for the night, they would hold hands and walk out of the building together. And all the while, Meg fought the butterflies in her stomach.She didn’t know if she wished she were Christine, or wished she were Erik. Meg practiced her ballet moves alone in her bedroom. After going through a sequence she had been struggling with a couple of times, she switched out the record to start playing “Starman.” To this, she started dancing—not ballet, but whatever she felt like.But then, she heard a knock at the door. Meg quickly stopped the record and opened the door for her mother. Anna Giry walked in, holding a bowl of hot dumplings. She handed the bowl to Meg. “Don’t forget to eat,” she said.“I won’t, Mama.”Meg shoved a dumpling in her mouth, resisting the urge to spit it out as the filling burned her tongue. Her mother continued, “The first bassoonist is looking for a date. Maybe you should…”“Mama, please!”“I know you’ve always liked music, I just thought it might make sense.” Anna tilted her head. “Unless you already have someone in mind?”Meg covered her face with her free hand. “I don’t know what I want, Mama.”Anna rested her hand on Meg’s shoulder. “It will come in time. You don’t have to have everything figured out right now.”Meg nodded. But even as she nodded, a part of her already knew what her answer was. Christine’s first performance was a success. Meg didn’t ask why Carlotta had run off the night before because a part of her knew that was Christine’s and Erik’s secret, and in the quiet moments between Christine being congratulated, Meg saw the sharp looks of disapproval aimed in the general direction of the sound booth.Once the rest of them had gone, Meg found her in the dressing room. “You were amazing, Christine!”“Not bad considering I was singing like a dying cat not too long ago, right?”Meg sat on a footstool beside Christine. “I…have a confession. I knew you were taking lessons with Erik.”Christine looked both ways. “What do you mean?”“Don’t be mad at me! But I overheard you one night when I had to stay late and then sometimes I’d just stay to listen because I enjoyed it.”Christine’s cheeks flushed. “It’s…it’s fine. Just don’t tell anyone? I don’t think either of us are ready for that.”“You have my word.” Meg sat, perched on the edge of the footstool with her hands clutching her knees. Then, before she could lose her nerve, she stood up and placed her hands on the sides of Christine’s neck, pressing a kiss to her lips.Half of her expected Christine to push her off and forbid her to ever talk to her again. But instead, Christine rested her hands on Meg’s hips and deepened the kiss. Once they broke off the kiss, Meg whispered, “Wow.”Christine giggled for a moment before saying, “You know, I’m dating Erik.”“I was actually hoping I could get an introduction to him too.”Christine looked at Meg out of the corner of her eyes before a sly smile spread across her lips.