"Give me a G!" A thin waisted brunette curled her arms to form some sort of curved shape. It more resembled a monkey scratching its armpits.
"Give me an A!" Another brunette threw her hands up high, bright red and yellow pom poms shaking wildly in the air.
"Give me an S!" Again, a different brunette formed her hands in a curved fashion that looked nothing like an 'S'. Belle swore they all looked identical. She wondered if they were secretly clones like in the science fiction novel she had just finished.
Before another oddly shaped letter could be formed, Lefou, a rather stout teen, jumped in front of the girls. He was clad in an obnoxious hunter's outfit with a quiver of fake arrows on his back. "Give me a T! And another T! And a…" his excited voice suddenly trailed off as he realized his mistake. His face turned bright red as he received some rather nasty looks from the cheerleaders.
"Sorry girls, I spelled it wrong again, didn't I."
"How many times must we tell you," the 'G' said. Belle remembered that her name was Claudette. "Stick the cheering routines with us. You're just supposed to jump up and wave your bow around."
Right now, Belle was sitting on the bleachers watching the cheerleaders perform a new routine while the football players practiced on the field. It wasn't an activity Belle preferred to do, but she had just finished reading her book and was waiting for her father to pick her up. As she watched the school's mascot get nothing short of bullied, he looked so depressed Belle felt a twinge of pity for him. She realized she didn't know much about Lefou. The only times she ever saw him were with Gaston, and she was always too busy dealing with Gaston's unwanted advances to think about his loyal companion. Now that she thought about it, she had never seen Lefou without Gaston, and vice versa.
Belle had just decided she would chat with him afterwards if time allowed, when his gloomy face turned ecstatic. She was startled by the sudden change of personality from the teen, but rolled her eyes when she realized what had caused it. The school's star player was walking off the field, and it seemed the entire cheering squad was now about to faint.
"Lefou, I need water!" Gaston roared. He had taken his helmet off, and his long black hair was dripping with sweat. He was so large it seemed his muscles had muscles. Even Belle felt a slight blush sweep across her face at the sight, though she scolded herself for doing so.
"Right away Gaston," Lefou replied, almost tripping over his feet as he rushed to fetch a water bottle from the bench. Belle wasn't quite sure why Gaston hadn't grabbed it himself as he had walked by. Well, she did know why, because he was arrogant, but still.
Gaston looked each girl up and down and asked, "How is my new routine coming along ladies?". His voice was loud and booming, but his face softened into a smoldering grin as he winked at the 'A', err Paulette, from before.
Paulette seemed thrilled that Gaston's words had been directed at her. "Oh, it's perfect Gaston," she explained. "Just like you."
"But not as perfect as you," Laurette cut in.
"Nothing could be as perfect as you," Claudette added on. Gaston soaked in the attention, but didn't seem to care at all about any of the girls themselves.
Belle felt herself almost barf. Yes, she had to admit, he was highly attractive. But, the interaction going on in front of her was too ridiculous to watch. She had read about many high school relationships in various books, but she hadn't thought the cheerleader and football player trope would be so true.
'Lefou', which Belle found herself wondering what his real name was for the first time, returned with the water. He handed it to Gaston, who seemed to swallow the whole oversized bottle whole.
"I assume you've come up with some new cheers for me as well?" Gaston asked Lefou when he was done drinking.
Lefou nodded eagerly. "Of course Gaston. Come Friday night, I'm going to be cheering for you the loudest as you score the winning touchdown!"
He gave a huge smile at the praise and patted his friend on the back. "Excellent Lefou. I couldn't ask for a better mascot."
Belle didn't think Gaston was capable of saying such kind words. She saw the cheerleaders throw even dirtier looks at Lefou, but neither Gaston nor Lefou seemed to notice.
Gaston looked up, and unfortunately for Belle his face happened to sweep across the bleachers. Their eyes met, and his pupils seemed to grow and turn black. Belle felt a shiver run down her spine.
"Hello there Belle!" he yelled to her. Everyone turned to look at her, and she felt herself blush again. She wasn't used to the attention. Unfortunately, Gaston mistook the blush for himself and began to march up the bleachers stairs.
"I hadn't noticed you when I was on the field. It's not often I get fans who are avid enough to watch my practices."
Belle straightened her back, trying not to get intimidated by his size or looks while simultaneously trying not to laugh at his vanity. "I'm just waiting for my father to pick me up and thought this was a nice place to read until then," she stated politely.
Gaston frowned at the word 'read', but then continued speaking as if she hadn't said a word. "Perhaps you would be interested in a position on my cheerleading team?" He paused, his eyes scanning her up and down, "You certainly have the looks for it".
Belle wondered if he realized the cheerleaders were for the whole football team, not just him. Thankfully, a buzz from her phone saved her from the awkward encounter.
