Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 4

Days passed by and then it was time for another rehearsal. Mr. Ramirez announced who would be working with who.

"As you all know, there are going to be two different casts in this production. Opening class consists of Hazel, Marcus, Ellie, Aiden, Crystal, Isaac, Lucas, Joseph, Abbey, and Richie. Closing cast will be Michael, Trevor, Rachel, Julie, Katie, Zachary, Cody, Bryce, Patrick, and Erin. All of the minor parts will be in both productions. Understand? Good. Now get into your groups and read the whole book. I want you guys to be familiar with what you are acting."

After every rehearsal, both Marcus and Hazel got closer to each other, and without admitting it, they both knew they liked each other. Soon rehearsals were moved to everyday of the week. Marcus grew very fond of Hazel and vice versa, as he promised, but without knowing it, so did Aiden and Hazel. Aiden no longer thought of Hazel as a geek. He actually admired her looks and charisma. To Hazel's surprise, Aiden wasn't as much as a jerk as she assumed he was, he was actually a fun person to be around, but Marcus was more. He was sweet and charming, as well as funny.

The day came where Aiden and Hazel had to practice the dance. Marcus grew a little jealous, but he knew that it was just her acting. Aiden and Hazel danced beautifully, a spark of madness passed Marcus, but it soon went away. As he watched the two actors dance, Marcus felt as if they were actually in love, which he feared.

Hazel had to be with Marcus, that's what Marcus though. So, he decided to grow closer to her.

"Hey Hazel, would you like to go grab lunch Saturday?"

"Sure, what time?"

"Around 3, is that good?"

"Actually, I volunteer at a pet shelter over on Oak Street, we could meet there if you want. I finish up there around 3:30. I head there around 1 o'clock. You should meet me there, here, I'll send you the address. Wait, first I need your number."

"Sounds great, I'll meet you there. My number is (951) 322-0234, what is yours so I can add you?"

"It's (951) 544-0567, I'm adding yours right now." A few seconds passed. "Okay, I sent you the address, hope to see you tomorrow."

They both reached in for a hug, but then Aiden came.

"Hey my princess."

"Hey there my beast." Hazel joked around, then reached in to give Marcus a big hug. Marcus smiled and they were hugging for like a minute of two.

"Hey, aren't you going to give your beast a hug too?" Aiden smiled and enjoyed the hug, which only lasted about 45 seconds.

"Bye guys, see you tomorrow Marcus."

"It's a date!" Marcus quietly responded.

Hazel left and Marcus grew quiet.

"Dude, you got a date with her? Score, you are lucky."

"I thought she was a geek and that I should go out with Yrene?"

"That was before I recognized her true beauty, inside and out. She's cool man, congrats. Where are you two going?"

"I'm taking her to eat lunch."

"Cool. Het, did you know she volunteers at a pet shelter on Saturdays?"

"Yeah she told me."

"That's so cool, she's just awesome you know."

"Yes, I know, I'm the one who told you that like three months ago, keep up man." Marcus was getting crabby.

"Okay, chill man. I'll stop hitting on your girl. I know you're jealous though."

"Jealous of what?"

"That I'm dancing with her and get to hold her hand during each rehearsal."

"It's part of the whole show business package, I'm not at all jealous okay."

"Whatever. Bye dude, my mom's here. Hope you have a great date with Hazel."

"I will, and I'll tell you all about it for sure."

"Better include every little detail."

"Mmmhhhmm."