Hey guys! Thanks for all your reviews! I'm typing in the car right now; it's quite fun.
Hope you like this chapter! We're finally getting into Beauty and the Beast; I'm so excited! But this chapter might be a little sad…oh, well, I hope you like it anyways!
Leigh
I'm sitting outside, waiting for Melanie to come back. All of the students keep on giving me odd stares, possibly because of my attire, and possibly because I'm not a student, but I barely take notice. I'm so scared about Rosa. What if she won't come back to me? What happens then?
I wish Lysander would come out here. I need someone to talk to, to take my mind off of things. But I haven't seen him anywhere. I really should've asked Carly where she found him, but she ran off to her choir practice before I thought about it.
When was the last time I was such a nervous wreck? I love Rosa so much; why can't she see that? Just because I have a hard time expressing my feelings verbally doesn't mean they're not there.
"Hi, Leigh." My head jerks up at the sound of Melanie's voice.
"Did she talk to you? Did she like Lysander's poem?" I ask hopefully. Melanie breaks eye contact and glances back at the door.
"Well…um…"
"Melanie?"
"She figured out that Lysander wrote it, and…."
"And what?" I ask, a desperate tone in my voice. "What'd she say?" My heart is slowly sinking down into my stomach as I realize what I've done in sending her a poem written by my little brother. Rosa knows I can't write, and she knows that Lysander can. How could I have been so stupid?
"She…uh…" Melanie sits down beside me slowly and takes my hand in hers; a comforting gesture. "Leigh…she told me that she doesn't want to see you again," Melanie says quickly. Then, slower, "I'm so sorry." Oh, no. No, this can't be happening. My head falls into my hands, and I draw in a shaking breath. I just can't believe it.
"What exactly did she say?" I ask Melanie.
"Just that," Melanie replies softly. "She told me she never wanted to see you again." Melanie almost sounds like she's crying. I look up at her as a salty tear slides down my own cheek.
"I loved her," I whisper. Melanie looks like she's about to break down, but I'm too upset to wonder why.
"I know," she whispers back. "I know you did." She puts her arm around my shoulders and leans her head against my shoulder.
"Thank you for trying, Melanie," I say, trying to think of reasons to stay happy. Why can't I find any?
"I'm sorry," is all she says. Hmm, there's an idea.
"Hey, do you want to come over tonight?" I ask her. She takes her arm out from around my shoulder and gives me a quizzical look.
"Leigh…"
"No, not like that," I say quickly, reading her mind. "Just to, you know, hang out? Lysander's coming home, and you could invite some of your friends if you wanted. We could have a…a fashion show," I say, allowing myself to smile at the thought. I do have a surprise for her. I was planning on showing her under different circumstances, but today will work out just fine.
"Leigh, I don't know…" Melanie says, hesitant. "Don't you want some…you know…time?"
"This'll help me," I promise. "I shouldn't dwell on it. It wasn't meant to be." Who am I kidding? It was meant to be. Rosa was my forever. I guess…I guess I wasn't hers, though. This will be good for me. It will. All I have to do is plaster a smile on my face for the first twenty minutes, and then it'll come naturally. I'll forget all about Rosa. When Melanie smiles, I almost do.
"Okay. Okay, I'll ask them." She gives me another quick hug and I scribble my address on a slip of paper, which she tucks into the back pocket of her jeans.
"Around five?" I ask.
"Sounds good. See you then," she smiles. As I watch her leave, I force myself to stop thinking about Rosa. I can't let myself dwell on this; I'll never be happy if I do.
Dahlia Hope
Ken refused to go to garden club this morning. Instead, he dragged me up onto the roof of the school.
"I didn't even know you knew about this place," I say, taking his hand and squeezing it. We walk over to the edge and look out over the tiny town. "It's very romantic."
"Yeah," he agrees. "I overheard Castiel talking about it." His voice doesn't sound as happy today as it usually does. I know Ken almost as well as I know myself; something's wrong.
"Ken?" I ask. "What's up?" Ken stares out at the group of cheerleaders practicing in the field.
"Do you know Amber?" he asks me. I nod, finding her easily in the crowd of pink and white. She's the one bossing everyone around. All the girls surround her, and when she pushes out of the crowd, she makes a point of shoving who I think is Elena aside. Poor darling.
"Yeah, what about her?"
"She stole my money again."