"My father's here. I have to go now Gaston," she said quickly, shoving her book in her backpack.
Gaston looked at her and then across to the far side of the field where a brown truck had just pulled up. "Allow me to escort you to your vehicle."
Belle shook her head. "No, no, I'm fine." Why would she need to be escorted around a field anyway? "Besides, it looks like your coach is calling you."
Sure enough, a high pitched whistle filled the air, and a group of high school boys began to gather at the center of the field. Gaston hesitated, unsure what to do. Finally, he reached a solution. "Lefou!"
The boy, who had been lying on the ground trying to lace his shoes, jumped up in the air. "Yes, Gaston?" he asked eagerly, huffing up the stairs. He was fast for such a chubby fellow.
"You are to carry this girl's bag to her car. I have to go back out on the field."
Lefou nodded. "Already on it," he said happily. Lefou grabbed Belle's backpack from her hands before she could protest and began walking back down.
"I hope I'll see you around," Gaston said with a wink, before running to the field. Belle, quite unsure how to respond, decided to simply follow Lefou. She got a few dirty looks thrown at her now from the cheerleaders as she passed, but Lefou grabbed her hand and hurried her along.
"Good luck Gaston!" Lefou called out. The jock turned around and gave them a big wave, almost solely directed at Lefou Belle noticed, before running towards his team.
"You don't have to carry those for me, I can walk to my car myself," Belle tried to explain as they started walking.
"Gaston asked me to do it, so I don't mind," he told her, lightly swatting her hand away when she reached to retake the bag.
Lefou seemed like he was going to walk in silence for the remainder of the way, so Belle decided to strike up conversation.
"I'm Belle," she told him. "I know we've seen each other around a lot, but I don't think I've had the chance to introduce myself properly."
Lefou rolled his eyes. "Belle, I know your name. Gaston's been talking about you since you joined our school at the beginning of the school year. Not to mention we sit right next to each other in French and biology."
Belle found herself a little embarrassed. "Yes, of course. But, usually Gaston does most of the talking."
"Of course, he always has something interesting to say."
If Belle had said that, she would have said it with extreme sarcasm, but Lefou's words were genuine. She waited for him to continue the conversation, but the teen looked like he had no intention of chatting.
About half way to her car, Lefou began to sweat heavily. "What is in this backpack?" he grunted to himself, struggling to keep it on his shoulders. "Rocks? Books? An elephant?"
"Umm, yes, books actually. It's for school. It has my textbooks and some novels for my free time," Belle replied. Lefou's eyes went wide, surprised at her response.
"Why would you want to read, especially in your free time?
Belle couldn't help but give a short laugh. "I like to read. I take it you aren't much a reader yourself?"
He shook his head.
Belle, eager for the awkward silence to go away, pushed on. "So what do you like to do for fun?"
Lefou glanced at Belle. He hadn't expected her to be so talkative. Usually the girls Gaston favored were too busy fretting over Gaston to give him a second glance. Still, he supposed it wouldn't hurt to chat with her, just while they were walking around the field. "Well, my favorite thing to do is cheer for Gaston at the football games. But I also like to spot Gaston at the gym. And sometimes I cook."
"What do you cook?"
"Usually protein shakes. Gaston likes lots of eggs with them."
Belle rolled her eyes. "What is with Gaston? He acts like he is the football team, not part of it."
"Well, he basically is," Lefou said, now very chatty with Gaston as the subject. "Not only is he the quarter back of the team, but he's also the schools best defense. He's led our school to state championships for the past two years, and has talked with a lot of college scouts. Now that we're juniors, he's expecting to get scholarship offers from the top colleges across the country!"
Belle hadn't known that. She hadn't figured Gaston would consider going to college, even if it were for sports. "Well, what about you? What colleges are you interested in going too?"
Lefou cast his eyes to the ground. "Oh, I don't know. Gaston and I had always planned on going to college together, but now, I don't think I'm going be able to get in to the ones he's going to. I'm not very athletic or academic, as you can see." Belle was surprised at how gloomy Lefou had turned.
"Lefou, I'm sure you could get into one if you put in a little effort. If you want, I can help you with your studies." As she spoke, Belle realized the skepticism in her voice. They both knew it was too late for Lefou to turn around.
"Thanks for the offer Belle, but there's no point." To Belle's great surprise, he gave a small sniff. "I just, I just don't know what I'm gonna do without him."
"Oh Lefou." Belle found herself giving him a small hug. Though she couldn't imagine loving a guy like Gaston, it was in her nature to want to comfort others. "From what I've seen, you two are inseparable. I'm sure you could always get into a community college near his. Most big schools have one nearby."
The mascot was encouraged by her words. "You really think so?"
"Of course." They were silent for a few moments, before Belle said softly, "You know Lefou, if you're ever having problems with your crush on Gaston, you can talk to me about it."
