ᴘʀᴏᴍ ǫᴜᴇᴇɴ | 𝙀.𝙅 𝘾𝙖𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 [MAJOR RE-EDITING ]

t h r e e

"Okay, people. The title song of Beauty and the Beast is the centerpiece of our show. Written at the height of Ashman and Menken's powers, and it's their most romantic ballad since Suddenly, Seymour. As a reminder, Belle is finally falling for the Beast, and it's not just because of Stockholm syndrome. Love is love." Carlos explains.

"Ricky and Mae, it's time to review the waltz. Let's take it way under tempo." Gina says. Marie and Ricky go out into the middle of the room.

Seb starts playing the song, as Kourtney starts to sing.

Tale as old as time

"One, Two..." Ricky mutters, focusing on the dance. "You okay?" Marie asks. "Yeah. Sorry. Super tired." Ricky answers. "Can you at least use both your feet?" Marie asks. Ricky hums in response.

Barely even friends

"Three... Uh, yeah. Sorry." Ricky says. "Kourtney, honey, I know we aren't up to show tempo, but sing out, and make sure to really look at Belle and the Beat during the song." Miss Jenn says, making everybody stop. "Remember, what Mrs. Potts is observing is a miracle. Belle is the most beautiful girl is the land, and the Beast is, I'm sorry, Ricky, beastly. Maybe close your eyes and imangine the full scene in makeup and wardrobe. Ready?"

"Hey, do you mind if I take a quick five?" Marie asks. "Everything okay, honey?" Miss Jenn asks. "Yeah, of course." Marie states, grabbing her jacket and leaving the room.

———— [...] ————

"Come on, waltzing is hard, trust me. You've got two legs but the songs in three." Gina chuckles. "That's madness."

"I guess I just don't feel like a natural Belle yet. I mean, we've all seen the movie. She's..." Marie explains as her, Ashlyn and Gina stop at Ashlyn's locker. "A cartoon. And you're her everything." Gina says.

Marie chuckles. "Well, now I wanna give you a Valentine too." Ashlyn remarks. "No, I've actually got a pretty good one coming. I mean, it's from my mom, but you know, love is love." Gina explains.

Ashlyn laughs before opening her locker to see Big Red come out, Ashlyn screams. "What is happening?" Ashlyn asks. "Sorry. I'm sorry." Big Red apologizes.

"Um, was this the surprise? Because surprise." Ashlyn says. "Yeah, no, uh, it kinda got ruined. My fault. Just come by the pizza place later, okay? Trust me, it's gonna be amazing." He says before running away.

After he leaves Ashlyn sniffs her locker. "All my stuff smells like Throb." She says, turning towards Gina and Marie. They all kinda laugh about it.

———— [...] ————

"Hey, G. Wanna go to slices tonight?" Marie asks. "Oh, um, I actually was kind of wanting to stay home tonight. But you can still go if you want." Gina answers. "Oh, okay. Yeah, I'll see you at home then." Marie says, as Gina walks home.

Marie walked out of school and sat on one of the benches outside and starts drawing Belle in her sketchbook.

    E.J was walking to his car to leave but once he sees Marie he decides to go talk to her. "Hey, you okay?" E.J asks.

    "Hm. Oh, yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" Marie questions, plastering a fake smile.

"Uh, you kinda just left rehearsals today." E.J says, Marie's smile fades. "Uh, yeah. I guess I did do that. Sorry. You know, Valentine's day, it's supposed to be happy and full of love. Right? But no, I see it more as a day full of loneliness and envy. Also, people feeling obligated to have a significant other, or someone to love. That's kinda hard to do sometimes." Marie rants. "It doesn't help that Gina totally ditched me. We usually hangout, watch bad Hallmark movies, and stuff our faces with pizza and chocolate."

"That sounds nice." E.J states. "Yeah." Marie says, thinking. "Are you doing anything tonight?" Marie suddenly asks. "Uh, no. Why?" E.J asks.

"Do you wanna go to Slices with me?" Marie asks, E.J looks a little confused. "As friends, obviously."

"Yeah, I'd love that." E.J says, smiling. "Okay, cool." Marie says, looking at him. "Do you wanna just go now?" E.J asks her. "Yeah. Let's go, Caswell." Marie replies, grabbing her stuff.

"Oh, my god. They really decorated the place." Marie says as her and E.J enter the pizza place. "Yeah, I guess they go all out for the holidays." E.J replies. The two walk around over to a booth and sit down.

"Uh, how are you?" Marie asks. "I'm good. How are you?" E.J responds.

"Uh, it's been kind of a strange day." Marie says. "Yeah?" E.J asks. "Yeah... I mean... I love being the lead in the show, and I love that everyone apparently thinks I can be. It's just a lot of scrutiny, I guess, or self-scrutiny? I'm just not used to it, do you know what I mean?" Marie says. "Kind of..." E.J says.

"Honestly, I think it feels kind of strange to me to be playing an ingénue this semester for many reasons." Marie answers. "Wait, why?" E.J asks. "You're really asking?" Marie questions. "You're perfect, Marie." E.J states. "I mean, that's what people say."

     "Wow. Did E.J Caswell just call me perfect? I mean, obviously who wouldn't? But I didn't think you would actually say it." Marie says, sarcastically. E.J shakes his head. "Yeah, No. I take it back now." He jokes. "Nope, you can't take it back. You said it." Marie continues joking around. "Yeah, okay, I'm never going out with you again." E.J says, sarcastically.

"No, you love me and you know it. You love being around me, it's like crazy." Marie teases. "Oh, my god." E.J shakes his head, holding in a laugh. Marie starts laughing as they continue to joke around and talk about other things.

Carlos and Seb we're there at a table nearby. Carlos looks over Seb's shoulder to see E.J and Marie laughing and looking like their having a good time. "Oh, my gosh." Carlos says. "What?" Seb asks. "Look." Carlos says, gesturing to the two in the booth behind Seb. "Wait, when did that happen?" Seb asks, turning back to his boyfriend.

"I didn't know it was a thing. Well that's a new one I didn't think of." Carlos explains. They both look back at them and then then back to eachother, laughing.

—
a/n
bit of a shorter chapter, but i hope you still like it!
bye y'all