"Ken! You've got to stand up to her! Come on, we'll go right now. She can't just-"
"Dahlia," Ken says softly, not moving, "it doesn't really matter anymore."
"Of course it matters! She can't just go around stealing from people! We'll go talk to Nathaniel about it."
"No, I mean, it matters, but there's really no point in talking to her about it, Dahli-chan."
"What, why?"
"Because…" he takes my hands in his and runs his thumb back and forth over the promise ring he gave me. "I'm moving again."
"WHAT?! No! What the heck are you talking about, you can't move, you just moved here!"
"I know…I know…but my dad…he found out that Amber's been bullying me and I haven't been doing anything about it. And you know how he is, Dahlia…" It's true. Ken's dad is quite possibly the most terrifying man I've ever laid eyes on. He was in the military, I think, and stands at over six feet with muscles to rival Thor's. It's no secret that he wishes Ken was more like him. I know where Ken's going.
"Ken…Ken no…" I feel tears welling up in my eyes. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.
"He's sending me to military school tomorrow," Ken says. And then he breaks, tears escaping his eyes and sliding out from under his glasses. I start crying, too, because he's crying, and before I know it we're both sobbing into each other's shoulders.
"When are you leaving?" I choke out.
"A few minutes," he replies.
"WHAT?!" I shriek, pulling away from him. "A few minutes? As in, today?!" He nods sadly.
"Right now, actually. My dad's waiting. He just let me come to say goodbye."
"Ken!" I wrap my arms around his neck again and he holds me close.
"I love you, Dahli-chan," he says. I let out another sob and squeeze him tighter.
"I-I love you, too," I manage. It's really pathetic how I'm just now realizing it myself. "So much! I love you so much, Ken, you can't go! Not now! Not after…" I feel the weight of his ring on my finger. Not after it all finally worked out…
"Here." He reaches into his green backpack and pulls out a blue gift bag, which he hands to me. "Something to remember me by."
"Ken! You're not seriously leaving right now, are you?" He nods again, another tear sliding down his face and off the tip of his nose.
"I'm r-really gonna miss you," he says. "Don't forget about me, okay?"
"Ken!" When did he get so much braver than me? He almost seems resigned to this fate. But…I guess it makes sense. We can't change his father's mind; I don't think it's physically possible. He gives me one more giant hug, and then he's gone.
I plop down on the floor and open the bag he gave me. My fingers brush against something soft and I pull the object out of the bag. My heart melts instantly. It's a little teddy bear. A little bear with a white t-shirt adorned with a pink heart that says "I love you." Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, Ken. I hold the bear to my chest and bury my face in its soft fur. I sit there way past the bell.
Monique Rochester
"Do you know anything about music?" I ask Alexy. We're sitting by ourselves at the end of a lunch table, scribbling notes in the scripts that the principal gave us for the musical.
"Nope, sorry dah-link," he says. "You?"
"No…" I sigh and throw my pen down on the table. "This is ridiculous. How are we supposed to teach the cast the music if neither of us can read it?" Alexy blows a strand of blue hair out of his face and considers the problem. I giggle, because even his serious face is comical.
"Excuse me? You two are directing the musical, correct?" a soft, monotonous voice asks.
"Yes, sir!" Alexy says, looking up at the two guys who have approached our table. Castiel and Lysander, actually.
"I'm surprised you two are taking any interest," I laugh, looking up as well. Castiel rolls his eyes and grumbles.
"We've been ordered to help out," he explains tersely.
"Ordered? By who?" Alexy asks.
"The principal," he snaps, glaring at Alexy. Alexy looks back at me and crosses his eyes, spinning his finger around to indicate that Castiel is, well, not mentally healthy.
"Oh, stop it," I tease, tugging on the sleeve of his jacket. Alexy laughs and turns his attention back to Castiel and Lysander.
"Well, do either of you read music?" he asks.
"We both do," Lysander tells us.
"You both sing?" I ask in surprise.
"Singing?" Castiel says. "Oh, no, then. Lysander does that."
"Awesomeness! You cool with being the music director, then, dude?" Alexy asks Lysander, grinning ear to ear. Lysander nods slowly.
"I guess that would be alright, if there's nothing else," he says. I scribble his name down in my notebook under the world 'music.'
"What about you, dude? What can you do?" Alexy asks Castiel.
"I can do a helluva lot more than you," Castiel replies snidely. Alexy frowns, and I take over.
