Authors Note: OK, so we can all agree that Lily doesn't have many redeemable qualities right? She's very much just a villain for the sake of being a villain at the moment. And so when she flirted with Ricky, I actually found it kinda funny, as there's no way Ricky is going to just drop someone like Nini for her. Unlike Gina, Lily doesn't know Ricky; they haven't had any screentime together, and she's spent the entirety of the time just trying to push his friends down. So I decided to challenge myself to see if I could come up with any way a romance between two of them could start, and here was the result!

(For all those who are still really sad about the Ricky/Nina breakup... This might be a hard read!)

All in all, Lily was having a really good day.

Of course, school was a drag as it always was, and her grades would probably need a little adjusting for her hopes of a future scholarship, but everything else was going picture perfect.

Everything the East High drama department had done, she was now beating. She had a better school, better costumes and absolutely a better cast! She didn't know what sort of phone calls her father had made to bring a French boy into the school, but there was absolutely no way she was being beaten this time!

And now, as a little cherry to top off the perfect day, she knew that in not too long she would soon have the perfect boyfriend to complete her perfect life. Of course, she still needed to get to know him, and their last talk maybe hadn't gotten off to the best start, but she could forgive that. She smiled as she thought of his handsome face, imagining him holding her. Protecting her. The thought made her squeal in excitement, as she scrolled through her phone on her bed.

The face in question belonged to that of Ricky Bowen, a junior from the very school she was trying to beat. She should have probably seen him as just another rival, but that line of thinking had never really been able to take off, due to one simple truth:

Ricky was hot. She knew she wasn't the only one who saw that; Miss Jen had practically giftwrapped the role of the Beast to him, despite his horrific audition. Thinking of that audition soured her mood a bit.

"No, think about Ricky" she decided. She was not going to let herself be pulled back down by that horrible experience at East High. Tonight, her thoughts were reserved for her future boyfriend. She smiled, pulling up the profile of her crush on her phone, seeing once again the wonderful update on his page that had made her night with just one word: Single.

She wasn't quite sure how it had happened; she hadn't seen anything of the East High crowd since they had broken into their school last week. But surely it couldn't be a coincidence that just a few days after seeing Ricky; after showing her interest in him, he had broken up with that little weasel of a girlfriend.

What did that mean now? When would she next see him? Should she message him and ask to meet up? Would he message her? He would! Absolutely he would! She paused. She did not like the feeling of uncertainty the thought of waiting brought. To make matters even more difficult, it wasn't like there were any places they were likely to meet up; they obviously didn't share the same school anymore, and all his free time seemed generally to be focused on his own rendition of Beauty and the Beast.

She wished he could be in North High instead. He could have been her Beast, and they would have shone together. That was a far better reality than him carrying the cheap failure of a musical that East High were putting out. Instead, it seemed she was stuck with no way to see him, and no alternative but to wait for him to text her.

He would, right?

Of course he would! He had all but declared his love for her with that relationship update. It was just a matter of time before he called her. She could be patient. She would wait.

..

..

…

It was one week later, and Lily's mood was no longer as pleasant. She walked through school wearing a scowl that made everyone aware that it would be a good idea to stay out her way if they wanted to live long and happy lives. She just didn't get it. Why hadn't Ricky texted her?

Surely it wasn't normal for a guy to keep a girl like her waiting this long? Or was he waiting to see her in person? When would they even see one another in person?! She had no way to see him! She had shadowed the Pizza shop that Howard worked at (where she knew most of the East High Drama department hung out), but despite seeing many East High students (including that bratty ex-girlfriend of Ricky's), her future boyfriend had not shown up at all!

She grumbled her way into Literature class, pulling out her phone as she sat down, making sure to refresh every messaging app she had, just to double check there were no new messages from Ricky. He hadn't deleted her number had he? She remembered exchanging numbers the day they first met in the cafeteria. She was confident that that was the day she had fallen in love.

But now, doubt was beginning to creep in. What if there was another girl he had broken up for? She could be stealing him right now and Lily would be none the wiser! The thought made the freshman feel sick to the stomach.

"Hey Lily," Lily jumped at the sound of the her name, and turned to see Antoine sitting next to her, a mildly concerned look on his face. "Do you need the surgeon? Your face looks very… ill."

A SURGEON? What the – Lily groaned; Of course, Antoine meant the nurse. She had to continuously remind herself that Antoine was not yet fluent in English, and so did still struggle with finding the right words from time to time.