Lefou turned bright red. "C..crush? Don't be ridiculous. We're, we're just friends."
Belle patted his back. "It's okay, Lefou. I'm pretty observant, but I won't tell. I know what it's like to have a crush on someone you're not supposed too."
Lefou seemed a bit intrigued. "Who?"
Belle knew she shouldn't be sharing this information around, but in all honestly she was dying to talk with someone about it. Plus, Lefou seemed like he needed a friend to talk about guys with too.
"Do you know that boy Adam in our French class that sits by himself in the back?"
Lefou gasped. "You like the Beast!"
Belle sighed. "I wish people wouldn't call him that. He's actually very friendly once you get to know him. We've only talked a couple of times, but he invited me to study at the library with him tomorrow after school. It's not exactly a date, but…" she trailed off, hinting at her hopes for more.
Lefou wasn't sure how to respond at first, but he ended up shrugging his shoulders. "Well, if I'm allowed to have a crush on Gaston, I suppose I can't judge."
"He's just so kind and intelligent, you know?" Belle continued, suddenly caught up in the excitement of revealing her secret crush. "His eyes are such a pretty blue, and his hair... When I see him, it's like the whole earth stands still."
"I know what you mean. I get butterflies whenever Gaston takes off his shirt at the gym. Sometimes, he'll ask me to give him a massage, and I swear I see him blush at the end."
"If you like Gaston so much," Belle suggested, "why don't you just ask him out."
Lefou frantically shook his head. "Oh, no no no. That is a terrible idea. We've been best friends since we were four years old. What if that ruined our friendship?"
Belle thought back to all the comradery she'd seen between the two in the past few months she'd been at the school. "Let me tell you Lefou, Gaston treats you better than I've ever seen him treat another girl. Now, while I think you could do better, Gaston has feelings for you. Getting him to admit it might be another thing, but you could at least try. Even if he says no, your friendship is too strong to be broken now. Plus, if you two got together, it would be a huge help to me. Gaston would finally stop trying to get me to go out with him."
Lefou nodded thoughtfully. "I guess, so… but I don't know. We'll see Belle."
Finally, they arrived at the car. Belle waved goodbye and climbed into the passenger's seat.
"Who was that?" her dad asked. His ruffled hair was filled with saw dust, and while his posture showed hours of exhausting work, he still managed to give his daughter a warming smile. "That's not that boy you were mentioning earlier Belle? He doesn't quite look your type."
Belle rolled her eyes. "The boy I was talking about earlier was Adam, Dad. That's Lefou. I was actually trying to get him to ask out his crush, for your information."
Her dad shook his head. "I think it's best I just avoid all this high school drama."
Later, on Friday night, Belle was finishing up some homework when she got a call from a number she didn't know. Curious, she answered it anyway.
"Hello?"
"Belle!" a voice screamed from the other end. "It's Lefou. You are never gonna guess what happened?"
She gave a soft chuckle. It seemed she had a permanent friend. "What is it Lefou? And how did you get my number?"
"Your friend Lumiere gave it to me," he explained. "I'm sorry, but I just had to tell you this. Gaston just got accepted into Alabama state!"
Belle was a little disappointed. She had hoped the information would be about Lefou admitting his feelings, but she didn't want to seem rude.
"That's wonderful Lefou," she told him kindly. "That's near Jefferson Community college. Perhaps you could try to apply…"
Lefou cut her off. "No Belle. That's not the best part. You see, Gaston won the winning touchdown for the game, of course, and afterwards a scout went up to talk to him. I was standing next to Gaston, listening in, when the man offered him a full ride to Alabama, the number one college football team in the world! I thought Gaston would say yes right away, but he hesitated and looked at me. Then he told the guy he couldn't accept, because he wanted to go the same college as me. Belle, he turned down Alabama State for me!"
Belle's eyes went wide. "Are you serious Lefou?" She couldn't believe him.
"It gets better. The scout said he couldn't take no for an answer. He was so impressed with Gaston's football skills, and even impressed with my mascot skills, that if it meant Gaston joining the college, he could arrange for an acceptance and partial scholarship to take place for me as well."
Belle could picture the huge smile on Lefou's face. "Oh Lefou, I'm so happy for you."
"Thanks Belle. I was close to giving up on being with Gaston, but you encouraged me. And now, it seems all my dreams are coming true. Gaston even invited me to go hunting with him next weekend. That's like, the jock equivalent of 'studying' at the library."
Belle laughed. "Good luck Lefou. Hopefully your 'hunting' will go as good as my 'studying' went."
When she hung up the phone, Belle found a smile still glued to her face. She supposed this just proved that not all stories were the same. Sometimes the typical cheerleader-jock trope took on a different meaning.