"Well, Alexy, you said Armin can do everything technological, right?" Alexy nods. "Okay…" I skim the list. "Aunt Jemma's doing costumes, Lysander's doing the music, we said we might be able to get Elena on the piano…I think we're all set, Castiel. Looks like the only thing left is the cast."
"I don't want to do that," Castiel says bluntly.
"Hey, it's not my fault that you get in trouble a lot," I shrug. "We don't want you in the cast either. Although…" I say thoughtfully, shooting a knowing glance at Alexy, "you might make a great Gaston."
"Who the hell is that?"
"He's the self-obsessed jerk who gets thrown off the castle at the end," Alexy informs him, cracking up at the idea. "You might be onto something, girl!"
"I am not doing that," Castiel protests.
"Hmm. Gaston happens to be Elena's favorite character," I say with a smirk.
"And why does that matter?" he growls.
"Just thought you'd like to know," I tell him, closing my notebook. "But you need to participate, and we don't have any off-stage positions left." Castiel looks to Lysander for help, but he just shrugs.
"Your call," he says. Castiel sneers and storms away without giving us an answer.
"Well, I guess we'll see if he shows up to audition," I say, reaching across the table and stealing Alexy's purple pen. I reopen my notebook and write my name in the front. I really like this color. "Can I have this?" I ask Alexy. He grins.
"Sure, whatever. I've got loads more where that came from."
"Cool."
"Hey, Alexy!" Armin and Frankie come up behind us. "I'm not gonna be able to go shopping with you today, okay? I really wanna talk to Xeno- uh, Frankie."
"Armin!" Alexy cries, spinning around in his chair to face his brother. "That's the twenty-first time this month! And it's the twenty-first of October!"
"I'll go look for Halloween costumes tomorrow, okay? I promise," Armin says.
"That's what you say every day!" Alexy whines.
"I know! But I actually want to go look for Halloween stuff," Armin says defensively. "And I didn't exactly expect to find my internet friend here." Without waiting for Alexy to protest again, Armin turns around and he and Frankie leave.
"Bye, Monique!" Frankie calls. I wave goodbye and look back at Alexy, who seems quite upset.
"He never wants to go with me!" he complains. "He always finds an excuse."
"I don't think he really wanted to go, though. Maybe you could go shopping with-"
"You?" Alexy cuts me off, grinning again. "That'd be so much fun!" I was actually going to say Melanie; I hate shopping, but he looks so happy that I just can't find it in me to say now. Alexy jumps up from his chair and gives me a giant hug. "Thank you! Meet me outside after school okay?"
Well, I guess I've got myself a date.
Carrie Knight
When Dahlia doesn't show up for lunch, we start to get worried.
"Have you seen her at all today?" I ask Sammy. She shakes her head in response.
"She wasn't in the garden club. Jade and Violette were kinda irritated."
"Do you have any idea where she was?"
"Nope."
"You wanna go look for her?" Sammy gives me an incredulous look.
"What could possibly be wrong with her? She's probably just hanging out with Ken or something." Eh, Sammy's probably right. New couples are always like that, especially when they've always, you know, had something. But I just have a bad feeling.
"Okay, whatever. Hey, German!" German leans over the table and looks down at me.
"Yep?"
"I'm gonna go try to find Dahlia. You wanna come?"
"Sure!" German says. "I'm done eating."
"'Kay, let's go." We stand up and take off down the hall.
"Where do you think she is?" German asks after we search the outside and a few of the classrooms.
"I don't know. She's probably fine, but I just have that feeling, you know?" German nods.
"Yeah, I get that sometimes."
After several more minutes of searching with no luck, we're out of places to look, and both of us are becoming increasingly worried. Now, I'm positive that something's up. I haven't seen Ken either, but I don't think she'd ditch the whole day just to hang out with her new boyfriend. And Ken wouldn't ask that of her; he's not like Castiel.
"We could try the roof," German suggests. "That's the only other place I can think of. Students aren't allowed up there on their own, but…"
"Let's go."
No one's in the hall, so we run back to the staircase without being caught by the principal, thank goodness. We climb up onto the roof, and on a regular day I would have stopped to admire the plants and the scenery, but the sight of Dahlia fast asleep clutching a teddy bear grabs my attention.
"Dahlia?" German says, approaching the sleeping girl. "Dahlia! Wakey-wakey!"