"Yes Antoine, I'm fine… Just relationship problems." She sighed. Antoine was the closest thing she had to a friend in this school, so it was probably best not to snap at him.

"Ahh, I see." Replied Antoine, nodding as though not fully understanding what she meant. There was an awkward silence for a minute between the two, before the Frenchman spoke again. "You know, you could always find another guy. I think in English you have a saying… something about there being plenty of fish in the sea?"

As kind a thought as it was, the sentiment actually angered Lily a little. She wasn't going to give up Ricky like that! She did briefly consider Antoine's words however. Why was she so set on Ricky? Obviously a Princess like her could probably find a tonne of handsome guys who would be more than happy to date her. Heck, some of them probably attended North High if she looked.

She wasn't sure why exactly, but that line of thinking only brought her pain. She didn't want anyone else, she wanted Ricky! It wasn't just his looks… It was how he had been when she had first been introduced to the group. He was so warm and friendly and welcoming; it was like they were friends straight away. And he had managed to do that in the only two minutes they had spoken before last week.

In all honesty, she felt closer to him than anyone at North High. She didn't particularly "do" friendships here. She'd moved around so much the past few years, that she hadn't really had a chance to establish any friends in this new school. Plus no-one really seemed that interested in her here at North High. That wasn't a sob-story, it was just practical. She was way too busy for friendships anyway.

What if he's just that way with everyone? The doubting voice in her mind had become a lot louder recently, but this time she didn't shy away from the question. If Ricky really was that way with everyone… Then it only grew her admiration for him. A man so strong, but also so kind. So powerful, yet so gentle. Her mind went back to the audition at East High. It had not been a nice day by any stretch of the imagination. But one moment did stand out to her; a memory that she held onto and cherished with all her heart:

The timid red-head of East High had been trying to tap dance. She had laughed when he had fallen over. But then, seeing Ricky help the boy up and encourage and support him had completely changed her view of scene. And of Ricky.

No; She couldn't give him up.

Because Ricky wasn't just handsome.

He was also a good man.

But that brought her back to the current problem. How could she find a way to meet up with him? All her time was currently taken up with school and the show, and she could only expect he was probably in the same situation. For a moment, she almost wished that they weren't both tied down with the annoying MANKEE awards.

Her train of thought was interrupted by her French classmate.

"Howie, where were you last night?" Antoine asked "We were supposed to practice the dance from Scene 15 together!" The boy Howard, who was playing the role of her beast, groaned on the table next to them.

"Ughh sorry Antoine… Relationship issues."

"Et tu?!" exclaimed Antoine "Oh Zut! What happened?"

"Let's just say that my girlfriend is none too happy that I'm a lead roll of the show that is actively trying to sabotage her show!" responded Howie, his face hidden in his arms on the table. "Seriously, why does this whole competition thing have to be so serious?"

To this, Antoine didn't respond, but now Lily was interested;

"What do you mean Howard? Don't you want our production to succeed?" she asked, putting on her sweet voice that everyone in North High recognised as a warning not to disagree with her. Surprisingly though, Howard didn't back down this time.

"Of course I do!" he urged "But it shouldn't have to cost friendships, right? I always thought competition was about putting our best up against someone else's best; not constantly pushing everyone else down. I mean if we continue doing that, then we're not the best, we're just… the least bad."

Howie paused thoughtfully, before looking across, suddenly realising who he was talking to. He gulped as he saw the supposedly innocent smile on Lily's face, and braced himself for the rebuttal. Unbeknownst to him however, what he said had impacted Lily. She knew competitive, and that definitely wasn't a bad thing (if anything it was what had propelled her so far already). But if this show really was pulling her away from her future boyfriend, then that wasn't good.

Still, she couldn't (and wouldn't) let anything past this competition. Earning a MANKEE was an immovable desire that she wouldn't let anything taint. But was there room for Ricky in that situation?

Then she had it; Of course it was all so simple!

"Hmm, maybe you're right Howard." She hummed.

"You- I- wait, what?!" sputtered Howard, confusedly.

"I said maybe you're right." She responded matter-of-factly "Maybe this competition has gotten a little out-of-hand recently. Maybe we need to just cool the air and have some sort of party that both East High and North High can make up at."

"Y-yeah, wait… Are you serious?" Howie stuttered, still trying to grasp what Lily had said.

