Disney High

Belle

'Oh great,' Belle thinks. 'Chem again.' That last person she wants to see is Beast. He doesn't like her, that much she knew, but why? She didn't know. As much as she didn't want to see him, she knew deep down that she really wanted to. More than she should for her own good.

She walks into class and takes her seat next to Beast, who is starting straight ahead, not acknowledging that Belle was even in the room.

"Alright, class, today is a perfect day to begin..." Miss Ursula glares around the room, looking each and every student directly in the eyes. "... A project." The whole class groans, except for Belle. She never knew why, but she always enjoyed class projects. To her they were fun. More fun than worksheets, anyway.

"Alright, alright, stop your groaning." Miss Ursula continues. "Your assignment is to choose a food and write an essay about the chemicals in that food and how organic it is. You will be working outside of class with your lab partners." Now everyone looked excited except for Belle and, from what she could tell, Beast. 'Great.' She thinks as she puts her head down on her desk.

LUNCH

Belle sits down at a table with, she was glad to call, her friends. As soon as she sits down, Jasmine begins to speak. "Aladdin bumped into me in the hall today."

Ariel puts down her fork and looks up, interested, "And...?"

"He was such a gentlemen. He helped me pick up the books I dropped and told me how to get out of trouble for being late."

"Oh," Ariel says, surprised, "you actually bumped into him. Cute. So romantic."

"How can he not see me?" Rapunzel comments, clearly annoyed and disappointed.

"Who?" Belle asks.

"Flynn." Everyone says at once. Jasmine continues, "Rapunzel LOVES him."

"I don't LOVE him. And even if I did, he doesn't love me back." She puts her head down on the table. 'Oh so Rapunzel likes Flynn.' Belle thinks. 'Cute.'

"Give it time, Punz." Ariel says. "You hated each other at first. I'm sure he'll realize he's in LOVE with you soon enough. So anyway, Eric is gonna give me swim lessons."

Jasmine almost spits out her Pepsi. "Like hot Eric?"

"I thought you liked Aladdin." Belle says, confused.

"I do but I'd be lying if I said Eric wasn't hot, too."

"I don't think much of it and neither should you." Ariel continues. "To be honest, I'd like to become friends but nothing more." It's just swim lessons, not a marriage proposal."

Suddenly, Belle blurts out, "I'm working on a project with Beast!" As soon as she said it, she regretted it. The three girls stare at her in silence.

At last, Ariel says, "Wait, you like Beast?"

"No." Belle answers, abruptly. "But we were all talking about boys so I thought now was a good time to mention it..."

"Well, is it an out of school project?" Jasmine asks.

Belle nods. "It's due next Friday." Belle looks up and sees Beast walking out of the cafeteria with his lunch. "I'll be right back." She says, and walks after him.

"She can't keep ditching us for that boy." Rapunzel says.

"She likes him." Ariel says. "It may be as a friend, it may be more, but she likes him."

BELLE AND BEAST

Belle catches up with Beast. "Beast!" She shouts after him. "Beast! I need to talk to you!'

Beast turns around, clearly annoyed. "What? Didn't I tell you not to follow me? The princes are gonna dunk me, I'm gonna dry off, you're not gonna see it."

"It's about the project. You can't ignore that." Belle hears the sound of laughing boys from down the hallway. She knows it's the Prince Brothers. Beast looks composed but she can see nervousness in his eyes. "Come on." Belle takes his arm and pulls him into the janitors closet.

Beast looks around. "Um... Why?"

"I'm hiding you from the Prince Brothers. Say thanks later. Now when do you wanna work on this project."

"How about... Never." Beast says, firmly.

"Look, I know you don't like me but-"

"I never said I didn't like you."

"Ok then, whatever this tude you've got towards me is, it has to stop because we have to work on this project. So, are you free tomorrow afternoon?"

"Hmmmmm..." She can hear sarcasm in his voice. "I don't know. I've got a pretty tight schedule between scrolling down my phone screen and starting at the ceiling..." Belle glares at him, remembers he can't see in the dark closet, then punches him in the arm. "Ok, ok, you win. I'm free."

"Good." Belle feels around in the darkness for her backpack. Once she finds it, she opens it, takes out a notebook, rips out a piece of paper, and writes down her address. "This is my address. Don't loose it and don't be late! 5:00. Kay?"

"Kay." Beast answers, clearly annoyed. "Can I go now?"

Belle cracks the door open just enough to poke her head out and look around. She doesn't see the Prince Brothers anywhere. "Yeah, but be quiet, they can't be far." Belle and Beast sneak out of the closet but to Belle's dismay, Beast walks toward the bathroom. "You don't have to go!" She shouts after him.

"Whatever." He says, pushing open the door to the boy's bathroom.