"Hey!" I take the bear from her arms, hoping that that will wake her up. It does.
"Give that back!" she yells, sitting up quickly. "It's from Ken!"
"Where is Ken?" German asks curiously. I toss the bear back to her.
"Sorry," I mutter.
"He's gone," Dahlia says bitterly, angry tears running down her face. "His good for nothing dad sent him to military school." German and I both gasp. No one saw that coming.
"Dahlia, are you serious?" I ask. She nods sharply.
"Please just leave me alone," she says, hugging the bear again and lying back down. Oh, gosh. This is bad. Ken can't have left! He and Dahlia were perfect! But I'm not good at this. German is.
She goes over and kneels down on her knees in front of Dahlia and whispers some things to her. Dahlia shakes her head initially, but then she starts to give in to whatever German is saying. I finally see her mouth the word 'okay.' She stands up reluctantly and puts the teddy bear into her backpack. While she's doing this, German comes back over to me.
"What did you tell her?" I ask.
"I told her that she's going to need a lot of time to get over it and we understand that, but isolating herself will make it even harder. She needs to surround herself with her friends. And I also told her that some of you guys are going over to Leigh and Lysander's this evening and that I'm sure she could come if she wants."
"Oh, yeah, absolutely," I say. "Melanie says that the only reason Leigh's having us all over is because he's trying to distract himself from thinking about Rosalya."
"Right. So it'll be good for her too." Dahlia finishes gathering her things and sulks over to us.
"Okay, I'm ready," she sighs. I give her a hug before we head downstairs.
"Oh, hey! You're Ken's girlfriend, huh?" Oh, no. This is not a good time…
"Go away, Amber," I grumble, turning to face the annoying blonde. "Just leave her alone."
"Why? She clearly needs a hug; I just saw Ken leaving earlier today. Did he decide he didn't like you anymore?"
"That's not what happened," Dahlia snaps.
"Oh! So you decided you didn't like him then? Well, I can help you with that." Without missing a beat, Amber takes Dahlia's phone from her back pocket and starts typing something in. "Dear Ken, I hate you. So glad you're gone, do not reply. Love, Dahlia. Aaaannnd….send."
"What? Give that back you…" Dahlia lunges for her phone angrily, but Amber holds it just out of her reach.
"And…delete contact," Amber says, pressing a few more buttons. Dahlia screams and grabs her phone back from Amber, scrolling through her contacts list desperately.
"I can't believe you just did that!" she shrieks, beginning to cry again. "Why would you delete him?"
"Eh, he was stupid," Amber shrugs.
"No, he wasn't! You…!"
"Oh, please. Stop being such a crybaby and go do something productive," Amber snaps.
"Stop bothering her!" I yell.
"Make me!" Amber challenges. I step forward with my hand raised, but German does it for me. She raises her hand and brings it down fast on Amber's perfectly made-up face. Amber gasps and holds a hand to her cheek, staring at German like she's got fifty heads.
"You didn't…"
"Oh, but I did. Now run along, honey," German says condescendingly, shooing Amber away with her hand. "Bye bye, now." Amber huffs and spins around, marching towards the front door.
"Thanks, German," Dahlia says, her voice small.
"No prob," German says with a smug smile. "I've always wanted to do that."
"Well, it was well deserved," I say, watching Amber leave. She doesn't look back even once. "Let's go, Dahlia."
The bell rings for the end of lunch before we get back to the cafeteria, and we separate to go to our different classes. Dahlia promises that she'll suffer through, and then she'll go to Leigh and Lysander's house with us. We promise not to tell anyone about Ken's sudden departure.
Dajan stops me on the way to Math.
"Hey, Carrie!"
"Hmm?" I lean against the wall and look up at him. Gosh, he's tall…
"You doing anything this Friday evening?"
"Um, this Friday? Nope, not as far as I know, why?"
"Do you want to go on a real date?" he asks. "I mean, I figure it's about time, right?" There's no tone of doubt or hesitation in his voice.
"Sure," I reply back, hoping my voice sounds just as confident. "Where to?"
"It's a surprise," he says, grinning. "Just come with me after school on Friday, 'kay?"
"Sounds good," I say. I flick a strand of hair out of his face and turn the doorknob to my classroom.
Luzma Alejandri-Cruz
"Hey, guys! Who's all going over to Leigh's?" Melanie asks us. "Because we've got to leave like, now."