"Of course!" said Lily cheerfully "It would be really sad if you and that lovely girl had to split up." There was a short pause. Then Howie spoke again.

"This is an actual thing, right? Your not planning some sabotage or ulterior motive with this?" Lily held her smile.

"Not at all." She said simply "How does next week sound?"

"Next week is spring break" Antoine offered. Howie grinned.

"Alright!" he said, "If you want, I could probably arrange it at Salt Lake Slices. I already work there, and know that a lot of East High hang out there already."

"That sounds perfect!" Lily smiled, holding back the part of her that wanted to squeal with joy at the thought of seeing Ricky.

..

..

..

The day of the pizza party could not come soon enough. Even the rehearsals couldn't take Lily's mind off it! She spent hours trying on different clothes, planning what to say, even planning what to order. Everything had to be perfect for the night. An invite was sent out to both the East High and North High drama departments, and there seemed to be quite a confidence that there would be quite a crowd there.

Finally, the day came. She called her father and asked if she could have a lift up to the pizza place.

"Sure thing, sweetheart!" he said "I'm busy tonight, but I can probably also pick you up after ten. Would that work?"

"Absolutely!" she grinned; this was perfect! It was just the excuse she needed to stay there late with Ricky, after everyone had gone. He would confess his undying love for her, and she would graciously accept. She could see it in her minds eye now; the two of them walking hand-in-hand through Salt Lake City, all in the face of the jealous ex-girlfriend that Lily would take much pleasure in strutting in front of.

Soon enough they were in the car, and Lily's heart began to beat faster. This was it. This would be the day she met her prince charming. This would be a night to remember!

..

This was absolutely a night to forget. It was only 8pm and Lily was already fed up of it.

Ricky wasn't here.

Why? Who knew! But he certainly didn't care about her like she had hoped! This was why she didn't do friends. Boys were jerks! Part of her held on to the hoped that Ricky might just be delayed or held up, and that any minute now, he would come running through the doors. But that hope was getting smaller and smaller with every passing minute.

To make matters worse, now that she was here, having organized the party with the rest of East High, she had had to spend the past 58 minutes talking with all the people she considered her rivals. And that had gotten very old very quickly. There was nothing quite so aggravating for the young girl as being interrupted in waiting to talk to someone, by constantly having to talk to someone else about something entirely different. Honestly, hearing about the strange quirks of all these East High students was really beginning to drain her.

She jumped as she heard a sudden clatter of dishes on the next table, followed by a roar of laughter by those around. 'Well at least they're having a good time' she thought bitterly. She wasn't paying attention to the conversation on her own table, and left abruptly, searching for the girl from East High who had been co-hosting the event with Howie. She found her quickly, and walked over to her as naturally as possible.

"Hey, uh… Kourt-Kourtney?" she began. The girl looked up from her table and smiled warmly.

"Hey Lily!" she grinned, "Thank you so much for coming up with something like this! I think we all really needed it!"

Lily smiled back; her face a mask of happiness.

"Thank you for agreeing to it!" she responded, "It was very nice of you to book the restaurant for this. I was wondering, it seems that not all you cast are here though. Don't you guys have the Beast and the Rose still to come?"

"Oh." Kourtney's face dropped for a second. "They couldn't make it tonight unfortunately."

They. Couldn't. Make it?

What was that supposed to mean?!

Lily felt a horrible heaviness on her heart that made her feel sick.

"Why not?"

"… Each of them are going through a bit of a difficult time at the moment." said Kourtney, clearly being vague on purpose. But Lily didn't care anymore. Right now she didn't care about anything.

Ricky wasn't coming.

The smile she had expertly put on for the past hour, vanished immediately, and scowling she turned and walked straight to the exit of the Slices pizza restaurant. She began running, anything to get away from that horrible, horrible night. She didn't know what to think anymore. Her heart hurt so much! She just wanted to get home, go to bed, and cry herself to sleep.

Before she knew it, her phone was in her hand, and she was entering in her father's number. It rang for about 30 seconds before timing out. She phoned again. Again, the phone call timed out. She tried phoning once more, and this time sighed with relief when she heard her dad's voice coming through.

"Hi Dad, it's me." She sobbed "Can you pick me up?" She heard an audible sigh on the other end of the phone.

"Sweetie, I'm sorry, I said I was busy tonight. I can pick you up in a couple of hours, or you can call a taxi. But I can't pick you up now." He replied, firmly.

"Please!" she wailed. She hated this. She hated feeling pathetic and helpless.

