Belle's first lunch at school was interesting. The three bleach-blonde girls that she had seen earlier that morning sat with their clique and were once again obviously gossiping about her. Trevor's thunderous voice echoed across the entire space as he and the boisterous group of friends who trailed behind him burst into the cafeteria, and they headed straight for the blonde's table. Belle turned her amused gaze to the chicken sandwich she held in her hand, and picked at the lettuce that hung over the edges. Her head shot up when she heard Lenny say her name.
"Belle, Trevor's looking at you." She noted the hint of knowing behind Lenny's voice as she raised an eyebrow and glanced in Trevor's direction. As soon as she did, Trevor resumed his animated conversation with the blondes, one of who was staring daggers at Belle.
Belle scoffed and continued working on her sandwich.
"You know, if you keep doing that, you're not gonna have any lettuce left." Belle nearly choked on air when Trevor's voice was suddenly right in her ear. She turned to her left and her nose was practically touching Trevor's, his corners of his mouth turned up in a seductive smile. She stared back at him, eyes wide.
"You scared me," She said simply.
"Sorry. I tend to do that; I move like a panther…slowly stalking my prey," Her eyebrow shot up again. The guy just didn't get the hint.
"You already have enough 'prey' over there," she jerked her chin in the direction of the blondes. Trevor gave a quick look and chuckled.
"The triplets? No, they're just friends of mine. I mean, yeah, I dated Samantha for about a month, then Cassandra for a few weeks and finally Amanda…up until I decided that, 'hey, what's wrong with dating all three?'" He explained to her, obviously proud of himself. "But what I really want to focus on is you. So, how about it? Are you free this Friday? I can show you around the town."
"I don't think so. I mean, thanks for asking, but maybe some other time. I have to help my dad out that night. Sorry." Belle then turned to Lia and asked her to go with her to her locker, leaving Trevor with his mouth hanging open as he watched Belle walk out of the cafeteria. He shook his head and heard a gawk from Lenny. Trevor smiled, showing his wolfish teeth and turned to them. "She'll come around." He held his smile as his friends greeted him when he returned to his table. Questions flew about, and the girls sitting around them strained their ears to listen to his response.
"Gaston, man, what'd she say?" LeFou asked, somehow squirming through the broad-shouldered jocks that circled around.
"She couldn't make it, but she's just playing hard to get. I could see in her eyes that she's crazy about me; it won't take long till she's all over me."
"She's hot, isn't she? I mean, whoo…when I first saw her, I wanted to-"
"You better not even be thinking of doing that with her now or so help me, I will leave you to the mercy of the linebackers when they're in the shower after practice! She's mine; she's the only girl who's gorgeous enough to be on my arm." A whimper came from the triplets and Trevor grabbed Cassandra's hand and gave them his most seductive smile.
"C'mon girls; you know that you're still my favourite blondes," they sighed and batted their eyelashes in approval, content that they hadn't completely lost him. But the thought that lurked in the back of Trevor's mind was, how come that didn't work on Belle?
Adam entered the cafeteria through the doors on the opposite side of the room. He saw Lenny and Charlie sitting together, arguing as usual, and tried to make his way to them as quickly as he could when he was nearly knocked over for the second time today. A jock that had been carrying a tray of food was now had his team jacket smeared in chocolate pudding, tray and his slice of pizza lay face-down on the floor, grease splattered on his immaculately clean sneakers, and he was glaring at Adam.
"Watch where you're going! Aw, man…look at my kicks! You better start cleaning them or else-" Adam turned around, his face a mask of fury. The jock was taken aback; Adam looked like he wanted to kill somebody. When he spoke, his voice seethed with rage.
"'Or else' what?" His eyes blazed and his nostrils flared. The jock picked up his tray and stepped away from the mess.
"Never mind. Just…never mind." He remembered the other guy that Adam had beat up last year. Some people said that he was beat up so bad, he almost died. The kid was in college now, but some said that he still had to walk with crutches. He didn't want to miss his graduation on account of some spilled food. The girl who was walking with him clutched his arm and began pulling him away. As Adam, too, turned to walk away, he heard the boy mumble, "Someone let 'the beast' out of his cage."
Still angry, Adam finally made his way to Lenny and Charlie. They waited for him to sit down and asked him if he was alright.