"Not me," Rachel says. "I've got to study."
"I'm not really in the mood," Sammy says.
"I need to rehearse for my audition on Friday," Frankie says, "and Elena needs to help me with the piano."
"I'm not doing anything," I say. "I guess I might as well go."
"I really need to work on this script," Monique says. She's been texting Alexy back and forth ever since we got home. "Alexy and I need to figure some things out."
"I'll go," Carly says. She's trying not to seem too excited, but she'd never turn down a chance to see Lysander.
"We're going, too," Carrie says, holding up Dahlia's hand. Dahlia's gotten all quiet again, just like she did this summer, and none of us are sure why, but this time she won't even talk to Elena. Carrie's been working overtime to cheer her up.
"Luz, you're driving," Melanie says, tossing me the car keys. I'm really getting sick of driving everyone everywhere.
We pile into Jemma's car and Melanie plugs Leigh's address into her GPS. She relates the directions to me from the passenger seat, and unlike Jemma's house, Leigh's is easy to find.
It's not a house, technically. It's an apartment. But none of us really expected two brothers barely living on their own to have a big house. And it's cute; I've always loved brick buildings.
Melanie leads the way to their apartment with a certain spring in her step. Carly follows close behind, and the rest of us fall into line behind her. When we finally find their door, Melanie rings the bell. Leigh opens up almost immediately.
"Hi, come on in," he says, holding the door open. He seems a lot like Dahlia; trying to put on a brave face, but giving away some of his true emotions through his eyes. We don't know what Dahlia's problem is, though. We file past him and into the living area. It's very quaint, with the whole shabby chic thing going on. There's an electronic keyboard in the corner, next to a TV, and a lot of lamps and old fashioned furniture. There's a single hallway which probably leads to the bedrooms, kitchen, and bathroom. A huge bookshelf covers one wall, and it's shelved with old leather bound books as well as new ones. It may just be me, but I swear I see a Twilight book or two. It takes me a moment to realize that they're probably Rosalya's. I wonder how much time she spent here, and if she'll come to get her books back. Leigh takes our jackets like the gentleman he is and hangs them up in a little closet before inviting us to sit down.
"Who's here, Leigh?" Lysander calls from down the hall. Carly's eyes open wide.
"You didn't tell him we were coming?" she asks in horror.
"I figured we could all use a laugh," Leigh shrugs. He seems to be right, because I think I actually see Dahlia smile. I chuckle, imagining Lysander's reaction to having five girls in his living room. Leigh doesn't reply to his brother.
"Leigh? Leigh, who's h-" Lysander stops in his tracks when he sees us. He's holding that old notebook, as usual, but his feet are bare and his long black jacket is unbuttoned, revealing a plain white t-shirt underneath. It seems we've caught him completely by surprise. While his face betrays no emotion, his eyes do travel back and forth between us several times, and before long we're all cracking up at his reaction to us. Lysander looks at his brother questioningly.
"I had just invited Melanie and some of her friends to come see the collection," Leigh explains, giving Lysander a pointed stare.
"You could have warned me…" Lysander says quietly.
"I wanted it to be a surprise."
"Well, consider me surprised." Lysander turns to leave, but Leigh stops him.
"What if I call Castiel and get him to come over?" he asks, an apologetic tone in his voice. "Please? I just really don't want to be alone…I start thinking about…" his voice fades out, and Lysander sighs, defeated.
"You don't have to call Castiel," he says, turning back. "But what exactly are we going to do? You do realize how this looks, Leigh."
"I know, I know. I didn't really think about that until afterwards. But I had some things I wanted to show Melanie, and we could have a fashion show or something else fun."
"Ooh, that sounds fun!" Melanie approves, grinning. I roll my eyes as Carrie and Dahlia shrink into their seats. Carly's face darkens.
"I am not modeling for anyone," she says decisively. Hmmm. Usually she loves dress up.
"You're right…it's stupid…" Leigh says softly, fingering with the arm of the couch. "I'm sorry, guys, I just thought…"
"Hey, why don't you just show me what you've got, okay?" Melanie says, glaring at Carly. "It'll help you take your mind off things."
"Yeah, okay," Leigh agrees. He stands and leads his brother and Melanie down the hall to some unknown room, leaving the rest of us sitting awkwardly in the living room. Dahlia just curls up on the couch and Carrie starts French braiding her hair to pass the time. Carly stands and starts heading towards the piano when Melanie comes back screaming.
