Hey, everyone! I hope you enjoy, but this is my first fanfic, so please don't judge.

So, I will most likely be updating weekly on Sundays. I'm just letting you guys know because I understand the angst of waiting and waiting for a new chapter.

So, anyways, here comes the disclaimer:

I do not own Phantom of the Opera or any other copyrighted material mentioned in this story, as they belong to ALW, Leroux, and their rightful owners.

As I said goodbye to my best friend, Haley, the already gray sky started to drop small snowflakes on the ground.

"I'd better go," I said. "My mom will kill me if I catch a cold over the holidays."

It was the last day of school before Winter Break, and I was looking forward to doing absolutely nothing over the break.

"Yeah," she replied, "Wouldn't want you chopped to pieces with that Swiss Army Knife of hers."

I chuckled lightly. Though my mother didn't know it, she was infamous in our town for her intricate woodcarvings. She always, always carved them with her Swiss Army Knife and was also know to chop vegetables faster than the speed of light.

"Nice to know someone's looking out for me," I teased though I smiled sadly.

Unfortunately, since my dad left, my mom was focused on nothing but her carvings. She would lock herself in her room for weeks at a time, only coming out for extra wood, selling the figurines, and holidays. Then she put on a performance for our relatives. She would pretend to be a perfectly happy and healthy woman, when in fact, my dad leaving hurt her more than she wants to admit, even to herself. And, while she made enough to keep us afloat, she doesn't even realize I'm there most of the time.

"Yeah," Haley replied. " I'm always here for you if you need me."

"Thanks. Now, I have to go. See you after the break?"

" You bet. Goodbye, Amethyst."

There were tears in my eyes as I hugged her goodbye, and then I set off towards my house. In the time it took for us to bid each other goodbye, the snow had started to fall more heavily. It had even started to pile up, giving the dirty pavement an angelic look.

"Looks like we're going to have a White Christmas," I muttered to myself.

Not that it mattered. It was going to be the same story, with my mom convincing everyone she was happy.

At least, it couldn't get worse, Amethyst thought.

Right when she was about to turn a corner, something caught her eye, a flash of black. She stopped, now contemplating whether to run home or investigate. It was tipping in favor of running home when someone materialized in front of her.

"Wha- W- How- Where" she stuttered. The man before her was the Phantom of the Opera, and he looked just as confused as she was.

"Wha- what in Hell is going on here?" Then he seemed to notice her. He looked her in the eyes, grabbed her shoulders and shook her.

"Who are you? What is this place?" he asked forcefully. She was still so shaken that she couldn't manage even to get a word out.

"Great," he grumbled. " She's got low intelligence." That snapped me out of my trances though I was still shocked.

"Excuse me, sir," I replied testily, " but I happen to know each and every one of your secrets, so don't you dare call me stupid! Also, I know I am young, but that doesn't mean I don't know things!"

Even I was surprised at how cheeky my response was. I don't think Erik was expecting it either. Before he could respond, our surroundings flickered. I looked around wildly, trying to make sense of what was happening.

"What's going on?!" I asked panicking. Erik groaned.

"Not again…" he muttered. I felt time and space bending, and I had a feeling Erik only held on to me because he felt he was going to drop me in the middle of nowhere if I let go. Honestly, I actually didn't mind. I was already more than a bit in love with him from the many times I'd watched the musical. Even though his hands were covered by leather gloves, I could feel the ridges and grooves of his hands, and could imagine them roaming-

Whoa, there, I thought. He only loves one woman, and you aren't her.

Erik shook me out of my thoughts by staring into my eyes.

"Mademoiselle? Are you okay?" he asked, and I was surprised to see the authentic concern in his eyes after the way he had treated me.

"Yeah," I responded. " Just a bit shaken, and…" I stopped to realize where we were, as our surroundings had stopped moving. Erik, or the Phantom as he preferred to be called, followed my line of vision, until he too realized where we had ended up.

We were in the Opera Populaire, right before Christine Daae went onstage, behind her dressing room mirror.

Hope you enjoyed that chapter, even though it was mostly backstory. As I said before, it is my first fanfic, so please don't judge!I did leave you guys off on a cliffhanger, and I will probably do that a lot because I absolutely love to leave off on cliffhangers.

Please review, comment, favorite, follow, as they are all confidence boosters! And, when I have confidence, chapters come out faster!