Disclaimer: The main characters don't belong to me, but the rest does.

Dear Diary,

Today was my first day as a junior in high school, and it went pretty well. I have to admit I was kind of anxious to go back to school, even though I know I'll be feeling the exact opposite by the end of the month.

I was happy to see Meg again, because over the summer I only got to talk to my family, and even though I love them dearly, they have a tendency to get on my nerves when it's too hot. When I first saw her today, she greeted me with a mock expression of horror on her face and pretended to run away, causing me to whack her on the head with one of my textbooks. (The flimsy art textbook - I like her. The heavier history book, of course, is reserved for obnoxious boys.) Meg and I have three classes together this year, and lunch.

My teachers are all pretty great. I have the same choir director as last year, Mr. Salbury, which I'm glad about, because he's hilarious. My Spanish teacher seems crazy but likable, just like the one I had last year. My math teacher is the nice awkward kind, and I think I remember seeing him wear gym shoes with a dress shirt and slacks last year (typical of math teachers in my school). My chemistry teacher seems raving mad in an entertaining sort of way, and my history teacher seems the kind to go way off topic in the middle of class. My English teacher's face is a mask of irony, and my music theory teacher, Mr. Destler, wears a literal mask.

It covers all of his face, and it's flesh colored, so that when you first walk into the room without paying attention you don't notice it. It gave me a jump when I first took a good look at it. I mean, this guy lives in Uncanny Valley. But I don't mean to be unkind, since he probably has some kind of deformity.

He's also remarkably tall and thin, and dresses very neatly. He seems very strict, not at all friendly, and even with a normal face he would be terrifying, especially since his voice is simultaneously the nicest and spookiest I've ever heard. A simple "good morning" was all it took for him to shut up the whole class, even though we're usually a noisy lot, and we were all sitting on the edge of our seats for the rest of the class. Good thing I love music theory, or this year might not be so pleasant.

I realize I haven't introduced myself to you yet, which is pretty rude of me.

So: my name is Christine Daaé, I'm sixteen going on seventeen, and a bit of an introvert. I'm tall, skinny, and I have blue eyes and hair which used to be blonde but is now just a nondescript mousy color.

I love to sing and play the piano, and I mainly listen to classical music. My favorite composers are Bach, Schubert, Mozart, and Brahms. I also like Ravel and Mahler. With a taste in music like mine, you wouldn't expect me to have lots of friends (or any friends), but strangely enough, I do.

I have a crush on this boy from school, Raoul de Chagny, who is too handsome for his own good and also (miraculously) has a good personality.

I live with my dad (my mom passed away years ago), and I don't have any pets.

I know that this first entry is much too short and factual to be of any interest, but I promise you that I will get more interesting as time goes on, and facts are important.