"Leigh is an angel!" she says. "An absolute angel! Come see, come see!" We run after her into a little spare room at the very end of the hall, right past the archway that leads to the kitchen. Inside are sixteen mannequins, all dressed in beautiful dresses. Several moments later, after I've had time to analyze the familiar designs and Melanie's ecstatic screaming, I realize that these are those fruit dresses Melanie designed. Leigh has brought them to life for her.
"Oh, wow…" Carrie breathes, looking at all the dresses. Leigh is standing behind the mannequins, looking embarrassed by all the attention. Lysander is leaning against the wall smiling.
"Mel, are these the dresses you…?" Dahlia questions.
"Yes!" Melanie squeals. "Yes! Leigh made my dresses!" Carly narrows her eyes.
"I'll try on one," she gives in. "Just one, though." I knew she'd come around.
"Take your pick, Miss," Leigh says, gesturing towards the plethora of dresses. Carly wanders in circles for a few seconds, trying to decide which dress she wants. Finally, she glances back at Leigh, defeated.
"Fine. I'll try on five. But no more than that!"
"Five?" Carrie giggles. "In that case, I'll try one I guess. That one," she says, pointing to a long yellow gown. It's one of the more simple designs, but also one of the more elegant.
"Hmmm…I could try on that one," I say, pointing to a short green one. It's pretty much my style. Or, it would be if it wasn't green…oh well. Dahlia sits down against the wall and watches us as we examine the dresses, telling us that she doesn't really want to try one on. Melanie gravitates towards a pink one I think I remember to be watermelon. But these dresses don't look anything like fruits; they're too pretty.
Carly eventually decides on a strapless dark blue dress with ruffles around the hem; blackberry, I think. Leigh helps us get the dresses off of the mannequins, and then he and Lysander leave. I have to admit, this whole situation is a little strange, but the dresses are just so pretty. And they were designed by Melanie! You can't get much cooler than that.
Melanie is practically jumping up and down nonstop as she puts on the watermelon dress. It fits her perfectly, and Carly helps her to zip it up. She twirls around and admires herself in the mirror on the back of the door.
"It's so pretty!" she says excitedly. "I can't believe Leigh actually made them all!"
"Yeah, I really like this one," Carly agrees, spinning around in the dark blue dress. I have to admit, I like this green one despite it not being my color, and Carrie looks perfect in the yellow.
"Are you going to show the guys?" Dahlia asks us.
"Hmm…I don't know. Isn't that kind of weird? You know, to do a fashion show for two guys we've known for like, what, a month?" Carrie says.
"It's not like a fashion show," Melanie disagrees. "I think he had just made my dresses and wanted to show me, but then he got all upset about Rosalya and just wanted some people to come over. I don't think he has a whole lot of friends."
"Alright, fine," I sigh. "I guess it can't hurt." Melanie jumps around in a circle again and knocks on the door.
"Should we come out or do you want to come in?" she calls.
"Go ahead and come out," Leigh says. "It'll be less crowded." Melanie opens the door and rushes out. The rest of us stay put.
"What do you think?"
"Hmm…I think the stitching on the sleeve is a little off," he says, "but I like it. It suits you."
"Guys, are you coming?" Melanie calls back. Carrie shrugs and prances out.
"Same thing with the sleeves," we hear Leigh say. "But the fit is great, don't you think, Mel?"
"Yeah, I especially like the shawl," she says. "The blue works really well with it."
"I agree." They talk for several minutes critiquing the dresses before I decide I'm tired of waiting here.
"Come on, Carly," I say, taking my friend's hand. She tries to run back, but I'm a lot stronger than she is.
"Hello!" I say in a singsong voice. "Aren't we lovely?" Lysander is sitting on the couch, but Leigh is standing with Melanie and Carrie.
"I don't understand why I have so much trouble with sleeves," Leigh says, irritated. The sleeves on my dress are long and flowy, kind of like a medieval princess. "And the ruffles on Carly's are a little uneven."
"Really?" Melanie says, examining the two dresses. "You're really too hard on yourself, I haven't noticed anything you've said so far."
"Well you're the designer and you're just happy that I made your dresses…" Leigh says softly.
"I'm tired of this," Dahlia groans, coming out from the hall. I hadn't even realized she had stayed behind. "Can't we just play a board game or watch a movie or something like a normal party?"