"Sweetie, I've got to get to get back to work. If you still need a lift a ten, call me then." And with that, the line went dead.

Great, now what? Lily started walking faster, typing furiously into her phone as she did so, trying to find some sort of bus or taxi service that went the right direction. Not looking where she was going, she suddenly felt the ground disappear beneath her, as she slipped and tumbled down a stone stairway down one of the city streets, landing in a bruised and painful heap on the side of the road.

She was cold.

Everything hurt.

And now it was starting to rain.

She looked desperately around for her phone and spotted it on the sidewalk. She reached for it, only for her heart to sink lower still. The screen was broken from the fall, and didn't respond. She put the phone down, and at once all the floods tears she had been holding back for the past hour were released she wept bitterly on the cold, wet sidewalk. Why didn't Ricky love her? Why didn't her father love her? Why didn't anyone love her?

She sat there for what felt like hours, steadily getting colder and wetter, as the sky began to turn the landscape darker and darker. A few cars drove past, their headlights blinding her. But she did not expect one to stop.

But then, one did.

The headlights slowed to a halt, and she heard the car door open.

"Hey, are you alright?!" she heard a voice call out. Wait, that voice was familiar…

She looked up, and her heart began to race.

Standing in front of her, was Ricky Bowen.

"Lily?" he gasped, "Are you ok?" She shook her head, and let the tears continue alongside the rain. Ricky rushed to her, and helped her up. A spike of pain in her foot caused her fall forward, and Ricky had to catch her mid-collapse.

"My ankle…" she whispered weakly "It… hurts…"

"It looks like you twisted it." Replied Ricky "Do you need a lift somewhere?"

"Home." Lily stated. Or pleaded. She didn't have the strength for anything more. Ricky nodded and helped her into his car. He pulled a jacket from the backseat, and handed it to her.

"Here, put this on." He said, "You don't want to catch a cold staying drenched like that."

"Thank you." Replied Lily, quietly accepting the gift. She slipped the way-too-big-for-her jacket on, over her dress that she had spent so long picking out, before suddenly realising the situation she was in. Her heart sank. She didn't want Ricky to see her like this! After all the careful planning and preparation she had made for this evening, everything had been ruined and now Ricky probably thought she was just weak snivelling child!

"So, where's home?" It took Lily a second to notice that Ricky was talking to her. He had the Satnav loaded up on his dashboard and was looking at her expectantly. Snapping her brain into gear, she quickly reached across and punched in her home address, hoping he wasn't getting annoyed at her. But the junior just smiled.

"Alright, off we go then!" he grinned, and at once they we moving, making up the miles between her and her bed. Lily shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She had spent so long planning what she would do and say when she saw Ricky again, but now that he was here, her mind was drawing a complete blank! To make matters worse, she had been hoping as well to show off a bit; wearing some of her best clothes, preparing a song she could sing at Slices, and just generally showing him she was a far better catch than that ex-girlfriend of his. But instead, he'd had to rescue her; cold, wet and wounded.

She shivered slightly, and clutched his jacket for warmth. That part wasn't so bad. Maybe she could keep hold of it for a while. She opened her mouth to say something… anything to break the silence, but was caught off-guard when Ricky spoke first.

"So were you at the party tonight?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yeah, though I had leave early, because something came up. But then I couldn't get home, because my Dad was still working. And then I fell down those steps and smashed my phone."

"Oh!" Ricky's eyes went wide, "Sounds like it's been quite a rough day for you then!"

"Yeah, you could say that."

"Well," replied Ricky "I'd just like to say on behalf of East High, thank you for organising the party tonight. I think a lot of us were all quite suspicious that it would be some sort of trap you guys set up, but from the messages I got, it sounded like a really great evening!"

"Oh." Lily was stunned. She definitely hadn't been expecting that. "You're welcome!" she blushed, "It was no big deal though, quite simple to organise in the end."

"Maybe," said Ricky "but I think it'll go a long way for both our schools. You've made a lot of people very happy because of tonight."

"Oh… Thank you!" Lily mumbled; She didn't know what else to say! Her heart was racing from being so close to her crush, and on top of that now he was saying nice things about her! Her mind was going into overdrive just trying to process it all.

"No worries!" Ricky responded cheerily, "How was it there tonight, anyway?" Thankfully Lily's mind had calmed down enough to respond:

"It was alright;" she lied "But I was surprised I didn't see you there?" She instantly wished she hadn't said that, as the smile on Ricky's face disappeared, and was replaced by an expression that she could only describe as awkward.