"I'm fine," Adam said sharply. "Where's Lia? "
"She went with Belle to her locker. What happened over there?"
"Nothing. Just forget it." Adam opened his backpack and found his lunch, which he immediately tore into. Mayonnaise was all over his mouth when he looked up to respond to Lenny's next question.
"Have you met Belle yet?"
"Yeah. She's in my homeroom."
"And? Whattya think of her? I think she's the most beautiful thing I've seen. Long, brown hair, stunning brown eyes that look like milk chocolate encased in a visage so pink—"
"Okay, seriously? Shut up. It's getting old, that whole 'Casanova' bit. Who the hell still talks like that?" Adam said.
"What? I'm just stating facts. You don't think she's pretty?" Adam hesitated and looked down at what was left of his sandwich. Charlie's lips turned up at the corners and he nudged Lenny. "Ahh…so you DO. Have you talked to her?"
"No. At least, not in a complete conversation. Besides, what good would it do me? She hates me already…I can see it in her face."
"How can she hate you? You barely know each other!"
"I…I bumped into her this morning. She knocked me over in the hallway. You should have seen my notebooks! They flew everywhere. She obviously hasn't learned how to walk yet."
"Well, it IS her first day, Adam. She probably didn't know where she was going." Charlie defended as he tugged on a stray string on his shirtsleeve.
"Not my problem. Shoulda found a map or something." The two boys gave each other a 'look' as they watched Adam devour the rest of his sandwich.
October brought a chill to the air as the leaves started falling. Belle revelled in the changing colours, the light wind that bit at her nose and made her cheeks flush a bright pink. Since she first started, and thanks to Lia, she grew to like this new town. She discovered all the local hotspots for teens her age but she mainly avoided them because Trevor seemed to be everywhere she would go. The only place that she would truly find solace was a small bookstore/ café that she was lucky enough to find work at. Bonus points: Trevor would never be found near a book, let alone an entire store.
She loved the bookstore. The minute she walked in, she thought she was in a movie. The entire shop was filled with shelves of a cherry-coloured wood that was almost completely faded from years of wear and tear (Lia explained that the store had been there since her grandparents were teenagers), with books lined up along every wall with gliding ladders that reached the top of the ceiling. Near the back of the shop were five or six bistro tables with chairs awaiting the usual elderly patron awaiting a cup of fresh brewed coffee or to read their newspaper in peace. That is, until Saturday morning came about. Parents would drop off their kids (usually toddlers) while they went about their weekend errands, and the group would gather in front of the store window and sit in a patch of brightly coloured pillows with a large, worn armchair at the head. They would yell and ask so many questions that many of the readers' heads would be spinning by the time the hour was over. Belle was asked to fill in once, and the kids remained so quiet, the owner, Martha, was sure that something terrible had happened. But when she peeked around a case to look, she saw the kids were engrossed in the story that Belle was reading. It wasn't the book; it must've been read about 30 times since they had started this program, but the way Belle was telling the story. She made the characters sound alive and she seemed just as excited as the children. Martha smiled as the other customers stopped to listen too, most pretending they weren't.
Belle was the reader every Saturday from that day on.
One day in particular, when Belle was reading Charlotte's Web, she noticed a little boy of about 5 was sitting right in front. He had been at the reading hour a couple of times before, but today she really noticed him. His eyes were a light blue, and his blond hair was messily set. He looked at her with curiosity and wonder, and his eyes sparkled with excitement when she had asked him to get the book off of the shelf for her. It unsettled her a bit, the way he was staring. He seemed familiar, but Belle was sure that she had never spoken to him before today.
When reading hour was over, the kids scrambled up to get their coats as their parents arrived to pick them up and take them home, each one chattering about the new story they heard. The little boy sat on the carpet among the crowd of children, still staring at her. Belle looked away uneasily and was about to get up when she heard a familiar voice.
"Hey, Belle! How was it today?" Belle smiled at Lia and waved her over, when the little boy suddenly bounced up.
"Lia!" he cried. He ran towards her and caught her knees in a tight squeeze, nearly making her topple over.
"Hiya, buddy! Did you have fun today?" the boy nodded as Lia took his hand and walked towards Belle. "Belle, this is my brother Benvolio."