"I wouldn't call it a party," Leigh says. "But I'm sure my brother would be happy to put something on if you'd like."
"Disney!" Carly cries. "Can we watch The Little Mermaid?"
"I don't think we have that…" Leigh responds.
"Hmm. I guess it is a little girly. What about Hercules?"
"I don't think we have any of those movies, Carly," Lysander says from the couch. Carly scowls.
"Well, then, one of these days I will bring them all over and we shall watch them," she says decisively. I wonder if she notices that she's basically inviting herself over again. Dahlia walks over to the shelf of movies and pulls one out.
"Lord of the Rings," she says. "That's a nice, action movie, right?"
"Haven't you ever seen it?" I ask incredulously.
"Well…no," Dahlia admits. "I haven't."
"Well, you're in for a treat, then," Lysander says, standing and taking the movie from her. He inserts it into the DVD player and presses some buttons on the remote to make the main menu come up. "Leigh here can quote the entire thing."
"I do believe you've confused me with yourself," Leigh says with a small smile. He takes a box of pins from a nearby table and starts fixing the sleeves on Melanie's dress. She watches the meticulous movements of his fingers intently.
"I can quote the whole thing!" I say, raising my hand and plopping down on a plush armchair. "Except for the Elvish parts. I only know the subtitles for those."
"Have you seen The Hobbit?" Carrie asks, sitting down as well. "I haven't gotten a chance to yet."
"Neither have we," Lysander says. "Leigh was all for it until they decided to make it a trilogy."
"Oh my gosh, did you see the Saturday Night Live spoof on that?" Carly asks, giggling. "It was dead on!" Lysander smiles at her enthusiasm.
"No, I don't usually watch that," he says.
"What about Once Upon a Time on ABC?" Carly asks. "You watch that, right?"
"That was Rosa's favorite show, actually," Leigh says, speaking up from the corner. Suddenly, the room gets quiet.
"Oh…I'm sorry, Leigh," Carly apologizes quickly.
"No, no, it's alright. You couldn't have known," Leigh responds. "But if you girls wouldn't mind getting out of those dresses, I'd like to make some alterations."
"Oh, sure," I say, standing up. This dress is too tight for me anyways. "C'mon, guys." We go back into the office room and change back into our street clothes. Well, all except for Melanie. Leigh is still working on her sleeves. I thought they looked fine, but I guess that's why I'm better with cars than with clothes.
When we come back, Lysander starts the movie as Melanie and Leigh go to further examine and alter the plethora of dresses.
"Luz, I'll give you twenty bucks if you can quote more than Lysander," Carrie challenges.
"Leigh was joking when he said that," Lysander says with a smile. "Truth is, I can't remember much of anything save for the basic storyline. I have an awful memory."
"I know Pippin's song from the third one," Carly says, "but that's about it."
"Well, I don't know any of it, so hush up!" Dahlia hisses. She's sitting by herself in the armchair I was in earlier. Feeling especially devious, I shove Carly over to the couch right next to Lysander, with me on the other side of her. Carrie sits next to me on the end of the couch.
We pretty much have a running commentary going for the entire movie, and Dahlia tells us repeatedly to be quiet so that she can hear, but it just doesn't work. But by nine o'clock, when Melanie and Leigh finally emerge from the office and announce that it's time to go, we're only about halfway through.
"Come on! Just five more minutes?" I beg childishly. "It's just getting to the good part!" Melanie and Leigh shake their heads simultaneously.
"We have school tomorrow," Melanie reminds us. Oh, right. I'd completely forgotten that this was only Monday. The week has felt so long already.
"I guess you're right," I sigh. "Well, thanks for the movie, guys. And Leigh, the dresses are beautiful."
"Thank you."
The drive back home is mellow, but everyone is in a good mood. Melanie talks about how nice it is to have a friend who shares her interests, Dahlia talks about how tragic Arwen and Aragorn's relationship is of al things, Carrie tells us about her date with Dajan, which is big news, and I don't really have much to say.
I mean, I got several texts from Dake during the movie asking why I won't reply, but I've realized that I don't need him to be happy, do I? All I need is a few good friends and a movie night every once and a while. That's good enough for me.
I hope you liked it, and please review! Ken, my darling, you will be missed :(
Beauty and the Beast officially gets under way next chapter! Yay!
Luv yah,
Ava