"Ah… yeah…" he swallowed "Um… Sorry about that… I've just had a lot to deal with recently. Didn't really feel like hanging around lots of people." Lily grinned to herself. She could definitely relate to that! She decided to try her luck once more.

"I heard about your break up recently. Is that the re-"

"Yeah, could we drop that?" Ricky said suddenly, "I'm really not in the mood to talk about it."

"I just wanted to say that I know I said-"

"Drop it." Ricky said again. "Please." His voice was firm, and it scared her a little. She turned away from him to face the window. She felt tears coming back, and she didn't want him to see them. Neither of them said a word for quite a while after that. The silence was so loud, that part of her wanted to get out of the car and hobble the rest of the way back in the pouring rain.

They were almost back, when Ricky finally spoke again.

"Look, I know I often say the wrong things in these sorts of situations. I'm just hurting a lot at the moment, and I'm not really ready to talk about it with anyone right now."

"It's OK." Lily swallowed. It wasn't, and she knew it. Ricky was clearly still rattled by it. Which is why she was surprised when he moved across and switched on the cd player. A familiar tune came on, and after a couple of seconds, she realised what it was. "The Beauty and the Beast soundtrack?!" she exclaimed.

"Would you like to practice?" asked Ricky. Despite the coldness, everything in Lily leapt at the proposal.

"Absolutely!" She grinned. Ricky smiled.

"Alright, which song?"

"Hmm, I guess we should probably do one for both of us." She mused. Ricky nodded

"I think the only song which has both our roles is "Something There"." he responded, flicking through the tracks. "Though I have to warn you, I'm still not 100% there with that song just yet."

"No worries!" replied Lily, suddenly smiling more than she had done the entire evening. The opening bars came him, and she breathed in:

"There's something sweet, and almost kind
But he was mean and he was coarse and unrefined"

As she sang, the irony was not lost on her that she was singing a love song with her crush. She blushed as she continued:

"And now he's dear, and so unsure
I wonder why I didn't see it there before"

It was a strange feeling; Like the song had woken her up – She felt alive and free again. Though a doubtful part of her wondered what Ricky thought. Her voice was tired, and as a consequence probably sounded very messy. But if Ricky noticed, he didn't show it. In fact, he was smiling as he dove into the next verse:

"She glanced this way, I thought I saw
And when we touched, she didn't shudder at my paw"

His smile left briefly, but he continued:

"No, it can't be, I'll just ignore
But then, she's never looked at me that way before"

His smile was definitely gone now, but Lily didn't let that deter her. She took a deep breath, and closed her eyes, imagining herself far away in the Beast's castle as she sang:

"New, and a bit alarming
Who'd have ever thought that this could be?"

This was wonderful! It had been too long since just singing for fun, and she had missed this feeling so much!

"True, that he's no Prince Charming
But there's something in him that I simply didn't see"

She expected the song to fade out with the other characters at that point, but then Ricky jumped in again, this time impersonating all the different voices; Lumiere, Mrs Potts and Cogsworth.

"Well, who'd have thought?
Well, bless my soul!
Well, who'd have known?
Well, who indeed?
And who'd have guessed
They'd come together on their own?"

At this, Lily burst into laughter. Ricky's impressions were ridiculous and brilliant all at the same time! By the time she had stopped, the song was fading out. She looked across at Ricky, who was grinning from ear to ear. "I think we timed that pretty perfectly!" he said "The satnav says we're just arriving now."

Lily looked outside, and sure enough saw a very familiar sight awaiting her. Honestly she wished her home was further away, she wanted to continue this for the rest of the evening!

Ricky pulled up to the driveway and stopped. Lily opened her mouth to say thank you, but Ricky was already out of the car, and coming round to her side. "How's your ankle?" he asked. Oh yes, her ankle!

"I'm… not sure." Replied Lily truthfully.

"OK, hold on to me." He said "I'll help you in." Lily nodded, and grabbed Ricky's shoulders as he pulled her up, and together they limped up her driveway.

Author's Note: Wasn't quite sure how to end this. May carry this on if people are interested. Also, I know Lily probably seems a bit obsessive in this story. I decided to lean into that in order to try to explain some of her actions. I mean, she gets a french student transferred to the US just to get revenge on East High! That's beyond anything any normal person would do!