Summary : Laurence is Belle's reincarnation in the 21st century. She inadvertently finds herself trapped in Belle's body. Can she get back to her time? Or is she trapped in Belle's body forever? In alternate PoVs, from Laurence's to the Beast.
Disclaimer : I don't own the fairytale and neither the Phantom of the Opera, the lyrics are Andrew Lloyd Weber's.
I Laurence Gagnon was going to watch an opera show or musical for my sweet 16th birthday. I was now choosing what to wear to the show for tonight: "A dress, a miniskirt or something else?" Since opera wasn't only for rich people anymore in my era, I could wear anything I want to it, not necessarily anything fancy. Even though I didn't agree with making my 16th birthday a great deal, I was being dragged into this by my family and my little cousin who was sometimes infuriating, sometimes my much needed "big brother". As I was deciding on what to wear, my mum called me down :
"Laurie, it's almost 7, we're going to eat in a restaurant too tonight, don't forget. You got half an hour."
"Yes, mum, I'm coming, just the dress and the make-up now!"
While I was going downstairs with my new skirt and top on, I heard my little cousin ask :
"So, where are we going for dinner?"
"Some Mexican cuisine restaurant called 'Mexican's House'."
"I love Mexican, mum!"
"I know, that's why your dad and I decided to go there for your 16th birthday before the musical!"
Now on route to the restaurant with my cousin, my dad and my mum, I couldn't resist asking :
"So, what's the musical's name?"
"It's a surprise for your 16th birthday, Laurie, you're going to know after dinner and when we get there."
Disappointed, I sat in silence in our car's back. I didn't talk anymore all the while to the restaurant.
"It's almost there, Laurie, Casey." Casey was my little cousin. Even if he were younger than me, he was like a big brother to me.
"Yes dad, what are you all wanting to eat?"
"Tacos, of course Laurie, what else?"
"Casey, maybe they have burritos, enchiladas, chill con carne and everything else Mexican?"
"Yes, your cousin's right, Casey. Besides tacos, they have tons of other things on their menu."
"Really?" asked my cousin, wide-eyed. "Did he really think Mexican foods' only got tacos? I'll introduce him to other savoury Mexican dishes when we'll order."
"Yes Casey. There's tons of other foods you can try there."
While I was discussing with my family about Mexican foods, I didn't notice we were already there.
"It's there, Casey, Laurie." said my dad.
Casey and I followed my parents in the restaurant. I could tell my cousin was abashed by it's decorations : orange-coloured walls, sun and moon mirrors and fake coconut trees. I gasped and said :
"Wow, dad, that seems like just the place for Mexican."
"It is, Laurie, I just googled it up and it's got 5 stars from the reviews online!"
A hostess, dressed in an orange-red uniform, said :
"Would you like on our terrace or inside?"
"On your terrace please, we came for it."
And then the hostess brought us all outside. Today was a magnificent weather because I was born in May, and I couldn't be more happier for my sweet 16 and since the restaurant was by a river, I could see fresh water while ordering and eating and chatting with my family about my future and everything. For me, a genius and female college student in pure and applied science, my future couldn't be brighter than now as I gazed on the river while my parents ate.
"Laurie, finish eating quickly, now we got to go the theaters."
"Yes mum."
And I sped up my eating speed, I was usually a slow eater, because I liked enjoying every bite of my foods, but now, I had no time to waste on that, because I was going to see a musical afterwards. When my family and I got done with our foods, our waitress came for my cake :
"Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you!" She sang for me. "Wow, the cake's looking so delicious on the table, I just wanted to take a bite in it : chocolate mousse with raspberry, just how I like them."
"Thank you so much for my birthday cake." I said to our waitress.
"My pleasure, I'll come later for the bill." After she sang "Happy Birthday" to me, my family did too, when I was ready, cutting the cake.
"Make a wish, Laurie!"
"Yeah Casey, but I'm not a little girl anymore, I know my wish won't come true."
"It'll come true, Laurie. I'm telling you : make a wish for your 16th birthday!"
"If you say so, Casey."
Even if my cousin was entreating me to make my wish, I didn't really believe in them coming true, although I did so to stop my cousin's pestering me about it, after blowing out all the candles on my cake. But I kept my wish to myself and didn't tell my cousin what I wished for, even if he pestered me about it on my way to the theatres.
After my birthday cake, it was show time and I was boiling inside with excitement. "What's the show I'm going to see for my sweet 16?" I couldn't stop asking myself until I sat in the theaters, waiting for the stage curtains to open. As the heavy-looking curtains opened slowly now, the show master was saying :
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please, to respect the Phantom of the Opera's dancers and singers, turn off your camera and all your other electronical devices."
As the show was about to start, I heard people shutting off their phones and putting them away in their pockets. When the musical started, I couldn't help but being enraptured by it, it's main voices for Christine, Meg, the Phantom and Raoul couldn't be better for the show. Christine made me cry when her singer sang :
"Pitiful creature of darkness, what kind of life have you known?"
This was my favourite lyrics from the famous modern and heart-wrenching Opera by Andrew Lloyd Weber. I thought it was so sad, so heart-breakening and I thought to myself as I watched the musical : "Poor Phantom! Who'd be so heartless to not pity him?" But just as the show was about to end, I felt a sudden dizziness like my head was swirling. "What's happening to me?" These were my last thoughts when everything before me blurred, and I was gradually going into the realm of unconsciousness for some unknown reason. In my unconsciousness, I thought I heard my mum's screams :
"Please I need to use my cell to call 9-1-1, my daughter's fainting!"
After that I knew nothing more. "For how long have I been unconscious?" I didn't even know myself. But when I opened my eyes again, I found myself on a simple wooden bed, with an old, white-haired man shouting in my ears :
"Belle, belle, are you all right, child?"
"Belle? What? Why was this man calling me that and child?"
Prompted by my questions, I looked down at myself : I wasn't wearing my skirt or my top anymore, I was wearing a blue dress with a corset. "Am I in the Dark Ages now when women wore corsets tight like this?" With the corset I was wearing, I couldn't even breath, but I still managed to ask the old man :
"Where am I? What happened to me? Who are you?" I shot at the man staring at me in one go.
"Belle, you suddenly told me you felt dizzy, and right after that, you fell on the floor and I brought you on the bed and this is home, and I am Maurice, your Father, don't you remember me?"
"Father? Maurice?" I asked him, unsure.
"Yes, it's me, dear. Now get some rest, you need it."
As the old man genuinely seemed to care for me, because he fussed over me for a while, asking me how I was feeling and etc. I told him I was fine, but still too dizzy to stand up, he told me to stay in bed, which I did, too weak to walk around anyway. "Maybe he really is Belle's Father? I mean, my Father?" Now thinking to myself about this strange situation I was in. But one thing for sure, I was in Belle's body, not my own anymore, Laurence's.
I then had a look around the little cottage I was in : it was so different from my parents' in the 21st century's townhouse. But I felt too dizzy to look carefully and to note all the details, so I tried to fall back to sleep again, yet I couldn't, I was too curious about this little place in the past. Although after a while, too tired to care about anything else, I fell into a deep sleep.
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