Beauty and the Beast

Chapter One

A/N So I am trying to write more and I figured I should just start. This story is unedited and being made up as I go. Hope you enjoy.

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I can not believe it. It was after school hours and here I was sitting at the library. It wasn't so strange for me to be at the library after school; it wasn't even unusual that I had been here for over two hours. No, the unusual thing – or rather the unusual person – was sitting across from me furiously typing away on his phone.

The strange phenomena was Grey Evans; hot boy, bad boy and known delinquent. So what was I, Ellaine Williams, top student and typical good girl, doing alone in the library with Grey Evans, the school's bad boy? I'm not even sure how I ended up here. I thought back to my day and how it had started like any normal day.

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I had woken up that morning practically bursting with excitement. Before my alarm had the chance to utter more than one beep, I had slammed it off and jumped out of bed, ready to start the day. I stretched feeling more alive than I had been for the past week; which wasn't surprising considering I had been out with the flu for the entire week. I looked forward to seeing my friends and my amazing boyfriend (I had insisted that they stay away so they wouldn't catch my sickness), and most of all to regain her place as top of the class since I had missed two quizzes for the week.

After taking a shower and getting dressed in a simple pair of skinny jeans and a white fitted blouse, I made her way downstairs while trying to turn her mass of wild coffee colored curls into a neat bun. I entered the kitchen to find her plate of bacon and pancakes already on the table and her mother sitting at the table with the morning paper in her hand. I kissed her mom on the cheek before taking a seat across from her and digging into her breakfast.

"Honey, are you sure you're up for school today?" The concern was evident in her mother's voice as well as her dark brown eyes. " If you're not completely better, you could always wait a bit more before going back to school."

"Mom, you worry too much," I said between bites. "I'm fine. Besides, I've got people to see and school work to catch up on. How else am I gonna get a scholarship to Harvard Law if I don't work my butt of?"

"I swear, I have no idea where you get your work ethic from." Her mother chuckled before turning her attention back to her paper.

The sound of a car honking furiously got I's attention. I hurriedly finished her breakfast knowing that her impatient best friend was probably the one making all the noise. I kissed her mom goodbye and dashed out the door.

I smiled as I saw the familiar silver convertible. My smile grew even more when I saw the bubbly green eyes blonde behind the staring wheel. I got in the car and hugged my best friend since kindergarten, Victoria Harrington.

"Elle! Oh my gosh, I missed you so much!" The blonde practically screamed as she started the car. "Calculus was pure torture without you there to explain things for me. I swear Mr. Simmons was just waiting for you to get sick so he could constantly call on me."

"Tori, I'm sure you're exaggerating. I've only be gone for like a week." I laughed at my friend's over exuberant personality. "So, what did I miss?"

At this point they had pulled into the car park of their school, Ridgewood High School. After finding a parking spot they both exited the car while Victoria listed off all the "important" events that I had missed for the week. I, however, had stopped listening when Victoria started the long tale of the fifth dramatic breakup between the on-again-off-again couple of the school, and was instead searching the sea of faces for the one person I missed as much as Victoria.

"Elle!"

I turned at the familiar sound and a smile lit up my face as I saw my boyfriend of the past year approaching me. Brandon George: A student, star goalie of the school's soccer team and the sweetest guy I knew. He embraced my in a tight hug and I took in the fresh scent of his cologne. I reached on my tip toes and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Together, the three walked into the school. Victoria and I said goodbye to Brandon to head to their first class of the day; World History.

They entered the class and I received several "hello's" and "welcome back's" as I made my way to my seat. I couldn't help but smile when I thought of my life; I was well liked, top of my class, had an amazing best friend and the sweetest boyfriend. The chatter of the class quickly died down as their teacher, Mrs Fitzpatrick entered the class.

"Ah, Miss Williams, I am glad you're feeling better." The slightly overweight woman said as she spotted me. "I hope Miss Harrington informed you of the upcoming class assignment."

I watched over at my friend smiling sheepishly and sighed. The girl was lucky I loved her.

"No, Mrs. F, I am afraid she hasn't."

"I'll be happy to remind the class then." The teacher turned to the board and quickly scrawled 'Wars of the World' and other related information in point form. "You are to pick a war that has been fought and do a 10 minute presentation for me as well as a 5 page essay. The project will be due in three weeks and you are expected to work in a pair."

I quickly scrawled down the notes on the board and tried to incorporate what the teacher was saying. I turned to Victoria to begin discussing their project when I noticed the way Victoria was averting her eyes. I knew my friend well and I knew that meant that Victoria was hiding something.

"Tori, spill it. Now"

"I'm so sorry, Elle. I really wanted to work with you as my partner, but Mrs. F refused to let me stay without a partner. So I paired up with Damien. Don't be mad." The blonde said in one breath as she clasped her hands before her friend and bowed her head in shame.

I patted my friend on the back reassuringly. "I'm sure you have tried your best. I'll just have to make sure that whoever I'm paired with pulls their weight in this project." A thought suddenly enters my head and I raise my hands. "Mrs. F, who is my partner."

Before I can reply, the door opens and in walks a boy with a messy jet black hair. He gives a slight greeting to the teacher before taking a seat right at the back. Mrs. F, huffs before closing the door.

"So nice of you to grace us with your presence, Mr Evans." The bad boy returns her comment with a charming smile. "You're just in time actually. Miss Williams and Mr. Evans you're the only two without partners so you'll be working with each other."