Content To Be Claimed (Beauty And The Beast #1)

Chapter 28

The rest of the week flew by with school and rehearsals. After school, either Warren or Victor helped me with my lines and tried to teach me the dance moves. Dancing with Victor was fun - he laughed joyously whenever I actually got it right. And every night, Ashley abused me in heels. Why did women put up with these things? How did the Ashleys and the Natalies of the world do it, voluntarily going through such pain just to look cute?

On Friday, Warren took me to the auditorium before everyone else. The play was a musical and even though I was meant to lip sync my parts, he knew I was shy and wanted me to practice alone. Dylan, the DJ, was already waiting for us.

Warren handed me headphones and said, "The original song will mask you but I require you to actually sing to ascertain that you have mastered the song. Understood?"

I nodded and donned the headphones. I already knew the song by now but I'd only practiced it alone. I sang along to it, enjoying this girl's voice. It wasn't the one I was used to, so it had to be a cover. I actually preferred this to the original. "Wow! Who was that?" I marveled when it was over.

Warren and Dylan shared a grin. "It was you, my love."

"What? Yeah, right. Seriously, Warren, I have to look for more of her music."

"It really was you," Dylan smiled at me. "You've got a beautiful voice. Strandton was right - again."

"That was you singing?" Justin asked incredulously as he came in, followed by a lot of girls. "Dude, you're the whole package!"

I blushed and leaned into Warren's chest. "How did you know?" I mumbled.

"I recall a night when melodious singing came from a certain tent."

"You were supposed to be hunting," I complained.

"True, but I was captivated." He kissed my hair and then stepped away as the auditorium filled. "Ladies and gentlemen, if you are quite prepared, we'll venture into Act 3..."

Over the weekend Ashley convinced me to wear heels everywhere, so I even wore them to coffee at Victor's on Sunday. Tuesday was the first costume fitting and Ashley had talked her way into being my stylist. She loved the gowns and Roger had to talk her out of quite a few of them.

***

"Belle, come down here for a minute!" Keith called on Wednesday afternoon.

Warren and I stopped running lines and went down. Keith led us outside - glowing like a child on Christmas morning - to a new car in a dark purple. "Wow, Dad, you got a new car!"

"Yep," he crowed. "It's a Volvo too. And get this, it was already like 30% off at some weird sale at this lot, and I managed to talk the guy down another 10%!"

I laughed at his excitement. The car was definitely a bargain. "Congratulations. It's great."

"You really like it?"

"Yeah. You can drop me off in this anytime," I teased, tucking my hair back.

"I have a better idea," he said and held out the keys. "Happy birthday."

I stared. "You're kidding right? My birthday isn't til Friday."

He shrugged. "I couldn't wait. Plus, this sale literally came out of nowhere. It was strange, really."

I rocked back on my heels, smiling slowly, then hurled myself at him in a sudden hug that knocked the wind out of him. "Thanks, Dad! I love it!" I grabbed the keys and turned to Warren. "Let's go!"

I saw him frown as I took the wheel and grinned. The moment we were out of Keith's sight, I floored it. Warren grabbed the dashboard. "Love, when last did you -"