"Real Shakespeare nut, huh?" Belle said grinning. She crouched down to the boy's height and smiled her brightest smile. "Hey Benvolio. Did you like the story?"
"Ben! I don't like 'Ben-ov-lio'!" he said, determinedly. Lia laughed, "Yeah, that's mom's doing again. He prefers Ben. Or Chip, like my Dad calls him."
"Chip?"
"Yeah. See his ear?" Lia pointed to a little dip on the edge of his ear. "He was born with it. It makes him extra special." She mussed up his hair and he giggled. Belle had never seen such a happy kid. There must have been a lot of love in this family. Ben pointed a chubby finger at Belle.
"I like her. She's fun. Is she your friend, Lia? Can she come read to me at home? Can you..." Ben's voice trailed away as Lia put his jacket on and led him outside. Belle smiled to herself and set to work on organizing the horror section. Humming to herself and completely engrossed in what she was doing, she didn't hear the door chimes ring.
Trevor took a deep breath and opened the door to the bookshop. He gazed around at the now dying crowd and scrunched up his nose in disgust. It was so quiet, and it smelled like a library...Belle actually worked here? He could hardly believe that a girl as hot as her would work with geezers and kids in a place where she couldn't parade that fine body of hers around. All the other girls did that.
He didn't see her right away, so he paraded through the small aisles until he saw her. She stood on her toes to reach the top shelf and then bent over to reach into the box...whoa. What a view, Trevor thought. He watched as Belle stopped what she was doing and opened a book and began reading a few pages. He put on his seductive smile and strode over to stand behind her, hoping to surprise her. He did more than that.
"Caught you." He whispered in her ear. Belle was so startled that she dropped the book and the entire shop stopped to look in their direction. Breathless, she turned to face Trevor.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, hand at her chest. His gaze lingered at her hand for a moment before looking straight into her eyes.
"What? No 'Hey, Trevor'?"
"Hey, Trevor." She started to reach down to grab the book she dropped but Trevor was faster and got it before she did.
"Shouldn't you be working instead of daydreaming? Besides," he said as he held it in front of him like it was diseased, "how can you read this? There's no pictures!"
"Some people use their imagination, Trevor. It's not that hard." She hoped he would catch on to what she said and leave her alone, but he merely laughed it off and tossed the book back in the box carelessly.
"Belle, there's more important things than books and stories."
"Like what? Football and dating?"
"What? No. Actually, football is the most important. And as far dating is concerned, there's only one person that I'd like to focus on."
"Really? Who?" As if she didn't know already.
"Y-O-U, Belle. So, what d'ya say? Let's go out. You can escape this dump and you can stop reading books for fun."
"I like reading books for fun. I learn new things that way."
"Puh-lease, Belle. Girls don't need to read...it's not right. You have your gorgeous face and as far as I'm concerned that's all you need. And you know what guys say about girls who read too much." She stood staring at him. Trevor thought that he had finally gotten through to her; a girl's biggest fear is not getting noticed by guys. Any minute now, she would be begging him to take her out (or just take her, which he would gladly do). Obviously pleased with himself, he smiled and awaited her next move. Belle blinked, and then smiled a sweet smile.
"Would you excuse me? I have a lot of work to do." She grabbed the box from the floor and practically ran to the storage room in the back. Trevor once again stood dumbfounded. He shook his head and forced himself to come up with an answer for what the hell just happened. The thrill of the chase, he finally decided was the reason why she hadn't taken the bait. Ah, well, he thought as he walked out the door, there's always tomorrow.
Belle very nearly slammed the door to the back room and set the box of books down with a thud. If she wasn't at work, she would have slapped him so hard, his brain (or what little there was of it) would have rattled. She wanted to beat the insolence out of him! The guy was living in the 1950s, and he actually expected her to fall for a line like that! Well, look who he usually went after, Belle told herself. Bleached, bubble-head blondes whose biggest concern is not getting their nails ruined. "Idiot!" she spat. She faced a wall and placed her forehead against it. After counting to ten to calm herself, she slowly opened the door and peeked her head out to look around the store. As Martha walked by to give Mr. Harris is coffee, Belle stopped her.
"Is he gone?"
